Tavern Brawl

The Tavern Brawl interface

Tavern Brawl is one of Hearthstone's lighter game modes. A weekly event, a new Tavern Brawl begins each Wednesday (Thursday in Asian regions), ending the following Monday. Outside of these times, the mode is not available for play. See the schedule for this week's times.

Each Tavern Brawl presents a limited time opportunity to face other players in special matches with unique rules. These might be requiring players to use special pre-made decks, adding random cards or minions, or changing the very rules of ability activation or mana use. Similar to Arena, Tavern Brawls allow the player to construct unique decks especially for the challenge from within the game mode itself. Each week sees a fresh Tavern Brawl, each with its own special rules. Some Brawls feature Tavern Brawl cards, unique cards not available in other types of play, as well as boss cards from adventures such as Blackrock Mountain.

As well as being matched against other random opponents, players are able to challenge players on their friends list to a Tavern Brawl, as a special type of Duel.

An intentionally "fun" game mode, Tavern Brawls offer unique limited time experiences, with far less of a competitive focus than other game modes. This makes them good for quick matches, friendly challenges and accumulating gold through quests and cumulative wins. With many Brawls incorporating random card generation or minion summoning, winning a Tavern Brawl often involves a fair amount of luck, as well as the ability to adapt to and deal with the situation at hand.

Tavern Brawls are intended to be highly accessible, even for players without extensive card collections.

Schedule

Each week, the current Tavern Brawl will open and close according to the following schedule, depending on region:

Region	Open	Close
Europe	Wed 10:00 PM CET Wed 9:00 PM UTC	Mon 6:00 AM CET Mon 5:00 AM UTC
Americas	Wed 9:00 AM PST Wed 5:00 PM UTC	Mon 3:00 AM PST Mon 11:00 AM UTC
Taiwan/China	Thu 5:00 AM CST Wed 9:00 PM UTC	Mon 6:00 AM CST Sun 10:00 PM UTC
Korea	Thu 6:00 AM KST Wed 9:00 PM UTC	Mon 7:00 AM KST Sun 10:00 PM UTC

History

#	Open	Close	Tavern Brawl	Type
47	May 4, 2016	May 9, 2016	Reprise: Spiders, Spiders, EVERYWHERE!	Randomized
46	April 27, 2016	May 2, 2016	Reprise: Encounter at the Crossroads	Randomized
45	April 20, 2016	April 25, 2016	Idols of Azeroth	Premade
44	April 13, 2016	April 18, 2016	The Great Stone of Challenge	Constructed
43	April 6, 2016	April 11, 2016	Reprise: Too Many Portals!	Randomized
42	March 30, 2016	April 4, 2016	You Must be This Tall to Brawl	Constructed
41	March 23, 2016	March 28, 2016	An Evil Exchange	Premade
40	March 16, 2016	March 21, 2016	Reprise: Battle of Tol Barad	Constructed
39	March 9, 2016	March 14, 2016	Reprise: Randomonium	Randomized
38	March 2, 2016	March 7, 2016	Deal Your Fate	Constructed
37	February 24, 2016	February 29, 2016	Clash of the Minions	Constructed
36	February 17, 2016	February 22, 2016	Lead from the Front	Constructed
35	February 10, 2016	February 15, 2016	Reprise: Decks Assemble!	Premade
34	February 3, 2016	February 8, 2016	Blingtron's Beauteous Brawl	Constructed
33	January 27, 2016	February 1, 2016	Miniature Warfare	Constructed
32	January 20, 2016	January 25, 2016	Reprise: Captain Blackheart's Treasure	Randomized
31	January 13, 2016	January 18, 2016	Return of Mechazod!	Cooperative
30	January 6, 2016	January 11, 2016	Battle of the Builds	Constructed
29	December 30, 2015	January 4, 2015	Reprise: Who's the Boss Now?	Constructed
28	December 23, 2015	December 28, 2015	Reprise: Randomonium	Randomized
27	December 16, 2015	December 21, 2015	Gift Exchange	Constructed
26	December 9, 2015	December 14, 2015	Reprise: Encounter at the Crossroads	Randomized
25	December 2, 2015	December 7, 2015	Decks Assemble!	Premade
24	November 25, 2015	November 30, 2015	Battle of Tol Barad	Constructed
23	November 18, 2015	November 23, 2015	Captain Blackheart's Treasure	Randomized
22	November 11, 2015	November 16, 2015	Reprise: Showdown at Blackrock Mountain	Premade
21	November 4, 2015	November 9, 2015	Unite Against Mechazod!	Cooperative
20	October 28, 2015	November 2, 2015	Reprise: Spiders, Spiders, EVERYWHERE!	Randomized
19	October 21, 2015	October 26, 2015	Who's the Boss Now?	Constructed
18	October 14, 2015	October 19, 2015	Randomonium	Randomized
17	October 7, 2015	October 12, 2015	Clockwork Card Dealer	Constructed
16	September 30, 2015	October 5, 2015	Boom Bot vs. Annoy-o-Tron!	Premade
15	September 23, 2015	September 28, 2015	Underdog Rules	Constructed
14	September 16, 2015	September 21, 2015	Reprise: Too Many Portals!	Randomized
13	September 9, 2015	September 14, 2015	Double Deathrattler Battler	Constructed
12	September 2, 2015	September 7, 2015	It's Raining Mana!	Constructed
11	August 26, 2015	August 31, 2015	Reprise: Encounter at the Crossroads	Randomized
10	August 19, 2015	August 24, 2015	Grand Tournament Match	Premade
9	August 12, 2015	August 17, 2015	Reprise: The Great Summoner Competition	Constructed
8	August 5, 2015	August 10, 2015	The Masked Ball	Constructed
7	July 29, 2015	August 3, 2015	Too Many Portals!	Randomized
6	July 22, 2015	July 27, 2015	Heart of the Sunwell	Constructed
5	July 15, 2015	July 20, 2015	Encounter at the Crossroads	Randomized
4	July 8, 2015	July 13, 2015	The Great Summoner Competition	Constructed
3	July 1, 2015	July 6, 2015	Spiders, Spiders, EVERYWHERE!	Randomized
2	June 24, 2015	June 29, 2015	Banana Brawl!	Constructed
1	June 17, 2015	June 22, 2015	Showdown at Blackrock Mountain	Premade

