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It is that time of the year again, a new set for the World of Warcraft TCG is coming out and players everywhere are excited about seeing the new cards. The smell of freshly cracked packs and the excitement on players’ faces as they see the new cards always brings a smile to my face. Drums of War is no different. It has Locations, new Armor sets, new racial keywords, and a unique Tauren ally that increase all other Taurens in your party by +10 health!
I decided to go out and visit a Sneak Preview in Arizona. Cascade Games and Gamer’s Inn is hosting the Drums of War Sneak Preview in Mesa, Arizona. Gamer’s Inn is a rather large store with a brand new tournament area. They have a 25+ computer LAN and plenty of players were getting their achievements prior to the Sneak Preview. They have plenty of miniatures tables and an extensive assortment of games.
17 players were eager to crack their new boosters and begin building their sealed decks. How many locations do you play instead of quests? Can you get away with not having any allies at cost 5 in your deck? Is Immobilize a good removal ability? These were questions that players were asking themselves as they were building their decks.
Perhaps the best part of the whole weekend is watching Charli open a Red Bearon Loot card. This was her first tournament and she only recently learned how to play the game. She is grinning from ear to ear as she shows off her new bear mount.
Did you attend a Drums of War Sneak Preview? Share a story you have about your event!
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5:30pm
The EA Defeaning Shouts are being handed out, players are happy and enjoying themselves, it's a great event so far. Our friends in the EU really know how to throw a shindig.
4:35pm
Edwin Teh and his international judge staff are doing a bang-up job. Time in between rounds is being kept short, no disgruntled players, and most of all, all the language barrier issues have been taken care of.
3:45pm
So many heroes that are turning out to be Illidan. There is an Obliveron in the top 16 tables.
Also - I have the EA Defeaning Shouts for Honor Rewards, stop by and get yours.
1pm
Watching the Onyxia on Onyxia matchup is pretty funny. J.Tatta "Surprise...I was Illidan all along" <pause 5 minutes later> "No! I was really Onyxia"
One mean looking orc!
Some of the badges available (kind of a big deal)
So many burrz!
The view from my hotel, the Eiffel Tower is lit up nicely.
Hondo was ready for the trip, non-expired passport in hand!
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Darkmoon Faire New Jersey Bounty Tournament
I had one of my worst showings in tournament history at this event. It was embarrassing, although, luckily, Patrick Sullivan and Ian Estrin were in the higher brackets. So we had a bounty at each level of the event.
I went 1-3 with my win coming in the last round of the tournament. Here is the deck choice I made and what the remainder of my cards available were.
Hero
Warden Stormclaw
Abilities
1 Tranquility
1 Earth Mother’s Blessing
1 Ferociousness
1 Lacerate
1 Swipe
Allies
2 Kaelos Sunscream
1 Ezra Phoenix
1 Tyrennius Scatheblade
1 Vexmaster Nar’jo
1 Gurzuk
1 “Acid Hands” McGillicutty
1 Cerrik Blooddawn
2 Ra’waza Stonetusk
1 Blood Knight Kyria
1 Bloodeye
1 Flame Bender Ta’jin
1 Ya’za the Vandal
1 “Poison Tongue” McGillicutty
1 Bulvai of the Watch
1 Vindicator Belian
1 Anchorite Viluaa
Equipment
1 Ring of the Shadow Deeps
1 Reflex Blades
Quests
1 Dr. Boom
1 Retribution of the Light
1 Leader of the Darkcrest
1 I Was a Lot of Things…
1 Marks of Kil’jaeden
1 Survey the Land
1 Meeting with the Master
1 Hellfire Fortifications
Maybe it was just Sunday and I was beat, but this looked like the best build to me. Here is what I didn’t play.
