Henrik Ostergaard – Elendril

Sean Pottenger – Omedus the Punisher

The victor takes home a $1000 scholarship and the vanquished, one worth $500. I’m sure it’s every parent’s dream to have their kids show up with more than just a few extra dollars for their future education. Both of these competitors were definitely going to make someone smile tonight after they told how much they won.

Henrik Ostergaard is looking to take his Elendril deck to one more win before the day is done. Sean Pottenger is in the finals of the Scholarship Constructed event with Omedus the Punisher—and his deck is Lazy Peon legal! Both players had previous Top 8s this weekend to boot: Sean made Top 4 in the Gadgetzan Challenge and Henrik made Top 4 in the UDE Invitational. Sean was a lucky man to be here; he was in fifth place and a player in the Top 4 had to withdraw from the semifinals to catch a flight. “Six bucks for six packs is just fine for me, but then I was told to report to the Top 4 area for my match! Now I have at least $500 in scholarship money. It was the best thing ever!”

Sean opened with one of R&D’s favorite quests, It’s a Secret to Everybody, and immediately completed it. Henrik dropped a resource and Kryton Barleybeard and passed back. Mias the Putrid came down on turn 2 for Sean and Henrik discarded Leeroy Jenkins. Would his name be called in a time of need during this game? Henrik's turn two saw Tracker Gallen join an attacking Kryton. Mias worked her card-advantage magic and killed the exhausted Kryton on Sean’s turn. Sean then played Guardian Steelhorn, looking to put a stop to the aggressive Elendril deck. Latro Abiectus entered play, but was no answer to Steelhorn. “You got me, Sean,” Henrik dejectedly pointed out as he starred at the 3 health protector.

Elendril found Krol Blade, his weapon of choice for Gen Con, and he attacked the Guardian to plow the way for Tracker Gallen and Latro. An end of turn Shadow Word: Pain hit Latro, and Sean looked able to control the game once again when he readied. Then Mind Spike got both Latro and the Fury in Henrik’s hand that was going to attack next turn! This play left Henrik with no cards in hand and only Krol Blade and the 1 ATK Tracker Gallen as offense. Confessor Mildred came into play, but was killed by the efficient sword during Henrik’s next attack while Tracker Gallen kept on chipping away at Omedus's health. Kulan Earthguard joined Omedus on Sean's turn, and although a Chasing A-Me 01 during Sean’s end step got Henrik back Fury, he’d have to find a way around Kulan first. He decided that trading the cat for the protector was his only option, and again attacked for 4. Omedus was at this point at 14 health, and Sean looked in a great position to take control of the board even though Henrik was winning the race.

Chastise shot down Tracker Gallen and all Henrik had left was his hero and weapon. He wasn’t out of quests though, as Kibler’s Exotic Pets got Kryton Barleybeard on the third card and Henrik avoided a near miss. Kryton joined the fresh Apprentice Teep that came into play. “Let's see Leeroy!” cheered Henrik, but he drew Arcane Shot instead. Arcane Shot plinked at Omedus, and Henrik drew Into the Maw of Madness. That card drew into a Parvink that got him a Latro, but he was one resource short of getting the Rogue into the party. Instead he used that one resource to strike with Krol Blade and keep the pressure on Omedus’s health. That turn really pulled the even game in Henrik’s favor; he had the potential for a lethal attack next turn. Behold, the power of quests and Parvink! Sean drew for the turn and sighed at a face-down resource. “That’s a Zygore Bladebreaker. I put him down as a resource the turn before Krol Blade came down.” He then extended his hand and Henrik was the winner of the WoW TCG $1000 Scholarship Constructed Event!

The last game really showed why the power of quests is amazing. Many times you’ll run out of gas, but cards like Kibler’s Exotic Pets and Chasing A-Me 01 will bring you right back into things. Plus, Into the Maw of Madness can cycle itself to draw you a useful card once you have established your critical mass of resources in play. You can dig two or three cards deeper into your deck easily with just a handful of quests. Every turn Sean looked poised to take control of the board, but Henrik’s smart questing kept him coming back while Sean never drew a critical Hierophant Caydiem or any needed answers to Krol Blade.

Congratulations to Henrik Ostergaard on his win, and for taking home $1000 for his education!

Henrik Ostergaard – Elendril

Corey Scott Burkhart – Litori Frostburn

The field cut to the Top 4, and the hero breakdown was two Elendril, a Litori Frostburn, and an Omedus the Punisher. The winner of this game would receive at minimum a $500 scholarship, which I’m positive would make the players and their parents quite pleased. Corey is sporting a control deck with the Alliance Frost Mage Litori Frostburn, and Henrik is playing the popular Alliance Hunter rush deck. Both decks saw extensive action over the weekend.

Corey sent back his hand of three Chasing A-Me 01 and no allies. He peeked at the card he would have drawn, and it was another Chasing A-Me 01. Nice play.

A Turn 1 Bloodclaw from Henrik was not immediately answered by Fire Blast and he went on the offensive. Henrik played two more allies, Apprentice Teep and Mezzik Darkspark. “This can’t be good,” commented Corey. Was he really in bad shape or was he feigning a weak hand? He Blinked Litori out of danger, and Henrik played Tracker Gallen after beating with Bloodclaw and declining to play a resource. Corey played Parvink and passed the turn. Henrik this time did drop a third resource, Into the Maw of Madness, and Teep went right for Parvink. Kryton Barleybeard joined the squad, and Henrik passed the turn over with Mezzik active and waiting to respond to a removal ability.

On the ropes, Corey evaluated all seven of the options in his hand and passed the turn back with four resources ready. When Tracker attacked he met Fire Blast, and Henrik used Mezzik to fling him at Litori for 3 damage. Bloodclaw and Barleybeard attacked next, and Corey debated which ally to Frostbolt. He decided to get Bloodclaw, which let Henrik complete Battle of Darrowshire to get some more action. Two Teeps came down and Corey begged for a Frost Nova that would wipe Henrik’s party. He played his Parvink and drew the Frost Nova; he'd wanted the card before and definitely let Henrik know. Kryton killed Parvink and the Teeps reduced Corey’s life by half. Tracker Gallen popped up on the other side of the table and got the handshake from Corey.

Henrik defeats Corey and guarantees himself at least a $500 scholarship. $500 more is still up for grabs. . .

Winner

Henrik Ostergaard

(61 Cards)

Hero: Elendril

Allies:

4 Apprentice Teep

4 Bloodclaw

4 Fury

4 Kryton Barleybeard

4 Latro Abiectus

2 Leeroy Jenkins

4 Mezzik Darkspark

4 Parvink

4 Tracker Gallen

Abilities:

3 Aimed Shot

3 Arcane Shot

Equipment:

3 Krol Blade

Quests:

4 Battle of Darrowshire

2 Chasing A-Me 01

1 Into the Maw of Madness

4 Kibler’s Exotic Pets

4 The Defias Brotherhood

3 The Love Potion

Finalist

Sean Pottenger

Hero: Omedus the Punisher

Allies:

4 Confessor Mildred

4 Guardian Steelhorn

4 Hierophant Caydiem

3 Kulan Earthguard

4 Mias the Putrid

4 Taz’dingo

4 Zygore Bladebreaker

Abilities:

4 Chastise

3 Heal

4 Mind Spike

3 Shadow Word: Pain

3 Vanquish

Quests:

2 Chasing A-Me 01

2 In Dreams

4 It’s a Secret to Everybody

4 The Princess Trapped

4 Torek’s Assault

Semifinalist

Corey Burkhart

Hero: Litori Frostburn

Allies:

1 King Magni Bronzebeard

2 Lady Jaina Proudmoore

2 Lord Grayson Shadowbreaker

4 Lorekeeper Darian

4 Parvink

3 Tristan Rapidstrike

Abilities:

2 Blink

4 Counterspell

4 Fire Blast

4 Frostbolt

4 Frost Nova

4 Mana Agate

2 Polymorph

Equipment:

2 Inventor’s Focal Sword

1 Lei of Lilies

2 Mooncloth Robe

3 Whitemane’s Chapeau

Quests:

4 Chasing A-Me 01

4 The Missing Diplomat

4 Zapped Giants

Semifinalist

Alex Shoemaker

Hero: Sen’zir Beastwalker

Allies:

1 Arnold Flem

4 Bloodclaw

1 Confessor Mildred

4 Fury

2 Gellrin of the Gallows

2 Karkas Deathhowl

2 Mias the Putrid

2 Moko Hunts-at-Dawn

4 Taz’dingo

1 Thunderhead Hippogryph

2 Vesh’ral

4 Voss Treebender

Abilities:

4 Arcane Shot

4 Bestial Wrath

1 Eagle Eye

2 Multi-Shot

2 Ravenous Bite

Equipment:

1 Ancient Bone Bow

3 Krol Blade

Quests:

4 Chasing A-Me 01

2 Into the Maw of Madness

4 Kibler’s Exotic Pets

4 Torek’s Assault

There was no Major Mattingly and no convention-wide buff, but the brood mother to the Black Dragonflight is slain.

Epic loot? Special Onyxia t-shirts, three copies of the Onyxia's Lair Raid Deck, and some great limited edition foils from the Onyxia Treasure Packs.

Your dragon slayers are Steven Vitales, Mike Dy, and Gary Dumlao from C&J Collectibles in Newark, CA. They all played Graccus.

I asked them if they previously went against Onyxia during the weekend. “Last attempt we played Patrick Swift. He was very good and he deduced our strategy immediately. He was able to kill himself intentionally to force Onyxia into stage 2. We stalled out and he got so many resources in play. The Whelps were so overwhelming,” Steven reminisced.

Their first attempt in was blind. They did no testing of the Onyxia's Lair Raid Deck. Mike Dy explained: “Our first setup was two Graccus and one Timmo Shadestep. Timmo had the ability to Lobotomize and use The Cruel Hand of Timmy, but Onyxia had so many ways to make herself immune to spells and counter that. We went back to the drawing board and made it more consistent. Adding the third Paladin made the decks more consistent and puts Onyxia in a lock where she can’t attack.”

“King Magni Bronzebeard was an all-star,” shouted Gary as they all high-fived.

The entire match was an hour and five minutes.

I informed the players that they played an improved Onyxia raid deck, and they were very excited. “I think it’ll be a lot of fun once people get the raid decks and customize them. They made it nearly impossible to kill Onyxia here but we finally did it!” exclaimed Steven.

They killed her flawlessly. There was no damage on any hero or ally when she fell, and she had no resources in play. Are there more prizes than just the physical rewards for slaying dragons? “We felt like we took back the pride for all the players who attempted it and failed. This is for them!” gushed the team.

They almost didn’t make it, but the party was not to be denied. They fell to her in their first attempt here, and made it to an extra day of the convention just to slay Onyxia. They drove six hours from Fremont, California, not planning to come back on Sunday, but they were so close they just had to come back and take one more shot at the beast.

Congratulations, heroes of Anaheim—you came, you saw, and you slew the black dragon. It’s a feat that went unaccomplished all weekend. Now people can’t wait to get their hands on the Onyxia's Lair Raid Deck themselves and work out their own strategies. May the souls of the heroes she killed now rest easier, and may players be inspired by what you’ve done this day!

Aaron Vreeland – Elendril

Oliver Schmid – Grennan Stormspeaker

Oliver offered to read his decklist to his opponent as a sporting gesture since most of Oliver’s cards were in his native language of German. They went through his Shaman deck together as the Invitational slot winner multitasked and also examined Aaron’s decklist.