Repeated Tavern Brawls

The following table lists Tavern Brawls that have appeared more than once.

Tavern Brawl	Number of appearences
Encounter at the Crossroads	4
Randomonium	3
Spiders, Spiders, EVERYWHERE!	3
Too Many Portals!	3
Battle of Tol Barad	2
Captain Blackheart's Treasure	2
Decks Assemble!	2
Showdown at Blackrock Mountain	2
The Great Summoner Competition	2
Unite Against Mechazod! / Return of Mechazod!	2
Who's the Boss Now?	2

Latest Tavern Brawl

Spiders, Spiders, EVERYWHERE!

Main article: Spiders, Spiders, EVERYWHERE!

"Spiders have overrun everything, including your deck! Whatever class you play, your deck will be TEEMING with Webspinners."

This Tavern Brawl sees players doing battle with special pre-made decks, each teeming with Webspinners. Players can choose any class, with each match generating a unique deck filled with 7 randomly selected spells for that class, and 23 Webspinners.

Featured cards

Previous Tavern Brawls

Template:Encounter at the Crossroads

Idols of Azeroth

Main article: Idols of Azeroth

"Ever draw a spell when you really needed a minion? Never again! Your deck will be 30 Raven Idols, so you'll be able to discover whatever you need!"

This Tavern Brawl sees players doing battle with decks composed solely of Raven Idol, allowing players to repeatedly Discover either minions or spells.

Featured cards

The Great Stone of Challenge

Main article: The Great Stone of Challenge

"Welcome, heroes, to the Great Stone of Challenge. Your deck building prowess will be tested: You may only use spells with an even cost; you may only use minions with odd attack! Build a deck and fight for the Stone of Challenge!"

This Tavern Brawl sees players doing battle with custom decks, with some special restrictions. Decks can only include spells with an even mana cost, and minions with odd Attack values. The Brawl's design mirrors the rules for deck construction in the original Challengestone tournament, to which the Brawl, its title and its artwork pay tribute.

Too Many Portals!

Main article: Too Many Portals!

"The master mages of Dalaran have gone too far this time, opening up hundreds of portals! Choose a class and use a few spells and a WHOLE lot of portals to defeat your rivals!"

This Tavern Brawl sees players doing battle with special pre-made decks, each teeming with Unstable Portals. Players can choose any class, with each match generating a unique deck filled with 7 randomly selected spells for that class, and 23 Unstable Portals.

