The World of Warcraft section of Upper Deck Entertainment's Website now provides players with a first look at an actual World of Warcraft card and features an initial explanation of WOW gameplay by Danny Mandel, one of the designers.  The card shown Ta'zo is a hero, one of seven card types in the WOW TCG (the others are 'abilities,' 'armor,' 'weapons,' 'items,' 'aliens,' and 'quests').  Players begin the game with their hero card face up and take on the role of the hero they are playing.  The choice of hero affects the style and contents of a player's deck and provides different strategic and tactical options.

There are 16 different hero cards in the initial WOW TCG Heroes of Azeroth release.  Each and every pack of WOW cards includes a hero card and the Starter Decks come with three oversize hero cards, which unlike oversize cards in some other CCGs, are completely playable.

The card backs provide lots of information about the hero, whether his affiliation is with the 'Horde' or the 'Alliance,' magic abilities, weapons and powers, and original health status.  Players have to customize their decks to complement their hero with the right sort of allies, weapons, armor and abilities.

Front

Players have to flip their hero cards over to use the character's built-in power and can do so only once per game, so one has to be extremely careful and choose the right moment to expose the larger, more awesome image on the front of the card.

The World of Warcraft TCG launch is in October; Raid Decks are planned for November (see 'Upper Deck's World of Warcraft TCG Delayed until October').