Both players carefully counted out seven cards and kept. Aaron won the die roll and played a turn 1 Apprentice Teep. He attacked with it on the next turn and added another Teep and Kryton Barleybeard to his party. Searing Totem plunked down when Oliver played his turn 2 resource and took out a Teep at the start of Aaron's turn. Kryton sent the Totem to the graveyard and the judge reminded Aaron that his Kryton took no damage, placing him back into play from the graveyard. The second Teep snuck in for 2 damage, and Elendril gained a Krol Blade. “Does your fortune await you?” questioned Aaron, gesturing to Oliver’s three copies of the quest in play. Those copies of Your Fortune Awaits You exhausted to play Vesh’ral, who traded with Kryton. Elendril took up arms with Teep against the Shaman, and Latro Abiectus made Aaron’s board even more threatening. Oliver played Ghost Wolf and Aaron asked for a read of the card’s text from the judge. Latro exhausted to attack on Aaron's turn and Grennan exhausted just the same to remove the elusive attacker from combat. Teep attacked, then Fury did his job and hit Grennan for 5 damage. The efficiently costed ally was a very popular Pet, and players this weekend have likely spent just as much time with Fury as Brian Kibler has with his cat in the MMO.

Another Searing Totem came down at the end of Aaron's turn, and when Oliver readied it dealt a point to Latro. Grennan flipped to take out Fury and heal himself. The Shaman offers both aggressive abilities and heals, which makes him a formidable multi-threat opponent, and Grennan's hero power has proven itself to be one of the strongest in the game. A completion of Kibler’s Exotic Pets during Aaron’s turn found him a Kryton Barleybeard, and Apprentice Teep took out the Searing Totem after it did in the elusive Latro. Elendril struck Grennan with Krol Blade for 3 damage, and then a new Kryton entered play. A Thunderhead Hippogryph screamed in for 3 damage against Elendril, and Oliver passed his turn leaving two resources ready. Kryton baited out the activation of Ghost Wolf after Mezzik Darkspark hit play, making way for Apprentice Teep. Oliver didn’t have to worry about a potential Fury attack, since Aaron had completed his Into the Maw of Madness and only sported  four resources and one card in hand.

The Hippogryph took out Mezzik Darkspark, and Zygore Bladebreaker smashed Elendril's Krol Blade. Aaron didn’t even get a Nexus Crystal from it! Aaron then drew and played Parvink, and verified that Oliver had 4 health remaining on his hero. Grennan looked to the sky for guidance, hoping to find an answer fast. He held Draconian Deflector in hand as Oliver drew Frost Shock. Bladebreaker went for Kryton, and Daniel used the ally's power to return Ghost Wolf to Oliver's hand. Oliver, however, thought the Ghost Wolf was destroyed, and played a second one from his hand. The judge quickly corrected the error. “How many Aimed Shots do you run?” Oliver wondered aloud as he sent the turn over.

The shield and Ghost Wolf were going to take care of any attacks Aaron made this turn, and were buying Oliver time to swing the board in his favor. Aaron played another Apprentice Teep after using Into the Maw of Madness, and then played and attacked with Fury only to have Grennan use Ghost Wolf to escape. Zygore Bladebreaker set his sights on Fury and the cat took a dirt nap. Apprentice Teep met an incoming Taz’dingo's damage and suddenly the game was very different. Kibler’s Exotic Pets showed Aaron a quest and two of the Aimed Shots that could end the game for him. Oliver couldn’t hold back his pleasure and pumped his fist openly with a giant grin; Aaron wore the face of a man who just took a kidney shot. Teep met a Frost Shock, and on his turn Oliver played Zy’lah Manslayer. Aaron could only muster a Latro Abiectus, and Oliver attacked with his team. He'd only dealt 9 damage to Elendril so far, and Aaron would have a few turns to draw an out to this rough board. Latro took a Frost Shock to the face, and Aaron still sat in disbelief that his Aimed Shots went straight to the bottom of his deck. Zy'lah Manslayer and Taz’dingo attacked Aaron's hero for another 7 damage, and Oliver continued to put nails in Elendril's coffin with a Thunderhead Hippogryph and a completion of Chasing A-Me 01 for Zygore Bladebreaker. He was anticipating possible plays with every decision he made and was limiting his opponent’s potential outs to only two Aimed Shots. Leeroy Jenkins came into play and rushed into Zy’lah. This bought Aaron another turn by removing a potential 5 damage from Oliver's board. Unfortunately for Aaron's math, Oliver drew and played Annihilator, giving him an extra +2 ATK, and with a Searing Totem Oliver took the first game of the match.

Oliver 1 – Aaron 0

Aaron led the second game with Apprentice Teep. He attacked next turn and Mezzik Darkspark showed his face. Oliver played a second quest and Frost Shocked Darkspark. Aaron curved out with Parvink, and Teep kept swinging. Taz’dingo shot down Teep on Oliver's turn, and on his, Aaron played a second Parvink and attacked Taz'dingo with his first. The Troll lunged tusks-first at Parvink and they ended each other. A turn later the other Parvink found a cat to ride, and she and Fury swung in for a fast 7 damage to Grennan. Chain Lightning came at the exact right time to wipe Aaron’s board and deal a point to Elendril, but another Fury replaced the fallen Pet. (Maybe they should just reprint him as the Energizer bunny. The drawback of Pets is barely felt in Constructed; most Pets are so good they must be dealt with immediately.) Grennan flipped to remove Fury from play and heal himself for 3 health. I thought Pets were supposed to do flips and tricks for their masters. . .  A Kibler’s Exotic Pets on Aaron’s turn hit Latro Abiectus, and he was accompanied onto the battlefield by Apprentice Teep. A Chain Lightning once again wiped Aaron’s party. It seemed that every card Aaron played met a response from Oliver. Aaron passed the turn with five resources ready and four cards in hand; his opponent could only assume one was likely to be removal, and would have to guess at the other three. Oliver exhausted five resources, bringing out Kulan Earthguard to defend against any surprise allies with ferocity. At the end of Oliver’s turn Aaron played Multi-Shot to hit Kulan and Grennan. Aaron played Apprentice Teep and used Into the Maw of Madness while riffling through Chain Lightnings and Taz’dingos in Oliver’s graveyard.

Oliver started his next turn with Taz’dingo shooting down Teep (a very common target this week), and then Vesh’ral came down and attacked for 3. Aaron kept his party afloat with Latro and Bloodclaw while Oliver used Chasing A-Me 01 to fetch back Kulan Earthguard. A third Chain Lightning elicited a deep groan from Aaron as it once again killed two allies while dealing damage to Elendril. Five more resources exhausted to play the reborn Kulan. Arcane Shot took out Vesh’ral, but the Troll had already dealt 6 damage to Elendril. “You’re tapped out?” asked Oliver as he gained the turn. When Aaron confirmed it, Oliver sent everyone in to attack and took the game.

Oliver defeats Aaron 2 – 0

Oliver Schmid – Grennan Stormspeaker

Daniel Betancourt – Sen’zir Beastwalker

Daniel rolled a 10 with two six-sided dice, but Oliver trumped his roll with a perfect 12. “Blown out! That is not the dice roll I wanted to lose today,” said Daniel with regret. Dice rolls are important in this matchup because of Searing Totem, and no one wanted to lose a roll at this stage in the tournament.

Oliver opened with a resource while Daniel did him one better with a turn 1 Bloodclaw. Turn 2 Searing Totem put a damper on Daniel’s plans; he’d need to find a way to remove it from play if he didn’t want to lose tempo and allow Oliver to set up. He had no answer, though, and passed the turn with Torek’s Assault and Chasing A-Me 01 ready. Daniel played Arcane Shot on the Totem at the end of Oliver’s turn, and on his brought Vesh’ral into play looking for blood and finding it. A second Searing Totem came into play. Daniel nodded and said, “Good play,” to his opponent. “Didn’t I tell you I lose?” he called to a friendly spectator. “Any two health ally dies. I’d have to play 10 Fury to come back from this.”

Oliver still kept his removal-based allies in his hand, content to keep pinging with the Totem and playing quests. Arnold Flem came into play for Daniel, but the judge informed the pair that Searing Totem would not be susceptible to Flem’s ability—much to Daniel’s disappointment. Kulan Earthguard found a place on the board and took 1 damage from a dying Flem, who was likely cursing that Searing Totem back to his new grave. Daniel needed an immediate way to deal with that Totem; his window to win the game was closing. An activation of Torek’s Assault found Oliver another Kulan and the pair all but wrapped up the game. Double Marked for Death came down on the Shaman, but it likely wasn’t going to do much if Daniel couldn’t keep an ally in play. He brought out  Vesh’ral and Gellrin of the Gallows on the same turn, giving Oliver two choices with his Searing Totem. It took out Vesh’ral, and Kulan ended Gellrin’s second life as an Undead. That was the game. Daniel knew he couldn’t win and likely just prolonged the game to see more of his opponent’s deck and how it functioned in play. The time certainly wouldn’t cost him in these 90-minute rounds.

Oliver 1 – Daniel 0

Daniel was a much happier man playing first, and it reflected in his smile. This must have been a beacon of hope, because two more friends joined him for moral support. Voss Treebender made sure Daniel didn't miss a first turn play. Grennan Stormspeaker probably wouldn’t have a play for a while. Voss attacked for 2 damage and down came Brigg. Oliver's Taz’dingo took out Voss and added another notch to his belt for the kill. Double Arcane Shot from Daniel took out Taz’dingo, making sure he didn’t fall behind on cards. Another Voss came into play and Bloodclaw joined him. Oliver drew, and then sent the turn over with 4 resources ready. What was he representing? Seconds later Bloodclaw met Frost Shock—the calling card of Shamans everywhere. Brigg met the same fate. Oliver accidentally slapped down his Searing Totem instead of the second Frost Shock and immediately groaned.

“Thanks for the info,” Daniel gleefully cheered.

“It was an awful mistake,” responded Oliver, but his focus seemed unaffected.

Oliver got Grennan a Draconian Deflector and passed the turn. Voss attacked the Shaman for no damage thanks to the shield, and then Daniel was the one to pass with 4 resources ready. Counterattack! found Oliver the perfect card in Taz’dingo and he was played, removing Voss. Daniel’s Kibler’s Exotic Pets found Gellrin of the Gallows and Gellrin entered play when Daniel gained the turn. The Troll hero found Krol Blade to take down Taz’dingo, but Grennan jumped in the way with his shield. Daniel declined to pay the strike cost on his weapon and passed the turn. Taz’dingo traded for Gellrin, and Thunderhead Hippogryph found that it preferred ferocity to protector, flying over for 3. Daniel drew his card for the turn and declared that his hero was attacking the Shaman. Oliver exhausted his shield to prevent the damage, which allowed Fury to pounce in for an attack. Fury was Vanquished and destroyed, and Oliver's Hippogryph kept beating with its new friend Vesh’ral. “I sided out the Multi-Shot,” Daniel said with a smile, but he was clearly not happy, muttering a bit under his breath.

A Taz’dingo from Daniel removed Vesh’ral and the Hippogrpyh met Krol Blade. “I have to keep playing around your Searing Totem,” Daniel reminded Oliver. Now came the big hurt—Zy’lah Manslayer thundered down for 7 resources. Daniel went into thinking mode and wondered aloud about how he was going to deal with the giant Troll. He drew and played Confessor Mildred. Not the card he was looking for. Zy’lah wiped Dan’s allies, but was taken out by Sen’zir's Krol Blade. That allowed Oliver to send in Vesh’ral for 3 damage and drop the much-mentioned Searing Totem. Sen’zir Beastwalker flipped to retrieve Fury from the graveyard and attack, but the Pet wasn’t going to affect the board and met Draconian Deflector. It then died to the Shaman’s hero power and Oliver took the Troll Hunter’s health to 0.