Featured cards

You Must be This Tall to Brawl

Main article: You Must be This Tall to Brawl

"Welcome to this very dangerous brawl event! Construct a deck with all your best spells, but this brawl is too intense for small minions. You may only use minions that cost seven or more!"

This Brawl sees players creating their own custom decks using any class. However, minions with a mana cost less than 7 cannot be included in decks.

An Evil Exchange

Main article: An Evil Exchange

"Kel'Thuzad and Rafaam are competing to see who the superior endboss is! Take a side and battle for evil supremacy!"

This Brawl sees players taking on the roles of Kel'Thuzad and Arch-Thief Rafaam. Each player's role is randomly selected at the start of the match, determining their Hero Power and pre-made deck, featuring some unique and overpowered cards.

Heroes

Hero Powers

Special cards

Battle of Tol Barad

Main article: Battle of Tol Barad

"Magical creatures are escaping from Tol Barad! Play a minion and get a random spell of the same cost, but for free!"

This Brawl sees players creating their own custom decks using any class. Each time a minion is played, a random spell of the same mana cost will be generated for the player, with the spell's cost reduced to 0. Spells may be of any class, and are not affected by the player's class.

Randomonium

Main article: Randomonium

"An encounter at the crossroads... under a manastorm! Choose a class, get random cards. Each turn your cards' cost are randomized!"

This Brawl sees players competing with almost entirely randomised pre-made decks. Players can choose any class, and will then receive a deck randomly composed of neutral and class-specific cards. Decks are composed of 30 cards, but may break the usual card limitation of 2 copies per deck (1 copy per deck for legendaries), allowing any number of copies within a deck. At the start of each turn, each card has a chance to have its mana cost changed to a random value, equal to or lower than the card's original mana cost, but not lower than 1.

Deal Your Fate

Main article: Deal Your Fate

"The Tavern Keeper foretells a fateful brawl! You and your opponent discover random fates that affect you both!"

This Brawl sees players doing battle using custom decks using any class. At the start of the game, players are allowed to choose one from 4 of 6 possible Fate cards. Each Fate card puts into effect a special aura, affecting the game for both players. Fate card auras last for the rest of the match, and cannot be removed.

Subsequently, when a player is reduced to 20 Health or below, they are allowed to choose one from 4 of 6 possible Dire Fate cards. Dire Fate cards mostly also put special auras into play, but have stronger effects than the Fate cards.

Fate cards

Dire Fate cards

Clash of the Minions

Main article: Clash of the Minions

"No time for cowards, soldier! Playing minions gives them Charge and Taunt! Ok, here's the Mulligan... go, go, GO!"

This Brawl sees players doing battle using custom decks using any class. Playing a minion grants it the Charge and Taunt abilities.

Lead from the Front

Main article: Lead from the Front

"Enough hiding behind your minions! Protect them! In this brawl, your hero has Taunt."

This Brawl sees players doing battle using custom decks using any class. During the Brawl each hero has the Taunt ability, making them vulnerable to attack throughout the battle. Each hero starts the game with 10 Armor, in addition to 30 Health.

Decks Assemble!

Main article: Decks Assemble!

"All of Azeroth wants to brawl for you! Start with a small deck, recruit as you go, then send them to fight over and over!"

This complex Brawl sees players doing battle using special decks generated during the match itself. This Brawl has no mulligan; instead, the player starts with a small hand and deck of certain preset cards. At the start of each turn, the player is able to Discover a random card; options may be neutral or matching the player's class, and may be of any type. Each time a player plays a card, a copy is shuffled into their deck. At the end of each turn, the player's hand is shuffled back into their deck, and a new selection of four cards is drawn.

Starting cards

Blingtron's Beauteous Brawl

Main article: Blingtron's Beauteous Brawl

"Blingtron is ready to rumble! He changes your hero power to "Get a random weapon." AND he gives you random weapons!"

This Brawl sees players doing battle with custom decks of any class. Each player starts the Brawl with 10 Armor (in addition to 30 Health), a Foam Sword equipped, and their usual Hero Power replaced by Cash In. The special weapon enchantment "Blingtron's Blade" is applied to the initial Foam Sword and any weapon generated by Cash In. The enchantment causes a new weapon to automatically be equipped when the enchanted weapon is destroyed, as well as granting the enchantment to the new weapon. Both Cash In and "Blingtron's Blade" equip a random collectible weapon.

