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Upper Deck's Hero of the Year
This rather strange announcement over on the Upper Deck page about the TCG (in which, by the way, they admit that all of those problems you contest winners have been having giving your codes to Landro are completely intentional -- they're joking, in case you're wondering) is all about one of the cooler things they're doing with the TCG tournament system, something called Hero of the Year. The world champs have already been chosen, but as I understand it, these are like points winners: they may not have won the championship, but they earn points for placing in each tournament, and at the end of the year the person with the most points gets named Hero of the Year, and wins all the prizes associated with that: a free year of Upper Deck product and play, years of GameFly and Netflix, and of course lots of loot cards and exclusive loot. 2009's Hero of the Year is a guy named Jan Palys from Germany -- congrats to him and the rest of the top 10, called the Elite Minions. There's some other fun with this as well, especially if you're planning to hit up an event next year: for the next 12 months, anyone who beats one of these winners in tournament play will get a special exclusive card called Mystic Denial that will block any card your opponent plays. It's a cool idea -- gives you something else to chase as you hit up whatever Upper Deck event happens to show up in your town.
Battle and victory at the TCG and minis World Championships
Upper Deck held the WoW TCG and Minis world championships in Austin, Texas as planned this past weekend, and they've got all the results and news up on their website now if you're interested. Billy Postlethwait, above, won the Darkmoon Faire in Columbus, Ohio to gain entry to the championships, and after going into the finals 0 and 2, won three games to win the whole shebang outright. Apparently mages were the class to play in the Trading Card Game: six of the top 8 players were playing that class.In the minis tournament, Derek Richardson emerged victorious, with a group lead by none other than Jaina Proudmoore (with two NE hunters in for backup). All told, the event sounds like a lot of fun, and you can check out Upper Deck's official site for all of the coverage, including interviews with the players, photos of the action, and wrapups of the gameplay. Stay tuned for more news from next year's TCG and minis circuits as well.
World of Warcraft TCG and Minis World Championships this weekend in Austin, TX
Upper Deck has announced that the 2009 World Championships for both the WoW Trading Card Game and Miniatures games will be taking place in a public event this weekend, October 9-11, 2009, in Austin, Texas. They'll be at the Austin Convention Center, and of course there will be the world championship tournaments for both games, offering up to $300,000 in cash and prizes total, including $50,000 for the winner of the World Championships for the TCG, including a Spectral Tiger Loot card as well as the chance to get immortalized in a future card release.And even if you're not a championship player, you can still go see the games, and even play in some of your own -- they'll have tournaments and events for players of all levels all weekend long, some with pretty cool prizes. And you can win just by walking in the door, as they'll be giving away door prizes all weekend as well. The event is free -- it kicks off Thursday morning, and goes all the way until Sunday night (you can download schedules for both games over on the website). Should be fun -- if you go, make sure to take some pictures and let us know what you think.
Darkmoon Faire France cancelled
Upper Deck has posted on their site that they have canceled the upcoming Darkmoon Faire event in France for the TCG. They've been having events all over the world of this kind, featuring tournaments, exhibitions, and interaction with the game's officials and designers (I checked out one such event when it was in Chicago last year). And while they had planned to hold a Faire in Paris in 2009, apparently it's not going to happen -- they say there was "complications" with the "venue," and the event has been shut down. They are still trying to come to France, however: they're hoping to hold an event called the Tournois du Voile d'Hiver ("Tournament of Winter's Veil" in English) in Toulouse in November.And this really does just look like a schedule conflict, as they are still holding events in Amsterdam, Austin, and Vegas later on in 2009, and from what we've seen at various conventions this year, Upper Deck's WoW-related TCG and minis games are bigger than ever (in fact, given what I saw at Gen Con and have heard from various UD employees, it's possible that the WoW games are the company's biggest-selling non-sports product). They're planning to bring the Darkmoon Faire back to Paris next year, and that's probably exactly what they'll do.
Breakfast Topic: Have you played those other games?
