WoW TCG card back design |
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| Designer(s) | Mike Hummel, Brian Kibler, Danny Mandel |
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| Publisher(s) | Upper Deck Entertainment (October 2005 - March 2010) Cryptozoic Entertainment (March 2010 - present) |
| Players | Two and up |
| Age range | 13 and up |
| Setup time | < 3 minutes |
| Playing time | 20+ minutes |
| Random chance | Some |
| Skill(s) required | Card playing Arithmetic Strategy |
The World of Warcraft Trading Card Game (WoW TCG) is a collectible 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.[1] Players can fight against each other one-on-one, or can join others in order to defeat raid bosses such as Onyxia, Ragnaros, Magtheridon, the Betrayer (Illidan), Kel'Thuzad, or the Lich King. In March 2010 Upper Deck Entertainment lost the Licence from Blizzard Entertainment.[2] On March 24, 2010 Cryptozoic Entertainment announced the acquisition of the game's license and that planned sets will be released.[3]
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Each player uses a hero card and a deck consisting of allies and other supporting cards. In booster and starter packs, gamers can find cards representing weapons, abilities, armor, items and quests. Some booster packs also contain legendary rares, or loot 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. The prizes include special tabards, gimmick items, non-combat pets, and 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. Unlike Magic, combat attacks are always directed at individual heroes or allies, rather than simply declaring an attack with a number of creatures. Furthermore, damage done to characters accumulates between turns, making combat more expensive for both the attacker and defender.
In addition to standard 2-player game play, the game also features "Raid Decks", representing struggles involving large numbers of players against epic foes. These need 1 "Raid Master" and 3 to 5 other players. The Raid Master controls all monsters and foes, while the other players control the characters participating in the raid. Players who are victorious may be able to win certain "loot" cards from the treasure pack that came with the deck. A treasure pack contains holofoils, and sometimes contains a random insertion of a "loot" card. Upper Deck Entertainment also made treasure packs available from their UDE points store, although the cards in these packs are not holofoil.
As of March 2011, six Raid Decks have been released, each based on a location in the WoW MMORPG: Onyxia's Lair, Molten Core, Magtheridon's Lair, The Black Temple, Naxxramas, and Icecrown Citadel.
The following types of cards are featured in the game:
Sixteen sets in the WoW TCG have been released. Cards are usually sold in booster packs, which contain 15 random cards - 10 commons, 3 uncommons, 1 rare or epic, and 1 hero card or loot card. Booster packs also have one UDE point card redeemable online.[4] Starting with March of the Legion, booster packs contain 19 random cards due to more variation of card types: 3 extra commons and 1 extra uncommon.[5]
Certain sets also released with Starter Decks, containing a pre-constructed deck consisting of 33 fixed cards built around one of the 9 classes, 2 booster packs, 3 oversized hero cards and a rulebook. These decks contain 1 rare, 6 uncommons, and the rest are commons. Starter decks were released for Heroes of Azeroth, Through the Dark Portal, March of the Legion, and Drums of War. Class Decks are another type of Starter Decks. The Battle Deck is a PvP variation of the Starter Deck that contains two pre-constructed decks consisting of 44 fixed cards, 3 oversized hero cards and 8 exclusive allies.[6]
Raid Decks are specially designed decks used for a cooperative experience. They combine elements from the World of Warcraft (the team-based questing), and Dungeons and Dragons (the Raid Master). A Raid Deck typically contains epic boss cards, decks for the boss characters, tokens to represent minions, and a treasure pack.
Periodically, bonus card sets are released independently to mark special events or dates.
The color of the set number on the card indicates its rarity, using a rarity system similar to that of the online game; white for common, green for uncommon, blue for rare, purple for epic, and orange for legendary. [7]
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 is being done by Penny Arcade's Mike Krahulik ("Gabe"). In the May 26, 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, Thomas M. Baxa, Julie Bell, Mauro Cascioli, Matt Dixon, Alex Horley, Todd McFarlane, Jeremy Mohler, Ariel Olivetti, Dan Scott, Greg Staples, Mike Sutfin, Glenn Rane, Samwise, Boris Vallejo, Paul Kidby and many more.
Along with weekly battleground tournaments at local hobby stores, Cryptozoic Entertainment hosts Darkmoon Faires (DMF) events. Darkmoon Faires are weekend events that run Friday through Sunday in cities all across the world.
Previously, the most notable competition featured was the Dream Machine Championship, which the winner received a custom built computer. Currently, Darkmoon Faire Championship Events offer electronics and travel vouchers to the top finishers of its main event. However, the Darkmoon Faire itself has been emphasized as a miniature convention, where people can play more than just the World of Warcraft Trading Card Game. There are also plenty of side events where players who did not do well in the main event can win Apple electronics, gift cards, and World of Warcraft loot cards.
DMF Championship winners:
2007:
2008:
2009:
2010:
2011:
The U.S. Nationals took place August 16-August 19, 2007 at Gen Con, a gaming convention in Indianapolis, Indiana. After the first day of constructed play, any player with a record of 5-3 or better advanced to day two. Two sets of draft were played on the second day, each set with three rounds. Players sat in draft pods based on their records from day one, where they drafted two packs of Heroes of Azeroth, and two packs of Through the Dark Portal. The finals were held on the third day, played between the top eight selected after draft play concluded. Brad Watson was declared the U.S. Nationals Champion after his victory in the finals.
As of 2008, the U.S. National Championship became the North American Continental Championship, which combined the Canadian and U.S. National Championship events. The winner of the 2008 North American Continental Championship (NACC) was Matt Markoff with a Warlock deck.
In 2009, Corey-Scott Burkhart won the North American Continental Championship at Gen Con Indy with a Shaman deck.[8]
In 2010, under new management with Cryptozoic Entertainment, NACC moved out of Gen Con Indy. Tim Rivera claimed the title for that year in his hometown of Las Vegas.[9]
The first World Championship took place November 30-December 2, 2007 in San Diego, California. The winner, French player Guillaume Matignon, became the inaugural World of Warcraft TCG World Champion and received $100,000, the largest prize in TCG history.[10]
The second World Championship (World Championship 2008) took place in Paris, France from October 16 till October 19. Jim Fleckenstein of Virginia won the title of 2008 World of Warcraft TCG World Champion using the hero Kil’zin of the Bloodscalp.
The third World Championship (World Championship 2009) took place in Austin, Texas from October 9 to October 11. William Postlethwait, also known as Billy P, won this Drums of War Block Constructed WoW TCG Championship to win the title of 2009 World of Warcraft TCG World Champion.
The fourth World Championships (World Championship 2010) took place in Indianapolis, Indiana, from August 4 to August 7. The format was Classic Constructed, and German player Jonas Skali-Lami won with a Nicholas Merrick mage deck, taking down Ian Johnson's Pidge Filthfinder deck in the finals.
The fifth World Championships (World Championship 2011) took place in Rotterdam, Netherlands, from November 10 to November 13. The format consisted of Core and Classic Constructed and Booster Draft. It was won by German player Hans Joachim Höh, who is known for his successes across multiple strategy games. He used a Rohashu Paladin deck, taking down Jim Fleckenstein´s less aggressive Rohashu version in the finals.
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