World of Warcraft Trading Card Game: Molten Core Raid Deck Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Overview
• What's in this Box?
• Object of the Game
• Two Modes of Play
• Setup
• Gameplay
  • Overview
  • Ten Bosses
    • Overview
    • Entering Play
  • Separate Graveyards
    • Running out of Cards
  • Boss Turn Sequence
  • Minions, Runes, and Resources
    • The Minion Deck
    • The Runes
    • Recap
• The Allies
  • Two Kinds of Allies
  • Special Ally Rules
• The Treasure Pack

Overview

In this game, one player will pilot the Molten Core Bosses, and the other players will take on the role of a raiding party. The Boss player will play the Molten Core Main deck and the Ragnaros deck, and the raiding players will play their own decks built from the World of Warcraft TCG card pool.

The Molten Core Raid Deck is designed to be played against three to five players.

For complete World of Warcraft TCG game rules and an interactive demo, visit www.ude.com/wow.

What's in this Box?

• 45-card Main deck (3 copies each of 15 different cards)
• 30-card Minion deck
• 25-card Ragnaros deck (2 copies each of 12 different cards, plus 1 more card)
• 10 two-sided, oversize hero cards (1 for each Boss)
• 7 rune cards
• 20 two-sided ally tokens
• 10-card treasure pack

The booklet shows two sample cards to illustrate the card layout:

• Wrath of Ragnaros (Main deck card, Ability, Ragnaros): "Destroy target ally. Ragnaros deals fire damage equal to that ally's cost to a hero in that ally's party."
• Shazzrah (Hero, Flamewaker, Boss 6): "Shazzrah has +2 ATK while attacking and can attack only heroes." Flip: "Flip Shazzrah. Use only once per turn."

Object of the Game

For the Boss player, the object of the game is simple: destroy all who dare to oppose you. A raiding player is destroyed if his or her hero takes fatal damage (damage greater than or equal to its health), or if that player has to draw a card from an empty deck.

For the raiding players, the object of the game is to work together to defeat the many Bosses of the Molten Core Raid Deck. The endgame is an epic battle against Ragnaros the Firelord. Deal fatal damage to Ragnaros, and the Boss player will be defeated.

If Ragnaros is destroyed, it's a victory for all raiding players, even those who fell before the Firelord was defeated.

Two Modes of Play

There are two ways to explore the depths of the Molten Core Raid Deck: the standard game and the "full clear" mode.

In the standard game, the raiding players will first face Lucifron, followed by three of the rune Bosses chosen at random. If any of the raiding players survive, they'll challenge Majordomo Executus and, finally, Ragnaros.

In the full clear mode of play, the raiding players will face all ten Bosses in order. This mode takes more time to play and is more difficult to master, so only the bravest and most prepared of adventurers should embark on it.

Note: The following rules assume the raiding players are playing the standard game. The full clear mode uses the same rules as the standard game, with one exception: instead of randomizing which rune Bosses the raiding players will face, the raiding players must defeat all of them in order.

Setup

Each raiding player brings a standard 60-card (minimum) deck and hero. The raiding players' heroes must belong to the same faction, either Horde or Alliance.

Players should also bring a six-sided die for cards that require die rolls.

The Boss player shuffles the 45-card Main deck and the 30-card Minion deck. Keep these decks separate. Set aside the 25-card Ragnaros deck and the ally tokens.

Next, the Boss player randomizes the seven rune cards and draws three of them to determine which rune Bosses the raiding players will face. The identities of these Bosses should be kept secret from the raiding players. Once the rune Bosses have been selected, set aside the other four runes. They will not be used during the game.

Lucifron is the starting Boss. (The "Boss 1" on his type line is a reminder.) Put Lucifron into play at the start of the game.

Lucifron enters play with two Flamewaker Protector ally tokens. (The "Lucifron: 2" on Flamewaker Protector's type line tells you that Lucifron enters play with two copies of the ally.)

Each player (including the Boss player) draws a starting hand of seven cards. The Boss player must keep his or her starting hand. The raiding players may choose to mulligan as normal.

The Boss player draws a starting hand from the Main deck, not the Minion deck. Unlike the raiding players, the Boss player's maximum hand size is ten cards. Each raiding player's maximum hand size is seven cards.

The raiding player to the Boss player's left goes first, and then play proceeds clockwise. Unlike in a traditional game, the first player does not skip drawing a card during the first draw step.

Gameplay

Overview

In many ways, the game plays like a traditional multiplayer game of the WoW TCG.

• For the raiding team, a hero or ally with protector can protect any friendly character. A friendly character is controlled either by you or the players on your team.

  • Example: Bulkas Wildhorn has the ability Vigilance, which gives him protector. Ragnaros attacks Morganis Blackvein, a friendly hero. Bulkas can exhaust to protect Morganis, forcing Ragnaros to fight him instead.

• If a raiding player's hero is destroyed, all of his or her cards are removed from the game. This includes abilities attached to other players' cards.

• The Molten Core Bosses, Minions, and ally tokens can attack any opposing character. (However, many of the Bosses have powers restricting which characters they can attack.)

• Players from the raiding team can choose to attack the current Boss or any of his Minions or ally tokens.