Abilities
1 Tainted Earth
1 Patient Shot
1 Ice Trap
1 Survival Instincts
1 Astral Grief
1 Arcane Research
1 Tomb of Ice
1 Ardent Defender
1 The Light’s Largess
1 Seal of Redemption
1 Divine Riposte
1 Divine Plea
1 Mana Burst
1 Infusion of Fortitude
1 Prayer of Mending
1 Rogue Training
1 Crackling Purge
1 Lightning Arc
1 Storm Shock
1 Maelstrom Weapon
1 Earth’s Bounty
1 Far Sight
1 Exemplar’s Blades
1 Enslave Demon
1 Curse of Frenzy
1 Warlock Training
2 Fel Fire
1 Velnoth
1 Taste for Blood
1 Smash
1 Champion Stance
1 Safeguard
Allies
1 Tarn Darkwalker
1 Yellowspine
1 Cerrik Blooddawn
1 Rames the Purifier
1 Gabble
1 Weeble
1 Sharial
1 Justicar Brace
1 Liandra Rustshadow
1 Myriam Starcaller
1 Bizzazz
1 Harnum Firebelly
1 Caretaker Heartwing
1 Syluri
1 Lyras Keeneye
1 Ripley Spellfizzle
1 Quigley Slipshade
1 Talian Bladebender
1 Wildwatcher Elandra
1 Arlek Stonehilt
1 Retainer Salvan
1 Retainer Marcus
1 Arcanist Bartis
1 Retainer Athan
1 Magister Lashan
1 Retainer Zaelan
1 Retainer Kai
1 Arcanist Renaan
1 Coilfang Myrmidon
1 Sunseeker Astromage
1 Sironas
1 Atani of the Watch
Equipment
1 Pauldrons of Desolation
1 Abyss Walker’s Boots
1 Tirisfal Wand of Ascendancy
Quests
1 A Final Blow
1 Levixus the Soul Caller
1 The Deathforge
1 Return to the Scryers
1 Wanted: Durn the Hungerer
1 Bane of the Illidari
Looking back, maybe going Alliance might have been a better option. I think my class choices were Druid, Shaman, then maybe Priest if it was Alliance. I think that there weren’t enough strong allies to go Alliance at the time.
What do you think, how would you have built it?
Darkmoon Faire New Jersey full report coming later this week.
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Announcing Darkmoon Faire Anaheim will be on November 7-9, 2008. The following is the location -
Sheraton Park Hotel at the Anaheim Resort
1855 South Harbor Boulevard
Anaheim, CA 92802
Local Area Map
Events -
Darkmoon Faire Championship
Exclusive MMO LAN tournaments
Minis demos
Check back soon for a schedule and additional details about the event.
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As a reward for battling through the qualifier season for the World Championship and the Realm Championship, we are going to send out an Extended Art Promo to all the players that are Lifetime Honor Rank 8 and above. The promo will be an EA Deafening Shout.
With the last Nationals and Darkmoon Faire: New Jersey occurring on the last weekend of September, everyone will have one last chance to push their Honor as high as they can get it. The cutoff date will be September 30th and the EAs will be shipped out within the first two weeks of October.
Looking to get some quick Honor? I suggest hitting up the Tournament Locator to see what events are occurring in your area.
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Here is the information for this season's Realm Championships. More details to come on the Realm Championship website.
Date: US: November 22nd-23rd, 2008
EU: December 6th-7th, 2008
US Locations:
Ashenvale Forest – Seattle, Washington
Tanaris – Phoenix, Arizona
Durotar – Austin, Texas
Mulgore – Madison, Wisconsin
Teldrassil – Indianapolis, Indiana
Feralas – Orlando, Florida
Azshara – Richmond, Virginia
Winterspring – Boston, Massachusetts
EU and SE Asia locations to be finalized
There are two main events for the Realm Championship Weekend.
Realm Championship
The first is the Realm Championship. This is where players will battle it out for supremacy and named the Champion of their Realm. This is an invitation only tournament and you can only be invited by placing in the top 2 of a Realm Qualifier in that Realm. The Realm Championship is Constructed format. Along with the prestige, here are what players can win by placing well in the Realm Championship –
1st Place –
Realm Champion Trophy
Airfare/Hotel for a 3 night vacation to a destination of your choice (must be within the continent of their Realm).