Oliver defeats Daniel 2 – 0

“When I saw I was playing you I knew I didn’t have a chance in this match. I was mostly screwing around,” Daniel commented as put down his information for prize support. Oliver consoled his opponent by telling him that he was approximately 10-1 against Hunter decks this weekend while commanding the Tauren Shaman. Oliver looks to supplement his UDE Invitational win with a Dream Machine computer in the finals against Aaron Vreeland and his Elendril rush.

Damien Dufresne – Sen'zir Beastwalker

Eugene Levin – Elendril

A World of Warcraft server known for its hard core PvP, Tichondrius put two players in the Top 8 of the Darkmoon Faire Dream Machine Championship. TAO’s Naecabon took his human form, Damien Dufresne, and had his guild cheering section in tow when he drew the Regional Champion from last night in the quarterfinals. It’s a mirror match of Hunters, with Damien representing the Horde as Sen’zir Beastwalker and Eugene piloting his Elendril from last night. TAO are widely considered to be one the best Horde Warsong Gulch PvP teams in the United States—would his PvP experience in the MMO help him win tonight, or would Eugene’s winning streak continue and grab him the computer of his dreams?

Damien won the die roll and opted to play first. Bloodclaw came down on turn 1 for Damien. Mezzik Darkspark entered play for Eugene and he kept his own Bloodclaw in hand. Arcane Shot took out Darkspark and Eugene took 3 damage from the Pet. Latro Abiectus came out next, and because he was elusive Damien's Bloodclaw went for Eugene's hero. Voss Treebender joined Bloodclaw and Damien passed with one resource ready. Latro tried to take out Bloodclaw, but Bestial Wrath saved him and sent the 2-drop to the grave. Bloodclaw and Kailis Truearc joined Elendril’s side, but would they stick?

It must have pained him to see such a loyal Pet on the opposing side. Damien exhausted three resources to play Taz’dingo, killing Eugene's Bloodclaw. Voss took out Kailis, and Bloodclaw kept clawing at the Night Elf. Eugene next armed Elendril with Krol Blade and the ability to strike with it. Eugene held back as he was out of gas and had to slow his opponent. Arnold Flem dropped for Sen’zir and Taz’dingo tried to take one for the team by attacking Elendril, but the Night Elf Hunter took out Bloodclaw instead. Damien’s crowd was whispering about the game a bit too loud for Eugene’s liking and he requested that the crowd quiet down. Following that, Eugene used Kibler’s Exotic Pets and found Parvink, the perfect card for his situation. He played it, but Damien's Multi-Shot cleared Parvink and dealt another 2 damage to  Elendril, for a total of 9 on the turn. Eugene drew his card and scooped up game one. He just couldn’t keep an ally on the table.

Damien 1 – Eugene 0

“I got a little flooded that game. I drew so many quests,” Eugene said with much regret. In response, Eugene took out three The Defias Brotherhood for three Multi-shot. Damien took out three Barak the Shamed for two Zygore Bladebreaker and a Bestial Wrath that he wished were in his main deck.

Eugene opened up game 2 with a mulligan, sending his very vulnerable draw full of 1 health allies back for a fresh one. He played Bloodclaw on turn 1 and Damien matched it, a common theme for the tournament. It appeared that knowing the Hunter on Hunter matchup could take you places today. Mezzik Darkspark and Apprentice Teep came down on Eugene's second turn after Bloodclaw did what he was made to do and attacked Sen’zir Beastwalker for 3 damage. Damien's Aimed Shot took out Eugene's exhausted Bloodclaw and he attacked with his own pet, dealing 3. Three really was the magic number today. Kibler’s Exotic Pets almost whiffed for Eugene during his next turn, but the third card was Fury; he celebrated with some fist-pumping action. He pondered which card to play as a resource, chose one, and used it to get another Mezzik Darkspark into play. The first Mezzik took out the Bloodclaw, only to see another one come into play with a Voss Treebender on Damien's next turn. Teep clashed with Bloodclaw and Mezzik took out Voss Treebender. “Teep, teep, teep,” chirped the crowd in support. Leeroy Jenkins came into play, turned sideways and dealt 6. Arnold Flem looked like he wanted to find a way to the graveyard, but Leeroy went straight for the hero, along with Fury. Eugene knew his deck offered a lot of the fatter creatures in the match, so he used his early plays to trade instead of race to make sure he could get to that point. Arnold Flem gave Damien a 2 for 1 when he took out Fury and Leeroy, but having ferocity they'd already done their jobs. Kulan Earthguard came into play, countering the Latro Abiectus that had joined Elendril. Kulan got in for some “free” damage as he attacked and then readied at the end of the turn. He then protected Sen'zir from Latro and took him out, leaving the way clear for a new Fury to attack for 5.

Both players were low in life so every play was significant. Taz’dingo dealt 1 to Fury and Voss finished the cat off. Apprentice Teep came into play for Eugene, and he destroyed Into the Maw of Madness to find the Parvink that then drew him his Leeroy. Parvink and Maw took him from a situation where he had just Apprentice Teep to where he was able to stabilize the board. What a turn! Damien sent Kulan into Parvink, taking her out, and Taz’dingo went straight for Elendril. On Eugene's next turn, Fury leapt into action and the Ravenous Bite in Damien's hand wasn’t enough to save him from death. “I could have done fourteen next turn,” sighed Damien, who wanted to take the win right there.

Damien 1 – Eugene 1

“I liked that game,” commented Damien. “Me too,” responded Eugene. The action was certainly fast and fun.

Eugene side-decked again. He brought in a Moira Darkheart for his fourth copy of The Defias Brotherhood. He didn’t think he'd get a chance to activate Defias in this matchup that saw allies trading back and forth.

Damien played first turn Bloodclaw for the third game in a row. Kailis Truearc came out to meet Bloodclaw for Eugene, but he wasn’t a target. Kagra of the Crossroads joined Bloodclaw for Damien's assault against Elendril. Then Eugene had to take a phone call. After giving his friend directions on how to navigate his way from the real world to our little pocket of Azeroth, Damien's Bestial Wrath traded for Kailis after being played on Bloodclaw. Eugene replaced the lost ally with Kryton Barleybeard and Bloodclaw. That Pet missed no action today. Ravenous Bite took away the ATK from Eugene’s Bloodclaw and the two Pets clashed. Kagra got the Bite bonus and traded with Barleybeard. Latro Abiectus kept the guys coming on Eugene's turn, but he passed with no other plays. Kibler’s Exotic Pets found Damien Karkas Deathhowl. He then completed For the Horde! and his party attacked Elendril for 7 damage. Elendril unsheathed Krol Blade and struck down Voss Treebender. That made the Troll Hunter angry, and berserk, Sen’zir called Fury to her side to attack for 5. Elendril took another 5 to eliminate Fury with his Sword during Eugene’s turn, but he was gaining a lot of card economy at the cost of health and pulled ahead in cards. A new Fury replaced the dead Pet and left Elendril with one health remaining after he killed it with Krol Blade. Eugene’s Apprentice Teep went on the offensive and Parvink stayed back for Eugene to defend against another ferocious ally coming into play for Damien. Damien top decked Kagra of the Crossroads and played it along with his Vesh’ral to win the game.

Damien defeats Eugene 2–1 and advances to the semifinals.

Winner

Oliver Schmid

Hero: Grennan Stormspeaker

Allies:

4 Chain Lightning

3 Kulan Earthguard

2 Ophelia Barrows

3 Taz’dingo

2 Thunderhead Hippogryph

3 Vesh’ral

3 Zygore Bladebreaker

3 Zy’lah Manslayer

Abilities:

4 Frost Shock

4 Ghost Wolf

4 Searing Totem

3 Vanquish

Equipment:

3 Annihilator

3 Draconian Deflector

Quests:

3 Chasing A-Me 01

4 Counterattack!

1 For the Horde!

4 Torek’s Assault

4 Your Fortune Awaits You

Sidedeck:

4 Confessor Mildred

3 Hur Shieldsmasher

2 Ophelia Barrows

1 Vanquish

Finalist

Aaron Vreeland

Hero: Elendril

Allies:

4 Apprentice Teep

4 Bloodclaw

4 Fury

4 Kailis Truearc

4 Kryton Barleybeard

4 Latro Abiectus

1 Leeroy Jenkins

4 Mezzik Darkspark

4 Parvink

Abilities:

3 Aimed Shot

3 Arcane Shot

Equipment:

4 Krol Blade

Quests:

3 Battle of Darrowshire

3 Chasing A-Me 01

3 Into the Maw of Madness

4 Kibler’s Exotic Pets

4 The Defias Brotherhood

Sidedeck

1 Arcane Shot

2 Burn Away

1 Marked for Death

3 Moira Darkheart

3 Multi-shot

Semifinalist

Daniel Betancourt

Hero: Elendril

Allies:

3 Arnold Flem

4 Bloodclaw

3 Brigg

4 Fury

4 Gellrin of the Gallows

4 Taz’dingo

4 Vesh’ral

4 Voss Treebender

Abilities:

4 Arcane Shot

4 Marked for Death

3 Multi-shot

Equipment:

4 Krol Blade

Quests:

4 Chasing A-Me 01

3 Into the Maw of Madness

4 Kibler’s Exotic Pets

4 Torek’s Assault

Semifinalist

Damien Dufresne

(62 cards)

Hero: Sen’zir Beastwalker

Allies:

3 Arnold Flem

3 Barak the Shamed

4 Bloodclaw

4 Fury

3 Kagra of the Crossroads

3 Karkas Deathhowl

2 Kulan Earthguard

3 Taz’dingo

3 Vesh’ral

3 Voss Treebender

Abilities:

4 Arcane Shot

3 Bestial Wrath

3 Multi-shot

3 Ravenous Bite

2 Vanquish

Quests:

4 For the Horde!

4 Into the Maw of Madness

4 Kibler’s Exotic Pets

4 Torek’s Assault

Sidedeck:

1 Bestial Wrath

4 Confessor Mildred

2 Fang of the Crystal Spider

1 Voss Treebender

2 Zygore Bladebreaker

Quarterfinalist

Ben Rislove

Hero: Sen’zir Beastwalker

Allies:

4 Bloodclaw

4 Confessor Mildred

4 Elder Moorf

4 Fury

4 Gellrin of the Gallows

2 Moko Hunts-at-Dawn

2 Old Bones

4 Taz’dingo

4 Vesh’ral

4 Voss Treebender

Abilities:

4 Arcane Shot

4 Master of the Hunt

2 Multi-shot

Quests:

2 Chasing A-Me 01

4 Into the Maw of Madness

4 Kibler’s Exotic Pets

4 Torek’s Assault

Sidedeck:

3 Burn Away

4 Hur Shieldsmasher

4 Karkas Deathhowl

Quarterfinalist

Rob Walker

Hero: Ta’zo

Allies:

2 Elder Moorf

4 Gartok Skullsplitter

4 Gellrin of the Gallows

4 Hur Shieldsmasher

3 Jin’lak Nightfang

3 Moko Hunts-at-Dawn

4 Vesh’ral

4 Voss Treebender

Abilities:

4 Counterspell

4 Fireball

4 Fire Blast

4 Frostbolt

2 Frost Nova

4 Mana Agate

Quests:

2 Torek’s Assault

4 For the Horde!

4 It’s a Secret to Everybody

Sidedeck:

2 Frost Nova

1 Polymorph

4 Taz’dingo

3 Zygore Bladebreaker

Quaterfinalist

Chrystian Chanse

Hero: Dizdemona

Allies:

