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All of the latest Mists of Pandaria newsNew mounts, loot coming in Crown of the Heavens trading card expansion
by Mathew McCurley 
Jan 19th 2012 at 3:00PM
With new trading card game expansions come new loot and mounts included as common, uncommon, and rare cards in expansion packs. The common loot card for Crown of the Heavens will be the Vicious Grell companion pet. This little satyr monster, who reminds me of key-toting Pusillin from Dire Maul, is a one-time use companion pet that can be given away to friends if you have an extra code. The uncommon loot card in the new set is the Magical Ogre Idol, which transforms the player into a two-headed red ogre mage for 5 minutes. The item has a 30-minute cooldown and reminds me of a fun archaeology find.
The rare loot card for Crown of the Heavens is the Corrupted Hippogryph, a ground or air mount that can be traded in game if you do not learn it yourself, much like the Spectral Tiger. The deep green hippogryph is going to be a rare find -- see how many you can spot after the TCG expansion launches on Feb. 7, 2012.
Filed under: WoW TCG
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Caliea Jan 19th 2012 3:15PM
Please take this in the spirit of ignorance, rather than a bad trolling attempt:
What's the appeal for trading card games? I've never participated in one - not collecting baseball cards, not pokemon, not even the new Skylander cards (although my kids & I love the game). Is it one of those "you have to do it to understand" things?
The only reason I'd buy those cards is to get cool things. I have a bone-deep hankering for a foam sword rack :)
dlskye Jan 19th 2012 3:28PM
Oddly enough, some people play the TCG because it is fun, not because of the extra loot.
Try playing sometime and maybe you'll see.
Caliea Jan 19th 2012 3:32PM
Well, that's kind of my point. I don't even know how you "play". It is like poker, and by trading cards, you're getting a better hand? Is it like marbles, and you pile them all in the middle and whoever knocks the most out gets to keep them?
Edumacate me!
(the first person that references LMGTFY is gonna get a smack)
Bapo Jan 19th 2012 3:35PM
I really want to get the etheral portal (it replaces your hearthstone).
And its one of those things where if you have friends who play it, it can be fun. A good chunk of my friends got into yugioh for awhile, and then they went back in to Magic the gathering. Also extremely fun to go to a hobby shop and participate in tournaments :)
Caliea Jan 19th 2012 3:44PM
Okay - that's something I didn't think of. The social aspect, combined with the competitiveness.
I mean, that's why I love WoW after all. I love me some socializin'
The Aub Jan 19th 2012 3:46PM
I'm not sure of the appeal either. I've had a friend try to get me interested in random TCGs, needless to say his attempt to get me interested was an abysmal failure. Some of them are pretty popular but i couldn't honestly tell you if the WoW TCG is popular at all. I have purchased a large quantity of individual starter packs and a couple of the Starter boxes, but my reasons for doing so are for the loot cards. I've been to comic book stores that have Magic/Pokemon tournament nights and not much else.
Again, i'm making generalizations but i assume most of the people who do buy the WoW TCG cards are looking to get a loot card to either use ingame or to sell for an exorbitant amount on ebay.
vincentmagius Jan 19th 2012 3:48PM
It depends on the game and what mechanics they use. Pretty much, it's similar to the Final Fantasy turn based battle system. You'll have one or more creatures/people on a side, usually with attack and defense points. You'll get support cards that boost your stats, reduce your opponents stats, or perform an action(spells, attacks, defense, traps). Your goal is to defeat your opponent's team.
Hal Jan 19th 2012 3:58PM
Well, it's not dissimilar from most TCGs, so the mechanics of the game, and the competitive aspect in general, make it enjoyable to play.
An interesting feature not present in some other systems is the raid deck. You and 5 other friends can take on Onyxia or the Black Temple with 5 "hero" decks versus a "dungeon" deck. I always found that to be a lot of fun.
A big portion of it is the personalization. When you build your own deck, assuming you're not just looking at a suggested list or whatever the last world champion played, you're putting a bit of yourself into the game. There's luck of the draw, of course, but the success or failure rides on your ability to create an effective deck, and it can be a lot of fun to see your strategies pay off.
Cryptozoic has a basic "how to play" section on their website:
http://www.wowtcg.com/how-to-play
lolbearspwnlolcats Jan 19th 2012 8:04PM
I'll tell you one thing, people at my local hobby shop don't even play the online game. Yeah, they enjoy the card game so much even though they don't have a clue about what's going on the game and they could care less about the loot cards (apart from the fact that the mounts worth over 100$).
They love the social aspect, they love the competitiveness of the game and they even love it's lore and when I'm around, dropping the lore-knowledge bomb to them, they are very eager to listen to me. But no, almost none of them plays the online game.
Revynn Jan 19th 2012 3:17PM
WTB Ogre Idol
Bapo Jan 19th 2012 3:32PM
I'm happy that they FINALLY brought back the ogre costume for players (I still think the original that cost an absurd amount of ude points was rediculous). I am curious though where the fel drake is coming in at though.
Imnick Jan 19th 2012 3:57PM
The series after this is going to have all of that legion themed loot that was datamined
quelaenvyn Jan 19th 2012 5:22PM
Yea The TCG came in Tiers(Themes) of three so the next two sets will also be base around "demons and monster heros" so the next mount and pet cards after the one that have the drake mount and eyes pet will also be some of a demon or monster like.
Zykia Jan 19th 2012 3:33PM
Do you think there will ever be a possibility of trading the pets in game too?
exogenesis. Jan 19th 2012 3:43PM
I've always wondered: where do I actually BUY these TCGs? I haven't seen any in any gaming shops or anything, and I wouldn't mind getting one. The only time I managed to buy a loot card was for £12 off eBay...
I live in England, by the way. Maybe I'm not looking in the right shops...
Caliea Jan 19th 2012 3:47PM
I've seen them in Wal-mart, with the baseball cards, etc. So in the US, that means they're everywhere. Not sure about overseas though.
VioletArrows Jan 19th 2012 6:15PM
Maybe your comics shops carry them?
J Jan 20th 2012 12:54AM
In the UK, you can usually pick up some booster packs on Play.com or Amazon. On the high street, stores like Forbidden Planet will stock them too.
Devin Jan 19th 2012 4:08PM
Am I the only one getting sick of all these mounts coming in through the TCG? I love mount collecting and think we need to see more brought into the game via 1% drops, rep grinds, rare spawns and achievements. I have no interest in playing the TCG and am not going to spend an absurd amount of money on E-bay.
Brett Porter Jan 19th 2012 5:55PM
I kinda see it as a reward or tie-in for those that enjoy both WoW and the TCG; not dissimilar to buying the Diablo or Starcraft collector's editions and getting a crossover item to use in WoW.
They keep giving us new mounts in game via the methods you've asked for; is there something in particular you're wanting?