Special cards

Miniature Warfare

Main article: Miniature Warfare

"That pesky Shrinkmeister turned all your Hearthstone cards into toys! Now all your minions are 1/1 and only cost (1) mana!"

This Brawl sees players doing battle using classes of their choosing. During the Brawl, a special non-removable enchantment is given to each minion, changing its base stats to 1/1, and its mana cost to 1. However, buffs can still increase minions' stats beyond 1/1.

Captain Blackheart's Treasure

Main article: Captain Blackheart's Treasure

"The Captain left treasure for EVERYONE, but mostly for you! Each turn, open a chest of three random cards and choose one to put in your hand!"

This Brawl sees players doing battle using classes of their choosing. However, regardless of class, both players' decks consist of 30 copies of Pirate. At the start of each turn, instead of drawing a card from their deck, the player Discovers a new card. This provides the player with a choice of three random cards, with their chosen option added to their hand. Cards of any type and cost may feature, although as with all Discover effects, class cards are four times as likely to be offered.

Featured cards

Return of Mechazod!

Main article: Return of Mechazod!

"Mechazod wants a rematch! This time new allies stand against him. Good luck with this return co-op brawl!"

A direct follow-up to Unite Against Mechazod!, this Brawl sees two players cooperating to defeat Gearmaster Mechazod, a special minion. Each turn, Mechazod will swap which side of the board he is on, allowing the currently active player to attack him. Mechazod will in turn seek the defeat of both players. Players do battle with special pre-made decks, ensuring good chances of defeating the Gearmaster.

Unlike most other Tavern Brawls, Return of Mechazod! is a co-operative Tavern Brawl, meaning the two players are working together to defeat Mechazod, rather than attacking each other. What's more, if either player is defeated, both players will lose the match, making it important to do everything you can to keep the other player alive. Unlike Unite Against Mechazod!, the first completed Brawl will not reward both players with their weekly bonus card pack if they lose; it is necessary to actually defeat Mechazod to receive it.

At the start of the match, one player is randomly selected to play as Malfurion Stormrage (druid), and the other as Medivh (mage). Players do battle with special pre-made decks, ensuring good chances of defeating the Gearmaster. Both decks are designed to benefit the other player using card effects which are traditionally undesirable, such as the Battlecry of Millhouse Manastorm. Survival will not be easy, but can be achieved through cooperation.

Special cards

Battle of the Builds

Main article: Battle of the Builds

"What's better? Battlecry, Deathrattle, Spells, or Murlocs? Make a deck, pick a side, and let's find out!"

This Brawl sees players creating their own custom decks using any class. At the start of their first turn, each player chooses one of four possible bonuses: Battlecry Bonus, Deathrattle Bonus, Murloc Bonus or Spell Bonus. The chosen bonus remains in effect for the rest of the match, and cannot be reselected.

Bonuses

Who's the Boss Now?

Main article: Who's the Boss Now?

"Dungeon bosses want to help you play! Build your own deck but get a random boss power. Each time you use it, get a new one!"

This Brawl sees players creating their own custom decks using any class. However, their Hero Power will be randomly selected from a range of possible boss Hero Powers, normally only seen in adventures. Each time the player uses their Hero Power, it will be replaced by a new one.

Possible Hero Powers

Gift Exchange

Main article: Gift Exchange

"Great Father is dropping crates on the battlefield! Get a gift each time you smash your opponent's crate... or your own!"

This Winter Veil-themed Brawl sees players creating their own custom decks using any class. The Brawl revolves around Winter's Veil Gifts, special minions with a Deathrattle that grants the destroying player a Stolen Winter Veil Gift. The board starts empty, but if at the start of their turn a player has no Winter's Veil Gifts on their side of the board, a fresh Winter's Veil Gift will be delivered by Greatfather Winter.

Stolen Winter's Veil Gift allows the player to Discover a card belonging to the class of the player who controlled the Winter's Veil Gift minion, with its mana cost reduced by 5. In addition, only cards of 5 cost or higher are Discovered. Players also have a chance to Discover the special card Hardpacked Snowballs.

Instead of a card pack, winning in this Tavern Brawl awards a special card back: Winter Veil Wreath.

Special cards

Showdown at Blackrock Mountain

Main article: Showdown at Blackrock Mountain

"These two epic bosses of Blackrock Mountain are settling things once and for all... with your help!"