4 Infernal

2 Lady Jaina Proudmoore

2 Moira Darkheart

4 Parvink

4 Sarmoth

2 Seva Shadowdancer

Abilties:

4 Dark Pact

4 Life Tap

2 Sever the Cord

4 Shadow Bolt

2 Shattering Blow

4 Steal Essence

Equipment:

3 Inventor’s Focal Sword

3 Whitemane’s Chapeau

Quests:

1 Blueleaf Tubers

3 Chasing A-Me 01

1 In Dreams

4 Kibler’s Exotic Pets

3 The Missing Diplomat

4 Zapped Giants

Sidedeck:

2 Burn Away

2 Sever the Cord

1 Moira Darkheart

2 Shattering Blow

3 Rain of Fire

Quarterfinalist

Eugene Levin

Hero: Elendril

Allies:

4 Apprentice Teep

4 Bloodclaw

4 Fury

4 Kailis Truearc

4 Latro Abiectus

4 Leeroy Jenkins

4 Kryton Barleybeard

4 Mezzik Darkspark

4 Parvink

Abilities

4 Aimed Shot

Equipment:

4 Krol Blade

Quests:

4 Chasing A-Me 01

4 Into the Maw of Madness

4 Kibler’s Exotic Pets

4 The Defias Brotherhood

Sidedeck:

4 Moira Darkheart

3 Multi-shot

3 Nerra Lifeboon

by Michael Girard

Travis is in Item Design for Blizzard. He started recently and was on the team for Naxxramas, the upgraded dungeon sets, and of course, the upcoming Burning Crusade expansion. He claims to not have a favorite piece that he designed for Naxxramas, but rather is proud of and happy with all of them. Travis’s main character in WoW was his undead warrior, but as of late he has been “having more fun” with his warlock.

Now we get to the nitty-gritty. Travis finished second yesterday in the WoW Regionals, and did very well today. I decided that I was going to grill him on what kind of preparations he made for this competition: “Well, I tried a Warrior because that was my favorite; however, I had issues dealing with the rush deck types.”  He went on, “I had a random idea for a Frost Mage deck and decided to give it a try. I was able to win the first Wednesday night tournament at Blizzard the first time I tried it, so I set out to fine tune it.”  Travis also explained that he's had a lot of experience with the control deck archtype from his previous TCG experience: “I knew what I was getting with the Frost Mage, and I thought it was the best choice overall.”

We started talking about how the metagame at the Gen Con So Cal events differed from the metagame within the walls of Blizzard. “Everyone is trying to metagame against equipment, it’s crazy,” he said. “I made a Warrior deck when the game first came out and was trying to feel out the metagame. I was wrecking shop with it too; on more than one occasion, I was one-shotting people with Arcanite Reaper builds.” 

The problem was that like every playing environment, the winds of change were blowing. “They soon caught on, and players were regularly playing up to eight forms of equipment removal. The Warrior deck couldn’t survive and it was time to try something different. This is how I came to the Mage. I was familiar with the control aspect, but the WoW TCG’s control aspect is different than I’m used to. The control deck really doesn’t have an answer for characters that have 'come into play powers' and ultimately, that's what did me in today. I wasn’t able to deal with Taz’dingo regularly enough to offset the damage I was taking from him.” Travis went on to say that he knew that players would gravitate to the rush decks because the game was so new. One of the things that he thought was cool was that he had to learn the metagame and predict strategies just like the rest of the players: “You would think I would get some kind of advantage, but I didn’t—I’m just a player like everyone else here.”

I asked if he had run up against Onyxia here at So Cal yet. He said that he was lucky enough to pilot her on Thursday, but the only experience he has against her is from playing back at Blizzard. “She is a blast to play against, [and] we were able to run a lot of games against her. She won about 60% of the time at Blizzard, but at Gen Con that’s a different story.”

Travis says it’s a blast to work at Blizzard: “When the systems go down and we can’t work, we bust out our WoW TCG decks and fight it out right there.” He is a pretty accomplished player at Blizzard and regularly wins their Wednesday night tournament. “I had a rough go this past week. I got metagamed against and lost to the guy who eventually won. I quickly dragged out the Hunter rush deck and showed him a thing or two about over-metagaming.”

I thanked Travis for his time and wished him luck for the rest of the weekend. I’m sure we’ll be seeing more of him at the World of Warcraft TCG events.

Winner

Oliver Schmid

Hero: Dizdemona

Allies:

2 Acolyte Demia

4 Apprentice Teep

4 Latro Abiectus

1 Liba Wobblebonk

1 Medoc Spiritwarden

3 Milo the Unmerciful

2 Moira Darkheart

4 Parvink

4 Sarmoth

1 Tracker Gallen

Abilities:

3 Life Tap

3 Sever the Cord

4 Shadow Bolt

4 Steal Essence

2 Vanquish

Quests:

4 Are We There, Yeti?

3 Chasing A-Me 01

4 Kibler’s Exotic Pets

4 The Defias Brotherhood

2 The Missing Diplomat

1 Your Fortune Awaits You

Runner-up

Sean Wang

Hero: Radak Doombringer

Allies:

4 Deacon Johanna

4 Fa’tafi

4 Guardian Steelhorn

4 Karkas Deathhowl

4 Kulan Earthguard

4 Ophelia Barrows

4 Sarmoth

4 Taz’dingo

Abilities:

4 Shadow Bolt

4 Steal Essence

Quests:

4 Chasing A-Me 01

4 It’s a Secret to Everybody

4 Kibler’s Exotic Pets

4 The Love Potion

4 The Princess Trapped

3^rd – 4^th

Wyatt Cheng

Hero: Dizdemona

Allies:

4 Acolyte Demia

2 Donna Calister

4 Freya Lightsworn

4 Grimdron

1 Lafiel

4 Medoc Spiritwarden

4 Moira Darkheart

4 Parvink

2 Sarmoth

Abilities:

4 Face Smash

4 Life Tap

4 Vanquish

4 Shadow Bolt

3 Steal Essence

Quests:

4 Chasing A-Me 01

2 In Dreams

4 The Defias Brotherhood

2 The Missing Diplomat

Henrik Ostergaard

Hero: Elendril

Allies:

4 Apprentice Teep

4 Bloodclaw

4 Kryton Barleybeard

4 Latro Abiectus

4 Mezzik Darkspark

3 Milo the Unmerciful

4 Parvink

3 Sha’lin Nightwind

4 Tracker Gallen

Abilities:

2 Arcane Shot

3 Marked for Death

Equipment:

3 Krol Blade

Quests:

4 Battle of Darrowshire

2 Into the Maw of Madness

4 Kibler’s Exotic Pets

4 The Defias Brotherhood

4 The Love Potion

5^th – 8^th

Dan Betancourt

Hero: Ta’zo

Allies:

4 Brigg

4 Confessor Mildred

4 Elder Moorf

4 Karkas Deathhowl

4 Taz’dingo

4 Voss Treebender

4 Zorm Stonefury

Abilities:

4 Fire Blast

4 Fireball

4 Frostbolt

4 Mana Agate

2 Polymorph

Quests:

2 In Dreams

4 For the Horde!

4 Your Fortune Awaits You

4 Zapped Giants

Joseph Sung

Hero: Litori Frostburn

Allies:

4 Apprentice Teep

3 Acolyte Demia

2 Freya Lightsworn

4 Latro Abiectus

1 Lafiel

4 Moira Darkheart

4 Parvink

4 Randipan

Abilities:

4 Fire Blast

4 Fireball

4 Polymorph

3 Vanquish

Quests:

4 Chasing A-Me 01

1 Battle of Darrowshire

2 The Defias Brotherhood

1 The Missing Diplomat

3 The Princess Trapped

4 Your Fortune Awaits You

4 Zapped Giants

Sean Baskerville

Hero: Dizdemona

Allies:

4 Acolyte Demia

4 Freya Lightsworn

4 Lady Courtney Noel

4 Melgwy Pingzot

4 Moira Darkheart

4 Parvink

4 Sarmoth

Abilities:

4 Burn Away

4 Corruption

4 Life Tap

4 Shadow Bolt

4 Steal Essence

Quests:

4 Chasing A-Me 01

4 It’s a Secret to Everybody

3 Kibler’s Exotic Pets

1 The Missing Diplomat

Alex Shoemaker

Hero: Dizdemona

Allies:

1 Acolyte Demia

2 Apprentice Teep

3 Crazy Igvand

1 Donna Calister

3 Freya Lightsworn

1 Galahandra, Keeper of the Silent Grove

1 Hannah the Unstoppable

2 Kena Shadowbrand

2 Lady Courtney Noel

1 Latro Abiectus

1 Liba Wobblewonk

2 Medoc Spiritwarden

1 Melgwy Pingzot

2 Mezzik Darkspark

4 Parvink

4 Sarmoth

3 Tracker Gallen

4 Warden Tonarin

Abilities:

2 Life Tap

1 Sever the Cord

4 Shadow Bolt

2 Steal Essence

Quests:

