How to win Hearthstone’s Three Wishes Tavern Brawl, with a little help from Zephrys the Great

This week’s Hearthstone Tavern Brawl focuses on a specific card: Zephrys the Great, a Legendary minion with an interesting Battlecry. If your deck has no duplicates, Zephrys will let you wish for the perfect card, giving you a Discover screen with three cards ideal for the current state of the game based upon both players’ boards, your available mana, both players’ health totals and armor, both players’ classes, both players’ deck sizes, and how many cards are in your hand and in your opponent’s hand. Even if you don’t get the perfect card, you’ll always get something you can use.

The Three Wishes Tavern Brawl follows the same premise, so get ready to make some wishes.

Tavern Brawl basics

• Name: Three Wishes
• Description: Zephrys has blessed you with a random deck and 3 Wishes! And no wishing for more wishes!
• Fun level: 3/10
• Difficulty: 5/10
• Replayability: 9/10
• Format: Wild
• Type: PVP
• Deck: Provided
• Rewards: 1 Standard pack. This can contain cards from any set in the current Standard rotation.

After you select your Hero, you’ll receive a deck of random cards. In your opening hand will be “First Wish.” It works just like Zephrys the Great’s Battlecry, only without the requirement for no duplicates. When you play “First Wish,” the “Second Wish” is shuffled into your deck. Once you draw and play “Second Wish,” a “Third Wish” is shuffled into your deck.

You’re provided a deck so the size of your card collection doesn’t matter. I feel like I type this almost every week now, but the deck is full of random cards. Activate autotext! “You’ll find everything from Legendary cards to Basic cards in your deck. You’ll have some class cards and some neutrals, but there are no strict ratios — it’s all random. The random aspect of the decks gives the Brawl great replayability, but limits the fun.”

How to win the Three Wishes Tavern Brawl

Keep queuing and you’ll eventually win on the shuffle. There are going to be games where you’ll just have more powerful cards than your opponent and run them over. There will be other games where you’re on the receiving end.

There are some strategic points to consider. It’s often a good play to cast the First Wish on turn 1. You’ll likely get a Flame Imp which can give you a great start. It almost forces your opponent to cast their Wish to answer. Be careful to not overcommit to the board until you know your opponent has cast his last Wish, because if you have a strong board when they do, they’ll get a Twisting Nether and reset you quick. You want to be the player with the last “Third Wish” to close out the game.

Don’t give up, even if the situation seems hopeless and you’re losing to a rug. You never know when you’ll draw your next wish for that perfect answer you need to flip the script and pull victory from the jaws of defeat.

I know they say no wishing for more wishes, but there are several ways to get around that uh… proviso. For instance, Augmented Elekk, Electra Stormsurge, and Zul’jin could all net you an extra wish, although there’s no guarantee any of them will be in your deck. Rogues have more options like Mimic Pod, Thistle Tea, or the hero power of Valeera the Hollow, but again: no guarantees. So while you might get a fourth wish, don’t count on it.

Good luck with this week’s Brawl, everyone!

Originally published March 24, 2021; last updated October 16, 2024.