The following article offers an overview of the World of Warcraft TCG. If you know the basics of the game, click here for the more in-depth rules and details. 

To purchase the game, visit your local hobby store retailer. You can find a store near you!

A trading card game has specially designed “playing cards” and rules that will dictate how and when a player can play any given card from his or her deck. Each card often represents an ally or magic spell that a player can use in combat, and the rules that define that card’s properties are listed on the card itself. Prior to beginning play, players compose their decks from their available pool of cards. Players can get more cards from “booster packs” or by trading with friends.

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The World of Warcraft TCG consists of many of the elements players are familiar with in the World of Warcraft massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG). These include the character classes and their abilities, as well as armor and quests. The artwork of the cards is created by some of the top artists in the fantasy field, including Darrell Sweet, Greg Hildebrandt, Dave Dorman, R.K. Post, and Todd McFarlane. Cards also feature artwork from talented artists from Blizzard Entertainment. 

The World of Warcraft TCG offers two different ways to play:

Traditional Play: Two players (or two even-numbered groups) try to defeat each other in PvP style combat.

Raid-Deck Play: One player takes on the role of a powerful enemy boss that all other players group up to battle against.

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The World of Warcraft TCG has several different product options available to players looking to play.  Many of the products available have random or semi-random content within each of them.  This means that players will have a chance to receive different cards with each purchase.  This will help players build a collection and provide more options when building a deck. 

• Booster Packs: These are foil wrapped packs that contain game-play cards that let you customize your deck. Each pack comes with commons, uncommons, and a rare or epic that can power up your decks. The cards in booster packs come from a pool of cards, usually referred to as a set. For example, the Throne of the Tides set contains ferocious Monsters and iconic characters from the different new zones that came with the Cataclysm expansion.

Randomly inserted into some booster packs are the legendary Loot cards! Loot cards have a scratch-off code that can be used to obtain an exclusive cosmetic item in the online game, such as a unique pet, tabard or mount! These cards are very rare…a player who finds one will likely be the envy of his or her entire realm!

All of these products are available at your local hobby store retailer or find a location.

Staying true to Blizzard's motto for the World of Warcraft online game, the trading card game is “easy to learn but challenging to master". While it’s generally a very easy game to pick up, players will have fun developing and refining their strategies for the different tactical situations and also collecting the cards they want to use in their decks.

CARD TYPES

The World of Warcraft TCG offers several different categories of cards. The most fundamental one is the hero card, which represents the player’s avatar in the card game. If a hero takes damage equal to his health, that player has lost. The TCG provides the majority of race/class combinations so everyone will be able to find their favorite! 

As in the online game, where players form groups to take on difficult encounters, heroes will want to recruit allies into their party in the TCG. Allies can attack the opposing hero or use a special ability to have some other effect on the game. While most allies represent the other players one might expect to see while looking for a group in Ironforge or Orgrimmar, there are also allies straight out of Warcraft lore, such as Thrall, Warchief of the Horde and Jaina, Lady of Theramore. 

Abilities and spells from the online game make appearances in the TCG in the form of ability cards. Cards like Pyroblast and Frost Nova can be used in Mage decks, while Sinister Strike and Eviscerate can be used in Rogue decks. There are also generic abilities that any class can use, like Corpse Run and Vanquish. 

Weapon and armor cards are equipped directly by a hero, turning that hero into an offensive or defensive powerhouse. With a weapon equipped, a hero can pick off troublesome enemy allies, or go straight after the opposing hero. Armor offers defense against abilities and attacks, as well as granting special abilities to the wearer. For example, Herod's Shoulder lets players search their deck for a weapon, and the Mooncloth Robe provides a repeatable source of card draw. The weapons and armor in the TCG come straight out of the online game. 

Quests allow players to smooth out their resource development, which is important for playing the biggest and most powerful cards in the game. They also serve to fill a player’s hand later in the game. Players will recognize the quests in the TCG from their experiences in the online game.

Ways to play

There are two very different ways to play the game. Both come with their own style, and both are fun in their own ways!

Constructed

In Constructed, each player uses a deck made of their own cards. Decks are at least 60 cards, and you can play up to four copies of each card in a deck. The Class Starter Decks, for example, are Constructed decks that are built for play right out of the box!

Limited

In Limited, both players use sealed booster packs in order to construct a 30 card deck. You don't need to have any additional cards with you to play this format. All you need are booster packs! Six boosters is recommended for Sealed Pack, where you build a 30 card deck out of the contents of those six boosters. Once you're comfortable with Sealed Pack, try out a Booster Draft, which only requires three boosters per player!

For more information on the Constructed and Limited formats, as well as how they are used in tournaments, please refer to our Tournament Formats page.

ORGANIZED PLAY