World of Warcraft Trading Card Game

World of Warcraft Trading Card Game
	File:World of Warcraft TCG.jpg
Designers	Mike Hummel,; Brian Kibler,; Danny Mandel
Publishers	Upper Deck Entertainment
Players	Two and up
Setup time	< 3 minutes
Playing time	approximately 20 minutes
Chance	Some
Age range	13 and up
Skills	Card playing; Arithmetic

The World of Warcraft Trading Card Game is a collectible trading card game based on Blizzard Entertainment's MMORPG, World of Warcraft. The game was announced by Upper Deck Entertainment on August 18 2005, and released on October 25 2006. Players can fight against each other one-on-one, or can join others in order to defeat raid bosses such as Onyxia and Ragnaros.

Game details

In this trading card game (TCG), each player will have a hero and/or a party of allies. In booster and starter packs, gamers will be able to find weapons, abilities, armor and quests for these heroes. Some booster packs will also contain legendary cards (i.e., special versions of normal cards) which contain a scratch-off code. This code can then be redeemed in the online game for a virtual prize. Most prizes will be purely cosmetic, such as special tabards, although a few will provide some in-game benefit (e.g., normal-speed mounts).

During play, players start with a single hero, and then play additional cards to augment the hero's powers or add additional members to his or her party. As in games such as Magic: The Gathering, the goal is to reduce the remaining health of the opponent to zero.

Raid decks

In addition to standard two-player game play, the game will also feature "Raid Decks", representing struggles involving large numbers of players against epic foes (although far fewer players are involved in the card game). These will need one "Raid Master" (like the Dungeon Master in Dungeons & Dragons) and 3 or 4 other players. The Raid Master will control all monsters and foes, while the other players will control the characters participating in the raid. Players who are victorious may be able to win certain "loot" cards from a 10-card treasure pack.

The first raid deck, scheduled for November 2006, features the dragon Onyxia (including stage 1, 2, and 3). The second, set within the Molten Core, is planned for March or April of 2007.

File:Leeroy card.jpg

Card describing Leeroy Jenkins. Art by Mike Krahulik. Note that despite being a Paladin, Leeroy is wearing the full Battlegear of Heroism, a Warrior armor set.

Artwork

As with many trading card games, the card art is drawn by a variety of different artists with different styles.

Some of the card art (in particular that of some of the more tongue-in-cheek cards) is being done by Penny Arcade's Mike Krahulik ("Gabe"). In the May 24, 2006 update of the Penny Arcade site, Krahulik revealed his artwork for a card that was based on the exploits of Leeroy Jenkins.

Other artists include Doug Alexander, Mauro Cascioli, Matt Dixon, Alex Horley, Todd McFarlane, Jeremy Mohler, Ariel Olivetti, Dan Scott, Greg Staples, Mike Stufin, and Boris Vallejo.

Card Types

The following types of cards are featured in the game:

Hero - The character which a given player is playing as. Each player starts with a hero, and it is the hero which determines what other cards can be utilized or included in the deck (e.g., Horde heroes can only have Horde allies). The hero card provides information about starting health, race, class, specializations, and professions. Lastly, each hero has a unique power which can be used once per game (after which, the hero card is turned face down).

Ability - Cards played from the hand (often after paying a resource cost) to cause some immediate impact to the game. Abilities can either be of the standard type, able to played only during one's turn, or can be instant abilities, able to be played at virtually any time. As with a number of the cards, many abilities include a trait icon, which limits what classes can include the card in their decks.

Armor - Defensive cards which protect the player from damage. Once played, by paying the appropriate resource cost, armor can be exhausted each turn in order to reduce damage dealt to a player's hero. Players are limited in how many different pieces of armor they may equip on any given body part, e.g., only one piece of chest armor at a time. Armor cards may also have additional effects above and beyond their defensive value.

Weapon - Offensive cards which can augment a player's melee or ranged capabilities, as well as provide other benefits. As with armor cards, players are limited on how many weapons they may have equipped (in play) at once. In order to use a weapon card to increase attack power during combat, a player must pay a resource cost associated with the weapon (which also exhausts the weapon). Weapons can be used when either attacking or defending, but only one weapon can be used per combat.

Quest - Special cards which act as resource cards, but with additional abilities. Quests can be completed by fulfilling a condition described on the card. When this is done, a reward is earned (e.g., drawing additional cards) and the quest is converted into a normal resource (by turning it face down).

Ally - Other individuals and companions who assist and fight on behalf of the main hero. Allies are affiliated with either the Horde or the Alliance, so only cards matching the hero's own affiliation are permitted in a deck. Once brought into play by paying the appropriate cost, allies remain until killed or discarded. Allies can attack (or be attacked), and can also provide special powers or abilities.

Loot - Loot cards are special versions of cards which can be used within the card game (e.g., as normal allies), but which also contain a scratch-off code. This code can be entered into the website for the online game, providing a unique in-game item, such as a pet, mount, or tabard.

Additionally, any card can be played as a resource card (with a limit of one per turn) by playing it face down to a designated area. All resources are equivalent and can be exhausted to pay any cost.

Products

The initial base card set is named Heroes of Azeroth, which includes 361 different cards. The color of the set number on the card indicates its rarity; white for common, green for uncommon, blue for rare, purple for epic, and orange for legendary (the loot cards are examples of legendary cards). There are roughly 20-22 different epic cards in this first set.

The following products have been announced:

Starter deck - 33 fixed cards from one of the nine character classes, plus 2 Booster Packs, 3 oversized Hero cards (out of the full set of 16), and a rulebook. The oversized cards are legal for play, since they aren't shuffled into the deck.

Booster pack - 15 random cards - 1 rare, epic, or legendary, 3 uncommons, and 11 commons. Each booster is guaranteed to contain a single Hero card.

Onyxia's Lair Raid Deck - 1 Epic Raid Boss card, a raid game deck, and a treasure pack, as well as special rules for the deck. Cards in the treasure pack are not available in boosters, and any other Raid Deck exclusive cards are not considered part of the base set.

Future set expansions (not counting additional raid decks) are planned at a rate of roughly 2 to 3 per year. The first such expansion, The Dark Portal, is planned for March 2007.

External links