Rare Loot Card
Four Redemption EA Promos
Warrior Deckbox
2nd Place –
Apple 16GB iPod Touch
Rare Loot Card
24 packs of Drums of War
Four Redemption EA Promos
Warrior Deckbox
3-4th Place –
Nintendo Wii
Rare Loot Card
24 packs of Drums of War
Four Redemption EA Promos
Warrior Deckbox
5-8th Place –
Apple iPod Nano
Rare Loot Card
24 packs of Drums of War
Four Redemption EA Promos
Warrior Deckbox
9-16th Place –
12 packs of Drums of War
Four Redemption EA Promos
Warrior Deckbox
17-32nd Place –
8 packs of Drums of War
Warrior Deckbox
Prizes for all that participate –
Bloodsoul EA Promo
Realm Open
Didn’t quite get there during the Realm Qualifier season? Don’t fret; there are events throughout the entire Realm Championship Weekend. The Realm Open is your chance to prove that your Block Constructed deck really shines (the format for the Realm Open is Block Constructed). Here are a list of prizes available to the top finishers of the Realm Open –
1st Place –
Entertainment Package (Playstation III and an assortment of Blu-ray DVDs)
Free Entry into any Realm Qualifier for the Spring Realm Championship Season 2009
Rare Loot Card
Four Nether Fracture EA Promos
Warrior Deckbox
2nd Place –
24 packs of a World of Warcraft TCG Booster set of their choice
Uncommon Loot Card
Four Nether Fracture EA Promos
3rd – 4th Place –
24 packs of Drums of War
Uncommon Loot Card
Four Nether Fracture EA Promos
5th-8th Place –
12 packs of Drums of War
Uncommon Loot Card
Four Nether Fracture EA Promos
9th-16th Place –
8 packs of Drums of War
Four Nether Fracture EA Promos
Prizes for all that participate –
Piercing Howl EA Promo
Door Prizes –
Uncut Sheets from various World of Warcraft TCG sets
Last Chance Qualifier
Your last chance to qualify for the Realm Championship will be before the Realm Championship Weekend. There will be a Realm Qualifier scheduled in the city where the Realm Championship Weekend is taking place. The top 4 players will qualify for the Championships from this event.
So there you have it, the locations and prizes for the 2008 Season 2 Realm Championship Weekend. Details about the location of each venue and schedule to come.
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Do you have what it takes to take your Realm and the surround Realms by force? Are you the player that no one wants to see when they sit down at a tournament? Now you can prove that you are the feared Realm Conqueror.
For Season 2 of the Realm Championships in 2008, we are going to crown a Realm Conqueror. The player that wins the most Realm Qualifiers will be dubbed the REALM CONQUEROR! There is only one true conqueror over all of the Realms (meaning that it's open to players worldwide and there will only be one winner).
Here is what you take home for laying waste to the rest of the competition –
No, it’s not empty, it will be crammed full of EAs. I’m not going to list the EAs here, it is surprise, but I will tell you that there will be at least 1 unreleased EA in there as well as some very hard to get promos. I’m also throwing in a box of Drums of War.
Hope you pull the rare loot!
We will be keeping a running tally of the top contenders for the title with the events starting this weekend.
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It wouldn't be a convention without offering up a contest and some schwag. I am looking for pictures of you and members of Upper Deck, the goofier the better.
Here are the details -
- Pictures should be of at least you and a member of Upper Deck staff (list below)
- You must accumulate 15 pts worth of pictures to be eligible.
- Pictures should be relatively close up (you can't be more than 5 feet away from the UD member you are taking a picture of)
- You cannot bother the person about getting their picture if they are busy. You can run the self portrait with them behind you. Don't be rude about it.
- Pictures must be turned over via a thumb drive in digital format (I don't have the cables for your camera)
- One set of pictures per person. If there are 5 people in your group, then you must submit 5 different groups of pictures for everyone to get prizes (they have to be different pictures for each group)
- No Cheating.
- Pictures are property of Upper Deck and can be used for marketing purposes.
List of eligible Upper Deck Staff (must accumulate at least 15 points) -
- Michael Girard - 1 pts
- Ben Drago - 2pts (+1 pt if you get him and his iPhone in the picture)
- Alex Charsky - 1pt
- Russell Pippin - 1pt
- Ian Estrin - 1pt
- Julia Hedberg - 1pt
- Jeff Piroozshad - 1pt
- Scott Gaeta - 2pts (+1 pt if you can get him to make a goofy face for the picture)
- Rune Horvik - 1pt
- Jason Brenner - 1pt (+1 pt if you get him and his iPhone in the picture)
- Mike Hummel - 1pt
- Ryan O'connor - 1pt
- Toby Wachter - 1pt
- AnnaMaria Mannino - 2pts
- Ryan Parker - 1pt
- Paul Ross - 1pt
- Javier Casillas - 1pt
- Patrick Swift - 1pt
- Hondo - 1pt
Be sure to label all of the pictures with your last name and the name of the staff person that is in the picture.