2 Are We There, Yeti?

1 Blueleaf Tubers

1 Into the Maw of Madness

3 Kibler’s Exotic Pets

4 The Defias Brotherhood

Eugene Levin

Winner

Hero

Elendril

Allies

4 Mezzik Darkspark

4 Latro Abiectus

4 Parvink

4 Apprentice Teep

4 Kryton Barleybeard

4 Fury

4 Kailis Truearc

4 Bloodclaw

4 Leeroy Jenkins

Abilities

4 Aimed Shot

Equipment

4 Krol Blade

Quests

4 Kibler’s Exotic Pets

4 the Defias Brotherhood

4 Into the Maw of Madness

4 Chasing A-Me 01

Travis Day

Finalist

Hero

Litori Frostburn

Allies

3 Tristan Rapidstrike

4 Parvink

1 Lorekeeper Darian

1 King Magni Bronzebeard

1 Lord Grayson Shadowbreaker

1 Lady Jaina Proudmoore

Abilities

4 Frost Nova

4 Polymorph

4 Mana Agate

4 Counterspell

4 Blink

4 Frostbolt

4 Fire Blast

Equipment

3 Whitemane’s Chapeau

4 Mooncloth Robe

2 Lei of Lilies

3 Inventor’s Focal Sword

Quests

4 Chasing A-Me 01

4 The Missing Diplomat

1 Blueleaf Tubers

Sam Stein

Semifinalist

Hero

Litori Frostburn

Allies

4 Latro Abiectus

4 Apprentice Teep

4 Leeroy Jenkins

4 Sha’lin Nightwind

4 Parvink

4 Mezzik Darkspark

Abilities

4 Frostbolt

4 Counterspell

4 Polymorph

4 Fire Blast

Quests

4 It’s a Secret to Everybody

4 Zapped Giants

4 Chasing A-Me 01

4 Into the Maw of Madness

Noe Sanchez

Semifinalist

Hero

Gorebelly

Allies

4 Rak Skyfury

4 Guardian Steelhorn

Abilities

4 Heroic Strike

4 Mortal Strike

4 Mocking Blow

3 Cleave

3 Shield Bash

2 Vanquish

Equipment

4 Annihilator

3 Thrash Blade

4 Golem Skull Helm

4 Draconian Deflector

3 Deathdealer Breastplate

Quests

4 Counterattack!

4 Zapped Giants

4 Big Game Hunter

2 Sunken Treasure

Rob Walker

Quarterfinalist

Hero

Ta’zo

Allies

4 Voss Treebender

3 Jin’lak Nightfang

2 Confessor Mildred

2 Moko Hunts-at-Dawn

4 Vesh’ral

4 Gellrin of the Gallows

2 Elder Moorf

4 Gartok Skullsplitter

2 Barak the Shamed

Abilities

4 Frostbolt

4 Mana Agate

3 Counterspell

4 Fireball

4 Fire Blast

4 Frost Nova

Quests

4 It’s a Secret to Everybody

4 For the Horde!

2 Zapped Giants

Cory Jones

Quarterfinalist

Hero

Litori Frostburn

Allies

2 Crazy Igvand

4 Parvink

4 Tristan Rapidstrike

2 Nightbloom

2 Moira Darkheart

1 Lady Jaina Proudmoore

1 Lord Grayson Shadowbreaker

1 Medoc Spiritwarden

1 Lorekeeper Darian

1 King Magni Bronzebeard

1 Seva Shadowdancer

1 Acolyte Demia

Abilities

1 Rise to the Challenge

4 Frost Nova

3 Mana Agate

2 Frostbolt

4 Counterspell

3 Fire Blast

4 Polymorph

Equipment

3 Inventor’s Focal Sword

3 Mooncloth Robe

Quests

1 Blueleaf Tubers

4 Zapped Giants

2 In Dreams

3 the Missing Diplomat

4 Chasing A-Me 01

Brett Wood

Quarterfinalist

Hero

Omedus the Punisher

Allies

4 Kulan Earthguard

4 Karkas Deathhowl

4 Guardian Steelhorn

4 Confessor Mildred

4 Voss Treebender

4 Taz’dingo

4 Brigg

3 Zygore Bladebreaker

3 Hierophant Caydiem

2 Arnold Flem

Abilities

4 Dispel Magic

4 Resurrection

3 Psychic Scream

Quests

4 Kibler’s Exotic Pets

4 Chasing A-Me 01

4 Torek’s Assault

3 The Love Potion

Josue Rojano

Quarterfinalist

Hero

Gorebelly

Allies

4 Rak Skyfury

4 Guardian Steelhorn

Abilities

4 Heroic Strike

4 Mortal Strike

4 Mocking Blow

3 Shield Bash

3 Cleave

2 Vanquish

Equipment

4 Annihilator

3 Thrash Blade

4 Golem Skull Helm

4 Draconian Deflector

3 Deathdealer Breastplate

Quests

4 Counterattack!

4 Big Game Hunter

2 Sunken Treasure

4 Zapped Giants

by Michael Girard

Here we are, about halfway through Saturday’s events. Organized Play Programs Manager Scott Elliot walked through the World of Warcraft TCG tournament area, taking in everything he could. Onyxia was tearing heroes limb from limb, and the tables for the Darkmoon Faire Dream Machine Challenge were full. Slowly, Scott made his way past a number of onlookers that appeared to be causing a traffic jam in the aisles. Something wasn’t quite right. “Are you participating in one of the events?” Scott asked one of the convention-goers.

The player replied, “Yes, I'm here for the Starter Deck Beginner’s Event.” Other players that were nearby all nodded in agreement, and told him that they were there for that event too.

Scott was puzzled, and went to see if he could offer some assistance at the judge’s station. He asked one of the judges, who replied, “We're behind because we're still entering in the new player IDs.”

Scott said, “Are there that many new players?” She said yes, and that they had all signed up at once. Scott was going to get to the bottom of this dilemma.

Mr. Elliot stacked up a couple of cases of product and he addressed the crowd. “How many of you have never played in a UDE event before?” About fifty players raised a hand. “Okay, how many of you have never played a TCG before?” This time about twenty to thirty players raised a hand. Scott knew that everyone had their work cut out for them. He proceeded to engage in a brief question and answer session with some of the new players, answering some of the basic questions they had and giving sound advice for those playing in their first event. Some of the participants conveyed that they have never even received a demo of the game and just wanted to jump in feet first. The players were so eager to learn and just have a good time that they used the deck construction portion of the event to read the rulebook and learn to play.

The event began, and 147 players sat down to play the World of Warcraft TCG, some for the very first time. For those that might be keeping count, that is 26 more players than the Darkmoon Faire Dream Machine Challenge. One thing is for sure, the World of Warcraft TCG is definitely a fan-friendly experience.

William Brode playing Dizdemona

Ben Brode playing Timmo Shadestep

Tony Hsu playing Elendril

Tony and Ben are associate producers with Blizzard (William is Ben’s brother) and have taken up the task of killing Onyxia, slayer of many this weekend at Gen Con So Cal. I joined them during the  fourth turn of stage 2.

With damage already on Onyxia, Leeroy Jenkins came down for Tony Hsu and barrelled in for 6. Brian Kibler, piloting Onyxia, (imagine the scene in The Neverending Story where Atreyu is riding on the back of Falcor, but with dragons) flipped the Smoke and Ash event during the event phase, giving him the ability to destroy William's Sarmoth. The team was not happy to see Tooth and Claw, either, a card that buffed Onyxia’s ATK and sent it dangerously high. Then Draconic Rage came down. Ben Brode’s Timmo Shadestep took 13 damage, but the Gnome lived to see another turn as Onyxia couldn't finish him off. (Maybe he hid . . .)

William Brode’s Call the Spirit got Sarmoth back; he’d be taunting Onyxia again. At the start of Ben’s turn he dealt 2 with the ongoing Deadly Poison, and later an exhausted Onyxia was stabbed by Heartseeker. She’d taken 11 so far. Tony Hsu wanted to go fast and he sent in a combination of Leeroy Jenkins and Fury.

There was a Gouge played in response to Onyxia's draw going on the chain, but it was met with Meaningless Exertion. Zapped Giants then found another Gouge, revealing the ability on the third card. How lucky! “Yeah!” exclaimed Ben, the team now in high spirits.

The Take Cover event flipped and the team chose Timmo's party to be immune to damage that turn. Onyxia played Deep Breath and all of her enemies took 3, wrecking the Alliance squad. It was a slight consolation that Timmo was immune thanks to the bubble.

Will sent Sarmoth to attack Onyxia, needing to deal 7 damage to send her to stage 3, but only dealing 1. Leeroy Jenkins was up to the task, though! “Come on, guys, lets do this!” Dragon Hide let him get in for another 4 damage instead of 6—Onyxia was hurting. Deadly Poison triggered at the beginning of Ben’s turn, sending the dragon to stage 3.

Heartseeker drew first blood on the stage 3 Onyxia. Ben brought out a second Leeroy for the team, slashing into Onyxia for 4. Call the Spirit from Tony helped bring a third Leeroy into play, and the pressure was on Onyxia. Gouge kept Onyxia exhausted and Kibler debated his options. First, the Wing Storm event exhausted all allies on the Alliance squad, which wasn’t that bad for the team. How Fortuitous! drew 3 more cards for Onyxia. “Looking for answers?” inquired Ben. “I got some answers,” retorted Kibler as he flashed Thrash and Head Slam. Head Slam came down and wiped the board. You could almost hear the sound of a horn, mocking the raiders. Thrash readied Onyxia, and she came to attack Timmo now that Sarmoth was out of the way. Unable to escape combat, Timmo was eliminated. To rub salt in the wound, Kibler said, “I have to discard.” It was small consolation to the Alliance team, and more of a sign of Kibler's confidence in his full hand. He decided not to discard and played Draconic Rage instead.

Chasing A-Me 01 was actually chasing Leeroy, and he came back into play. Dragon Hide prevented 2 from the attack. “We’re almost half way,” Ben pointed out, trying to raise the morale of his party. They counted it up and Onyxia was attacking for 15 damage on the next turn. Ben prayed not to see any more Thrashes. Tony saw Will play Leeroy and thought it was hot, so he copied it, using his own Chasing A-Me 01. Unfortunately for Tony, the one resource Kibler had left ready now exhausted to play Crush on the latest Leeroy.

Another event popped and allowed all the heroes to draw a card. Kibler played another Demonic Rage along with Tooth and Claw to hit for 23, knocking out Dizdemona. Double Whelp Pits was just a mocking blow to the now solo Elendril. “I let me live until last,” Kibler said with a smile, pointing to his Hunter. The good guys debated the play, and it was the same as the last one: Call the Spirit got back Leeroy and he charged Onyxia.

At this point Mike Hummel arrived with three Onyxia raid decks and looked at the board. Ben Cichoski asked where the team’s cards were, and it seemed that Onyxia was personified in the voices of confidence you heard giving a friendly mocking to the party’s precarious position.

Kibler tried the copy theme and removed this Leeroy too, but the Alliance pointed out that Tail Swipe is not an instant ability. “It was an instant ability for a while!” Kibler quickly informed the crowd.

Kibler, with a full hand, shipped the turn to guarantee that there would be no mention of, “If I had one more turn. . . ” It was the true confidence of a giant fire-breathing dragon instilled in him.

Fury dropped for Tony and he asked, “Look familiar?”

“That’s my cat. Bad kitty,” said Kibler as he sent the Pet to the graveyard. And I thought they’d be best friends forever!

Kibler filled his hand with even more cards using a series of draw effects at the end of Tony’s turn, and Onyxia’s hand gushed with options.

Event time! Each player drew a card. Kibler dropped another Tooth and Claw and a Trample. He attacked for the full 32 and the party wiped.

Mike Hummel smiled at his friends and consoled them. “I’ll put these back and you enjoy this,” he said, taking back the raid decks and offering them token foil treasure cards.

Another team gets Onyxia to stage 3 but cannot seal the deal. Is she immortal? Can she be stopped? Stay tuned to our blog coverage to find out!

It looks like the developers and the players are in agreement: Elendril Hunter rush is quite a beast. This is the first day of PvP duels against the developers where they are playing with rares. They didn’t want to tip their hat to their internal metagame at the UDE offices, so they waited until the Dream Machine Championship started to unleash their Constructed concoctions.

Their Elendril deck is very similar to those you’ll be seeing today:

Hero

Elendril

Allies

4 Kryton Barleybeard

4 Kailis Truearc

4 Bloodclaw

4 Apprentice Teep

4 Warden Tonarin

3 Mezzik Darkspark

4 Latro Abiectus

4 Tracker Gallen

4 Fury

Abilities

2 Aimed Shot

Equipment

2 Krol Blade

Quests

3 Are We There, Yeti?

3 Battle of Darrowshire

3 Into the Maw of Madness

4 The Love Potion

4 Kibler’s Exotic Pets

4 The Defias Brotherhood

It runs less than the typical four Aimed Shots, and the Are We There, Yeti? screams technology to feed the Tracker Gallen and Mezzik Darkspark combination. It also provides a form of rush to pump what could be a feeble Kailis Truearc and offers a quick burst of damage when the opponent attempts to take control of the board. And it tends to work nicely with stray face-up copies of the Defias Brotherhood.

Ken Ho offered me what he considered their most interesting deck:

Hero

Graccus

Allies

2 King Magni Bronzebeard

1 Annihilator

4 Krol Blade

3 Golem Skull Helm

3 Stronghold Gauntlets

3 Herod’s Shoulder

3 Girdle of Uther

2 Draconian Deflector

1 Wraith Scythe

1 Flame Wrath

1 Deathdealer Breastplate

1 Arcanite Reaper

Abilities

4 Seal of Light

4 Blessing of Might

1 Seal of Wisdom

4 Holy Shield

Quests

1 Are We There, Yeti?

3 Sunken Treasure

4 A Donation of Wool

4 Big Game Hunter

4 The Princess Trapped

4 It’s a Secret to Everybody

2 In Dreams

The Paladin deck echoes the ideas and concepts that most have come to appreciate with their decks. You control the board for a long time and keep yourself up with Seal of Light. Holy Shield can swing the ally battle in your favor and you have a million ways to get the equipment that the situation and matchup call for. The Herod’s Shoulders smooth your draws and play by always being able to get your best weapon—they allow you to play virtual copies of your one-of weapons. If your opponents finds some way to remove your equipment, you have three Sunken Treasures with which to give them headaches and make them dig for more answers. Eventually, you can hack away with some equipment or rush your opponent out with a Dwarf army courtesy of King Magni Bronzebeard.

