Tavern at the Edge of Time: New Mechanic and Heroes Reshape Hearthstone Battlegrounds
Blizzard has officially launched Season 12 of Hearthstone Battlegrounds, titled Tavern at the Edge of Time. The update introduces the revolutionary Timewarped Tavern mechanic, an entirely new way to acquire powerful cards, alongside two new Heroes and a fresh Season Pass. This chronal conflict-themed season aims to dramatically shake up the metagame and inject high-stakes decisions into the auto-battler experience.
This major update removes the previous Anomalies and Buddies mechanics to make way for the time-bending experimentation.
The Game-Changing Timewarped Tavern
The core feature of Season 12 is the Timewarped Tavern, a special shop run by Nozdormu, which players visit twice per game to acquire unique cards:
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Fixed Turns: Players will encounter the special Tavern at Turn 6 (Minor Timewarp) and Turn 9 (Major Timewarp).
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New Currency: Upon entering, players are granted two Chronum, a new currency used to purchase cards from the Timewarped shop. Any unspent Chronum disappears at the end of the turn.
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Unique Offerings: The shop features five unique cards that cannot be found in the regular Tavern, including powerful unique minions, spells, alternate versions of existing cards, and, during the Minor Timewarp (Turn 6), the option to acquire a second Hero Power.
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Strategic Depth: Since the available cards are incredibly powerful and often type-agnostic, the Timewarped Tavern forces players to make quick, critical decisions that can immediately dictate the direction of their composition and strategy.
New Heroes and Reward Track
Season 12 introduces new heroes tied directly to the temporal theme and refreshes the seasonal progression:
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New Heroes: Murozond, Unbounded and Time Twister Chromie enter the hero pool, each offering unique abilities that interact with the new temporal mechanics. Notably, Murozond allows for an extra visit to the Timewarped Tavern on Turn 8, providing a potent mid-game advantage.
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Season Pass: A new Season Pass and Reward Track are available, featuring Across the Timeways themed cosmetics, 13 new Hero skins, and a new Bartender skin, all available to earn alongside the standard Battlegrounds rewards.
Limited-Time “Welcome to the Neighbourhood” Event
In a cross-game celebration coinciding with the launch of Player Housing in World of Warcraft: Midnight, Hearthstone is running the Welcome to the Neighbourhood event from December 3rd to December 10th.
Players can complete straightforward event quests to earn:
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Cozy Rewards: Two Welcome Home! cards (Normal and Golden), two Across the Timeways packs, two Tavern Tickets, two Battlegrounds Tokens, and one Catch-Up Pack.
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Cross-Game Unlock: The Hearth and Home Card Back can be unlocked by earning the “Welcome Home” achievement in World of Warcraft (achieved by building your first home after pre-purchasing Midnight).
