Heroes of the Storm is getting its own weekly brawl mode

Heroes of the Storm is about to become the latest Blizzard game to offer a "weekly brawl" mode, thanks to the new mode that's set to go live later this month. Like Hearthstone's Tavern Brawls and Overwatch's Weekly Brawls, Heroes Brawls will confront players with new, sometimes bizarre restrictions and rulesets that will change on a weekly basis. 

"One week you may be playing a brawl where everyone is Nova and Snipe instakills heroes; the next week you may be playing as normal teams but on a map that only has one lane," Blizzard said. "Your picks may be restricted only to spellcaster heroes to see who is the best spellslinger of all time... There are many, many Heroes Brawl variations, each one more unhinged than the last."

A few more specific examples:

  • Hammer Time: "All players on each team are Sgt. Hammers—with thrusters permanently engaged! The cores are invulnerable so it’s all about capturing towers to win!"
  • Punisher Arena: "Rack up points by killing enemy heroes and Punishers. The first team to score 100 points wins!"
  • Lost Cavern: "A standard map, except there is only one lane. How will you fare when the enemy is in your face at all times?"

The mode will feature three kinds of battlegrounds—standard battlegrounds with mutators, all-new arenas, and single-lane battlegrounds—all of them specifically designed for Heroes Brawl. Blizzard said there will be a "substantial number" of modifiers which will "add completely new and unexpected quirks to drastically change how you play Heroes of the Storm," and hero selection will also be changed: Sometimes you'll be given a preset hero, or you may have to choose from a limited lineup or even have one assigned to you randomly. Taking part in at least three Heroes Brawls each week will net rewards including portraits and gold.

Heroes of the Storm: Heroes Brawl is set to go live on the PTR on October 10, followed by a full launch sometime during the week of October 17. Details are up at battle.net, and we've got some screens below.

Andy Chalk

Andy has been gaming on PCs from the very beginning, starting as a youngster with text adventures and primitive action games on a cassette-based TRS80. From there he graduated to the glory days of Sierra Online adventures and Microprose sims, ran a local BBS, learned how to build PCs, and developed a longstanding love of RPGs, immersive sims, and shooters. He began writing videogame news in 2007 for The Escapist and somehow managed to avoid getting fired until 2014, when he joined the storied ranks of PC Gamer. He covers all aspects of the industry, from new game announcements and patch notes to legal disputes, Twitch beefs, esports, and Henry Cavill. Lots of Henry Cavill.