One of the things I got to do at BlizzCon 2009 that ended up being a whole lot of fun was sit down and play a few rounds of the World of Warcraft TCG at the Upper Deck Booth. I actually plan to write a bit more on that later, but for now, my main thought on it was that it was pretty fun. As a former Magic: The Gathering Player way back in the early 3rd edition days, I've always held a soft spot in my heart for a good solid card game, and I've been meaning for the longest time to check out the TCG as something more than a silly thing that refuses to give me a mount. I have to say, if anything, that I probably enjoyed it too much. Not only did I catch onto the rules pretty quickly, but I was transported back to the old magic days, and I'm halfway tempted now to perfect a good solid deck and go out to my local gaming store in a couple weekends to see if anyone else plays. On the other hand, I'm trying to avoid that temptation, because I just know it'll eat up my life like Magic did back in the day.
Upper Deck awards TCG and minis North American Continental Champions
I spent my Saturday out at Gen Con in Indianapolis, and while I did hunt down some of the World of Warcraft action there, there was just too much going on to pay attention to the 2009 North American Continental Championships for the WoW minis and TCGs, which took place right there in the TCG hall. Fortunately, the official site covered it all, so if you're a fan of the trading card game and want to know who the best current players in North America are, there you go. On the TCG side, Corey Burkhart took the top spot by playing a Troll Shaman deck for the win. In the minis competition, Michael Allen picked up the big prize. The official site has lots more information, including rundowns of each match, standings for each round, and even a Facebook album full of photos.The winners picked up thousands of dollars in prizes (including a 17" MacBook Pro and a 30" Apple monitor for Corey), and all of these guys will all compete in the World Championships, to be held in Austin, Texas this October (that prize goes up to a whopping $100,000 overall, so the stakes can get big). Congratulations to all the winners -- sounds like it was a rousing event there in Indy, and Upper Deck is probably on their way as we speak off to meet with us later this week at BlizzCon.
World of Warcraft at Gen Con 2009
I spent Saturday at Gen Con 2009, and while I didn't play any World of Warcraft, the game was still out in droves. Biggest of all of the events and displays about WoW was Upper Deck's massive TCG/minis area -- the place was crowded with players throwing down in both the card and figurine games. Back on the exhibition floor, Upper Deck was also demoing both games, as well as running their usual Darkmoon Faire promotion. And they weren't the only company showing off World of Warcraft-licensed products -- Fantasy Flight games was showing off both World of Warcraft: The Board Game, and World of Warcraft: The Adventure Game at their booth and back in their gaming room. Gen Con is a gigantic convention, so as big as World of Warcraft is, it was only a drop in the flood of gaming going on this weekend (and Blizzard wasn't there officially at all, likely getting ready for BlizzCon next week instead). But wherever there are dice rolls and card games, you'll probably find some sign of Azeroth. %Gallery-70177%
Upper Deck finalizes Gen Con plans
Anybody else going to Gen Con this coming weekend? I'll be there on Saturday (and we might even be having a mini-meetup on Saturday night -- Twitter is probably the best place to listen for that), and I'll be sure to take pictures and/or movies of anything WoW that I see on display. Upper Deck has finalized their plans for the event, and it appears they'll be out in force. In addition to what's been announced previously, there'll be a North American Continental Championship for the WoW TCG, with the winner walking away with $10,000 in prizes, including a brand new MacBook Pro, $1000 in Amazon gift cards, and a 30" monitor. But if, like me, you're far from a pro player, you'll still be able to get in on the fun: they'll be demoing the game all weekend, and giving away special promo cards with every demo. WoW Minis will also be there, and they'll be selling a special limited edition Fleet Master Seahorn figure for $9.99, which introduces the questing mechanic to the minis game (we'll expect to see those at BlizzCon as well, I'm sure).Plus, who knows what else we'll see there -- in the past, we've seen some great displays from Blizzard partners, and even a real-life server protest a few years back. Gen Con is one of the biggest gatherings of gamers in the country, and wherever there are gamers, odds are we'll find World of Warcraft. It'll be my first time seeing the convention this weekend, and I'm really looking forward to it.
