Update: Since Patch 32.0 has just dropped, Pre-Release Brawl is now live. You can open your Emerald Dream packs early and participate in a limited Constructed Brawl that uses the new cards. Additionally, Community Days are live until March 22 – Twitch drops are active across the whole Hearthstone category. Get up to 10 card packs for watching.The specifics packs were also changed last minute – now it’s 5 Emerald Dream + 5 GDB packs!
Since the reveal season is over and we now know all cards from the new expansion, it’s time to enter the pre-release stage with a few cool events, even including something for more competitive players.
We’re starting off with the usual Theorycrafting Streams on March 13, where streamers get an early access to the new content (but they have to folllow special deck building rules of including at least 10 new cards). The official Theorycasting stream is also back (March 13 at 9 AM PT / 17:00 CET), you can catch all the action in one place with commentary from Sottle, Lorinda, Edelweiss, and PocketTrain. Twitch drops will be enabled, earn two Emerald Dream packs for watching.
Then, Community Days return on March 18. For a few days, Twitch drops will be active across the whole Hearthstone category. Watch your favorite streamers and earn 10 free card packs – Update: 5x Emerald Dream + 5x Great Dark Beyond (in 3 separate, drops, 2 hours per drop).
As for the more involved event, Pre-Release Tavern Brawl is making a return on March 18. Open your new expansion card packs (from pre-order, drops and in-game events), then build a deck consisting only of Core Set & Event Set, The Great Dark Beyond (without StarCraft mini-set) and Into the Emerald Dream cards. Play until 6 wins or 3 losses, get rewards based on your performance (with a breakthrough point around 3 wins). The first entry is free, further entries cost either 300 Gold or 2 Tavern Tickets.
Blizzard also announced the huge balance update coming in Patch 32.0 in the same blog post, but I’ve rounded them up in a separate post, so be sure to check them out.
And finally, we’re getting the first Esports Open Qualifier on March 21. The event will be played on Patch 32.0, so after the aforementioned balance changes, but before the expansion’s launch. Sign-ups are open now. If you’re looking to participate, we wish you the best of luck!
Read more in the official blog post below:
The Year of the Raptor fast approaches as we enter the final days before the launch of Into the Emerald Dream. Brew up some decks, watch your favorite creators, check out upcoming balance changes, and join in the fun yourself in the Pre-Release Tavern Brawl; we’re planning quite the slumber party!
Theorycrafting Streams with Drops (March 13-14)
Join your favorite content creators as they take their first steps Into the Emerald Dream and theorycraft the new expansion. Featured players will be streaming their participation on their own personal streams, so make sure you’re following your favorite creators when they go live!
NA/LATAM/EMEA players will play on March 13, 9:00 a.m. – 9:00 p.m. (PDT)
APAC players will play on March 14, 2:00 a.m. – 8:00 a.m. (PDT)
All participants need to include at least 10 Into the Emerald Dream cards in their decks (that can be 10 individual cards, 5 duplicates, or anything in between).
It’s a recurring dream! Your favorite casters will be returning for their Theorycasting stream on the official Hearthstone Twitch channel. Join them as they watch our theorycrafters dream up their creations, casting over games across participating players.
Sottle, Raven, Lorinda, and Edelweiss will return to Theorycasting on March 14, 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. (PDT)
Twitch Drops will be enabled category-wide from March 13, 9:00 a.m. to March 14, 9:00 a.m. (PDT), so you can watch any Hearthstone stream you’d like to earn up to 2 Into the Emerald Dream packs (make sure you link your Twitch and Battle.net accounts so that your viewing time counts towards the drops). On top of that, participating streams will have Pre-Purchase Mega Bundle codes to give away to their audiences during the event!
Pre-Release Tavern Brawl Returns (March 18-25)
Starting with Patch 32.0, slip Into the Emerald Dream early in the returning Pre-Release Tavern Brawl. Open your Into the Emerald Dream packs early, build a deck, compete in a mini-competition, and earn prizes from the new expansion!
All players will get one entry into the Pre-Release Tavern Brawl for free. After that, each entry will cost 2 Tavern Tickets, 300 Gold, or 400 Runestones. On each run, lock in a deck and play until you get either 6 wins or 3 losses and earn more new cards based on how well you do!
In this second iteration of the Pre-Release Tavern Brawl, we are adjusting the eligible card pool to be the Core Set (pre-rotation), the Event Set (pre-rotation), The Great Dark Beyond (without the Heroes of StarCraft Mini-Set), and Into the Emerald Dream.
Dev Comment: This card pool was selected after feedback from the first Pre-Release Tavern Brawl told us you wanted to explore the new cards more and see less of the older cards. At the same time, we want to make sure that you have enough eligible cards to build complete decks—even if you didn’t buy any Pre-Purchase Bundles—so we didn’t want to fully remove all non-Emerald Dream cards from the event, either. We excluded the Heroes of StarCraft Mini-Set because its cards tend to be used together in bunches. We used the pre-rotation versions of the Core Set and Event Set because it avoided confusion and technical issues stemming from two versions of those sets being live at once. In our testing, this felt like a good balance of those competing interests, but we’ll keep listening to feedback and iterating on this event until we find what works best, so let us know what you think!
Community Days and More Drops (March 18-22)
Community Days return with free packs you can use in the Pre-Release Tavern Brawl! From March 18, 10:00 a.m. (PDT) to March 22, 10:00 a.m. (PDT), you can get up to 10 packs just for watching any Hearthstone stream (2 hours per drop)!
1st Drop: 3 Year of the Pegasus Packs
2nd Drop: 3 The Great Dark Beyond Packs
3rd Drop: 4 Into the Emerald Dream Packs
Tune in to your favorite streamers or host your own slumber party in this category-wide celebration of the Hearthstone universe!
The First Esports Open Qualifiers (March 21-23)
Hearthstone esports is already underway! From March 21-23, you can participate in the year’s first Open Qualifier events. For some players, this could be the first step to the World Championship! Sign-ups are now open:
The Open Qualifiers will use the Standard format at the time of the event (meaning after the Patch 32.0 changes, but prior to the new Into the Emerald Dream cards and rotation). See all rules and program details in our dedicated esports blog.
A Hearthstone player and writer from Poland, Stonekeep has been in a love-hate relationship with Hearthstone since Closed Beta. Over that time, he has achieved many high Legend climbs and infinite Arena runs. He's the current admin of Hearthstone Top Decks.
