This week’s Hearthstone Tavern Brawl is “Battle For The Crater,” which pits Beasts against Elementals in the ultimate brawl to figure out which Journey To Un’Goro deck is stronger. Each deck is preconstructed, giving you either a deck full of every Elemental or Beast in Hearthstone. You also get a random class, but you can still get minions from other classes, so every single aspect of this Brawl is up to the RNG gods. You can get a Druid with Tyrantus or a Ravenous Pterrordax or Kalimos in Priest. It’s a fun Brawl, but winning can be kind of tricky.
With Knights Of The Frozen Throne a little over a week away, I wish Blizzard gave us a slightly more unique Brawl. The Journey To Un’Goro cards have been out for months and I’ve seen every single one of the expansion’s bad boys dozens of times. Playing with cards I’m well acquainted with in a game mode that’s supposed to bring exciting new rules is kind of boring. I hope next week we’ll get to see the Lich King and play with some of the new set’s insane cards.
I’ve broken up my tips into two parts, one for Beasts and the other for Elementals.
Beastie Boys- When I first started playing this Brawl, I kept getting Beast over and over. My starting hands (after mulligans) had Volcanosaurs and Direhorn Hatchlings taking up my precious space every single time. I kept losing badly to the early curve of Elementals, their synergy quickly flooding the board before I had any chance to fight back. It didn’t matter if I had Uther or Gul’dan, I just couldn’t seem to keep up with the combos of the elements. If I did get an early game card, it would be Clutchmother Zavas, a card so bad and useless that it makes Lorewalker Cho look like Ragnaros.
Eventually, after way too many attempts, I did manage to get a win with the Beasts. Through sheer force of will and a great early game hand with Razorfen Hunter, I was able to curve out a strong board that couldn’t be cleared by Fire Plume Phoenix or Kalimos, which finally allowed me to push for game. Winning with Beasts is a lot harder than winning with Elementals, especially if you get a crappy class. Priest and Rogue have enough clear to make them worthy opponents to the rock gods, but Hunters and Warriors are going to struggle. In order to win as Beasts you’ll need to use Charged Devilsaur well, can’t waste it on killing a baby Crystalline Oracle.
Elemental Energy- Winning as Un’goro’s best archetype is a little easier, in my opinion. I had zero problem curving out with Igneous Elemental and Hot Spring Guardian, giving me the proper resources I need to take the early game. Servant Of Kalimos, Lightspawn and Frost Elemental dealt with the sturdy Beasts with taunt and huge body of Volcanosaur. By turn eight, I either had the game won or had a Ragnaros or Kalimos in my hand, ready to end it all. There are better Elementals than Beasts in this game, but just because you get the better archetype doesn’t mean you’ve already won.
Elementals are a double-edged sword: their good cards are OP, but the bad ones are nearly unplayable. Dropping an Ozrock with 15 health sounds like a game changer, but with King Mosh or Tyrantus waiting in the wings, that rock Legendary doesn’t seem that good. Don’t waste your good cards, like Fire Plume Phoenix or Servant Of Kalimos and you should have no problem winning this Brawl.
