"Playing Around Cleave in Battlegrounds: Spread or Get Punished"
Meta note: cleave behavior is a core combat mechanic; the positioning principles below are evergreen.
Cleave is one of the sneakiest combat mechanics in Battlegrounds. A cleave attacker damages not just its target but the minions adjacent to it — so a single big swing can hit two or three of your minions at once. Players who don't account for cleave lose fights they should win by clumping their fragile bodies together. Here's how to play around it.
How cleave works
A cleave (or "cleave-like") attacker deals its damage to the defending minion and the minions on either side of it. That means:
- One attack can damage up to three of your minions simultaneously.
- It's devastating against wide boards of fragile bodies clustered together.
- It rewards big single attackers on the opposing side.
The key insight: cleave damage is determined by adjacency on your board — which you control through positioning.
Why clumping is dangerous
If you place several low-health minions side by side, a single cleave swing can wipe all of them in one hit. This is especially punishing for:
- Wide swarm comps (Beast tokens, wide buffed boards) whose value is in many bodies.
- Boards with several fragile support pieces lined up next to each other.
A board that looks strong on paper can crumble to one well-placed cleave attack.
How to position against cleave
- Spread your valuable minions so a single cleave can't hit two of them. Put expendable bodies between your important ones where possible.
- Sacrificial filler on the flanks/middle can absorb cleave splash, protecting your carry and engine pieces.
- Keep your buffed carry away from a cluster of other key minions, so cleave on a neighbor doesn't also chunk your carry.
- Scout for cleave — if you see a big cleave attacker on an opponent's board, rearrange before you fight them.
Balancing against other threats
Positioning is always a compromise — you can't optimize against everything:
- Against cleave: spread out.
- Against poison: don't put all buffs on one body (which also argues for some spread).
- For your own triggers: order matters for buffs and deathrattles.
Read the likely opponent (scout!) and prioritize the threat they actually present, rather than guessing blindly.
Common cleave mistakes
- Clumping fragile minions out of habit, handing a cleave board a multi-kill.
- Putting your carry next to your other key pieces, so one cleave hit damages several.
- Not scouting and getting surprised by a cleave attacker you could have spread against.
- Over-spreading against a board with no cleave, sacrificing better positioning for your triggers or against poison.
Takeaway
Cleave punishes clumped boards by hitting a minion and both its neighbors at once. Spread your valuable minions so a single swing can't catch two, use expendable bodies to absorb splash, and keep your carry away from a cluster of key pieces. Scout for cleave attackers and position against the threat your actual opponent presents — and you'll stop losing fights to one devastating swing.