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Scourgewar Boosters
11/24/09
Scourgewar Epic Collection
December
Naxxramas Raid Deck
12/15/09
Naxxramas Treasure Pack
12/15/09
Event
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Date
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City
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Realm Qualifiers Season 4
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Aug 15-
Nov 8
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Worldwide
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Realm Championships Season 4
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Nov
13-15
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Worldwide
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Scourgewar Sneak Preview
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Nov
21
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Worldwide
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Scourgewar On Sale
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Nov
24
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Worldwide
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DMF Las Vegas
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Dec
4-6
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Las Vegas, NV
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Scourgewar Preview - Class Matters | By Ben Cichoski | | 11/5/2009 |
Welcome to the first of the official Scourgewar previews. My name is Ben Cichoski, and I am the Head Designer of the World of Warcraft TCG as well as the Lead Designer of Scourgewar. I hope you all are as jacked about seeing this set as we were about making it for you. I am going to be taking you through our design process and showing you a ton of cards that illustrate our themes.
When we started talking about Year 4 of the World of Warcraft TCG, we knew we wanted a strong and pervasive mechanical theme. We also needed the dark flavor of the Wrath of the Lich King MMO expansion to blast through the block like evil bad breath.
In the past, as recently as last year, we have dabbled with the race, especially of your hero, being meaningful. Indeed, it is a choice many MMO players (and TCG players) are extremely passionate about. But while race has received a large amount of attention (locations, allies, and abilities) in our game over the years, the 500-pound gorilla was staring us in the face (perhaps with a single tear rolling down his cheek): class.
Of course, class matters already. It grants you access to abilities and equipment (and sometimes pets), so it was a logical extension to expand upon this and make the class of your hero and allies matter; a lot. Combine this mechanical impetus with the fact that Scourgewar would be the first set to give Death Knights a full treatment (hey look, a new class!), and we knew that threading class cards throughout the set and block would be fantastic.
But what of the flavor? We chose three champions to bear our Wrath of the Lich King flavor standard (that sounds like a gross lollipop): card art, card names, and damage type.
You will notice the card art on the vast majority of allies and abilities is a Scourge ally getting blasted, being cut in half, or running away. We stayed away from the traditional Horde versus Alliance pieces. We also picked as many “dark” names as made sense. The first preview card is a good example of both of these directions.
 You probably noticed that this quest references damage type, or at least ATK icon. It has been a while since damage type has mattered as a real theme (other than a card here and there). Shadow damage matters a lot in Scourgewar (we also chose the talents with this in mind), as the shadow of the Lich King’s evil plan descends upon Azeroth. (There may or may not be different damage types that are featured in the next two sets of the block.) To this end, there is a lot of shadow damage flying around, sometimes unpredictably.
But do not fear! There are ways to resist the shadow.
But the Scourge is so powerful! If only there were beings with whom the Horde and Alliance could ally themselves to fight the Scourge! If only . . .
The Nerubians are coming! The Nerubians are coming! In our first reputation since the Aldor and Scryer, the Nerubians feed off the dead energy of magic, gear, and people. Take note that the Reputation for these guys is technically different but still works retroactively with Aldor and Scryer. This allows us the freedom to add reputations in the future (like in the next set)!
Wait a minute, Ben, I thought you said the big mechanical them was “class matters”? What’s all this Nerubian and shadow damage action?
Wait for it . . . wait for it . . . here we go!
Everyone gets lonely sometimes, and the Scourgewar heroes are no different—it can be depressing fighting the Scourge all by yourself. Each of the 20 heroes needs an ally of the same class in order to use its flip power, and if you have one, each flip is free!
Each set in the block has a number of featured classes. Scourgewar features Death Knight, Rogue, Warlock, and Warrior. Each featured class has an above-average number of allies, a “Lord,” like Klannoc here . . .
an Alliance and Horde “class lover” and “class hater” ally . . .
and a quest. Yep, a class-specific quest.
There are even more “class matters” cards, if you can believe it. There is a cycle across the block of equipment (a la Coif of the Wicked) that function differently depending on the class of your hero.
When designing a block about class, we wanted to break up the classes a few different ways. One way, role (healer [Mend], tank [Protector], and DPS [Assault]), will be introduced in a couple of days.
Another interesting way to slice up the ten classes is by armor type. There are three locations in the set, one for each armor-crafting type, as well an ally of each owner of those locations. Below is the Blacksmithing location (with a sweet, sweet name).
Diane Cannings was previewed at Worlds, and those with eagle eyes and elephant memories may have noticed and remembered she was a “Human Leatherworking Master.” This is important when you read and understand these locations. She is indeed a “Leatherworking ally,” so if your hero and the proprietor of said location (Alard Schmied in this case) are in play, you could ready up to two Plate armor.
Well, there you have it, a fairly detailed look into the major themes of Scourgewar. And if it seems like I’ve spoiled too much, don’t worry—there are only two rares and one epic above. And we haven’t talked about the three new keywords (43 cards), cards that reference the graveyard (42), any talents, mounts, Kel’Thuzad, and the list goes on.
Come on back tomorrow, when Matt Spreadbury will give you the first look at a sexy new keyword, Death Rattle.
 
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