• Each raiding player's turn follows the phases and steps of a traditional game, as described by the diagram below:

• Start Phase

  • Ready Step
  • Draw Step

• Action Phase

  • Combat Step(s): Play Cards, Use Powers, Place a Resource, Make Attacks

• End Phase

(Note: The Boss player follows a different turn sequence. See the "Boss Turn Sequence" section for more information.)

While there are many similarities, there are several important differences between a traditional multiplayer game and a raid scenario.

Ten Bosses

Overview

There are ten Bosses in the Molten Core Raid Deck. Each Boss has the word "Boss" followed by a number (1 through 9) on the right side of his type line. The raiding players always start the game facing Lucifron (Boss 1), and they always end the game facing Majordomo Executus (Boss 9) and, finally, Ragnaros.

The middle Bosses (Bosses 2–8) are called rune Bosses because each has a rune card. You can tell which rune goes with which Boss by reading the left side of the rune's type line. For example, Rune of Kress belongs to Magmadar.

In the standard game, the raiding players need to defeat only three of the rune Bosses to reach Majordomo Executus. The three they must defeat are chosen at random before the game begins, and only the Boss player knows their identities until they enter play.

While the three rune Bosses are selected at random, they are fought in numerical order.

• Example: The Boss player randomly selects the runes for Baron Geddon (Boss 5), Magmadar (Boss 2), and Garr (Boss 4). The raiding players will face the rune Bosses in the following order: Magmadar, Garr, and Baron Geddon.

Each Boss has a flip power, but unlike traditional heroes, the Molten Core Bosses often have ways to flip back and forth. Each Boss has different powers on either side of his card. The first few times you play, it's recommended that the Boss player does not show the raiding players the back of a Boss card until it flips over.

Each of the Bosses has his own powers and health, and many of them enter play with ally tokens to help them incinerate, crush, or devour the raiding players.

Entering Play

Each Boss enters play with his associated ally tokens.

You can tell which ally tokens enter play with each Boss by reading the right side of the token's type line. The number following the Boss's name tells you how many copies of that ally token enter play with the Boss. For example, eight Firesworn enter play with Garr.

When a rune Boss enters play, put his rune face up into your rune row, which is next to—but separate from—your resource row. (See "The Runes" in the "Minions, Runes, and Resources" section for more information.)

The rune Bosses are Magmadar, Gehennas, Garr, Baron Geddon, Shazzrah, Sulfuron Harbinger, and Golemagg the Incinerator.

Separate Graveyards

The Molten Core Main deck, Minion deck, and Ragnaros deck each has a separate graveyard. When a card from one of these decks is destroyed or discarded, it goes to that deck's graveyard. These graveyards must be kept separate.

Players can't remove cards from these graveyards. Once a card goes to any of a Boss player's graveyards, it can't leave that zone.

Running out of Cards

If the Molten Core Main deck, Minion deck, or Ragnaros deck ever runs out of cards, the Boss player replenishes it by shuffling the deck's graveyard and turning it face down.

Boss Turn Sequence

The Boss player's turn sequence is shown below:

• Start Phase
  • Ready Step
  • Draw Step
• New Boss Phase
  • If there is no Boss in play, put a new one into play.
• Minion Phase
  • Put the top card of the Minion deck face down into your resource row.
• Action Phase
  • Combat Step(s): Play Cards, Use Powers, Make Attacks
• End Phase
  • Wrap-Up Step

The Boss player readies all of his or her cards during his or her ready step, including all runes.

At the start of his or her draw step, the Boss player draws one card.

If there is no Boss in play during the new Boss phase, reveal the next Boss, along with his associated ally tokens and rune (where applicable). Bosses enter the game in ascending order by the number on the right side of their type line. (See "Entering Play" in the "Ten Bosses" section for more information.) Players have the chance to respond to this. Then, the Boss, ally tokens, and rune enter play at the same time.

During the Minion phase, the Boss player puts the top card of the Minion deck face down into his or her resource row without looking at it.

Minions, Runes, and Resources

The Boss player does not place resources like the raiding players do. Instead, he or she has two ways to pay resource costs.

The Minion Deck

During the Minion phase of the Boss player's turn, he or she takes the top card of the Minion deck and puts it face down into his or her resource row without looking at it.

These face-down cards work just like ordinary resources, with two important exceptions:

• They can't be destroyed or otherwise leave the Boss player's resource row until the current Boss is destroyed.
• When the current Boss is destroyed, all of the Boss player's resources (the face-down Minions) leave play and then re-enter play face up as allies under the Boss player's control. (Note: Just like normal allies, Minions can't attack or use powers until they've been under the Boss player's control since the start of his or her most recent turn.)

The Runes

Runes are a new card type in the WoW TCG. When a rune Boss enters play, put that Boss's rune face up next to the Boss player's resource row.

Each face-up rune has powers that can help the Boss player.

Runes can be exhausted to pay resource costs just like ordinary resources. However, a rune is not considered a resource. Effects that count resources do not count runes.

• Example: You have Volcanic Lair in play, an ongoing ability that reads, "At the start of your turn, if you have five or more resources, destroy target opposing hero." You have four face-down Minions in your resource row and one face-up rune in your rune row. While you can exhaust the rune to pay resource costs, it doesn't count as a resource, so you're considered to have only four resources in play. