et ready for exciting outdoor world battles and an epic fight for dominance in a new type of PvP gameplay. Patch 1.12 will introduce brand-new content that should provide all fans of free-form outdoor PvP with an exciting challenge. Unlike the Battlegrounds, the new outdoor world PvP objectives will allow you to participate in frantic PvP action anytime, with as many friends as you want. You can travel to the Eastern Plaguelands and fight for control over four strategically important positions, securing your side an advantage against the Scourge. Or, you can head out so Silithus, where the Alliance and the Horde are locked in a deadly struggle over a recently discovered substance – the precious dust called silithyst.

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In this new perspective on the World of Warcraft universe, each player will take the role of a hero with its own faction, class, talent spec, race, and professions. Just like in the online game, these traits help determine your play style and how you plan to crush the competition. A number of unique features characterize the card game and tie into the epic nature of the World of Warcraft experience. Mirroring the excitement of raid groups, raid decks allow a number of players to take on powerful, epic monsters like Onyxia the Black Dragon. You can team up with your friends to take down the mighty raid boss, or play the deck yourself and battle as Onyxia!

In addition, World of Warcraft TCG decks include randomly placed “loot cards.” These ultra rare cards have an online code unlocking exclusive cosmetic upgrades to your World of Warcraft online character! Look for an announcement with more specifics regarding loot cards in the near future.

The World of Warcraft TCG features the work of some of the top fantasy artists in the business, including Darrell Sweet, Greg Staples, Greg Hildebrandt, and R.K. Post. Blizzard artists such as Samwise Didier, Glenn Rane, and Justin Thavirat have also contributed to the World of Warcraft TCG, and even a few unique perspectives from creators Todd McFarlane and Gabe from Penny Arcade grace some of the cards. You can check out art pieces and profiles of the artists themselves on the game's official website.

The website also features daily new content, including exclusive art, spoilers for cards, interviews, and articles by the design team, as well as profiles of Upper Deck Entertainment employees and their World of Warcraft online characters.

The World of Warcraft trading card game goes on sale this October, starting with the official debut at the Essen Game Fair in Germany. You can find the game on sale in the U.S. the following week, with an expected street date of Wednesday, October 25.

• Weekend trip for two to Los Angeles, including lunch or dinner with the Blizzard art team
• Alienware Area 51 PC
• Wacom Cintiq tablet display
• $220 gift certificate for the Blizzard Store
• Framed Blizzard print signed by the Blizzard art team

Good luck; we can't wait to see your submissions!

• New Class Combinations – In World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade, you will finally be able to play classes that were previously unavailable to your faction. With the release of the expansion, players will be able to create Blood Elf paladins for the Horde and Draenei shamans for the Alliance. Read more about it here.
• Battlegroups – With the release of patch 1.12, you will be able to face off against players from other realms in the battlegrounds. The new cross-realm PvP battlegrounds will combine players from several realms into huge matchmaking pools for each of the game's three battlegrounds. You can now check out the full battlegroups list to find out which battlegroup you're in and which realms you'll be competing against.
• Caverns of Time – Since the world was young, the bronze dragonflight has safeguarded the winding labyrinth, monitoring the shifting timeways to ensure that the delicate balance of time is upheld. But now the ancient Dragon Aspect Nozdormu has been roused by an elusive threat to his beloved caverns… Learn more about one of the major plot points of World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade on our new Caverns of Time information page.
• Rogue Talent Preview – The recent focus of the ongoing talent review has been the rogues, masters of stealth and assassination. Check out our interactive talent preview, where you can find all the information you need to know about the rogue talent update included in patch 1.12.
• Troll Compendium - The Troll Compendium, an extensive source of information on the Trolls, one of Azeroth's most ancient civilizations, is now complete. This compendium features a lot of interesting background material about early Troll history, the Trolls' role in the Horde, and also some new insights about Trollish customs and society. You can check out the complete Troll Compendium here.

New friends, new foes, and new conquests...let the drums of war thunder once again!