Your guide to Return of Mechazod, the toughest Hearthstone Tavern Brawl ever

Gearmaster Mechazod is back and more challenging than ever in Return of Mechazod, this week’s Hearthstone Tavern Brawl. Last time, Uther and Anduin joined forces to vanquish this mechanical menace, but this time around it’s up to the alliterative team of Malfurion and Medivh.

Victory can only come by working together.

Tavern Brawl basics

• Name: Return of Mechazod
• Description: Mechazod wants a rematch! This time new allies stand against him. Good luck with this return co-op brawl!
• Fun level: 3/10
• Difficulty: 10/10
• Replayability: 6/10
• Format: Wild
• Type: Coop
• Deck: Provided
• Rewards: 1 Standard Pack (This pack can contain any card from any set in the current Standard rotation).

This is a cooperative Brawl. What’s gonna work? Teamwork!  If either you or the other player die, it’s game over for the both of you. You might get unlucky, and your partner doesn’t understand the whole “cooperation” thing. If he say, launches a Fireball at your Hero, just concede.

The Mechazod token will switch sides each turn to allow each player to attack him. After switching sides, Mechazod will cast one of four spells:

• Overclock – increase his attack by 2.
• Double Zap – deal his attack damage to each Hero. I’ve started calling this “double tap” because it will kill you dead.
• Prioritize – kill the highest attack minion.
• Bomb Salvo – deal damage equal to Mechazod’s attack to three random enemies. This can include the Heroes.

Overclock can quickly spiral out of control. Double Zap keeps the pressure on while Prioritize and Bomb Salvo make any kind of board difficult to maintain.

Mechazod has a fifth spell called Kill Lorewalker Cho. He will cast it the turn after Lorewalker Cho hits the board. It does exactly what it says it does.

How to win Return of Mechazod

Let’s just be upfront about it. This Brawl is onerous and painful. You must work together with the other player, which isn’t always easy with no way to communicate. Your main path to victory is Medivh building up Spell Damage for powerful spells, and Malfurion flooding the board with tokens to combine with Savage Roar for a big attack run. Both players need to pull off their part with some degree of success to have a chance to win.

And be sure you never end your turn with a full board: if there’s nowhere for Mechazod to go when it’s time to swap sides, he’ll wipe your board. If that happens, there’s little chance to recover. While it’s a bigger concern for the Druid player, the Mage player should make sure he doesn’t finish with a full board either.

There’s also a little bit of luck involved with Mechazod’s spells. The more often he gets Overclock, the harder the game is going to be — so you want to close this match out fast.

Medivh player strategy

Build up as much Spell Damage as possible and blast away with your Arcane Blast, Forgotten Torch, Fireball, and Pyroblast. Save some cheap spells for when the Druid drops his Troggzor the Earthinator.

Brann is a key card. If you’re going to combine him with Coldlight Oracle, makes sure you check both your hand and the Druid’s hand. You can’t afford for either of you to burn cards. Refreshment Vendor heals both players for 8 with Brann on the board, making it a great play to stabilize if you’re both getting low. Even though Druid has healing, don’t be afraid to use your Earthen Ring Farseer on him if he’s in trouble.

Malfurion player strategy

Violet Teacher and Force of Nature are key for getting a wide board. The Bananas you get from the Mage’s King Mukla are ideal for Violet Teacher. When you get a decent board, use Savage Roar to dump a burst of damage into Mechazod — but don’t wait too long since a Bomb Salvo will decimate your minions.

The only Secret the Mage has is Mirror Entity. Use it well. If your Feugen/Stalagg has already died, dropping the other one with Mirror Entity up will give both players a chance to use a Thaddius. As temping as it might be, there’s little benefit in attacking with Malfurion’s Hero Power, because you don’t want to take any more damage than you have to.

You’re generally better off using Ancient of Lore for healing and Grove Tender for mana. Both decks have decent card draw options. and Coldlight Oracle draws for both players.

Don’t drop your Loremaster Cho unless you’ve got some spells to cast to give to the Mage. Healing Touch is a good option, but Wrath can work, too. Try to save Millhouse Manastorm for when there’s some Spell Damage on the board. You’ve got access to more Healing than the Mage, so make the most of it. Don’t drop a Zombie Chow unless the Mage is under 25 HP.

Don’t get frustrated and you’ll eventually win

One way to get around the communication problem is to challenge a friend to the Brawl. You’ll play together and have a better chance. Otherwise, it’s hard to say what kind of teammate you’ll wind up with.

The reward is just a pack. If you get too frustrated, try another mode or even another game for a bit.

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