Cobalt Guardian (Battlegrounds)

Cobalt Guardian was a Tier 3 minion in the Battlegrounds game mode. It has since been replaced by Deflect-o-Bot.

Strategy
The Cobalt Guardian was arguably the strongest tier 3 minion in the whole game mode. It was a centerpiece of Mech builds, Divine Shield builds, and some Deathrattle builds; but also it could be very good in any build, provided it was adequately buffed. Its ability grants it Divine Shield whenever a Mech is summoned - for this reason, it was best played alongside another Mech, to give it the Shield immediately. Not only was it a decent mid-game minion on its own, but, if it could be refreshed via spawning Mechs, through the use of minions like Mecharoo, Harvest Golem, Replicating Menace, or, less reliably, the various Shredders, this would make it very annoying to deal with for the opponent, even with its low base Health.

The fact that it had a chance to absorb several hits means that any Attack buff could make it threatening, since even a 6 Attack Cobalt with Divine Shield essentially means it hits for 12 total damage, and this only grew linearly with each Attack buff and Divine Shield refresh. Minions like Screwjank Clunker (especially in combination with Brann Bronzebeard) or Replicating Menace were generally good purchases whenever one has a Guardian. Notably, tripling this minion wasn't generally a good idea, as having several refreshing Guardians could make a board practically invincible, even later in the game. Also players avoided Taunting it with Annoy-o-Module, as this would give it less chances to refresh several times.

Placement for the Cobalt Guardian was important - it was generally valuable to place it on the far left so it could attack quickly (as it would lose its Divine Shield, giving it the chance to refresh as soon as a Mech spawns). Players had to try to place Taunts away from it, as cleave effects like Foe Reaper 4000 could render it vulnerable before it even attacked. Additionally, it was advisable to put a token summoner like Harvest Golem immediately after Cobalt Guardian to refresh its Divine Shield as soon as possible.

If playing against a Cobalt Guardian, players needed to prioritize cleave minions that can easily pop Divine Shields, token Deathrattles that can win against Replicating Menace, or minions that can reach through Taunt like Soul Juggler or Zapp Slywick (who, in the right situation, could immediately eliminate a Cobalt and its Divine Shield). Nefarian can get rid of a number of Divine Shields with his Hero Power alone, enabling your minions to eliminate the Guardian more easily.

This was one of the best possible minions one could get from A. F. Kay's ability, as it was easy to synergize with and was strong at a core.

Patch changes

 * Removed from the pool of available minions.
 * Added.