Prizes (you turn in your 15 pts worth of pictures, you get a prize) -
Fires of Outland Packs
Loot
Rares
If you collect the maximum amount of points (25) you will get double prizes!
Big Prize -
When I get back in the office next week, I'll go over all of these images with a team of judges and we'll select the best image. The photographer that took that picture will win a X-51 Nether-Rocket.
We will be posting the images in the album after the winner is announced. The Upper Deck staff has been warned. They have said that it won't be as easy as you think to get their picture (especially Scott). Good Hunting!
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“Please…please tell me what’s in the box!”
I’ll tell you what is in the box, it’s your deck! Here is a list of the exclusive deckboxes that you can win at upcoming World of Warcraft TCG events. These deckboxes are all part of a series of class deckboxes that began with the Druid deckbox from previous Regional and Realm Qualifiers.
Plague Fleshbane graces the front of the Warlock deckbox and top finishers at 2008 Realm Qualifiers from Season 2 (August 30th – November 16th) will be rewarded with this prize.
Ixamos rocks the Shaman deckbox and those players that play in the North American Continental Championship at Gencon 2008 will receive one.
Ressa Shadeshine, with her maces, is on the Rogue deckbox. Players in the Darkmoon Faire Championship (starting with DMF New Jersey) will be able to take one of these home.
Troll Protection Warrior, Indalamar, in on the front of the Warrior deckbox. These will be given out to each player participating in their Realm Championship on November 22nd (December 6th for Europe).
Morn Walks-the-Path patrols the front of the Hunter deckbox. These are available to players that do well in the Marquee Event for Battlegrounds. Well, a player could get lucky and win one as a door prize as well at the Marquee Event.
And in honor of the 2007 World Championship Winner, the 2008 World Championship participation prize will be Lelora Sunlancer.
Stay tuned in 2009 for the remaining class deckboxes—Mage, Priest and, of course, Death Knight!
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GenCon Indianapolis is right around the corner, are you prepared? Have you polished off your Block Constructed deck? Do you know which heroes are better in Heroes Gone Wild? Have you honed your ability to crack bombs in your sealed packs for the Bounty tournament? These are all burning questions…questions that need answering the closer and closer we get to GenCon. Today we will take an indepth look at what some of the new formats entail. Let me stress, these are not new sanctioned formats that we plan to support heavily (outside of Block Constructed). If you haven’t seen a lot of these formats in the past, we are using this venue to test out some ideas for “out there” formats that are nice alternatives to the normal, competitive formats. After all, it can’t be all about winning and getting to design your own card/image.
GenCon Indianapolis runs from Thursday, August 14th to Sunday, August 17th.
Let’s go through the event schedule (which can be found here) –
Starter Deck Beginner’s Event
Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday
Don’t know how to play this game that is based on your favorite MMORPG? These events are for you. You don’t need experience playing or own any cards, the decks are provided and you get to keep them. Prizes will be handed out to everyone.
Continental Last Chance Qualifier
Thursday
The title says it all. This is your last chance to qualify for this year’s North American Continental Championship. These events are either Constructed or Sealed. The top 4 finishers advance to Continentals and it is a single elimination format. The requirements for playing in these events is you have to have a yearly Honor Ranking of 3 or higher, or a lifetime rating of 5 or higher and are not currently qualified for Continentals.
Gadgetzan Challenge
Thursday, Friday, Saturday
These events are running at all times during Gencon, up until the end of Saturday. There are both Constructed and Sealed formats for these events. As soon as 32 players sign up, a Challenge will start. It is best 2 of 3 game matches. The winner receives their choice of a 160GB iPod Classic, 16GB iPod Touch, Wii, Xbox 360, Playstation 3, or $300 Best Buy Gift Card. That is quite the haul, but that’s not all. The winner of each flight also receives an invite to the Gadgetzan Championship on Sunday.
Two-Headed Ogre (Constructed)
Thursday, Friday
If you played in the recent Ogre Smash and Bash, you are probably familiar with how this event is run. This is a Constructed format where 2 players form a Two-Headed Ogre team. Both players must play the same faction and the matches are one game. The winning team receives 48 packs.
iPod Nano Tournament (Two Pack Sealed, Draft, Constructed)
Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday
I know that you are probably excited about the first format listed. This is one of the fun formats that I eluded to earlier. For the Two Pack Sealed format, each round you will get two packs of the set that is being used that round. All players will be split into 8 player pods and for the first round, each player will be handed two packs of March of the Legion. You crack those packs, remove the hero and points cards (and if you feel a loot, it’s all yours). No peeking at the rest of the pack! You shuffle up the rest of the cards, choose one of the heroes you pulled out of the packs and get to playing. The winner of each pod will be awarded a iPod Nano. It’s that simple. The other formats will use the same pairing system with the 8 player pods and the prizing will be the same.
