Those who follow my R.AGE columns and online musings will notice that I tend to give Magic: the Gathering plenty of ink (or bytes :-P).

Well, after all, that game is still the undisputed numero uno in the grand scheme of things.

But lo and behold, I’ve made a conscious (or was it unconscious) decision to return into an old love, and also venture forth unto a new one.

The former would be the World of Warcraft TCG (WoW TCG in short), while the latter would be the Legend of the Five Rings TCG (L5R TCG).

When I started WoW TCG, the first set had kicked serious behind, and took gaming geeks everywhere by the proverbial horn. Heroes of Azeroth introduced everyone to the wonderful world of class action, and was quite a beautiful rendition of the MMORPG (massively multiplayer online role playing game – phew!).

After around two years plus of casual action, I left the game. The power creep had finally got the better of my patience of WoW TCG, as well as the low “efficiency” in hunting cards through the packs.

You see, with eight classes from a booster pack, and even with certain cards (especially equipment) that spanned multiple classes, the game was always gonna be the winner.

The amount of unplayed janky cards in WoW TCG felt disproportionately high, and when Magic’s 2010 Core Set entered the picture, I decided to switch camps and cease supporting the game altogether.

An uncertain future?

Fast forward to December 2010: after successfully polluting my compadres with Magic, we had begun to itch and hunger to try other games.

Funnily enough, I’d bought a starter of L5R TCG to try, while someone else in the group wanted to try WoW TCG. Not sure what prompted him, but my good mate and I went, sure, we have the cards for you.

(I promise to regale you folks more about L5R TCG another day 🙂

So I went and did a bit of digging online and asking about WoW TCG in the local gaming circles, and its current state. Here are my preliminary findings:

– It’s still expensive: at RM13 to 15 per booster pack, with nine classes to chase after (Death Knight being the latest add), it’s still a pretty costly game. Sure, there are more cards per booster pack (19 cards per pack), but that’s still only one rare / epic card.

– WoW TCG is now published by Cryptozoic Entertainment, after Upper Deck Entertainment lost the license in March 2010.

– From being a strong number two / three TCG in Malaysia back during its first two years, WoW TCG is now pretty much a niche pastime. Player support dwindled when prize support started to cease for a time during the UDE-Cryptozoic transition, and never quite got back to its original levels.

– Current stocks of the game are almost non-existent, due to the low popularity of the game.

Well, despite the bleak state of WoW TCG, my little gaming group decided to venture forth and give the game another try.

Plenty of single cards are available online: a personal favourite is Hong Kong-based www.mtgmintcard.com. They ship fast, stock mint / near mint cards and are a dream to deal with. Failing which, there’s always eBay.com.

In the meantime, I’ll sign off right here, in time to get ready and get my first return session to WoW TCG. Stay tuned for a more in-depth look into what the game has become now, in a future Cards & Boards blog update!