Hearthstone: Heroes of Free to Play is a series in which I document my adventures starting off fresh with a new account and playing the game without ever paying any real money. Previous parts: One. Two. Three. Four.
Tavern Brawl
This week, I’ve decided to write about something that’s been giving me trouble for a while playing as a free-to-play: Tavern Brawls. This came to a head this past week with the Miniature Warfare Brawl. Players with complete collections dominated the brawl with a variety of One Turn Kill and First Turn Kill decks. It took me nearly an hour to scrape out a single win for the first win pack that is offered every week.
For me, Tavern Brawl is a mixed bag. Brawls that include premade decks feel accessible for all players, regardless of collection or skill level. However, whenever a Tavern Brawl is set to use decks sourced from players’ collections, it is much harder to reach the weekly reward. It feels unfun to face the same deck 5-10 times, being absolutely overrun each time. However, some constructed Brawls are actually fun as a free-to-play with a small collection. Take for example the enchantments Brawl which allowed players a choice of 4 different options to bolster their deck. There are many strong Battlecry minions in the Soulbound set, allowing construction options even for the smallest of collections. This is much more fun to play than Tavern Brawls where my faced gets smashed in the ground repeatedly until I bow into submission for the hundredth time. Blizzard seems to still be unsure of their approach to Tavern Brawls, but since they are supposed to be a testing ground and “for fun,” that’s acceptable. The only problem is that a feature designed for players who are not extremely competitive sometimes backfires when all the competitive players get in on the action.
On the other hand, my collection has been growing. I’ve been playing a steady Zoo for a while now, and I feel that it may soon come time to switch yet again. I’ve unlocked and beaten the third wing of Naxxramas, earning me Baron Rivendare and several other powerful cards. Next time, I think I will tell of my experiences in playing an adapted version of the Egg Druid deck which Stephen recently wrote about. It is by far not a top tier deck, but it looks fun and seems like a good break from a much more serious deck- Zoo. However, I except to do well with it even despite its relative inability to climb, since I am not aiming for Legend quite yet. That must await until I can grind enough cards for a tier one deck, and at the rate I’m going at, that may not be for a year or so.
You May Like
Since I did not do so well in the Tavern Brawl of OTKs, I don’t really have any screenshots or videos of me playing worth showing. Instead, I’ll leave you with some highlights provided by a YouTuber Today in Hearthstone:
