This week’s Hearthstone Tavern Brawl is Battle of the Bans

This week’s Hearthstone Tavern Brawl is one of the most interesting we’ve seen in a while.

Inspired by the popular concert gimmick, “Battle of the Bands,” this week’s Brawl is called the Battle of the Bans. Though this Brawl originally debuted in March 2019, it hasn’t shown up often. It’s likely this will be the first time many players have encountered this Brawl since this is only its third appearance in the Tavern.

The rules behind the Battle of the Bans is simple. Each player selects four cards. At the beginning of the match, your opponent will get the chance to ban one of your four cards. Hearthstone will then automatically build you a deck using only the remaining three cards. While banning, one of your opponent’s four cards will appear as a mystery card. You can choose to either ban the mystery card or one of the three cards you can see.

This Tavern Brawl is surprisingly fun—and for good reason. The number of deck combinations that are potentially viable gives this Brawl a sense of replayability that most other Brawls lack. A popular list that you’ll find success with if you want to play as a Mage is Arcane Missiles, Research Project, Sorcerer’s Apprentice, and Flamewaker.

This list is successful because it can still work regardless of which card your opponent bans. Though the deck definitely works better with Sorcerer’s Apprentice and Arcane Missile, neither of them are necessary. Lists that employ two similar strategies that can’t be banned out by one card will help you find the most success. You also shouldn’t underestimate the power of low-cost direct damage spells like Soul Fire and Eye Beam. While playing as Warlock or Demon Hunter, both of these cards are a worthy inclusion.

If you want the quickest path to victory, we recommend Machine Gunning your opponent with infinite Arcane Missiles through the Sorcerer’s Apprentice, Arcane Missiles, and Research Project combo. If you’re able to get two Sorcerer’s Apprentices on the board, you’ll have an infinite loop to victory.

You can play the Battle of the Bans Tavern Brawl for the next week. Your first win will net you a classic card pack.