This Tavern Brawl sees players take on the roles of Ragnaros and Nefarian, duelling it out for dominance of Blackrock Mountain, with a range of overpowered cards and Hero Powers like Wild Magic, DIE, INSECT!, Living Bomb and Open the Gates.

The November 2015 reprise of this Brawl sees Nefarian starting with one less Mana Crystal, helping to address balance complaints from the original run.

Heroes

Hero Powers

Unite Against Mechazod!

Main article: Unite Against Mechazod!

"Can you defeat Gearmaster Mechazod? Join forces with another player and see. It's a cooperative Tavern Brawl!"

The first ever co-op Tavern Brawl, this Brawl sees two players cooperating to defeat Gearmaster Mechazod, a special minion. Each turn, Mechazod will swap which side of the board he is on, allowing the currently active player to attack him. Mechazod will in turn seek the defeat of both players. Players do battle with special pre-made decks, ensuring good chances of defeating the Gearmaster.

Unlike other Tavern Brawls, Unite Against Mechazod! is a co-operative Tavern Brawl, meaning the two players are working together to defeat Mechazod, rather than attacking each other. What's more, if either player is defeated, both players will lose the match, making it important to do everything you can to keep the other player alive. However, the first completed Brawl will reward both players with their weekly bonus card pack, regardless of the outcome.

At the start of the match, one player is randomly selected to play as Anduin Wrynn (priest), and the other as Uther Lightbringer (paladin). Players do battle with special pre-made decks, ensuring good chances of defeating the Gearmaster. With Mechazod dealing a lot of damage to players, both decks feature strong healing-synergy, and are designed to benefit the other player using card effects which are traditionally undesirable, such as the Deathrattle of Dancing Swords. Survival will not be easy, but can be achieved through cooperation.

Special cards

Clockwork Card Dealer

Main article: Clockwork Card Dealer

"Tinkertown gnomes are testing their prototype card-bot: Optimotron! The card you draw on turn 1 will be a 1-cost card, if you have one. On turn 2, a 2-cost card..."

This Brawl sees players drawing cards entirely on curve, with a 1-mana card drawn on turn 1, a 2-mana card drawn on turn 2, and so on. Players able to create their own decks, using any class.

Boom Bot vs. Annoy-o-Tron!

Main article: Boom Bot vs. Annoy-o-Tron!

"Two epic robots meet face-to-face. Sparks will fly, oil will flow! Help decide who reigns supreme... Boom Bot, or Annoy-o-Tron!"

This Brawl sees players doing battle in the roles of two special heroes - Boom Bot and Annoy-o-Tron - each has its own Hero Power and semi-randomised premade deck, mostly made up of Mechs and cards from Goblins vs Gnomes.

Heroes

Hero Powers

Underdog Rules

Main article: Underdog Rules

"Each turn, if you're losing by more than 3 health then a random minion rallies to your side."

During this Brawl, at the start of each turn if the player is losing by more than 3 Health, a random 2 or 3-cost minion will be summoned for them. The minion may be of any mana cost and class, but will be exhausted and unable to attack that turn. Players are able to construct their own decks, using any class.

Double Deathrattler Battler

Main article: Double Deathrattler Battler

"Death is not quite the end... because minions with Deathrattle now rattle twice."

In this Brawl, any minion Deathrattle activated will take effect twice, adding value to minions with beneficial Deathrattles. Players are able to construct their own decks, using any class.

It's Raining Mana!

Main article: It's Raining Mana!

"Dalaran floats overhead, it's soaking your deck with mana! On your first turn you get 1 like normal, but then you get 3, then 5, then 7, etc"

This Brawl sees players gaining an extra Mana Crystal each turn after the first, causing them to reach higher levels of mana very quickly. Players are able to construct their own decks, using any class.

Grand Tournament Match

Main article: Grand Tournament Match

"On the road to The Grand Tournament, two knights face off! One relies on jousting skill, while the other inspires troops to great deeds. Who will win?"

Heralding the coming release of The Grand Tournament, this Brawl was designed to showcase its two new mechanics - Inspire and Joust - and allowed players access to cards from the expansions before they were otherwise available.

Grand Tournament Match sees players doing battle as two opposing heroes: Medivh and Alleria. Upon queuing, players will be randomly cast in one of these roles, with access to a special pre-made deck. Medivh's deck has a strong Inspire theme, while Alleria's features numerous Joust minions.

The Great Summoner Competition

Main article: The Great Summoner Competition

"Summoners from across the world have come to compete. When you cast a spell, a random minion of the same cost is summoned for you!"