Just like the Elendril deck, players in the main event today are playing decks extremely similar to the Graccus deck. The new players embraced the cards quickly and developed metagame strategies very similar to the developers’ ideas of the Constructed format. The great prizes, both physical and digital, really brought out the best minds in TCGs, and they’ve sharpened their skills since the release celebration.

Pat yourselves on the back, deckbuilders—you’ve shown an incredible grasp and understanding of the game equal to those playing since inception. You’ll be seeing these decks in the PvP Duel area, where you can win them, and you’ll be playing against them in the daily competitions at Gen Con So Cal. Let the counter-intuitive strategy and side-decking begin!

How do you feel the Onyxia's Lair Raid Deck has gone over? How’s the excitement buzzing around the always-busy raid area?

“I was a little surprised about how many people wanted to play against Onyxia, especially people who want to play her every day. They always improve their decks and give her another go. There’s quite a crowd around the area, but some people are cheering for Onyxia. The Onyxia pilots get breaks when there’s a lot of main and side events going, but they’re pretty busy most of the day. Today’s a bit rough for the adventurers because I would expect the more experienced players are in the main event, but there’s always that crowd.”

What do you think about Onyxia still undefeated as of Saturday? What’s her estimated record?

“She’s about 65-0. We thought that she’d be down, but the players keep going and refining their strategies. The raid decks they’re playing against are strong since we customized her; we aren’t playing her out of the [Raid Deck] box. There’s one Whelp deck, a defensive deck, an aggressive deck, and a moderate-pace deck. We felt she might have some bad matchups, but player decks have so far been unsuccessful in downing the dragon. Players coming in had a good idea about the cards, but not about the game experience. You could play four Purges to take out her abilities, but she has so many that you can’t expect to take them all out and people adjust. The best part is the people who play every day and keep improving. Tanking, Frost control, exhausting her, rushing her, and Whelp control are all viable strategies. You do have to get kinda lucky—she has some pretty devastating cards—and have synergistic decks. I heard about a Pugg, Pugg, Vexra Darkfall, and Circle of Life combo that used Blueleaf Tubers to shuffle Vexra back in and deal tons of damage with her. Onyxia is really challenging people to take her out any way they can.”

How is R&D’s record against Onyxia in testing?

“These customized decks are much more difficult than Onyxia out of the Raid Deck. We knew that people would want to customize their decks, but some won’t, so we did most of our testing against the Onyxia out of the box when developing the deck. Our well-tuned R&D-constructed decks were about 50% with 3 players when she’s straight out of the box. We also tried against 4 heroes, which gave the players the advantage when she was enhanced. As it stands now, three tuned heroes against Raid Deck Onyxia stills favors her, but it’s close.”

Were there any early versions of the Raid Deck that were especially interesting or unique?

She went through a lot of different changes. The event deck was the last change. Some [events] are just strictly better than others, which is something we don’t do in TCGs, but inside an event deck it's okay. It has to be balanced overall, but they don’t have to be equal. We went through some versions that weren’t fun enough or that we were going to save for different sets. There was a time when the Stage 2 Onyxia couldn’t be dealt physical damage at all. Unfortunately, it was randomly not fun; if you came with a deck that was all melee guys then it wouldn’t work out. If you can’t play melee allies then that constrains deckbuilding and creativity. Ultimately we gave her long-range in stage 2. Also, adding the first and third stage hero wipe wasn’t something we were sure about, but it adds inevitability. She can win through Whelps, burn, attacking, or the players taking too long.

Have you ever faced Onyxia in the World of Warcraft MMO?

“Only vicariously. My roommate is a hardcore raider, so I’ll watch him play Onyxia and I’ll even be rooting against him. Brian [Kibler] is the hardcore raider, and I’m the guy who enjoys the leveling and the instances, out of us development guys. I have nine characters and leveled them all up across various levels. I’ve gone to ZG and faced the bat lady, but we’ve only beaten her once. I hate her. We should do a bat lady Raid Deck. Obviously the healing was really good on our kill attempt because I was on my priest, and we have a video of it.”

Do you think that the game reflects well how players must use their talents in the MMO to become effective PvP players and then change for PvE against raid bosses?

The basic game is PvP. We create the talents and focus on effectively three things: One, reflect the flavor of the MMO. Two, make a cool card game; the game can’t be a mirror of the MMO. It has to be a great [trading card] game. Three, we address metagame and game engine issues. The game pulled toward aggression in some testing, so we developed the protector mechanic. If Rogues are dominating everywhere, we must give the other classes cards to address the metagame. I think there’s definitely changes. I have yet to see a The Cruel Hand of Timmy in the main, but I’ve seen a ton to try and beat Onyxia. In Lazy Peon decks you see control decks from Warlocks and Mages, but in the main I’ve seen tons of Warrior gear decks. Rain of Fire and Spirit Healer might be too slow for Constructed, I don’t know, but they’re certainly in against Onyxia. While we don’t necessarily use the cards based on talents—like Bestial Wrath—to mimic that, there is definitely a representation in that idea through other cards.

Danny, thanks for your time and best of luck on High Priestess Jeklik, the bat lady, in Zul’Gurub. May you two learn in time to appreciate one another.

By Michael Girard

The first Dream Machine Championship for the World of Warcraft TCG is upon us, and there are many players looking to see what the metagame breakdown will be for the Constructed environment. With this being the first large Constructed event, the expectation was that there would be quite a diversity of deck builds and hero selection. Here is a list of the heroes seeing play:

Sen’zir Beastwalker (Horde Hunter) – 17

Litori Frostburn (Alliance Mage) – 14

Graccus (Alliance Paladin) – 13

Elendril (Alliance Hunter) – 12

Grennan Stormspeaker (Horde Shaman) – 11

Ta’zo (Horde Mage) – 10

Dizdemona (Alliance Warlock) – 10

Omedus the Punisher (Horde Priest) – 10

Gorebelly (Horde Warrior) – 9

Radak Doombringer (Horde Warlock) – 6

Kayleitha (Horde Rogue) – 3

Moonshadow (Alliance Druid) – 2

Boris Brightbeard (Alliance Priest) – 1

Warrax (Alliance Warrior) – 1

Timmo Shadestep (Alliance Rogue) – 1

Thangal (Horde Druid) – 1

Each hero made an appearance today, with the Horde edging out the Alliance (that certainly isn’t how it is on my server). Now that we know the hero breakdown, we can take a closer look at some of the more specific strategies that each hero brings to the table. And don’t forget—just because there were 29 Hunter decks doesn’t mean that they were all Hunter rush. Here is the breakdown for each of the decks' strategies:

Hunter rush – 20

Mage control – 14

Warlock control – 10

Mage aggro/control – 9

Warrior Gear – 8

Paladin control – 7

Priest control – 7

Shaman control – 6

Hunter aggro/control – 5

Paladin gear – 5

Priest aggro/control – 4

Shaman Totem control – 4

Druid aggro/control – 3

Warlock aggro/control – 3

Undefined – 3

Hunter Pet/control – 2

Rogue control – 2

Warlock Pet/control – 2

Warrior rush – 2

Hunter gear – 1

Rogue Poison – 1

Shaman gear – 1

Each class has a variety of different builds available, and that was plain to see today. The Hunter rush decks were common, but there were a couple that incorporated control elements so some of the early characters would be able to do more damage. The Hunter gear build was creative, featuring different equipment that would help boost the damage output of Krol Blade. The Mage control deck was popular as well, but the Mage decks that didn’t run the full compliment of abilities were able to include aggro elements like Leeroy Jenkins or perhaps a Vesh’ral or two. The Paladins were split evenly between those relying heavily on equipment and those that played out protectors like Parvink or Crazy Igvand and ground the opposing hero’s health down little by little. The aggro/control decks used a lot of abilities to clear paths for their own characters to beat down the opposing hero.

Well, there you have it—the first leap into the WoW TCG metagame! Hopefully, it will help you in your preparation for your next tournament.

The first Dream Machine Championship for the World of Warcraft TCG is upon us, and there are many players looking to see what the metagame breakdown will be for the Constructed environment. With this being the first large Constructed event, the expectation was that there would be quite a diversity of deck builds and hero selection. Here is a list of the heroes seeing play:

Sen’zir Beastwalker (Horde Hunter) – 17

Litori Frostburn (Alliance Mage) – 14

Graccus (Alliance Paladin) – 13

Elendril (Alliance Hunter) – 12

Grennan Stormspeaker (Horde Shaman) – 11

Ta’zo (Horde Mage) – 10

Dizdemona (Alliance Warlock) – 10

Omedus the Punisher (Horde Priest) – 10

Gorebelly (Horde Warrior) – 9

Radak Doombringer (Horde Warlock) – 6

Kayleitha (Horde Rogue) – 3

Moonshadow (Alliance Druid) – 2

Boris Brightbeard (Alliance Priest) – 1

Warrax (Alliance Warrior) – 1

Timmo Shadestep (Alliance Rogue) – 1

Thangal (Horde Druid) – 1

Each hero made an appearance today, with the Horde edging out the Alliance (that certainly isn’t how it is on my server). Now that we know the hero breakdown, we can take a closer look at some of the more specific strategies that each hero brings to the table. And don’t forget—just because there were 29 Hunter decks doesn’t mean that they were all Hunter rush. Here is the breakdown for each of the decks' strategies:

Hunter rush – 20

Mage control – 14

Warlock control – 10

Mage aggro/control – 9

Warrior Gear – 8

Paladin control – 7

Priest control – 7

Shaman control – 6

Hunter aggro/control – 5

Paladin gear – 5

Priest aggro/control – 4

Shaman Totem control – 4

Druid aggro/control – 3

Warlock aggro/control – 3

Undefined – 3

Hunter Pet/control – 2

Rogue control – 2

Warlock Pet/control – 2

Warrior rush – 2

Hunter gear – 1

Rogue Poison – 1

Shaman gear – 1

Each class has a variety of different builds available, and that was plain to see today. The Hunter rush decks were common, but there were a couple that incorporated control elements so some of the early characters would be able to do more damage. The Hunter gear build was creative, featuring different equipment that would help boost the damage output of Krol Blade. The Mage control deck was popular as well, but the Mage decks that didn’t run the full compliment of abilities were able to include aggro elements like Leeroy Jenkins or perhaps a Vesh’ral or two. The Paladins were split evenly between those relying heavily on equipment and those that played out protectors like Parvink or Crazy Igvand and ground the opposing hero’s health down little by little. The aggro/control decks used a lot of abilities to clear paths for their own characters to beat down the opposing hero.

Well, there you have it—the first leap into the WoW TCG metagame! Hopefully, it will help you in your preparation for your next tournament.