Rocket Mount Tournament
Friday
The format will be Sealed Pack with 2 packs from March of the Legion, Servants of the Betrayer, and Hunt for Illidan. The event will be Swiss rounds with a draft for the top 8. The top 2 finishers receive X-51 Nether-Rocket Loot cards. If you wanted a Rocket, this is probably one of the most straight forward way of getting one, besides cracking one out of a pack of course.
Continental Championship
Friday, Saturday, Sunday
Day 1 format is Constructed, if you play well enough and make the cut, you will get to draft on Day 2. If you continue your tear on the tournament and place high enough, you will get to play constructed again in Day 3 and play for fame and prizes. This is probably the second most important tournament for the North American players for the year. Get qualified, get to the tournament, and show the rest of the players what you are made of.
Realm Qualifier
Friday
The first Realm Qualifier of the season and a chance to win the new EAs for the next season. The format will be Block Constructed. This could also be a tune up for your deck for the Darkmoon Faire Indianapolis event that starts on Saturday (they are both Block Constructed). The top 8 will receive invitations to their respective Realm Championships. This is an excellent opportunity to earn your invitation, it will be harder to qualify this season than it was last season.
Darkmoon Faire Championship: Indianapolis
Saturday, Sunday
What a coincidence. Weren’t we just talking about this event? The Darkmoon Faire Championship Indianapolis will be run with the same fanfare that previous Darkmoon Faire have been run. From the carnival games to the Rock Band jam sessions, it has everything the players have come to love about it. The big difference about this one compared to DMFs in the past is that this format is Block Constructed. That’s right, no Twig, no Rak Skyfury, no Myr…err, never mind. Will the deck that wins the Realm Qualifier also do well at the DMF, or will everyone be ready for it? Winner receives a fancy computer, a jamming home theatre system, or travel to any Darkmoon Faire in the world!
Heroes Gone Wild!
Saturday
Another fun format for everyone! For this event, you will be able to construct a deck with two heroes in mind. Both heroes have to be of the same faction. You choose the hero you want to play, put the second hero beneath that hero, just so you can see the class icon in the upper right. The main hero is the only hero that can be targeted, but it can use any card that either hero could play. A Warrior with a Felhunter! A Mage with a Felsteel Reaper! The possibilities are endless. It will be interesting to see what decks come out of this tournament. The winner receives a complete set of Hunt For Illidan!
Ladies Championship
Saturday
This one is for the ladies. Constructed format, swiss format and 60 minute rounds. Best 2 of 3 matches and the winner goes home with a MacBook.
Spectral Safari Tournament
Saturday
Are you bummed because you missed your chance at the shiny cat because you had to work? This is your chance for redemption. This will be run like the Spectral Safari tournaments that were popular earlier this year. Win the event and walk away with the Spectral Safari Loot Card!
Gadgetzan Championship
Sunday
Remember those Gadgetzan Challenge’s that you have been playing in all weekend but can’t quite get the tournament win? This is what you are playing for. If you win an invitation to this tournament, you get a chance to win your choice of a Dell XPS laptop or MacBook Pro laptop. This isn’t a 400 person tournament either, your chances will be very good if only you can get qualified for it.
Bounty Tournament
Sunday
A fitting ending to a great tournament weekend. You will get your chance to play against those that bring you this game. It is Sealed Pack format and if you are lucky enough to beat a member of UDE or a Blizzard staffer, you will get some phat lewtz! There are mystery bounties included in the tournament as well. If that person is beat, everyone gets a prize!
Phew, there you have it. The entire GenCon Indianapolis WoW TCG tournament schedule. Don’t forget though, there is a DMF at this event, so that means there is going to be a plethora of the usual LAN events, like the leveling contest, as well as a couple of new ones. I think that each of you can find an event that fits your play style. I hope that, if you make it out, you will come by the tournament hall and say hi. I’m always glad to meet our players and chat with them.