WoW and its partners at Gen Con 2009
Gen Con Indy 2009 is just around the corner (it's the weekend before BlizzCon), and if you're headed out for the "best four days in gaming," keep an eye out there for some of this Warcraft stuff. Blizzard won't actually be there, as far as we know (it's more of a convention for board games and roleplaying than video games), but lots of their partners will. Upper Deck will probably have the biggest presence -- both the WoW TCG and the WoW Minis games will have setups where you can sit down and play either one, and they'll be running the Continental Championships as well, where they'll crown some of the best players in the country. And there'll be other tournaments and gameplay for both games going on as well -- the guys from wowtcgscrub.com are organizing a tournament of their own, and Upper Deck will have other ways for you to compete at all levels all weekend long.Fantasy Flight Games, the makers of both World of Warcraft: The Board Game and World of Warcraft: The Adventure Game, will also be in attendance. They haven't announced anything special for the Warcraft games, but they'll likely have them out and playing in at least one demo space. And Warcraft will be there in attendance through the fans as well for sure.In fact, I'll be there for the first time this year -- my friend and I are going to be checking out the show on Saturday. I have no idea what to expect, but i've heard from a few readers that are going already, so if there's interest, we might try to schedule a WoW.com meetup that evening. So if you're headed for Gen Con this year, keep an eye out for the World of Warcraft there.
WM Match Tracker on the iPhone tracks your WoW Minis matches
We've posted about the WoW TCG Lifecounter app for the iPhone before, and now the official WoW TCG site has spotlighted that one and another Upper Deck-related app for Apple's little handheld devices. WM Match Tracker is a free application on the App Store that will keep track of everything you need during WoW minis matches, including lifepoints for every character in play, the master clock of the entire game, and even each characters' clock (if you've played the game, you'll know that will tell you when each player can come back into play after using a certain ability). Sounds pretty useful, and the price is great, too: completely free. Of course, you don't need the app -- you can use pen and paper (and each board for the game usually has a clock on it), but if you've got an iPhone or iPod touch, it could come in handy.It's interesting -- Blizzard's been putting the kibosh on lots of Armory-based apps, but both of these apps are not only untouched, but they're actually being spotlighted on the official Upper Deck site. It could just be that Blizzard at large hasn't heard about them yet, or maybe they're specifically targeting apps that focus on the core game, not on the licensed products. Or, it could be that Blizzard is going after just Armory apps -- I can't think of any non-Armory apps that involve Warcraft in some way, but if Blizzard is planning an official Armory app, that would definitely be a reason to clear the App Store of unofficial apps first. Unfortunately, repeated queries to them from us about this have gone unanswered so far.But at any rate, WM Match Tracker seems like an excellent app, and if you spend any amount of time playing the award-winning WoW minis game, it seems helpful.
First WoW Minis expansion: Spoils of War
Upper Deck has released the first expansion to the WoW minis game, called Spoils of War. The new set of figures introduces legendary lore figures like Jaina and Kael'thas into the mix, and they can now jump onto the gameboard with player characters and duke it out in the streamlined Arena-style turn-based battles. The new set also contains Action Bar cards, which can modify your characters and party's abilities before a battle (like casting a Wrath of Air totem to modify all of your team's die rolls). And finally, the new expansion also brings items into the mix, so there's one more medium in which you can wield Sulfuras, the Hand of Ragnaros. (And no, unfortunately, real life isn't one... yet.)The new set is available in booster packs at a hobby and collectible store near you -- the MSRP is about $14.99, but they'll probably be around for cheaper than that eventually, if they're not already. If you're a regular player of the minis game, it sounds like it'll be a must-have addition, and if you've never picked it up before, maybe the prospect of playing some of the more famous lore figures will get you interested.
Upper Deck hosts a Spectral Safari event for the WoW minis game
Haven't gotten a chance to play last year's Game Product of the Year yet? You're in luck -- Upper Deck is hosting another "Spectral Safari" event about a month from now, on March 14th, and you could pick up a Spectral Tiger, one of the hottest TCG items in history. Entry for the big tournament costs $20, but not only do you get to take home a WoW minis booster, but you have a chance to win prizes, and everyone who plays in the tournament will get entered in a contest to have an official mini made of their very own ingame character. That's pretty wild.They've just sent us the list of where the events are taking place, so if there's a tournament going on near you (there are locations all over the world), now's the time to make your plans. The game is a lot of fun -- it's kind of a cross between a turn-based strategy game (in that both players take turns with their characters to move and attack) and Arena battles (in that you move around on a field using the various abilities and weapons available to your character's class). An event like this is a great way to check it out and possibly even win some prizes for playing well.
