This week’s Hearthstone Tavern Brawl is a remix of one of the classics. “Encounter At The Crossbones” gives you a random class and a deck full of random cards that can literally contain anything. If you forgot Grimscale Oracle of Meanstreet Marshal exists, this is the Brawl for you. Every card, regardless of class, can show up in your deck. Standard rules still apply, meaning no Wild shenanigans, but drawing Forge Of Souls in Warrior is always fun.
If you haven’t had a chance to open a ton of packs and still want to try the cards out in the newest expansion, this Brawl is perfect for you. It’s a chance to get your hands on Death Knights you can’t afford or a Lich King that’s just been slightly out of your reach. I’m glad we got this out of the way in the beginning of the expansion cycle. To see this after two months of playing with these cards would be aggravating, to say the least.
It’s completely up to luck whether you win or lose, since you can’t design any aspect of your deck. You could end up with Vicious Fledgelings for days or you can end up with a Ticking Abomination on a board where you only have low health minions. If you’re only looking for your free pack, I recommend conceding if you have a terrible opening hand. It’s quicker to just lose quickly and have a better chance next time than to waste all your time.
In my first game, my opening hand had an Am’Gam Rager, Egg Napper and a Raza The Unchained, while my opponent had a Smuggler’s Run and two, three and four mana minions. I just sat around for a couple of turns and wondered if I should press concede. Then, I drew Anduin’s Death Knight and thought I had the game in the bag. That was until he played Mayor Noggenfogger and all my bolts hit me in my own face. I didn’t know Bolivar Fire Dragon could do so much damage in such a short period of time.
Even though what you get is entirely random, there’s still some stuff you can look out for. Since this is the first time we’ve seen this Brawl after the release of Knights Of The Frozen Throne , there are a ton of new cards thrown into the mix. Deathrattles are all over the place, which is a really good thing. Neutrals like Shallow Grave Digger and Skelemancer really come in handy off a top-deck. Unlike the Un’Goro card pool, which was full of powerful Beasts and strong minions, KOFT focuses on powerful spells and buffs to make your weak guys big and strong. Getting Paladin is pretty much “GG” for your opponent – there’s not a lot they can do when you’re playing Spikeridged Steed and Blessing Of Kings on Murloc Raiders.
I’m not really a fan of these purely random Tavern Brawls because they’re so boring to play. I like to do research and put care into my decks, but when Blizzard hands me a pile of random classes they found lying on the tavern floor, that’s impossible. I get my free pack, play a few more games out of boredom, and then never touch the mode again.
How do you feel about “Encounter At The Crossbones”? Tell us in the comments.
