It’s time to play ball in Hearthstone’s Cloneball Tavern Brawl

It’s back to the randomness in this week’s Hearthstone Tavern Brawl, Cloneball! Are you ready to step into the ring with clones of the most Legendary cards in Hearthstone? “That’s a bold move, Cotton.” 

“If you can dodge traffic, you can dodge a ball.”  What you can’t dodge is four Ragnaroses. Wait, what’s the plural of Ragnaros? Is it Ragnaroses or Ragnarosi?

Either way, let’s get on to this week’s Tavern Brawl.

Tavern Brawl basics

• Name: Cloneball!
• Description: The legends of Azeroth are playing Cloneball! Your team is random legends, each cloned four times! Go get ’em champ!
• Fun level: 2/10
• Difficulty: 5/10
• Replayability: 7/10
• Format: Wild
• Type: PvP
• Deck: Provided
• Rewards: 1 Standard card pack (can contain cards from any set in the current Standard rotation)

For this Brawl, your deck is made up of only Legendary minions. There are no spells and no other minions. You get four copies of a random assortment of Legendaries, which can be class-specific or neutral. In rare cases, you can get the same Legendary which would give you eight copies. With Legendary cards in Hearthstone running the gamut from game breaking to totally uselessness, you’re looking at a wide range of outcomes.

The games tend to be quick. It can be difficult to make any sort of comeback if you fall behind, so you’ll see many players concede after a turn or two. This Brawl is fantastic for finishing the more grindy daily and weekly quests like the various “Play as class X, Y, or Z” or “Do X damage to the opponent’s hero.”

How to win Cloneball!

The key to this Brawl is your deck and how you use the custom spell Offensive Play. There are no board clears other than the very few available such as a Battlecry that you’ll find on Deathwing, Deathwing Mad Aspect, and Lord Godfrey. You should be safe to spam the board with minions. You still want to pressure your opponent’s face, but for the most part, grabbing and keeping control of the board is the surest path to victory.

Often, the discrepancy in power level between your deck and your opponent’s deck decides the match. If you drop a Dragoncaller Alana and your opponent slams down two Ragarnos(es? i?), It’s “Ouchtown, population: you bro!” Sn1P-Sn4P, The Lich King, Zola the Gorgon, Flik Skyshiv, Barista Lynchen, Mal’ganis, Aviana, and Archmage Vargoth  are some particularly good cards to see in your hand. Any of the powerful Colossal Legendary minions from Voyage to the Sunken City are also excellent cards to look for. [Update for November 22, 2023] Titans are another welcomed addition to your hand.

You’ll receive a copy of Offensive Play in your opening hand. This spell reduces the cost of your next Legendary minion by 3 for the rest of the game. You’ll receive another copy of the spell on turn 3 and turn 5.

On turn 1, it allows you play any Legendary with a mana cost of 4 or less. If you cast Offensive Play and play Barista Lynchen for 2 mana, then draw another Barista, that one will be 2 mana as well. You can also stack the Offensive Play spell, so you could save the one in your opening hand and cast both copies on Turn 3 for a 6 mana reductions, allowing you play any minion that cost 9 or less.

I asked my friend Ben Hearthstone for his strategies with this card.

Usually when you can seize board control. If you have a couple of the same 3 drops you can play it turn 1, but I usually save it until a little later if I have a good Legendary I can get out mid game. – Ben Hearthstone

“Thank you, Chuck Norris.” I mean Ben. He’s great follow on both Twitter and his Instagam.

Bottom line, if you want the card pack, just keep queuing up. Eventually, you’ll get a strong deck and overwhelm your opponent, or your opponent will get a lousy deck and concede. Either way you get the card pack, of course.

Originally published January 27, 2021; last updated November 22, 2023

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