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As you might be familiar with by now, the Battlegrounds program has been a success in getting players into local hobby stores and forming a community. You can find more information about the Battlegrounds program here (it is outdated, but that is because we are about to roll out an updated program, coming on Monday).
The regular players that we have arrive at their local hobby store and play week in and week out. They have fun and win exciting Extended Art cards. We want to further reward those dedicated players that participate in this particular Organized Play program and here are details about how we are going to do that.
Each Battleground Kit will now contain Badge of Justice cards. If you are familiar with the Crafting program, these might look familiar to you. Each week the top four finishers will each receive one Badge of Justice and then an additional one will be given out for the Best Sportsmanship. This program is only available through your local hobby store.
I know what you are thinking, “Great, now I have all these Badge of Justice cards, what can I do with them?” The answer is you will be able to redeem them for gameplay exclusive trinkets for the WoW TCG. No, I don’t mean cool little play aids, I mean actual cards that you can put in your deck and use. You might have already seen the following.
This was spoiled at the GAMA trade show earlier this year when the program was unveiled to retailers. You can double up on this (it’s Trinket (2)) and run multiple protectors our there every turn. If you are looking to get to the late game, this is definitely a tool you can use to slow down those allies from beating down on your hero.
For the first set, you will be able to redeem three Badge of Justice cards for one copy of one of the 4 trinkets. Also, if you are short a Primal Nether for your Felsteel Reaper, a Badge of Justice will be able to take the place of that Primal Nether.
Wait, did I say there were 4 different cards? You probably want to see another one don’t you? Oh alright…
I know that you might be tired of your best allies getting Puncture’d or after you attack with your Ras’fari, it gets destroyed by Doshura Risestrider the next turn. Well, this is right up your ally. This cute little trinket will turn into whatever gigantic monster or utility ally you so desire, provided the original one was destroyed. You might have also noticed that this isn’t a one time occurrence. If your copy has taken a beating, just ship another ally to the graveyard and it can transform again.
These will be available in your August Battleground kits (European kits will launch in September), so go bug your local hobby store owner to order them. That way you can start making Fanatic tokens as soon as possible.
-Mike
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I know they have a new single and all, but the reference to New Kids in the title might not have been the best way to start this article. Oh well, I went there.
As you may or may not know, the Darkmoon Faire Championship in Indianapolis this summer is Block Constructed format. I know that some of you have been searching all over the internet looking for what qualifies for the Block Constructed format, but before we get to that, let's examine what the current formats consist of for the World of Warcraft TCG Organized Play programs. Directly from Appendix C -
Each tournament format supported by UDE is either a Constructed format, where players bring their own decks, or a Limited format, where players build decks out of booster packs that are usually provided by the tournament organizer. Players can also participate in events as part of a team.
Block Constructed falls under the Constructed format. It is merely a subset of the overall Constructed format. Let me say right here, Constructed Format will be the most supported format that we run tournaments for. It will remain the "default" format for most of our regular competitive tournaments. I know that there are players out there that are concerned that they won't be allowed to use all of the cards in their collection, let me reassure them, they will continue to be able to. Block Constructed is merely a season within the robust structure of the Organized Play formats.
Why would you change if it wasn't broken?
Things aren’t always changed because something is broken or doesn't work the correct way. UDE wants to foster a rich Organized Play environment with many different options for players to participate in. If the players continue to play the same format over and over, they could grow bored with it. This is why there were Limited events for qualification earlier this year and that is why Block Constructed is being introduced for the upcoming Realm season.
Now that the explanations are out of the way, let's get down to what is included in the format.
The Heroes of Azeroth Block
Heroes of Azeroth
Through the Dark Portal
Fires of Outland
Onyxia's Lair Treasure Pack
Molten Core Treasure Pack
Feasts of Winter Veil
Blizzcon 2007 Promo
Burning Crusade Collector's Edition
The Burning Crusade Block
March of the Legion
Servants of the Betrayer
The Hunt for Illidan (starting 07/18/08)
Magtheridon's Lair Treasure Pack
Black Temple (starting 10/17/08)
Crafted 1-8
Crafted 9-11 (starting 07/18/08)
Crafted 12-14 (starting 08/01/08)
Darkmoon Faire (starting 10/17/08)
If you are planning on playing in the Darkmoon Faire Championship in Indianapolis at Gencon this year, you will need to bring a Burning Crusade Block Constructed deck. In addition to the DMF Championship being Block Constructed, the Realm Qualifier season following Continentals will also be Block Constructed, using the Burning Crusade Block cards.
