We bought a zoo in the Just Macaws Hearthstone Tavern Brawl

Hunters take over this week with the Just Macaws Tavern Brawl. As the description implies, this Brawl is a successor to the Spiders, Spiders, EVERYWHERE Tavern Brawl. Where that Brawl featured Webspinners, this Brawl seeds your deck with Jeweled Macaws. Introduced in the Journey to Un’Goro set, Jeweled Macaw is a Beast with Battlecry “Add a random Beast to your hand.” Originally introduced as a 1/1, it was later buffed to a 1/2.

Tavern Brawl basics

• Name: Just Macaws
• Description: Webspinners are so passé, macaws on the other hand…macaws are the future! Take flight with a deck of 23 Jeweled Macaws and 7 random class spells.
• Fun level: 6/10
• Difficulty: 6/10
• Replayability: 9/10
• Format: Wild
• Type: PvP
• Deck: Provided
• Rewards: 1 Standard pack (can contain any card from any set in the current Standard rotation.)

All you need to do to get started is select a class, then you’ll be playing your Macaws and seeing what Beasts you get. This is Wild Brawl so you’ll see all manner of “wild” animals. You can even get a Jeweled Macaw off your Jeweled Macaw.

How to win Just Macaws Tavern Brawl

Your first decision is your class. Hunter is the obvious pick, since they have many cards that synergize with Beasts. Druids also have many Beast synergy cards, plus they have a strong Hero Power. While Rogue and Mage can both easily kill a Jeweled Macaw with their Hero Power, Demon Hunter is the only class that can do it without a tempo loss.

Much of the game is decided by what Beasts you get and what spells you get. Mulligan away all the Macaws in your opening hand. You’ll most likely just get them all back, but there’s a chance you’ll get one or more of your class spells — you only have seven, and you want to fish for them. Think of them kind of like D&D spells and treat each one preciously. The main way to swing tempo is with the spells you get. An early AOE can give you a lead that will be hard for your opponent to recover from. You want to know what your options are as early as you can.

This Brawl is all about tempo. Grab the board, make good trades, and never give your opponent a chance to dictate to the trades. Scorp-o-matic is a fantastic tempo play. Beasts with Rush (Springpaw, Vicious Scalehide, Diving Griffon, Amani Warbear) are good cards to generate. Zixxor, Apex Predator or any of the Beast Colossals are awesome. Malorne can be quite difficult for your opponent to deal with. If you can get even the tiniest bit ahead on the board, Mukla’s Champion can seal the game. An early taunt like Igneous Lavegorger can help you gain initiative. Watch out for a Bittertide Hydra. It’s basically a dead card in your hand.

If you want to win, keep on queuing

If you want the card pack, just keep queuing up. As with most random Brawls, eventually the cards will fall in your favor and carry you to the win.

Originally published July 30, 2020; last updated February 14, 2024.