In Patch 9.0, what has changed?
Ironskin Brew is gone, replaced by Shuffle, which only by doing the simple rotation is quickly preserved.
To the class, Celestial Brew was introduced. Through using Purifying Brew, it is empowered, and Keg Smash and Tiger Palm minimize its cooldown. It is very much like the MoP/WoD Guard, except it is on the GCD.
Keg Smash decreased its cooldown portion from 4 seconds to 3 seconds for Brew. This is a decrease of ~9 percent to the amount of brews in battle that you would have available.
Blackout Kick has reverted to being called Blackout Kick. The animation of the twirly workers is gone, and its cooldown has been boosted to 4 seconds.
Spinning Crane Kick – Skill of AoE filler. Although it looks like it deals more damage than Tiger Palm, it suspends the auto-attack even in one target, so it is only worth using to do AoE damage. Defensively, it is also not especially useful.
Brewmasters have been introduced to Invoke Niuzao, the Black Ox and Touch of Death, giving them 2 aggressive cooldowns!
Exploding Keg is back as a talent. It is in the same tier as Rushing Jade Wind, so it is not usually competitive, but as a burst DPS option it is available.


In Shadowlands, Brewmaster Monk Playstyle
The Brewmaster Monks are a type of tank. Brewmaster Monks have consistently been one of the top tank specs in the game in the eight years since they were introduced in Mists of Pandaria, and they are usually very well represented at the highest raid levels.
Monks Stagger damage, unlike other tanks, spreads a large portion of all damage taken as a 10-second DoT (talented 13 seconds). This gives Monks an enormous advantage in living through burst damage, and what usually kills tanks is burst damage. Purifying Brew and Celestial Brew are also available to Monks, allowing them to clear a portion of Staggered harm and protect themselves from harm. This gives both reactive and proactive defensive instruments to the Monks and gives them the most complete toolkit of any tank. Their collection of defensive cooldowns is relatively limited, but Stagger does more than compensate for that.
Brewmaster Monks play around using Keg Smash on cooldown, offensively, and because their primary ability is an AoE, their priorities for offensive ability do not change significantly between single target and AoE. There is also exceptional mobility for Brewmaster Monks, arguably the best of any tank spec.
With a ton of strengths and very few weaknesses, it is a spec.


Monk Brewmaster Facts
All races, except Goblin, Worgen, and Lightforged Draenei, can be monks. Their discipline is lacking.
Options for Weapons: Staffs, Polearms, 1h Swords, 1h Axes, 1h Maces, and Weapons Fist
Keg Smash, Breath of Fire, Celestial Brew, Purifying Brew: Iconic Abilities
Effects of Flavor: Zen Flight is a fun, neat Monk flavor. It is not a flying mount replacement, but as a slow fall mechanic, it is useful!
Legion gave Monks a speaking class mount who teases you regularly for drinking too much and being overweight: Ban-lu, Grandmasters Companion.
Nice title of the class: Grandmaster


What kind of race should I play as a Monk Brewmaster?
***READ this first one! *** *
The difference between the best and worst possible racial options is fairly small when pushing high-level content. Any race will perform well unless youre focusing on the absolute highest-end content, so play what you think looks best. Dont let anybody say otherwise to you.
The Alliance
Kul Tiran – The best tank race for the Alliance. Absolutely worth playing unless they have not been unlocked/do not want to be thickened.
Human – The best offensive race in the Alliance and the best out-of-combat bonus available to any race is Diplomacy.
Dark Iron Dwarf – It can be an extremely strong defensive bonus to be able to remove bleeds with Fireblood! Also, Forged in Flames is a simple efficient bonus that is almost always good.
Mechagnome – Activating Robo-Tank! Mechagnomes have a variety of racial capabilities that make them good, versatile tanks that are passive and active.

A Horde
Blood Elf – Mythic+ ( Arcane Torrent) superstars, above average in Arcane Acuity raids, but not #1.
The best Horde tank race overall, Highmountain Tauren, lacks Blood Elfs unique Mythic + power, but gains a nice AoE CC in Bull Rush.
Tauren – The highest DPS race, by a small margin, due to Braw. War Stomp, too is a helpful AoE Stun.
Vulpera – The Fuzziest Allied Horde Race! Vulpera has flexible racial bonuses that give them a little flexibility in an offensive or defensive way.

Pandaren
Pandaren – Still wonderful. Dont hate.

Strengths by Brewmaster Monk
Surviving burst damage: Stagger and Purifying Brew help Brewmasters far more efficiently than most tanks to smooth out damage. This makes them need more healing than most tanks, but makes holding them alive easier for healers. On a comparatively short cooldown, Celestial Brew offers a large protective shield, and Celestial Fortune helps out with the extra healing load.
Celestial Fortune: The minimal self-healing of Brewmasters leaves them vulnerable on their healers, and in addition to their lack of self-healing, they are built to require more healing than other tanks. Celestial Fortune raises their healing consumption significantly and offers them a special value that is unmatched in other tank designs for Crit.
Simplicity: Monk has an offensive rotation that is easy. Its quick to read, and… Not too difficult to master really either. They have 2 offensive cooldowns, but they are very quick to handle and the offensive potential of the class is just not quite complicated. This gives you more exposure to whats going on around you, focusing on enemy positioning, raid mechanics, etc so playing the class is pretty straightforward.
Roll, Transcendence: Transfer, Tiger Lust. Any of the tanks would destroy in order to get half the Monks mobility.
Versatility: Not the stat – its not bad, though! The biggest attribute of Monk is just they have no weaknesses.” There is almost nothing that a Monk does not tank as well as (or better!) but AoE damage than another tank.

Weaknesses by Brewmaster Monk
Dealing with AoE damage: The whole AoE toolkit is Keg Smash, Breath of Fire, Rushing Jade Wind, and Spinning Crane Kick. Monks have good single-target damage, and in all cases, their rotation is quick, but their damage is near the bottom of the pack between tanks in AoE.
Few possibilities for self-healing: The most consistent source of self-healing is the Gift of the Ox orbs. They add up – so in order to keep you safe, you will need to depend on your healers. Being green isn’t easy. (It’s pretty cool actually.)
Restricted toolkit for defensive cooldown: Fortifying Brew is your only cooldown for baseline damage reduction. It’s fine, and for most cases, Stagger is good enough but one big cooldown is all you have and it’s not a ton.