WoW minis wins Game Product of the Year
Diamond Comics, a big distributor of comics and collectables, has given out its Diamond Awards for 2008, and Upper Deck's WoW minis game is a winner. The game won Game Product of the Year -- Upper Deck says that "not only did it capture the hearts of World of Warcraft fans across the globe, it also redefined the entire miniatures category."We'll have to take their word for it (as we haven't played that many minis games before), but the game was a lot of fun when we played a round of it at BlizzCon last year -- it's kind of a mix between turn-based strategy (in that you take turns moving your characters and attacking or defending) and Arena play (in that lots of the character abilities are borrowed straight from the ingame classes). We can speak to the quality of the game as well -- the little miniatures look great, and the game boards and cards were very colorful and well-done.So grats to Upper Deck for picking up the Diamond Award for their new minis game (the company also nabbed a few other awards for their Marvel Masterpieces cards and their sports card lines). If you'd like to check the game out, you can pick up starter packs at most hobby and game stores, and Upper Deck periodically offers events around the country. Some of which we often post about here on WoW Insider, so stay tuned.
Upper Deck Day coming February 7-8, 2009
Our good friends at Upper Deck have announced a day of tournaments, demos, and giveaways at a hobby store near you. Upper Deck Day is being held February 7-8, 2009, and the event will feature a WoW TCG beginner's tournament, as well as on-site demos of the new WoW minis game. If you've never played either of these games, this is the perfect chance to check them out -- mark your calendars now, and bring a friend to check out the other ways to play World of Warcraft.They haven't yet released the list of locations for the event, but Upper Deck tends to use the same places most every time, so if they've held a previous event at a store near you, odds are that they'll be there again. Actually collecting both of these games can get pricey (and let's face it, is really only fun if you've got a friend or two to play with often), but that's what makes these events so perfect -- you can get a taste of what the games are like without having to break the piggy bank to pick up all the little doodads.And as always, if you go, be sure to snap some pictures and send them to us. We're always interested in what players of the offline World of Warcraft games are up to as well.
WoW Insider's 2008 holiday gift guide
Yes, it's that time of year again -- the lights are up around town, the weather is cold and snowy, and you've got a long list of nice (and maybe even some naughty) people who will need gifts this year. But what will you get? If anyone on your list is a Warcraft player, worry not: WoW Insider has compiled a list of ten Nintendo Sixtyfoooooooour-level gifts for the Warcraft player in your life, five out-of-game and five in-game.Whether they're level 10 or level 80, odds are that they'll love any of this stuff, and whether you've got just a little bit of time and/or money to put in or want no expense spared, there's something on this list for you. Click into the gallery below to check out all of the gifts, and be sure to have a happy holiday season -- here's hoping there will be a little something more exciting than coal in that stocking!Looking for non-Warcraft related gamer gifts? Joystiq has up-to-the-minute news on the best holiday deals and tips around for Holidaze 2008. And our friends at Big Download have a nice set of guides up as well, featuring anything and everything you might need for a PC gamer.%Gallery-38276%Winter's Veil is almost here. Watch the 12 Days again, wonder what might be new this year, or settle down with some cocoa and some tasty... bark?
Upper Deck offers free shipping on WoW stuff
Blizzplanet's got the news that Upper Deck is offering a break on shipping in the next 24 hours, so if you've been thinking of picking up any WoW TCG-related items for a friend, now's the time to do it.It's a pretty terrible deal though -- you've got to order $50 worth of stuff to get the free shipping, and at Upper Deck's official prices, you're probably just better running out to a hobby store and picking the things up yourself. But who knows. Maybe there's one of you in Alaska who have wanted to buy tons of stuff from UDE without paying shipping, but don't have a hobby store for miles around -- if so, you're in luck.The sale inexplicably ends on November 21st, which by my calculations is tomorrow, so get your order in fast. But seriously, someone needs to teach Upper Deck how to have a holiday sale -- who buys all their gifts by Thanksgiving? Maybe we'll see a better sale on Black Friday.
