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Hopefully by now everyone out there has had a chance to check out Blood of Gladiators.  I thought I would spend a little time sharing my thoughts about the latest and greatest set for the World of Warcraft TCG.  When I first started working at Upper Deck, Blood of Gladiators was at the very end of its development cycle, so I didn’t have too much input regarding the development of the set, but I have had plenty of opportunity to play with the cards these past few months.  So I thought it would be fun to highlight a few of what I think are some of the cooler themes scattered throughout the set that may have been overlooked at first glance.

One of the first decks I built in my first week here was a Treant token deck.  You may have noticed that there is a theme going on with the Druids in Blood of Gladiators.  They love their Treants!  And really, who doesn’t love flooding the field of battle with an arboreal army?!?  Friends in High Places, The Sowing of Seeds and Reforestation are all great for building up your token count, and Nature’s Reach is a great way to rally the troops.  Of course, Forces of Nature is still a great way to supplement your army.  And don’t forget those Yetis, they’ll do in a pinch if you find yourself short on trees to summon.  Or how about some peasants?  Barov Peasant Caller and the brothers Barov also pile on the token action!  Give the Treant deck a try, I think you’ll find it a blast to play.  As long as no one comes packing “Cookie” McWeaksauce, of course.

I think I’ve already documented how much I like playing Hunters, so, of course another of the first decks I built was a Hunter deck.  I really found that there are some exciting new pets and gear offered in Blood of Gladiators.  While Marksmanship heroes get a new talent, I think Beast Mastery heroes are the real winners.  Merciless Gladiator’s Pursuit means that your Hunter never has to enter battle alone, and it really pairs nicely with the Merciless Gladiator's Crossbow of the Phoenix, insuring that you’ve always got a pet to power up your bow.  It’s a really cool and unique new weapon, and it’s not that hard to be firing it off for some pretty impressive numbers.  That’s all part of the fun, seeing how big you can get this bow’s ATK to be.  Fortunately, the new pets are equally impressive, too.  You don’t get an ally much more efficient than Phase Hound, and with Stealth to boot, even the mighty Weldon Barov is no more than a mere nuisance.  And little Bolton may not look like much, but give this little Wind Serpent a spin, I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised.  When has Long-range come at such a discounted cost before now?

Finally, I wanted to talk a little about Limited play with Blood of Gladiators.  I really think the Arena attribute greatly changes things.  Locations like The Circle of Blood and Gurubashi Arena really help Arena strategies shine, by providing a near-endless supply of Gladiators for the Arena.  At first it can be easy to overlook the Arena attribute, but I think you will find that it can really create some impressive forces when paired with any number of the Gladiators.  I drafted an Arena deck recently that won on the back of The Circle of Blood powering out an army of Arena allies trained by Gladiator Loraala.  Who needs Myriam Starcaller any more!?!  And with Gurubashi Arena, when paired up with the right Gladiator, any ally can be elusive, or a protector, or have ferocity, or … the possibilities are near endless!

So as you can see, I’m really excited about the release of Blood of Gladiators.  And I’ve barely covered just a few of the many cool new things the set has to offer.  As the first set to be released since I started working at Upper Deck, it is great to see the cards I’ve been playing with for a few months now finally in the hands of the players.  While we in R&D have our ideas about what we think are the highlights of the set, it is always fun and exciting to see how the players respond to the new cards.  What’s your favorite new card from Blood of Gladiators?  What kinds of new deck are you most excited about building?