The first Dream Machine Championship for the World of Warcraft TCG is upon us, and there are many players looking to see what the metagame breakdown will be for the Constructed environment. With this being the first large Constructed event, the expectation was that there would be quite a diversity of deck builds and hero selection. Here is a list of the heroes seeing play:

Sen’zir Beastwalker (Horde Hunter) – 17

Litori Frostburn (Alliance Mage) – 14

Graccus (Alliance Paladin) – 13

Elendril (Alliance Hunter) – 12

Grennan Stormspeaker (Horde Shaman) – 11

Ta’zo (Horde Mage) – 10

Dizdemona (Alliance Warlock) – 10

Omedus the Punisher (Horde Priest) – 10

Gorebelly (Horde Warrior) – 9

Radak Doombringer (Horde Warlock) – 6

Kayleitha (Horde Rogue) – 3

Moonshadow (Alliance Druid) – 2

Boris Brightbeard (Alliance Priest) – 1

Warrax (Alliance Warrior) – 1

Timmo Shadestep (Alliance Rogue) – 1

Thangal (Horde Druid) – 1

Each hero made an appearance today, with the Horde edging out the Alliance (that certainly isn’t how it is on my server). Now that we know the hero breakdown, we can take a closer look at some of the more specific strategies that each hero brings to the table. And don’t forget—just because there were 29 Hunter decks doesn’t mean that they were all Hunter rush. Here is the breakdown for each of the decks' strategies:

Hunter rush – 20

Mage control – 14

Warlock control – 10

Mage aggro/control – 9

Warrior Gear – 8

Paladin control – 7

Priest control – 7

Shaman control – 6

Hunter aggro/control – 5

Paladin gear – 5

Priest aggro/control – 4

Shaman Totem control – 4

Druid aggro/control – 3

Warlock aggro/control – 3

Undefined – 3

Hunter Pet/control – 2

Rogue control – 2

Warlock Pet/control – 2

Warrior rush – 2

Hunter gear – 1

Rogue Poison – 1

Shaman gear – 1

Each class has a variety of different builds available, and that was plain to see today. The Hunter rush decks were common, but there were a couple that incorporated control elements so some of the early characters would be able to do more damage. The Hunter gear build was creative, featuring different equipment that would help boost the damage output of Krol Blade. The Mage control deck was popular as well, but the Mage decks that didn’t run the full compliment of abilities were able to include aggro elements like Leeroy Jenkins or perhaps a Vesh’ral or two. The Paladins were split evenly between those relying heavily on equipment and those that played out protectors like Parvink or Crazy Igvand and ground the opposing hero’s health down little by little. The aggro/control decks used a lot of abilities to clear paths for their own characters to beat down the opposing hero.

Well, there you have it—the first leap into the WoW TCG metagame! Hopefully, it will help you in your preparation for your next tournament.

Eugene Levin with Elendril

Travis Day with Litori Frostburn

Eugene opted to play Elendril, which is strong in the format. He had just faced his teammate from Comic Odyssey in Pasadena, California (known for its Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG players). Kibler’s Exotic Pets kicked off the finals and Kryton Barleybeard entered play. Travis played  The Missing Diplomat and Fire Blasted Kryton from the board.

Kailis Truearc came down as Elendril’s ally and Eugene shipped the turn. Travis played another The Missing Diplomat and passed. Kailis Truearc attacked for 1 and Parvink added to Eugene’s growing army. Travis played Chasing A-Me 01 and Frostbolted Kailis before he became a threat. Krol Blade came down on Eugene's board, and Parvink and Elendril dealt 5 to the Frost hero. Melee Hunter for the win! Another resource hit for the control deck, and Travis played Mana Agate in an attempt to pull ahead in cards.

“This match will take fifteen minutes max,” said Eugene, referencing the marathon match Travis played against Gorebelly before this. He sent in both Elendril with his Sword and Parvink for the turn—and down came Leeroy Jenkins to join the party (and even make his presence felt at 1:06 AM). Leeroy met Polymorph, and unfortunately that would cost Eugene a turn’s worth of attacks.

Litori dodged Krol Blade’s strike with Blink, and another Leeroy Jenkins came down, hitting with ferocity for 4. (If two Leeroys meet each other at the same time, does Azeroth explode?) Travis placed his sixth resource and played Parvink, leaving three resources up. Mezzik Darkspark threatened high damage, but Eugene didn’t know that you could respond to completing a quest. Therefore, Leeroy met a Frostbolt and didn’t get flung at Litori as Eugene’s quest was still on the chain.

Kibler’s Exotic Pets got Eugene an Apprentice Teep and Elendril struck for 3 more damage with Krol Blade. Litori’s cold hands found an Inventor’s Focal Sword and Eugene had to read it. It struck Mezzik down, giving Travis some breathing room. Eugene drew, and a third Leeroy Jenkins ended Travis’s first match. Leeroy’s ears must be burning, because his name’s been coming up all weekend.

Eugene 1 – Travis 0

“Alright, let’s do this. Win or lose, I’m tired,” sighed Travis. He opened with The Missing Diplomat and Fire Blasted the Bloodclaw that Eugene dropped on turn 1. Double Kibler’s Exotic Pets on Eugene's side brought out two Kailis Truearc (which could be threatening in the next few turns). Travis dropped Parvink and shipped the turn to Eugene, who played a third Kibler’s Exotic Pets and matched the Parvink. (That Gnome doesn’t seem to have missed a single Alliance deck this weekend.) Poof! Eugene’s Parvink grew a coat of wool with Polymorph and Travis’s Parvink took out a Kailis Truearc.

Kryton Barleybeard and Mezzik Darkspark both came down on Eugene's next turn, forcing Travis into a decision next turn on which ally to trade for with his injured Parvink. She kamikazied into Mezzik Darkspark, who had the potential to get out of hand depending on Eugene’s next plays. The second Kailis Truearc met Frostbolt while Kibler’s Exotic Pets got Eugene another Kryton Barleybeard. Leeroy came down and rushed into Litori for 4.

It’s at this time that Travis realized he missed a resource drop, and looked incredibly exhausted and disappointed at his lack of focus. Upon Litori’s head a Whitemane’s Chapeau was placed and returned the Fire Blast to take down Leeroy Jenkins. Paladins with 1 health? I guess the crazy ones that run into Whelp eggs don’t last very long. Fury rushed into action and took Litori to 10 health remaining.

Mana Agate cycled through for Travis and Frostbolt put Fury down. Kryton Barleybeard attacked Litori for 2, and a Kibler’s on his turn got Eugene another Fury. He played a resource and Apprentice Teep, and the turn was over. Eugene’s Parvink met a Fire Blast, finally clearing the table of her and her clones, and Travis was down to three cards in hand and an unflipped hero. The 1-drops attacked and Fury came down. Tristan Rapidstrike jumped in to save his mistress and took out the ferocious cat.

Travis readied his cards and drew. He played Lady Jaina Proudmoore, which nullified all of Elendril’s pals. Eugene finally used the Aimed Shot he had held onto since the opening hand, and sent Jaina to the graveyard—getting him out a very tight spot and making him the first Regional Championship winner for the World of Warcraft TCG!

Eugene 2 – Travis 0

Looking at the judge, Eugene saw that he missed his promised mark of fifteen minutes by three minutes. Congratulations to Eugene Levin on winning the first of many Regional Championships and winning a slot at Nationals at Gen Con Indy!

Mike Donais went undefeated in his earlier draft pod to draft at the final table. Last name sound familiar? That’s because he’s Jeff Donais’s brother. He’s trying to win an iPod for his daughter, playing allies and abilities not “for the Horde” but “for the family”! What a great dad.

After a short delay, the players were instructed to open their packs and remove the hero and UDE Points card face down. When they were allowed to view the cards, Mike immediately shuffled the Druid ability Natural Selection to the front, a class he’s very familiar with from playing his rank 12 Tauren Druid in the MMO.

Pack 1

His first pack offered him Lady Courtney Noel, too. He took note of the other cards in the pack, deductively deciding which card would come back as a ninth pick to hopefully supplement his deck. He decided upon the Voss Treebender in the pack.

1 – Voss Treebender

Pick two offered Mike Lafiel, Elder Moorf, another Voss Treebender, and Vesh’ral.  He also looked through the pack to search for the rarity of the card that was taken by the drafter to his right, because you can sometimes learn which kinds of cards were likely taken based on the rarity of the missing card and the cards remaining in the pack. The uncommon Elder Moorf worked his way into the drafted pile and Mike started out with two strong early allies.

2 - Elder Moorf

Solidly Horde with his first two picks, Mike valued speed and early plays over the Alliance beef. Taz’dingo looked back at him from the third pack along with Devilsaur Leggings and Fire Blast. Taz’dingo got the nod.

3 – Taz’dingo

Very little Alliance was in the pack for the fourth pick, but a Bloodclaw was still there with his buddy Rayder. Both Pets would give Mike a strong start in Hunter, and he took the Bloodclaw hoping Rayder would make the lap back around to him later.

4 – Bloodclaw

Pick 5 gave him the choice of Jin’lak Nightfang and Mias the Putrid. This weenie rush deck was coming together nicely with the inclusion of the 3 ATK ally.

5 – Jin’lak Nightfang

Entangling Roots was a surprise option with Ophelia Barrows also in the pack, giving Mike the option to draft a counter to the very popular Chasing A-Me 01. But Marked for Death was a nice surprise in the back of the pack and the exact ability his deck desired.

6 – Marked for Death

Confessor Mildred and a Ravenous Bite gave him the option of ability removal or a combat trick. Hopefully the person to his left wasn’t going to see this late Bite as a reason to audible to Hunter as Mike went with Mildred.

7 – Confessor Mildred

The rest of the cards were chaff except for the lucky Rayder coming back in pick 12. As you can see, Mike knew exactly what his deck wanted to do and drafted around a common theme of low resource allies and speed.

Pack 2

Medoc Spiritwarden, Battle Shout, Quick Strike, and Apprentice Teep were not the opens Mike was looking for in pack 2. He took the vanilla removal out of a pack that was just not meant for him.

1 – Quick Strike

Taz’dingo, Heartseeker, Lafiel, and Kulan Earthguard found him in better straits with the second pick. Kulan Earthguard is a great Draft card, but very much at home in a different kind of deck. Mike’s eyes shifted back and forth between Taz’dingo and Heartseeker. He took the weapon—weapons in Draft are referred to by developer Ken Ho as “the straight flush” and are incredible—but it wasn’t without a small pang of regret.

2 – Heartseeker

Lightning Bolt and The Love Potion were the only two cards of note in very weak pack, echoing the lower card quality of this second pack when compared to the first. Mike likes great quests in Draft, as many times they’re the best way to improve your deck, so he went with the potion of the #9 variety.

3 – The Love Potion

There was redundancy here when the pack offered him a choice between two doubles. Marked for Death or Quick Strike? He went with the Hunter card to give a signal that Hunter cards were still all his.

4 – Marked for Death

Skewer, Into the Maw of Madness, and the no-text ally Vaerik Proudhoof showed Mike that there were no surprise bombs coming his way. He went again with the quest that would smooth his draws and eventually turn into a card.

5 – Into the Maw of Madness

Hate-pick a Lafiel or continue the quest trend with Battle of Darrowshire? There was no question here, and Mike looked to be cutting all the quality quests from his opponents.

6 – Battle of Darrowshire

A late Natural Selection showed that there was some depth to the Druid cards, but in the back of the pack of cards Mike found a Ravenous Bite. I discussed earlier the magic that happens the first time a player plays the card on an opposing defender and then pumps a friendly ally that has yet to attack; Mike and I agreed that it’s something to smile about.

7 – Ravenous Bite

Mike rounded out his draft with an Arcane Shot. Remember that early Lightning Bolt that Mike passed? It tabled. Drafters should remember that there’s more classes available then drafters, so often a class will not be played by anyone in a pod.

Pack 3

Gartok Skullsplitter, Jin’lak Nightfang, and Thunderhead Hippogryph were Mike’s options in a pack that also offered Brain Hacker and Mezzik Darkspark. He reinforced his 1-drops and went with Gartok.