WoW minis are out
As predicted, the WoW Minis game from Upper Deck has launched -- starter packs and booster sets are now available at a collectible store near you. I got to play the game with one of its designers at BlizzCon, and I actually found it a lot of fun -- it's very much like a turn-based Arena match, though there are fewer abilities to choose from, and if your characters are killed, they actually come back, as the victory is points-based, not just a deathmatch. But it's very similar to Arena matches in that you spend points on abilities, terrain can help or hurt, and each class has its own counters and tactics.I found it to be a lot of fun, and probably would get involved in it if I had a friend I could also sucker into it, but no dice so far. Plus, it's two hobbies in one -- not only do you get a fun strategy game (that's surprisingly versatile -- you can play with more than two players if you like, and your victory points requirements are based on your characters, not the opposing sides', so you can play with whatever characters you like), but you also get to collect some cool minature reproductions of some of Warcraft's most famous faces. Good deal. Have you checked the game out yet, or is it something you're interested in?%Gallery-33212%
WoW minis demos taking place around the country this weekend
We were lucky enough to try out the WoW Minis game at BlizzCon, and I have to say that I really enjoyed it. I've never been much into collecting (I used to play CCGs back when I was a kid, and when, at one point, I spent half my allowance on one pack of cards that didn't have any new ones, I pretty much decided it was over), but the game itself is pretty fun, kind of a mix between an arena match and a turn-based battle. I'd need someone to play with, I think, but if I could convince a friend to sit down and be nerdy with me, I could see getting into it.If you haven't gotten a chance to see the game in action yet, you're in luck. Upper Deck tells us that they've passed out free starter kits to more than 1,500 hobby stores around the country (they didn't provide a list, but if the previous TCG events went down at a store near you, odds are the minis kits will be there as well), so if you have some free time this weekend, stop in and ask if you can see the game and how it works.The game itself launches on November 11th, so if you enjoy playing the game at the store this weekend, you'll be able to pick up a starter set and booster packs then.
WoW Minis in stores on November 11th
Upper Deck has announced an official release date for the WoW Miniatures game, and surprise, it's in early November, too (it's going to be a busy couple of months for WoW fans). You'll be able to buy a four-figure starter set or a three-figure booster pack in stores on November 11th -- we're not sure about the prices yet, but if the MSRP we saw a while back hasn't changed, they'll end up at around $20-25 for starter packs, and $10-15 for boosters. Each starter will also contain a sampler of the WoW TCG cards, and while we haven't heard anything about ingame loot items for the minis game, those samplers may have some Loot cards in them if you're lucky.Upper Deck also was kind enough to provide us with a preview of a few figures from the set, including some concept and reference art for some of the characters and figures. You can see it all in the gallery below -- there's a nice sampling of characters from the MMO game, a few from the TCG, and even some new character types from Northrend in there. Looks like fun. %Gallery-33212%
Upper Deck releases WoW Minis "demo"
The WoW Minis game is picking up steam towards a release later this year, and after a first play chance at the ComicCon last week, Upper Deck has posted a downloadable demo of the game on their website. In this case, a "downloadable demo" actually means a printable PDF, complete with little figurines to cut out and assemble into a game board. Not exactly the most quality experience, but a DIY demo is a pretty interesting way to test and see how you like the game mechanics.And inside the PDF, you can find a coupon that you can redeem at Gen Con this coming weekend for a chance to play in a preview event, and walk away with some real product from the game. If you can't be at Gen Con, don't worry, Upper Deck is planning some WoW Minis events for BlizzCon later this year as well.And if you don't have the cash or the time to be flying all over the country and visiting huge groups of nerds enjoying their favorite pasttimes in packs, no big deal either -- the WoW Minis game itself is set for release sometime this Fall. So pretty soon you'll be able to play it yourself in your own nerdy way.
