How to win the Black Empire Recipe Hearthstone Tavern Brawl

The Reign of the Black Empire expansion has just been released for Hearthstone, and as is tradition, the Recipe Tavern Brawl is here on the first week, to let players get a taste of the new cards and mechanics for each class. This brawl pits deck recipe against deck recipe, so just pick a class and go to town.

Some decks are probably a little better than others for you, though, so keep reading and let us help you decide!

Tavern Brawl basics

Name: Black Empire Recipe!
Description: The Reign of the Black Empire is upon us! Choose a class and enjoy the latest deck recipes!
Fun level: 7/10
Difficulty: 8/10
Replayability: 8/10
Format: Standard
Type: PVP
Deck: Provided (one for each class)
Rewards: 1 Reign of the Black Empire card pack

Recipe Brawls never change, and they’re one of the simplest kinds of Brawl out there. The game asks the player to pick a class, and provides them with the latest deck recipes for that class (the same one that any player can access when building a new deck). The goal is to showcase the latest cards and mechanics for that class in the latest expansion.

So just make sure to pick a class you’re familiar with, or one that has a play style that sounds interesting to you. But some classes definitely might be easier than others.

How to win the Black Empire Recipe Tavern Brawl

Basically, you get to pick whichever class or playing style fits you better, so here’s a brief description of each one:

• Death Knight: If you’re familiar with Heralds and Deathwing, good news: they’re still here. Other than that, it’s a triple Blood Rune deck, which means lots of control, healing, health increases, and more control. Besides Deathwing and Y’Shaarj, the false Old God G’huun is your most likely tool to seal the deal.
• Demon Hunter: No Old Gods on this one: instead, you have lots of Rush minions, including some big ones, and the new Legendary Broodqueen Sha’kar, if activated correctly (play it after five minions have died that turn), lets you turn your Rush minions into Charge minions for the rest of the game! No further explanation needed.
• Druid: This deck is all about Beasts. You’ll play them, buff them, get more of then, buff them even more (with Freya), and eventually overwhelm your opponent with really big Endangered Dodos and Power Tigers. In the meantime, you control the board with Hero attacks.
• Hunter: Mech Hunter is back! You’ll summon lots of Mechs and also lots of other minions, Mech or not, with Deathrattle effects. N’Zoth is your Old God of choice, getting cheaper for each Deathrattle minion you summoned, but you also have other endgame tools like Magmaw and the Reload spell for powerful effects.
• Mage: Yogg take the wheel! This deck has a lot of spells, and thanks to Jailbreak Milhouse, your spells will end up summoning minions too (doubled up if you have Khadgar). It doesn’t matter how many times your opponent wipes your board, you keep coming back — and your spells and random effects give you the chance to find something great to close the game.
• Paladin: A midrange/tempo-oriented deck that deals a lot of constant damage with Holy spells, and then doubles down on those spells via the Legendary minion Amitut. Your goal is to always be ahead of the opponent, making sure your board is stronger and your strong minions and spells are enough to crush them before they reach their own endgame.

• Priest: This deck relies heavily on Blade of the Black Empire. If you get it soon, keep casting Shadow spells every turn — don’t worry, you have enough of them — to keep dealing Fatigue damage to your opponent. Your C’Thun effects can also help you a lot. It’s a fun deck, but so dependent on the Blade that you might struggle if you can’t play it early.
• Rogue: We hope you enjoy combos, and larvae! This deck is filled with them. Those larvae, when played as Combo minions (which is trivial), get special effects that quickly add up, and then get much stronger when you add the effects of Wandering Seeker and The Unknowable One, in addition to enabling your Aqir Goliaths. It has a few of the shenanigans that Rogue is used to, plus Garona to give your opponent a bad time (protip: play her immediately after spending your last Kingslayers charge).
• Shaman: Another C’Thun deck, this time aided by Therazane, and lots and lots of spells of several different schools: Shadow, Nature, Frost, Fire, it’s all here. You get the usual Shaman stuff like Rush minions, constant spell damage that slowly accumulates, and flooding your own board with minion after minion after minion. This recipe is honestly a little more boring than the others, but it can be efficient if you know how to play it.
• Warlock: C’Thun again! But Warlock still uses Godfrey the Betrayer to keep filling your hand with no fear of overdrawing, and spells that synergize with holding a ton of cards. The new thing this time are the Ritual cards, which give you some effects that only trigger after a few turns, but if you get to complete at least one, when you play Kith’ix you get to play a super powerful Sinister Ritual of your choice. If you liked how Warlock already played before Black Empire, this might be the deck for you.
• Warrior: Control Warrior is back — no Pirates or Dragon this time, but Armor, lots of Armor. Your endgame is all about playing minions like Setesh and Brassknuckle Brawler, which play off all of that Armor, and you’ll also be summoning Golems throughout the game and using your own Armor to buff them. So it’s a different spice on Control Warrior, where your Armor isn’t there just to defend you, but also to turn into threats for your opponent.

Hopefully you’ve find a class or recipe that you liked. So pick your favorite, and best of luck!