Hearthstone Tavern Brawls will change the rules once a week

Hearthstone ostensibly takes place in one big tavern, bringing Warcraft heroes together for drinks and cards. With all those strong personalities, gloating victories, and stinging defeats in one room, it was only a matter of time before some pretty spectacular fights broke out. Welcome to Hearthstone's fourth mode, Tavern Brawl.

Headed to the game in mid-June, Tavern Brawl will let players jump into matches with unique, shifting rulesets. One week may make certain types of minions stronger, while the next might require you to build and play an entirely new deck following certain off-kilter guidelines. It sounds like a fun way to regularly shake up familiar Hearthstone conventions without disturbing the rest of the game.

You'll need to have at least one hero at level 20 before you can take part in a Tavern Brawl, but otherwise you can challenge friends or play with strangers as much as you like for free. Each brawl will only be open for a few days, though, so make sure you get your fill before Blizzard pulls it down in preparation for next week's event.

As a launch celebration bonus, the first several weeks' worth of brawls will award players a free card pack for their first victory with the new rules. Significantly less free are the new Hearthstone heroes (AKA new aesthetic options for existing classes) which will also be introduced in patch 2.7.

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