What Goes On A Card

If you’re new to the World of Warcraft Trading Card Game, then there is probably a lot of text on cards that will seem confusing. Frost Mage? Undead Hero required? You may have an idea of what those terms mean if you play the online game, but what the heck do they mean in the WoW TCG?

Daily Metagame is here to show you what all of those symbols and terms mean on a card. Most cards have the basic symbols and numbers that you will need to know. For more specific details on the different card types, be sure to check back in the coming weeks for a simple breakdown of what everything means on each card.

Currently, there are 6 different types of cards (excluding the hero):

-Ally
-Ability
-Equipment
-Quest
-Location
-Master Hero





The picture above is an ally card, but many of the text and symbols on it are applied to other cards as well.

Below is a key that describes each number and circled icon or label in the picture above.

1 - The cost. This is how many resources you have to pay in order to play this card.

2 - The faction/class icon. You can only play this card in a deck when your hero matches one of the icons. (note: some cards do not have an icon here. You can play these card in any deck as long as there is no text-based restriction).

3 - Card type. This details what type of card it is, such as ally, ability, or equipment. It also includes details like whether the ally is a human or orc, what type of ability it is and whether it is instant, and what type of equipment the card is. This is sometimes referenced in other cards (ex: [Orgrimmar] can only be used on allies that are Orcs).

4 - Unique/Unlimited/etc. Some cards have text here that says ‘unique’ or ‘unlimited’ or ‘Word (1)’. You can only have one copy of the same unique ally in play. You can have any number of an unlimited ally in your deck. Cards with the ‘Word (1)’ text, such as ‘Pet (1)’ or ‘Hands (1)’ like [Hesriana] or [Bonefist Gauntlets] are similar to unique. It refers to how you can only have one card of that kind in play (you can only have one pet in play, you can only have one armor piece for hands in play).

5 - Text box. This is where you will find other deck-building restrictions (ex: [Dethvir the Malignant] and [Blast Wave]). This also describes what kinds of powers the card has.

6 - For allies, this number is health, and looks like a blood droplet. This number determines how much damage an ally can have on it before it is destroyed and put into the graveyard. (note: any ally with 0 health is immediately destroyed). For weapons, the number in this spot is strike cost, and tells you how many resources it costs for your hero to strike with your weapon while it is in combat. For armor, the number in this spot represents how much damage you will prevent from any one source if you exhaust your armor.

7 - ATK value. This determines how much damage this ally can deal in combat, as well as what kind of combat damage it deals. For weapons, this determines how much ATK you will add to your hero for the combat when you strike with your weapon.

A few quick notes on allies:
-Unless the ally has the ferocity keyword, it cannot attack the turn it is played. (EX: [Offender Gora] can attack immediately because of the ferocity keyword, but [Apprentice Teep] cannot)
-An ally cannot use its activated powers (these powers have the ‘exhaust this card’ icon) the turn it comes into play. (EX: [Myriam Starcaller] cannot have its power used until the the start of your next turn)
-Some allies and other cards have 'Reputation', like [Marksman Glous]. You can only have one specific type of reputation in your deck. EX: If you have [Marksman Glous] in your deck, then you cannot have [Retainers Blade], [Death to the Traitor King], or [Highlord Tirion Fordring] in your deck.

A few quick notes on abilities:
-Abilities with the “ongoing” keyword do not immediately go to the graveyard when their effects resolve. They instead stay in play, and have an ongoing effect on the game based on the text that follows the ongoing keyword. (EX: [Tuskarr Kite])

-Abilities that say “Talent Hero Required” can only be played in a deck when your hero has that talent spec in its traits. (EX: [Blast Wave])

A few quick notes on equipment:
-To strike with a weapon, you must be able to exhaust it and pay for its strike cost. Once you do these two things, you will add ATK to your hero for the combat equal to the ATK value listed on the weapon.

-For armor, you will only be able to prevent damage from a single source of damage. You exhaust armor to prevent damage as the damage is about to occur. If you have an equipment with 3 armor value in play and exhaust it to prevent 1 point of damage, then that is it. Your unused armor value will not carry over to prevent the next 2 damage that your hero is dealt.

-Most uniqueness rules for equipment follows common-sense. EX: You can only have one piece of armor in play for your chest, which makes sense since your hero literally wouldn’t be able to wear two chest-pieces.

That’s it for now! We intend to expand this and other sections of the Starting Zone over the next few weeks. Be sure to check back every week for more updates on this guide. If you have any specific ruling concerns or questions, be sure to bring it up on the Daily Metagame forums.