Return of Mechazod!


 * "Mechazod wants a rematch! This time new allies stand against him. Good luck with this return co-op brawl!"

Return of Mechazod! is a Tavern Brawl. It debuted on January 13, 2016. For exact times, see the schedule.

A direct follow-up to Unite Against Mechazod!, this Brawl uses almost exactly the same mechanics as its predecessor, but with new classes and decks for the players.

Overview
Return of Mechazod! is a cooperative Tavern Brawl. Two players, a Druid and a Mage, work together to defeat Gearmaster Mechazod, a special boss minion. Each turn, Mechazod will swap sides on the board and cast spells at the start of each turn to damage the players. If either player is defeated, both players will lose the match, making it important to do everything you can to keep the other player alive.

This is a surprisingly difficult Tavern Brawl. Players need to work together to survive the relentless onslaught of the tiny mechagnome, especially as his Attack continues to increase through Overclock, empowering Double Zap and Bomb Salvo. Make sure to keep both heroes alive, because if either dies, both players lose the battle. This may mean focusing all your healing effects on the other player.

Mechazod's behavior is very straightforward. He plays one of 5 spells at the start of each turn. The main synergy is Overclock with Double Zap/Bomb Salvo. Mechazod does Mad Bomber-style damage with Bomb Salvo, and uses Kill the Lorewalker if Lorewalker Cho appears. The main difference in Mechazod's behavior from this Brawl's predecessor, Unite Against Mechazod!, is that Mechazod now uses Prioritize to damage the highest-Attack minion on the battlefield, instead of Assassinate; the latter card no longer features in his deck.

The druid deck features a strong burst deck with Savage Roar using the many small minions that the druid's cards can generate, such as from Haunted Creeper, Violet Teacher, and Cenarius. Therefore as the druid, it is good to populate the board with small minions to play Savage Roar in a later turn.

The mage's deck features a strong Spell Damage theme with Arcane Blasts, Fireballs, and Pyroblast. The druid's Millhouse Manastorm can be used to reduce all the mage's spells to zero cost.

Gearmaster Mechazod

 * Boss


 * Cards

Druid
Total: 30/30

Mage
Total: 30/30

Strategy

 * General
 * Keep minions on the board to tank Bomb Salvos. Don't attack Mechazod with early game minions.
 * Don't keep 7 minions on the board, otherwise Mechazod will wipe your entire board.
 * Healing priority should be given to the druid, since most cards are naturally defending the mage, such as the mage's Animated Armor and the druid's Zombie Chow.


 * Mulligan
 * The druid should aim to keep Grove Tender, Healing Touch, Zombie Chow, Lorewalker Cho, Haunted Creeper, Wild Growth, and Darnassus Aspirant in their opening hand.
 * The mage should aim to keep Coldlight Oracle, Animated Armor, Refreshment Vendor, Arcane Golem, and Bloodmage Thalnos in their opening hand.


 * Druid
 * The druid deck features a strong burst deck with Savage Roar; thus, the druid player should aim to have at most 6 minions on the board every turn. Savage Roar is good with the many small minions generated by the druid's cards, especially from Haunted Creeper, Violet Teacher, Force of Nature, and Cenarius.
 * Lorewalker Cho is very useful to give Healing Touches to the other player.
 * Lorewalker Cho is also useful to delay Mechazod's spell-casting for an entire turn, forcing Mechazod to use Kill the Lorewalker for that turn.
 * Lorewalker Cho is also useful for having the mage give Mirror Entity to the druid. If the druid has a Mirror Entity up, the mage can then play Animated Armor to give one to the druid and protect the druid's health.
 * Lorewalker Cho can also be useful for giving Savage Roar to the mage for burst damage, or Wrath to the mage for more damage and/or card draw.
 * Lorewalker Cho is also useful for giving The Coin to the other player.
 * Millhouse Manastorm is very useful to discount the mage's spell cards to zero cost.
 * Playing Lorewalker Cho and Millhouse Manastorm together will allow the mage to play all their spell cards and give them to the druid.
 * Playing Jungle Moonkin and Millhouse Manastorm together will allow the mage to play all their spell cards with increased damage.
 * Playing Troggzor the Earthinator and Millhouse Manastorm together is able to allow the druid to generate many Burly Rockjaw Troggs.
 * Any mage Secret in play is a Mirror Entity, as it is the only mage Secret; if the mage has a Mirror Entity up on the board, play strong cards into the Secret:
 * Zombie Chow is a good card to heal both players for 5 health.
 * Jungle Moonkin is a good card to give +4 Spell Damage to both players.
 * Lorewalker Cho is a good card to give double the amount of Healing Touches and other spells to the teammate.
 * Violet Teacher is a good card to let the teammate generate token minions to tank Bomb Salvos.
 * Haunted Creeper is a good card for the teammate to tank Bomb Salvos.
 * The druid uses defensive cards such as Healing Touch, Zombie Chow, and Ancient of Lore.
 * Troggzor the Earthinator is also a good card to generate many Burly Rockjaw Troggs, provided the other player has enough spells.
 * Aviana is a good card to let the teammate play all their minions for 1 mana each.
 * The druid will almost always have more Mana Crystals than the mage, because of the mage's Arcane Golems and the druid's Wild Growths. This means the druid will frequently have less cards in the hand than the mage.