During this Tavern Brawl, whenever a spell is cast, a random minion of the same mana cost will be summoned for the player. Players are able to construct custom decks using any class.

The Masked Ball

Main article: The Masked Ball

"At the SI:7 mansion in Stormwind they have a grand masked ball every year. Everyone is in disguise! When a minion dies, its disguise is revealed, showing the minion to actually be a different random minion that costs (2) less and ready for another fight!"

This Brawl sees players doing battle with their own customs decks, of any class. The key change is that whenever a minion dies, it will summon in its place a random minion that costs 2 mana less.

Heart of the Sunwell

Main article: Heart of the Sunwell

"In the Sunwell lies unlimited power, and that power is yours! Start each game with 10 mana and see what you can do with it!"

The unique quality of this Brawl is that each player starts the game with 10 mana. Starting at 10 mana removes the "ramping up" phase, and makes it possible to build extremely high mana decks which would otherwise be almost unplayable. Players must construct a custom deck, with any class.

Banana Brawl!

Main article: Banana Brawl!

"Mukla is a year older, and he LOVES bananas! Whenever one of your minions dies, he gives you a Banana to celebrate!"

This Tavern Brawl sees the mighty King Mukla celebrating his birthday by granting a random Banana card to the player each time one of their minions dies. Players are able to construct custom decks using any class.

Banana cards

Notes

Tavern Brawl, promo art

Access

• Tavern Brawls have free admission.
• Tavern Brawls are only available to players with at least one level 20 hero.
• Players can play each Tavern Brawl as many times as they like while it is active.
• Only the current Tavern Brawl is accessible to players. Players are not able to access past Brawls, or challenge other players to take part in them.
• Some past Tavern Brawls will be revisited in the future.

Decks

• Tavern Brawls use unique decks, which do not take up any of the player's regular deck slots.
• "In general", cards used in Tavern Brawl decks must be drawn from the player's Collection. However, when using special premade decks players may be granted access to cards they do not own, including unique Tavern Brawl cards not available to players outside Brawls. Similar to Boss cards, special cards specific to Tavern Brawls are not available in other types of play, such as through Sneed's Old Shredder.
• The precise method for constructing a Tavern Brawl deck may vary based on the Brawl. Possibilities include player-built decks, premade decks, and at least semi-random decks. It is possible future Brawls may also alter standard deck rules, such as the 30 card limit, or limits on multiple copies of the same card.
• Brawl decks will not require or allow the player to use more than 2 copies of a card from their own collection, or more than 1 in the case of legendaries.

Matchmaking

• Unless specifically challenging a friend, players will be randomly matched against other participating players "of similar skill level".
• Initial player seeding is apparently based on rankings in other types of play. This is most likely based on Casual or Ranked mode play, or a combination of the two.
• After the initial placement, player matchmaking is controlled by the player's success in Tavern Brawls, using a hidden MMR. Tavern Brawl MMR is ongoing, and carries over from week to week.
• Co-operative Tavern Brawls are an exception, and do not use any MMR.

Rewards and quests

• During the Tavern Brawl "launch event", players will earn a free Classic card pack for their first win each week. No other rewards are planned. This is intended to prevent players from feeling they have to play, and may also be in order to allow design space for unusual and potentially uneven arrangements, which could otherwise prove frustrating for those seeking to earn repeated rewards through wins.
  • It has not been announced when the launch event will end; having begun in June 2015, it has already been extensive.
• Tavern Brawls are eligible to count toward daily quests. Wins also count toward the "10 gold per 3 wins" reward.
• There is one Brawl-specific quest, "Everybody! Get in here!", which awards 60 gold for winning 5 Tavern Brawls.
• Challenging a friend to a Tavern Brawl will not be eligible for most quests, as these matches are considered duels for these purposes.
• Players can earn experience in Tavern Brawl.

General

• Tavern Brawls are an ongoing series of individual matches, not a progressive "run" in the style of Arena.
• Tavern Brawls are released in the Americas region first, followed by the Europe, Taiwan/Korea and China regions, simultaneously, around 4 hours later. As a result, the Americas region sometimes experiences technical issues following the release of a new Brawl, serving as a testbed for the latest modifications. Despite not directly modifying other game modes, the release of a Tavern Brawl nevertheless involves changes which can cause disconnections and extended downtime for the entire game, making this testing period necessary to limit disruption to a single region. The four hour delay following the Americas release is intended to allow time for the developers to attend to any stability issues or severe bugs, before launching the Brawl in other regions.
  • As of December 2015, additional testing measures are planned, to reduce related stability issues. However, the changes will "take some time to implement".