We are going to continue rolling out this new format over the course of the next week. The Appendix C will be posted Monday and there will be feature articles on the front page that talks about what some of the good card choices are for this season's Block Constructed format.
Here are some questions that you should be asking yourself -
- Is Voidfire Wand just as good?
- Are you a Traitor?
- Can you kill an Elusive Hero?
To find all of these details, please check out the Appendix C.
That is a lot to take in and I can imagine that your creative deck building wheels are a turning. The next time we talk, we can chat about Continentals, the Badge of Justice program, or ... maybe even Worlds (crosses fingers). Until then...keep Hangin' Tough!
- Mike
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Players from across the country traveled to the fantastically beautiful Fisher Pavilion in Seattle, Washington take part in the next stop on the Darkmoon Faire. Attendees could participate in multiple TCG and non-TCG attractions throughout the weekend, and this was the first domestic event to have Servants of the Betrayer legal for Constructed play.
Players in the TCG events were competing for prizes like Spectral Tiger Loot Cards, iPods, Playstation 3, invites to the Continental Championship, and custom home theater systems. Events were run non-stop from Friday to Sunday, with the only real stoppage coming to sleep or open more packs. One player, Damien Dufresne, was able to go home from Seattle with three new Spectral Tiger loot cards! He cracked a kitty in a Magtheridon’s Lair treasure pack, placed in the Top 8 of the Darkmoon Faire Championship, and won the MMO leveling contest. It was a good weekend for Mr. Dufresne.
If players wanted a break from the TCG events at the Darkmoon Faire, they had plenty of other options for fun. They could relax in the spacious player lounge and play some Rock Band, try their luck at the carnival games, or get their Spectral Tiger signed by the artist himself, Raven Mimura. Upper Deck and Cascade Games provided free pizza to all attendees on Saturday, which everyone loved, and gave folks a nice break from the rigors of playing to just sit back for a few minutes and go enjoy some of nicest weather Seattle has ever had.
Perhaps the biggest hit of the weekend came in the form of Gabe and Tycho from the popular web comic, Penny Arcade. They were there all three days of the show gunslinging, signing cards and playmats, and generally drawing a huge crowd. After someone showed them one of the infinite combos that are present in the TCG, they were inspired to draw this strip. Tycho was able to run a Molten Core Raid, and judging by his reaction he absolutely loved it. This picture shows how all-out he went for this event.
The next Darkmoon Faire, being held in Indianapolis, IN at the Gen Con Game Fair, August 14-17 should be a huge event. This will be run alongside the Continental Championship and will have some of the best players in the country participating.
On a side note, poor Hondo. He was kidnapped for a better part of Saturday. This was one of the ransom pictures that was sent to my email. Luckily he was able to overpower his captors and escape. (Picture to come July 4th)
Thanks goes to Ian Estrin for helping get this information together.
Coming Up –
Block format is the next big topic. If you are going to Gencon, you will be getting an email later this week about the tournaments happening there. This Monday the Appendix will be updated to include the sets that are legal for the Burning Crusade Block format. I will make sure to make a blog post detailing some of the finer points of block and next week there are a couple articles going up about some good deck choices for this block.
- Mike
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The Hunt for Illidan edition
Greetings all, I know that you have all been excited about the Sneak Preview for the World of Warcraft TCG’s newest set, The Hunt for Illidan. Here in Upper Deck Entertainment, we were just as excited, but one of the perks of working here, is that we get to have our Sneak Previews a day early.
Hondo was able to secure my packs today and helped me crack them. Sadly, I didn’t get any loot. I think Hondo is not a good loot charm, like I originally thought he was. I sorted out all my cards and looked over what I had to work with. Mage was right out, only two abilities and one of them was an Arcane Research. I had an AOE ability for Paladin, but no weapon and the other two abilities were less than stellar. My Rogue was in the same boat, no weapon and lackluster abilities. Nothing in Druid and only a Lighning Arc in Shaman. Hunter is where it started getting interesting. No weapon, but I did get a Shadow. The problem was the Viper Sting and Track Demons weren’t good enough to put me in Hunter. Warlock showed me a Vicious Circle, Velnoth, and a hand full of curses. Priest was a bit better with a Mental Anguish and a couple of combat tricks in the form of Lesser Heal. Here is what I ultimately decided on –
Despite not having any good gear, except a Platinum Shield of the Valorous, Warrior was still the way to go. I had double Finishing Shout and with no Tatulla in the environment, they would be a house. The Darkeater, a couple of Chipper’s dad “Scrapper” Ironbane, and the most equipment hate pushed me into Alliance. I had some early protectors so I thought I could run Retainer Marcus and keep him alive. The deck was rounded out with 8 decent “draw” quests. I was ready to fight, so I went and saw how everyone else is doing.