 * Mage
 * The mage deck features a strong Spell Damage deck with Arcane Blasts, Fireballs, and Pyroblast. Malfurion can assist with Spell Damage through Jungle Moonkin, especially effective if played into a Mirror Entity for +4 Spell Damage to both players.
 * In addition, the druid's Millhouse Manastorm is very useful to reduce the cost of the mage's spells to zero.
 * The mage can make use of Brann Bronzebeard for some extra effects from Refreshment Vendor, Arcane Golem, Coldlight Oracle, Earthen Ring Farseer, King Mukla, and Azure Drake.
 * The mage uses defensive cards such as Animated Armor, Refreshment Vendor, and Earthen Ring Farseer.

Gearmaster Mechazod

 * Opening remark
 * I will cleanse you both of the Curse of Flesh!


 * Kill the Lorewalker
 * Print is dead, Lorewalker Cho!


 * Overclock (first time it is used)
 * Increase clock speed!

Lore

 * For Unite Against Mechazod!
 * Combine forces to defeat Gearmaster Mechazod. You’ll each be piloting a pre-built deck assembled to give both you and your partner on the other side of the board a chance to take out the technological terror. Each turn he’ll move from your side of the board to your friend’s, and you’ll need to play your cards just right to bring him down together. Watch out! If one of you is defeated, then you both are, so don’t be stingy with the heals.


 * Gearmaster Mechazod is ready for you! He’s got an arsenal of gnasty gnomish inventions and he’s going to use every tool at his greasy fingertips to wreck you and your partner.

Trivia

 * The most notable difference between this Brawl and its predecessor Unite Against Mechazod! (player classes and decks aside) is the appearance of Prioritize. This card appears to have been designed for use in the original Brawl, and was included in the patch data released prior to the Brawl, but never featured, possibly due to technical issues. Prioritize replaces Assassinate in this Brawl, suggesting that that card was included as a substitute. This would make sense of why Assassinate was the only regular card in Mechazod's deck (the rest are unique, Mechazod-only cards), as well as the only one with a mana cost higher than 0 (this having no impact on the Brawl).


 * For Unite Against Mechazod!
 * This was not only the first cooperative Tavern Brawl, but also the first cooperative two-player experience of any kind in the game.
 * This Brawl was originally devised by He-Rim Woo.
 * At the time of its creation, this was the most difficult Brawl to create yet.
 * The designers tried having Mechazod in several different positions, including the middle of the board, the central minion column, and the top corner of the screen, but none felt right. It is possible they might have changed the interface more substantially for the Brawl, but were prevented due to time constraints. Likewise, premade decks were chosen in part in order to reduce complexity in preventing players from using cards such as Equality and Execute that would otherwise trivialise the encounter.
 * Kill the Lorewalker was added to ensure Cho didn't stay in play for more than one turn, allowing for a small dose of his mechanic without it getting out of hand.


 * For Return of Mechazod that debuted on November 28, 2018
 * Aviana costs 10 (up from 9 previously), from a prior nerf to the card (Patch 12.2.0.27358).
 * Force of Nature costs 5 (down from 6 previously) and does not feature Charge, from a prior nerf to the card (Patch 5.0.0.12574).