Tavern Brawl cards

Tavern Brawl cards are special cards, heroes and Hero Powers only available to players when participating in a specific Tavern Brawl. These are usually provided through pre-made decks, although they may be granted to players directly during matches.

For a full list of known cards, see Tavern Brawl card.

History

Tavern Brawls were being discussed by the developers prior to the launch of Hearthstone. However, it was not until June 10, 2015, more than a year after the game's release, that the feature would be announced to players.

The Tavern Brawl system was added with Patch 2.7.0.9166 on June 15, but was not activated until June 17, when the first Tavern Brawl, Showdown at Blackrock Mountain, went live. In the interim period before the first Brawl, the as yet blank fourth button on the game box would begin to sparkle each time the player entered the main menu.

Captain Blackheart's Treasure was planned for release in October 2015, in order to debut the upcoming Discover mechanic. However, technical problems prevented this, and the keyword was instead announced at BlizzCon 2015 with its accompanying adventure, The League of Explorers.

On November 4, 2015, the first cooperative Tavern Brawl was released, Unite Against Mechazod!, marking the first cooperative two-player experience within the game. At the time of its creation, this was the most difficult Brawl to create yet.

In December 2015, with disconnections and downtime in the Europe region coinciding with the release of the latest Tavern Brawl becoming a regular occurrence, Blizzard announced that they would be adding additional testing measures to help prevent this in the future. Shortly afterwards it was announced that the release times for Tavern Brawls in each region would be changing: instead of debuting in the Europe region at 4pm UTC, followed by Americas at 6pm and other regions at 7pm, new Brawls would now debut in the Americas region at 5pm UTC, then in all other regions 9pm.

Trivia

• Tavern Brawls are sometime used to test or develop new mechanics, allowing the developers to observe player reactions. It also sees time spent developing the required technology, making it relatively simple to then implement the mechanic elsewhere in the game. Examples of this process include Discover. However, the developers balance the ease of experimentation with a desire to keep new mechanics fresh for players to discover in new sets. Ben Brode explains:

"There are pros and cons. The pros are obviously that we would get more confidence on balance. One of the cons is that part of the fun of card games is exploration. If we are putting it out there and a lot of it gets solved or figured out, then when we release a set it isn’t as crazy and exciting as it could be."

• As of April 2016, Tavern Brawls are primarily designed by Pat Nagle (the namesake of Nat Pagle) and Dan Emmons. The two designers "sit in a room and brainstorm", with additional inspiration from the internet and other team members. The ideas are then playtested and iterated upon with the rest of Team 5.

• Following the Gift Exchange Tavern Brawl, the 2015 winter break saw a repeat of Randomonium rather than another new Tavern Brawl. Ben Brode explained that this was partly due to there being "nobody in the office over the break to fix things if they go wrong, which new brawls are more likely to do."

• The developers considered placing the Tavern Brawl button in the third slot (currently occupied by the Arena button), which would have provided a more symmetrical appearance given the smaller amount of space available for lettering on the fourth button. However, they decided against it, possibly due to length issues in languages other than English.

• The unique chalkboard art for Tavern Brawls are created by Jomaro Kindred.

• On July 29, 2015, Showdown at Blackrock Mountain was mistakenly reprised as the seventh Tavern Brawl, sparking widespread complaint from players, who assumed this to be the intended Brawl. The correct Brawl, Too Many Portals!, replaced it around an hour later, but not until many players had already played and won games in the former Brawl, earning their weekly card pack. Zeriyah remarked, "Sometimes when you play with dimensional space, the wrong Tavern Brawl gets sucked through the portal. Whoops." A similar error has taken place with subsequent Brawls.

Gallery

There is a couple of days' downtime after each Brawl

Trying to queue into a Tavern Brawl just after it has closed

The basic Tavern Brawl interface

Patch changes

• Patch 5.0.0.12574 (2016-04-24):
  • Players can now challenge their friends to Tavern Brawls from any game screen. Previously the player had to be on the Brawl screen when issuing the challenge.
• Patch 2.7.0.9166 (2015-06-15):
  • Added.

External links

• Brace Yourself for Tavern Brawl - announcement blog (2015-06-10)