Marketing Events Specialist, Russ Pippin was busy building his sealed deck. He pulled double Element’s Fury and double Lightning Arc. Shhh…he also has a bomb 11-drop.
Tournament Sanctioning Specialist, Javier Casillas, is also scrambling to build his deck in between calls to retailers. So many stores have been re-ordering this set.
The Hunt for Illidan Lead Designer, Ben Cichoski, was agonizing over his card choices. “Seeing these as actual, printed cards was a realization of a dream come true. It’s not every day that you get to see something that you worked so hard on come to life.”
Why does it seem like everyone in R&D always gets loot. It’s not fair I tell you. Here Head Designer Danny Mandel showed off his Footsteps of Illidan.
See!!! Game Designer Jeff Liu got a Loot too! He got the Disco Ball.
Game Designer and “Rules Guy” Paul Ross got in on the action of the loot cracking. I think the team R&D is the good luck charm for Loot.
Andrew Yip didn’t realize that it was time to make his deck.
Master Dave Humpherys showed his Priest tech. This guy is such an artist.
Drew Walker (Ragnarok) and APM Angel Sanchez tested their decks before the festivities started. It always helps to make sure you got your build right and, of course, get all the bad draws out of the way before the tournament starts.
Other than pride being on the line, you also get prizes and the big ticket item—getting your name on the plaque in the office.
If there’s one thing that Upper Deck Entertainment has, it is an endless supply of Dans and Bens. Here Mandel and Bojanowski faced off to the death. Can you guess which hero Dan was playing?
Brandon Male and Ben Drago faced each other with Jeff Donais studying their masterful moves. I think he might have had something in his teeth from lunch.
The tournament went 4 rounds. I won vs. Andrew Yip, Patrick Swift and Russell Pippin. All of them great matches. My play of the day was sitting on a Finishing Shout until Patrick played his Maiev. In the end, I ended up victorious after suffering through a grueling match against the Master Dave Humpherys in the final match. I got my name on the plaque, a cool loot card, and of course what matters most…Hondo was proud.
Top 3
Michael Girard
Dave Humpherys
Andrew Yip
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Hello and welcome to all of the World of Warcraft Trading Card enthusiasts out there. This is the new Upper Deck Entertainment Organized Play & Marketing blog. My name is Michael Girard and I will be your main host. We will have other contributors as the blog grows and matures.
What is the Organized Play & Marketing blog?
This blog will be used to update players and fans of the World of Warcraft TCG on the latest goings on with Organized Play and Marketing specifically. It will also be used to maintain an open line of communication with the player base at large. One of the main goals is to have this serve as a “front line of communication” where players can check regularly for updates about the current goings on. The intent is to make sure that players have all the answers they need before they think of the question they are going to ask.
What is on the agenda?
Here is a list of topics that we will cover in the upcoming weeks/months –
- Recap of the Internal Sneak Preview for the Hunt for Illidan
- Recap of DMF Seattle
- Review the recent updates to the Rules Appendix
- Recap of the Ogre Smash and Bash weekend
- Discuss North American Continentals (Event schedule, Honor/Ratings requirements, Prizes)
- Discuss the Badge of Justice program
- Discuss the Burning Crusade Block format
- Discuss the upcoming Realm Championship season (starting at Continentals)
- Chat about the World Championships (after the announcement has been released)
- Chat about the release and events for WoW Minis
As you can see there is a plethora of topics that we have planned. They all won’t be addressed in the first week or even the first couple months. The plan is to talk about these topics here and there for the next couple months.
Please feel free to comment and ask questions in the comments section, but please keep it on topic about the contents of the specific blog entries that you’re commenting on. We’ll get the first content entry up shortly, and are looking forward to giving you guys as much information as we can bring you!
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