The Felfire Festival is nearly here! The festivities begin on June 9 with the release of patch 17.4, which welcomes a salty new crew of minions to the Battlegrounds—Pirates! On June 17, the Trial by Felfire Solo Adventure will unlock, followed by Trial by Felfire Challenges on June 24. Beyond that, we’ve got some special Tavern Brawls and legendary quests lined up to mark the occasion.

Check out the full Felfire Festival announcement here!

Battlegrounds Shifting Minion Pools

At the start of each game of Battlegrounds, five of the six currently available minion types (Beasts, Demons, Dragons, Mechs, Murlocs, and now Pirates) will form the recruitment pool for that game. The active minion types will be displayed while you’re selecting a Hero—you can also check anytime during the Recruit phase by hovering over Bartender Bob’s deck. To keep things fair, Heroes designed with synergies around a specific minion types will sit out if their corresponding minion type is unavailable. 

Pirates will always be available in the minion pool until they join the rest of the shifting minion pool in a future update.

Battlegrounds Hero Pool Updates

Starting June 9, the price of the Tavern Pass will be reduced for the remainder of the Ashes of Outland expansion cycle! Players with the Tavern Pass will have early access to the following new heroes before they’re formally released on June 23.

NEW HEROES

Captain Eudora

Buried Treasure [Cost 1]

• Dig for a Golden minion! (4 Digs Left)

Skycap'n Kragg

Piggybank [Cost 0]

• Gain 1 Gold this turn. Increases each turn. (Once per game)

Captain Hooktusk

Trash for Treasure [Cost 0]

• Remove a friendly minion. Discover one from a lower Tavern Tier.

RETURNING & UPDATED HEROES

Patches the Pirate

Pirate Parrrrty! [Cost 4]

• Get a Pirate. After you buy a Pirate, your next Hero Power costs (1) less.

The Rat King

• Updated to include Pirates. No longer always starts on King of Beasts. Now starts on a random minion type, and will not include minion types that are not in the pool.

Queen Wagtoggle

• Updated to include Pirates.

REMOVED

• Professor Putricide has been removed from the hero pool.
• Holy Mackerel has been removed from the minion pool.

New Battlegrounds Minions

Deck Swabbie

[Tier 1, Pirate] 2 Attack, 2 Health.

• Battlecry: Reduce the cost of upgrading Bob's Tavern by (1).

Scallywag

[Tier 1, Pirate] 2 Attack, 1 Health.

• Deathrattle: Summon a 1/1 Pirate. It attacks immediately.

Southsea Captain

[Tier 2, Pirate] 3 Attack, 3 Health.

• Your other Pirates have +1/+1.

Arcane Cannon

[Tier 2] 2 Attack, 2 Health.

• Can't attack. After an adjacent minion attacks, deal 2 damage to an enemy minion.

Monstrous Macaw

[Tier 2, Beast] 3 Attack, 2 Health.

• After this attacks, trigger a random friendly minion's Deathrattle.

Freedealing Gambler

[Tier 2, Pirate] 3 Attack, 3 Health.

• This minion sells for 3 Gold.

Yo-Ho-Ogre

[Tier 3, Pirate] 2 Attack, 8 Health.

• Taunt After this minion survives being attacked, attack immediately.

Salty Looter

[Tier 3, Pirate] 3 Attack, 3 Health.

• Whenever you play a Pirate, gain +1/+1.

Bloodsail Cannoneer

[Tier 3, Pirate] 4 Attack, 2 Health.

• Battlecry: Give your other Pirates +3 Attack.

Southsea Strongarm

[Tier 4, Pirate] 5 Attack, 4 Health.

• Battlecry: Give a friendly Pirate +1/+1 for each Pirate you bought this turn.

Goldgrubber

[Tier 4, Pirate] 2 Attack, 2 Health.

• At the end of your turn, gain +2/+2 for each friendly Golden minion.

Ripsnarl Captain

[Tier 4, Pirate] 3 Attack, 4 Health.

• Whenever another friendly Pirate attacks, give it +2/+2.

Seabreaker Goliath

[Tier 5, Pirate] 6 Attack, 7 Health.

• Windfury Overkill: Give your other Pirates +2/+2.

Nat Pagle, Extreme Angler

[Tier 5, Pirate] 8 Attack, 5 Health.

• Overkill: Summon a 0/2 Treasure Chest.

Cap'n Hoggarr

[Tier 5, Pirate] 6 Attack, 6 Health.

• After you buy a Pirate, gain 1 Gold this turn only.

Dread Admiral Eliza

[Tier 6, Pirate] 6 Attack, 7 Health.

• Whenever a friendly Pirate attacks, give all friendly minions +1/+1.

The Tide Razor

[Tier 6] 6 Attack, 4 Health.

• Deathrattle: Summon 3 random Pirates.

UPDATED MINION

Lightfang Enforcer

• Updated to include Pirates.

Trial by Felfire Solo Adventure & Challenges

Follow the story of Aranna Starseeker (Elise Starseeker’s crafty younger sister) as she embarks on a thrilling journey of self-discovery, assembling a motley crew of outcasts and teaming up with Illidan to take on the mad architect of the Rusted Legion itself: MECHA-JARAXXUS! All five chapters of this Solo Adventure will be available for free on June 17. Complete the Trial by Felfire and you’ll also earn the Rusted Legion Card Back!

Before the adventure unlocks, Aranna Starseeker will enter Battlegrounds on June 16 as an early-access Hero for players with Battlegrounds Perks to try out before she formally joins the fray on June 30!

Aranna Starseeker

Demon Hunter Training [Passive]

• After you Refresh 7 times, always see 7 minions in Bob's Tavern.Finally, Trial by Felfire Challenges will unlock on June 24, where players will create a deck and battle Outland’s baddest bosses!Face off against the likes of Doom Lord Kazzak, Supremus, and Mother Shahraz in a gauntlet of iconic raid bosses from the Burning Crusade! Complete all challenges to earn Golden Kael’thas Sunstrider!

Legendary Quest Line

Starting on June 17 there will be a new Legendary quest unlocking weekly with pack rewards!

• June 17, 9:00 a.m. PT: Complete Chapter 1 in the Trial by Felfire adventure and earn 1 Ashes of Outland pack, 1 Year of the Dragon pack, and 1 Rise of Shadows pack.
• June 24, 9:00 a.m. PT: Play 4 Trial by Felfire Challenge games and earn 1 Ashes of Outland pack, 1 Year of the Dragon pack, and 1 Saviors of Uldum pack.
• July 1, 9:00 a.m. PT: Play 4 Tavern Brawl games and earn 1 Ashes of Outland pack, 1 Year of the Dragon pack, and 1 Descent of Dragons pack.

Game Improvements and Bug Fixes

• Fixed a bug on mobile where your opponent’s mana crystals would be displayed in the side bar during their turn.
• Fixed a bug where Zephrys the Great would not offer Windspeaker in the case where Windfury on an un-targetable minion was highly valuable.