Hearthstone ups the ante (literally) with the pricey Heroic Brawliseum Tavern Brawl

This week’s Hearthstone Tavern Brawl, Heroic Brawliseum, is a strange amalgamation of the Arena and the Ladder. Like Arena, this Brawl has an entry fee and a “three strikes and you’re out” mechanic that finishes your run as soon as you loose three matches. Unlike Arena, there’s no draft, which means you’re going to have to craft your own deck in order to play. That makes this week’s Brawl both a challenging experience and an expensive way to play — because it costs either 1000 Runestones (about $10) or 1000 gold to enter the Brawliseum.

Fortunately, even if you don’t play this, you can still get a free pack this week. You should see a Legendary Quest called “Call of the Brawl” which will provide a pack for playing 1 game of any mode.

But if you’re willing to pay for this Tavern Brawl, you can earn some nice rewards. So let’s dig into how to win the Heroic Brawliseum Tavern Brawl.

Tavern Brawl basics

• Name: Heroic Brawliseum
• Description: Make a Standard deck to compete with the best! Stakes are high, the competition is intense. More wins means more rewards. Can you make it to 12 wins, or will 3 losses end your run?
• Fun level: 3/10
• Difficulty: 10/10
• Replayability: 3/10
• Format: Standard
• Type: PVP
• Deck: Constructed
• Rewards: Varies based upon how much you win

Step one to playing this week’s brawl to get your wallet. The entry fee is either 1000 Runestones ($10) or 1000 in-game gold — that’s significantly pricier than an Arena run, but the rewards are potentially better as well — if you win. Once you’ve paid your entry fee, you’ll need to build a Standard deck before starting your first game. The game itself it plays out exactly like a normal match — use your awesome cards and bring your opponent’s life total to zero.

You continue your run by playing additional games until you experience the thrill of 12 victories or the agony of three defeats, whichever comes first. Fortunately you can stop between games and come back later to continue your run, so you don’t need to have a marathon play session to win. Every victory increases the difficulty of your next opponent. If you have four wins, you’re matched up against other players who also have four wins.

But each victory also upgrades the chest your get at the end of your run. Here’s a handy dandy chart of the winnings:

Can you win enough to make the entry fee worth it? If we assume 1 pack equals 100 gold, the the break even point is somewhere around 7 or 8 wins depending on how you want to value the Arcane Dust into your equation.

How to win the Heroic Brawliseum Tavern Brawl

Most Constructed Brawls fall into their own meta, but with this Brawl, the Brawl meta is the Standard Ladder meta. You’ll see the same decks that dominate on the Ladder — so if you play much Standard ranked Hearthstone, this Brawl will be very familiar. Like most Constructed Brawls, the key to winning is building a good deck and piloting it well.

With the high $10 admission fee to this Brawl, if you’re not familiar with the Hearthstone meta, or don’t have a large card collection, I strongly recommend you skip this Brawl. And even if you are familiar with the Standard meta, stick to proven decks: this isn’t the time to try something new or off meta. Stick to the tried and true decks, and think about consistency over big plays. Survive and advance should be your mindset.

Here are five decks that have high win rates on the Standard Ladder and should serve you well in the Heroic Brawliseum Tavern Brawl. The first two, Spell Token Hunter, and Flood Paladin, are considered the “best” Standard decks you can play.

Top Standard Decks for Heroic Brawliseum

Spell Token Hunter

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This deck relies on a bevy of cheap minions, plus spells that summon or buff those cheap minions, to get ahead in the early game. All those spells give you a nice discount on Mantle Shaper. Aggramar the Avenger, and Zilliax Deluxe 3000 are your late game plays. It’s nice seeing Leeroy Jenkins back as a finisher, but your opponent might not agree. Paladin seems like a tough matchup, but if you like more aggressive, Zoo style decks, this might be your ticket to twelve wins.

Flood Paladin

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Flood Paladin shares a similar game plan to Spell Token Hunter. You’re putting lots of little minions on the board for your opponent to deal with. With both players filling the board, you’ll see early Sea Giants, and a very cheap Prismatic Beam. This deck abuses Divine Shield and Reborn to create a sticky board. Also like Spell Token Hunter, you’ve got the new and improved Zilliax Deluxe 3000 plus Leeroooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooy Jenkinsssssssssssssssssssss as your finishers.

Highlander Warrior

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In WoW, I played Paladin, but when it comes to Hearthstone, I’m more of a Warrior main. As a Warrior main, I love this deck. It’s got tons of Armor gain, and gives you access to Aftershocks and Bellowing Flame to help you deal with the popular zoo style decks of Spell Token Hunter and Flood Paladin.

It can compete with many other decks on the Standard ladder. The problem with these Highlander style decks is inconsistency. While most of your cards cost less than 5 mana, the deck still has several expensive cards. You can sometimes wind up with a hand that isn’t great for the current board state. This is a high risk, high reward deck to run in this Brawliseum format. But on the Ladder, it’s a ton of fun.

Shopping Demon Hunter

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This deck is built around the 5 mana Demon, Window Shopper. In this meta, 5 mana is considered “late game”, but this deck is ready to compete. Besides Window Shopper, the only other card that costs more than 5 mana is the popular Zilliax Deluxe 3000. With as much as you have to use your face to clear enemy minions, you want to make sure you get good value out of Ball Hog.

Pain Warlock

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It’s always nice to see a classic strategy like Pain Warlock get a renaissance. The idea is you use cards like Flame Imp, Spirit Bomb, Malefic Rock, and Blood Treant to damage your own Hero. Then you get discounted Molten Giants, and Imprisoned Horrors that you can copy with Forge of Wills. Plus, Sheriff Barrellbrim can open the Badlands jail. You’ve only got one life gain in the form of Pop’gar the Putrid so use it wisely.

Are you feeling lucky?

If your main use of Tavern Brawls is to enjoy a rollicking good time where the size of your card collection may not matter much, the only winning play this week might be to not play. If you’re going to play, I’d suggest playing early in the week — Wednesday or Thursday — when you still have people trying out the Brawl. Later in the week, it will likely serious players only.

If you’re just looking for your pack, remember the “Call of the Brawl” quest. You can play Casual, Ranked, or even Battlegrounds to earn your win — and your free pack.

If you’re consistently hitting high ranks on the Standard Ladder and are confident in your abilities, there are some fantastic prizes to be had. Best of luck to you if you choose to venture in!

Originally published September 23, 2020; last updated May 1, 2024