Demons can do many different things inHearthstone Battlegrounds. They have a variety of Deathrattles and some interesting ways to increase their stats. But their most unique mechanic involves buffing and consuming the minions in Bob’s Tavern. This has the effect of turning (mostly) useless minions into fuel for your build.
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Demons builds haven’t been especially powerful of late, but there are still several of them that are worth considering individually. Plus, Demon builds can still work if you highroll hard enough. This list will help you decide which Demons you should be looking to buy from the Tavern, and which you should probably let Bob keep.
10Piggyback Imp
Piggyback Imp is not a minion that will win you games. But two 4/1 minions is a lot of power for Tavern Tier 2. That amount of attack means the Imp is almost guaranteed to trade with multiple minions of the same Tier, and often on the higher Tiers as well.
The Piggyback Imp will always die when it hits an enemy, even to a 1/1, but getting a guaranteed 2-for-1 is a solid deal in the early turns. Of course, you could always keep the Imp around and buff it with consume effects, but there are better Demons to target if that’s your goal.
9Picky Eater
Thanks to its Battlecry, Picky Eater can gain more stats than just about any other minion on Turn 1. As with any Demon with the consume ability, its strength depends greatly on the stats of the other minions in the Tavern. But Picky Eater is arguably the most dependent since there are fewer minions for it to hit in the early game.
If your first Tavern of the game is Picky Eater and a pair of 1/1s, you’re going to want to steer clear of this minion. On the other hand, if the other choices are a 1/4 and a 2/3, Picky Eater will basically guarantee you wins in the early fights.
8Icky Imp
3/3 is a lot of stats in the early game, able to win or draw most fights on Turn 1. But Icky Imp is more than just a strong minion in the first few turns. It also has great synergy with cards that rely on summoning minions or minions dying. Quite a few of the new Undead minions, for example, have effects that trigger whenever a friendly minion dies, and Icky Imp is great fuel for them.
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However, the most powerful synergy Icky Imp has is with one of the neutral minions in the Demon pool, Soul Juggler. The Soul Juggler deals three damage to a random enemy minion whenever one of your Demons dies, turning each of the Icky Imp’s bodies into four total damage. The combination of these two minions can easily carry you into the late game, although at that point other builds will begin to overtake you.
7Mind Muck
Mind Muck is a decent early-game buff for your minions, and it only gets better as the game goes on, and you have access to higher Tavern Tier minions to eat. There is obviously a certain amount of variance in the buff you’ll get, but on the high end it can give far more stats than any other buff minion.
Any time you have at least one Demon in your composition, Mind Muck becomes a minion worth buying from the Tavern. It’s one of a rare few Tavern Tier 2 minions that stays relevant even in the dying stages of the game.
6Felemental
The Felemental is useful for both of its minion types. With Demons, it increases the amount of stats you may consume in the Tavern, an ability that is surprisingly uncommon given how many consume effects there are. AsElementals are all about buffingother Elementals in the Tavern with minions like Nomi, Kitchen Nightmare, Felemental only accelerates that process.
Of course, buffing all your future units is just strong no matter what build you have. So if you find yourself with three gold left, and there’s a Felemental in the Tavern, it’s definitely worth considering.
5Legion Overseer
Legion Overseer has been nerfed, but it is still crucial if you are going to win games with Demons. It obviously has great synergy with several of the other cards on this list, increasing the number of stats you absorb from the Tavern. Once you have enough of them, Demon builds can actually compete in the late game.
However, Legion Overseer also has more general applications. Any minions you buy get an added boost, and those small stat buffs can matter a lot in the midgame.
4Mecha-Jaraxxus
Mecha-Jaraxxus is a new dual-type minion, split between Demons and Mechs. His Battlecry gives you one of three unique minions: a 5/5 with Windfury, a 1/10 with Taunt, and a 10/1 with Reborn. Each has the ability to be Magnetized onto both Mechs and Demons, an ability that normally only works with Mechs. A 1/10 with Taunt isn’t great, but the other two minions are decent even when played on their own.
Most importantly for Demon builds, the addition of the Mech type means that, if Mechs are also in the lobby, you can give them Divine Shield. Previously, the only way to get a Demon with Divine Shield was if you find an all-type minion. Thanks to Mecha-Jaraxxus, that scenario appears far more frequently.
3Felstomper
A new addition inBattlegroundsSeason 3, Felstomper is a dual-type minion, categorized as both a Demonand a Beast, though its ability is useful in other builds as well. This is especially true of the new Undead type, which is full of minions that summon other minions.
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The three attack the basic version of Felstomper gives you doesn’t seem like much, but even one activation provides 21 attack if your board is full (42 with a Golden Felstomper). And if you’ve set your board up properly with a large number of Reborn and Deathrattle minions, that number will ramp up extremely quickly.
2Impulsive Trickster
Impulsive Trickster was moved up a Tavern Tier because it was too oppressive, but it can still take over games. Its ability means that, assuming it dies while you still have another minion on the board, you will get more out of its stats than almost any other minion in Battlegrounds.
That makes the Trickster the best Demon to target for consume effects, and if you’re running a multi-type build, Impulsive Trickster is a great option to fill your Demon slot. It also has sneaky synergy with the Dragon Tarecgosa, who retains any buffs it gets in combat, including the potentially massive health boosts of the Trickster.
1Famished Felbat
If you want to succeed with an endgame Demon build, you’ll need to find a Famished Felbat (probably several). Its ability is really the only way for Demons to win lobbies. And even then, it is often too slow unless you combine it with Legion Overseer. If you can make it all come together, though, your Demons will start to gain stats at an impressive rate.
It is important to keep track of how many Demons you have on board, especially if you are playing multiple Felbats at once. It’s easy to have more consume effects than there are minions available in the Tavern, at which point the Felbat’s ability won’t be put to full use. You’ll be better off filling those slots with other, individually powerful minions instead.