1 – Gartok Skullsplitter

Another Gartok was found in the next pack along with Battle of Darrowshire, Chasing A-Me 01, Scarlet Kris, and Frost Shock. Gartok went back to back in this draft as Mike defied temptation to draft one of the flashier cards.

2 – Gartok Skullsplitter

Arcane Shot gave him more Hunter power while Zorm Stonefury looked awfully tempting. Latro Abiectus was also still in the pack and would find a nice home elsewhere. This deck be Horde territory, mon! He took the Arcane Shot with a second look to Zorn.

2 – Arcane Shot

Gartok number 4 over Jin’lak?  Definitely.

3 – Gartok Skullsplitter

Torek’s Assault looked to be an amazing addition to his deck while Deacon Johanna was a nice body. Deacon Johanna is definitely made for a very different Horde deck, though, so she took her walking papers.

4 – Torek’s Assault

Windseer Tarus was a solid 4-cost ally while Shattering Blow offered Mike a source of equipment removal that the deck didn't yet have. The one-match format definitely influenced his decision here as he took the Windseer.

5 – Windseer Tarus

Two late Jin’lak Nightfangs that Mike initially passed stealthily made their way back to Mike’s deck, and a hate-drafted Entangling Roots went into his pile too. The ability to get two cards out of the packs that were opened definitely made his deck strong, and he had tons of playable cards going into the fourth pack.

At this time, in-between packs, Mike separated his playables and unplayables. He divided allies and abilities and then sorted those by resource cost. He knew exactly where he wanted more cards and how much he could afford to defensively draft strong cards he couldn’t play and didn’t want his opponents to have.

Pack 4

How many of us are willing to draft Torek’s Assault over Vanquish and The Shatterer in the name of synergy and consistency? It takes a veteran to be able to make judgment calls like that.

1 – Torek’s Assault

Drafting Horde Hunter, Mike didn’t find many options in Searing Totem, Fireball, Frost Shock, and Kulan Earthguard. He decided to hate-draft.

2 – Searing Totem

A perfect Bloodclaw was everything Mike’s deck wanted in a pack that also featured Samuel Grey and Fire Blast. Some lucky Mage was going to love him down that draft line for the last two passes.

3 – Bloodclaw

The epic Dwarven Hand Cannon was not the kind of Hunter card that Sen’zir Beastwalker wanted to sport. Searing Totem and Draconian Deflector were hate-draft choices and Mike was feeling the hate.

4 – Searing Totem

The overvalued Skewer met the undervalued Blueleaf Tubers for the fifth pick, but a surprise Karkas Deathhowl popped up for an amazing fit. Mike’s deck didn’t typically want strong 4-cost allies like Watcher Mal'wi, but it would certainly take the tempo advantage offered by Karkas.

5 – Karkas Deathhowl

Voss Treebender was another great drop for Mike’s deck and the pack also included Lightning Bolt, hinting at the Shaman deck that may have been. You can’t regret decisions like that, though, especially when your deck was of such good quality as Mike’s.

6 – Voss Treebender

Mike finished his draft with another Into the Maw of Madness and the defensive draft of Mark of the Wild and Guardian Steelhorn.

Upon the completion of the draft, the players filled out their prize slips for the Burning Crusade expansion for the WoW MMO. That’s a prize that’s guaranteed to get a lot of mileage.

Mike once again separated his allies and abilities. Once he cut the unwanted cards from his squad he separated by them by resource cost. Upon deciding his starting 30, Mike carefully registered his played cards.

I asked him about his general Draft strategy. He outlined it by explaining, “For the first few packs I was looking for which good classes came. I got a good Hunter card fifth so I was going to go Hunter. I’d passed none and I was going to cut it. I don’t cut anything in the first few picks in case someone goes into that class beside me or I’m passed a good class card.”

Mike values quests really highly, as many times that’s the best way to improve the quality of your deck. He said, “I drafted seven quests—four great ones with Into the Maw of Madness and Torek’s Assault for this deck.” They’ll sure help when they’re exhausting turn 1 to put one of his nine 1-drop allies on the table.

While most players choose to play when they win the choice, Mike said, “I really want to win that roll. Initiative is a bit swingy and can define the tempo of the game. I really don’t’ have a suggestion on how to fix it.”

As he started his first game against Graccus he was genuinely surprised that there was an Elendril at the table. Sometimes a class can support two players in a Draft because they’re playing different factions and want different kinds of cards.

Finally, the finished product:

Hero: Sen’zir Beastwalker

Allies:

1 Elder Moorf

4 Gartok Skullsplitter

3 Jin’lak Nightfang

1 Karkas Deathhowl

1 Taz’dingo

2 Voss Treebender

2 Zorm Stonefury

2 Bloodclaw

1 Rayder

Abilities

1 Quick Strike

2 Arcane Shot

1 Marked for Death

1 Ravenous Bite

Equipment:

1 Heartseeker

Quests:

1 A Donation of Wool

1 Battle of Darrowshire

2 Into the Maw of Madness

1 The Love Potion

2 Torek’s Assault

Best of luck to Mike in winning his daughter one of the hottest tech gadgets of this Gen Con, though with a deck that plays almost Constructed-level quality I don’t know if he’ll need it!

Have you ever found yourself playing a game and thinking, “Man, killing one person just isn’t enough?” Well, naturally the innovative brains behind the WoW TCG Organized Play program have the format you’ve been waiting for! 

Gurubashi Arena Grand Melee is a format in which twelve players enter, but only one player leaves. The players all sit down to the table with a Constructed deck of their choice. Each player may only attack the players to his or her right or left. Whenever a player immediately to your left is eliminated, you receive a point. The last person left standing also receives a point. When the game is over, prizes are awarded to the players based on the amount of points they accrued throughout the game. Easy, right? 

Well, I don’t know about you, but the thought of playing eleven other players seems like a daunting task, especially since I seem to have a difficult time dealing with a single person sitting across from me. To get a feel for what people thought about the format, I walked around the table as Friday night’s event started and got a breakdown of which Heroes people brought into the battle: 

4 Gorebelly 
2 Grennan Stormspeaker 
2 Graccus 
1 Kayleitha 
1 Thangal 
1 Radak Doombringer 
1 Sen’zir Beastwalker 

The presence of six characters from tank classes looked like it would confirm a previous theory of mine that playing the heroes with higher starting health would be one of the best strategies for a game that seems to be more about a player’s endurance than outright power. If I had to bet, I would have said that one of the two Graccus players was going to walk away from the table a winner because of the powerful cards that Paladins have at their disposal. A perfectly timed Holy Shield serves the perfect dual role of both protecting you and striking an aggressive blow. 

As the game got underway, it was clear that all my presuppositions were being thrown out the window. One of the Gorebelly players was first to go, followed immediately by both Graccus players. I guess it’s a good thing that I didn’t attempt to play in the event, because I wouldn’t have had a chance. Sen’zir dropped next, followed immediately by another Gorebelly player. As the game continued, the most successful players were the two Shamans and the lone Druid, while the remaining players had all taken damage in the double digits. 

As the herd was thinned even further, it looked like Jason Gillet, playing Thangal, was pulling into the driver’s seat with a brutal combo of Ophelia Barrows and Spirit Healer, removing characters from every other player’s graveyards with Ophelia and making Spirit Healer a one-way street. After removing the Gorebelly player between him and Jason, Miguel Bustos, playing Grennan Stormspeaker, immediately took advantage of the opening to attack several of Jason’s key characters, including Ophelia and Kaal Soulreaper, which would have ended the game almost immediately. 

Even though it looked like he was in control of the game, Jason had yet to earn a kill, meaning that while everyone else was killing each other, there was little he could do but sit back and watch as other players cherry-picked the kills right out from under his grasp. At this point, a sheep in wolf’s clothing in the form of Alex Richards, who had also only taken 3 damage, was slowly wreaking some major havoc with his collection of Searing Totem and Healing Stream Totem. He proved to be a threat as he took down the Kayleitha player, leaving only him, Bustos, and Gillet left standing, with Bustos the lowest on health. 

As the only player without a kill to his name yet, Gillet was going to have to tiptoe through the remainder of the game. With the other two players having one victory point each, if he didn’t earn both kills, he wouldn’t be locked in first place, even if he was the last player remaining. Alex attempted to kill Miguel, but needing the kill for himself, Jason killed the threatening ally, keeping Miguel alive long enough to finish the job himself, which he easily did the following turn. 

With the steady advantage that Spirit Healer had been giving him the entire game, Jason was in no danger of losing. All it took was a single turn in which he was able to use a recurred Kaal Soulreaper to put somewhere in the neighborhood of ten allies into play during Alex’s end phase, easily winning the game the following turn. With three points, Jason easily beat out the other competitors and won the Arena. 

Once the game was over, I asked him what he had thought coming into the event. He said that he was using a deck that he normally plays in Constructed tournaments, but he knew that it would be a good choice for the Arena. Over a decade of TCG experience meant that he likely had a lot more multiplayer experience than the other players at the table, and he was able to take advantage of that by using a deck that would scale well when going against multiple opponents. 

Of all the events I watched over the course of the day, Gurubashi Arena Grand Melee was one of the most exciting to me. There seems to be a lot of strategy involved in how you balance killing the players on either side of you. Killing a player on your left will earn you a point, but killing a player on your right will prevent you from becoming someone else’s point. The other big consideration is that when you kill someone to your side, it immediately opens you up to the players on the other side, creating many domino situations in which players start eliminating each other in one giant blood bath. If you’re looking for a fun way to switch things up for a weekend, I would definitely recommend giving this format a test drive!

Australian Early Nguyen now has the bragging rights that go along with winning the first big Lazy Peon tournament. Finishing yesterday’s tournament at 8-1, his Sen’zir Beastwalker deck gave him something that any World of Warcraft TCG player would want: the right to choose thirty rares and five epics of his choice! Of course, the next logical question that all of you are asking is, “Which cards did he pick?” Well, here’s Early’s dream list! 

Rares 
Lobotomize 
Chain Lightning 
Thunderhead Hippogryph 
Helwen 
Infernal 
Aimed Shot 
Innervate 
Counterspell 
Nature’s Swiftness 
Bestial Wrath 
Mind Control 
Deathdealer Breastplate 
The Cruel Hand of Timmy 
Arcanite Reaper 
Fury 
Master of the Hunt 

Epics 
King Magni Bronzebeard 
Leeroy Jenkins 
Lord Grayson Shadowbreaker 

For those of you keeping track at home, yes, that’s only nineteen cards. In what is probably the single biggest act of sportsmanship this writer has seen in over a decade of gaming, Early opted to give the second place finisher the rights to the other sixteen cards instead of the uncommons he was supposed to receive. Second place finisher Dave Young also finished with an 8-1 record but lost to Early on tiebreakers. Since Early didn’t want someone who had finished with the same record as him to go home nearly empty handed, he took it upon himself to offer Dave a more fitting consolation prize. Mr. Nguyen is now officially etched into my mind as the nicest TCG player I’ve met. Ever. 

Early said that he absolutely loves playing Hunter decks. His main goal going into yesterday’s tournament was to survive against the many weenie characters that seemed to be popping up in every deck and then hold onto the board after about turn 5. He said that Arcane Shot, Bloodclaw, Moko Hunts-at-Dawn, and Old Bones are the cards that won him a majority of his games. He also stressed the fact that people should really be running at least eighteen quests in their decks, saying that many people don’t know how good they are right now. 

When I asked him why he chose the cards he did, he said that he was mainly just rounding out play sets