Hearthstone welcomes the Brawl of Champions

This week’s Tavern Brawl looks to breathe life into some new Champions who were introduced in Rastakhan’s Rumble. Each new Tavern Brawl introduces a unique game type and set of rules that alter how a game of Hearthstone would usually be played.

The new Brawl has been dubbed the “Brawl of Champions.” This Brawl is a three week series of special modes and mechanics that will change slightly as the weeks progress. Similar to the Rumble Run solo player mode, for this Brawl each player will start by choosing a Champion.

The Champion will be class-based and award you a specific Shrine. Like in the solo mode, each Shrine has a specific ability tied to your class. Shrines appear on the board as minions and have a health total. Your opponent can destroy your Shrine just like they would destroy any minion. Unlike minions, however, Shrines will come back to life three turns after they are destroyed.

Each Champion comes with a premade deck. Champion’s libraries will be filled with cards that are included specifically to play to the benefit of that Champion’s Shrine. For example, the Mage Champion Hex Lord Malacras comes equipped with a Shrine that makes your Hero Power cost zero and causes it to refresh whenever it kills a minion.

The Hex Lord’s deck comes equipped with a pair of Daring Fire-Eaters that allow you to buff your Hero power to deal significantly more damage in a single turn. It also includes cards like Blackwald Pixie that cause your Hero Power to refresh when it comes into play. The amount of damage you are able to deal with your Hero Power in a single turn is flabbergasting if you draw the right cards.

Each class has their own unique playstyle built around the power of their Shrine just like Malacras. Over the three-week period updates are expected to come that change Champions’ decks and Shrines. This is a pretty unique way to keep the Brawl exciting and keeping players feeling refreshed.

If you log on during the event, you’ll be incentivized to play with a quest that invites you to try Tavern Brawl three times in exchange for a Rastakhan’s Rumble pack. The quest will be called “For the Glory of Rastakhan” and is luckily repeatable. The quest will be available each Wednesday when the Tavern Brawl refreshes. This means when updates come, you’ll have a reason to step back into the Brawl besides just testing out your favorite Champion’s new deck.

This concept is a surefire way to keep players engaged in the Brawl and seeing developers include Rastakhan’s Rumble characters as Champions is a nice touch. Players will have a total of nine Champions to choose from, one for each class. The Brawl of Champions begins Feb. 13 and concludes March 3. Be sure to give it a shot in order to rack up some free packs.