Huge rewards are tempting, but is it worth playing Hearthstone’s Heroic Brawliseum?

This Wednesday, Hearthstone players will see the return of the Heroic Brawliseum. This special event mashes up the constructed and Arena Hearthstone format into one and offers incredible rewards for the winners. But is it worth playing the Heroic Brawliseum for the average Hearthstone player? Let's find out!

Hearthstone's Heroic Brawliseum, also called Heroic Brawliseum consists of a special event that raises the regular Tavern Brawl stakes to a whole new level. In contrast with the usual weekly Brawl, which is free and grants a pack after getting a win, the Heroic Brawliseum costs 1000 a ticket. This High stakes event allows players to rip off incredible rewards if they are good enough to defeat the competition.

The Heroic Brawliseum's format is similar to Hearthstone's Arena mode. Players lock in a deck and compete until they either get to 12 wins or are defeated 3 times. The substantial difference with Arena is that, in Brawliseums, there is no draft phase, and players can bring any decks they want.

As we mentioned, the rewards can be enormous, going up to 50 packs and 3 Golden Legendary cards for hitting 12 wins. While this sounds exciting, bear in mind that the rewards structure is very top-heavy.

This means that these outstanding prizes are only achievable for those who can go over 8 wins. If you hit between 6 and 8 wins you are probably breaking even.

On top of these rewards, this Hearthstone Heroic Brawliseum edition also grants the unique Ghoul Queen Scarlet Death Knight Hero Skin for those who accumulate 3 wins. These wins can be accumulated in different runs.

The first thing you need to think about before entering the Hearthstone Heroic Brawliseum is how many resources are you willing to lose. And this is regardless of your skill.

Brawliseums are great for pro players and content creators because it creates a high-stakes competitive environment. However, this doesn't mean they are convenient for every player.

While on ladder you might float a little over 50% win rate, that is why the match-making system pairs you with players at your same level. This doesn't apply to the Heroic Brawliseum. Your opponents could be Top 10 legend players since the only thing the system takes into account is how many wins you have in the current run.

This creates a hostile environment for casual Hearthstone players who see this Heroic Brawliseum and take it as an Arena run or the ordinary free weekly Brawl. That's why unless you are a highly competitive player or you have a ton of Gold in the bank, I'd advise you to opt out of the Brawl this week.

Some Hearthstone content creators were vocal about their concerns about the upcoming Heroic Brawliseum. The main critique revolves around the fact that the rewards structure is not really accessible for casual players.

Zeddy, a long-time "anti-Heroic Brawliseum activist", has been complaining about this for years. Just try to put yourself in the shoes of someone who opens the game a couple of times a week, and that is not part of the Hearthstone community. It's not hard to envision the crushing experience.

On top of that, Bunnyhoppor, the current Hearthstone World Champion, also raised his concern about this event. On the one hand, he mentions that the 3-win requirement to get the new skin might be a bit greedy on Blizzard's side. Furthermore, he emphasizes how many casual players fall into the trap of spending 1000 Gold without even having a full collection.

Most critiques can be grouped under the "stealing lunch money" category. The Heroic Brawliseum event is not for every player, but many don't have the information available to realize that.

Furthermore, these Tavern Brawls usually precede Hearthstone Mini-Sets. Hearthstone historically incentivized players to spend their gold reserves before the mid-expansion content releases worth 2000 Gold.

At least, this time thanks to a special Legendary Quest, players won't miss out on their weekly free pack. During Heroic Brawliseum week, Hearthstone will grant a free pack to anyone who wins one game of any type.

That's all for now but stay tuned to Esports.gg for more Hearthstone news and updates. See you next time in the tavern.