Hearthstone's Tavern Brawl mode adds rotating weekly challenges

Two days ago, Blizzard teased a new mode for its popular free-to-play card game, Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft. Today the developer has spilled the beans on what this addition actually is: tavern brawl, a new mode that will mix up the regular gameplay and decks currently available in the game.

Tavern brawl mode will pit players against each other using special challenges, new rulesets or custom decks. Sometimes a tavern brawl will force players to use a specific preset deck, while other times it will task players with putting together a new deck based on unusual guidelines.

There will be a new tavern brawl offered every week, but the events will only run Wednesday through Sunday. Players will not be able to select the mode on Mondays and Tuesdays, while the next event is being spun up.

Blizzard says tavern brawl will be "free to enter when the new mode becomes available," but it's unclear if the mode will eventually cost an in-game gold or real money entry fee similar to Hearthstone's arena mode. Blizzard also notes that players will earn a free card pack for winning their first brawl every week "during the launch period," though it doesn't specify how long the launch period will run.

Tavern brawl will be coming to Hearthstone in patch 2.7, which will also introduce purchasable cosmetic hero options and the ability to tie your decks to specific card backs that you've unlocked. Blizzard has not offered a specific time for the patch but says that tavern brawl will be available in mid-June.

If you're interested in silly rule changes to Hearthstone, watch us break the game by choosing left cards only in an arena run in the video below.