I showed you the strength and steadfastness of [King Genn Greymane] two weeks ago. He is a leader who stands tall, is strengthened by the people (er Wolf-men) who back him, and in turn protects all of those that are from Gilneas. He's someone that all members of the Alliance, Worgen or otherwise, can look up to.

On the flip side, there's [Trade Prince Gallywix]. He's uh...sort of the opposite. In every way.

This is also where I should warn you about the major spoilers I'm going to be talking about regarding the Goblin starting zone. If you have an interest in playing through the Goblin starting zone and you do not want anything spoiled, then go back now.

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Don't say I didn't warn you. (the picture above is old concept art from Blizzard Entertainment on what Gallywix would look like. I'd say he slimmed down some in the final version!)

Gallywix represents all of the negative aspects of the goblins to an extreme. He loves money, power, and leadership. What he does not love are those that show any strength to oppose him. And in turn, the other Goblins of the Bilgewater Cartel (the faction of Goblins that are allied with the Horde) despise him.

But before the Shattering and the rise of Deathwing, none of this hatred truly came into light. When you create a Goblin in the World of warcraft online game, you start off as a powerful Goblin on their home island of Kezan. You rub elbows with the higher-ups of the Bilgewater Cartel. You have money. You have power. You even get to drive a kick-ass red convertible around the island's roads to take care of your errands!

Then Deathwing wakes up and causes chaos. Mount Kajaro, the dormant volcano on Kezan, erupts. Panic ensues. There are those that lose their heads in the chaos – most likely killed by the pirates hired by Gallywix himself to ransack party guests in order to add to his own wealth – and there are the cartel bigwigs such as yourself. You all keep yourself calm, you loot enough money to pay the fee that Gallywix is charging for you to get on the only boat off the erupting island which he obviously owns, and you look like you are going to safely escape.

There's just one problem. Gallywix takes your life savings as the fee to get on the boat and then sells you into slavery. What a generous leader.

Then this little cutscene takes place. (Thanks to the Cynical Brit for having the clip on Youtube. The cinematic ends halfway through the video)

Looks like the Goblins of Bilgewater Cartel just can't catch a break. The Alliance navy blows them out of the water for seeing their attack on the Horde warship. They get stranded on the wild Lost Isles, where you and the surviving Goblins (including Gallywix, the jerk who enslaved you all in the first place) must fight to survive the ordeal.

Your adventures on the Lost Isles lead you to the surviving Horde forces that were on the Warship which was destroyed. The Goblins and the Horde forces, all Orcs, unite in order to get away from the Alliance alive.

As you complete a number of quests in dealing with annoying SI:7 agents from the Alliance, you stumble upon the Alliance navy ships and rescue the cargo that the Alliance was after from the Horde: an imprisoned Thrall. That would explain why the Alliance was so desperate in making sure there were no witnesses of what they were doing. You are then sent off in a thundercloud by Thrall's shamanistic magic to take out the Alliance navy.

After completing the quest [Warchief's Revenge], you save the Orcs, the surviving Goblins from Bilgewater Cartel, and Thrall. You're a big hero...and Gallywix hates it! He was afraid of you claiming his title, which the Cartel was already considering removing from Gallywix, and now you showed him up in front of your new allies. He claims that he will get revenge, and storms off in an escape rocket before the rest of you.

Of course, Gallywix, who has proven himself to be a tremendous failure as a leader and as backstabber, will be thwarted by you in the later quests that conclude the Lost Isles storyline. He continues his dirty tactics, enslaving survivors of the Bilgewater Cartel and even attempting to kill Thrall. Even during your climactic showdown against Gallywix, he tries to fight you off until it appears he is going to die.

At that point he just starts begging for his life and saying whatever he can to live.

The shocking part about that? Thrall lets him live, and lets him keep his title of Trade Prince for the Bilgewater Cartel, at least for the moment. It's up in the air on whether Gallywix will remain the leader of the Goblins. After all, he is the only leader that is truly and completely hated by all other members of the Horde, including those of his own race.

For now though, Gallywix leads the Goblins in Azshara, the Kalimdor territory that is given to them by Thrall. It may be temporary, or it may be permanent. Either way, Gallywix, despite everything he does to torture you and the other Goblins, remains in control. Even if he is mainly just a figure-head.

As for the TCG version of [Trade Prince Gallywix], how does his power reflect his personality? Well for one, he's small. He's only a two cost ally which, when compared to many of the other epic faction leaders in the WoW TCG, isn't that big. He also does not play very well with the many Goblins in this set since most of them want to exhaust to their own Time is Money power or protect. He does play well with [Signet of Manifested Pain] though.

The development on Gallywix, as funny as it is, makes him much more valuable to working well with allies that aren't currently Goblins. There are not very many 1-drop Goblins available, meaning he plays best with the large number of 1-drop Horde allies that you can play the turn you drop Gallywix onto the board. For any Goblins you do play, he will insist that they are used for his purpose rather than their own. He does, however, work well with some of the arena ally Goblins that have activated powers (they gain Time is Money and can use their own activated power instead of the one Gallywix gives them).

How will Gallywix be involved in the future of the Goblins? In the WoW TCG, that depends on what new Goblins are made. He will most likely be helping Horde players drop their hand onto the table for many tournaments to come though. Whether he continues to lead the Bilgewater Cartel in the online game though is up in the air. He probably will. After all, he's just a Goblin. And all Trade Princes are about as corrupt and greedy as Gallywix.

Check back next time for a little look at the Emerald Dragons, including [Ysera the Dreamer].

-Mike Rosenberg

Mike Rosenberg has been involved in the gaming industry since 2004, and has been involved in nearly every aspect of the WoW TCG since its launch in 2006. He has reached 2nd day competition for multiple high-level events, worked as a tournament organizer and judge for the Tanaris region, and has been a writer and blogger in the community since the first set was released.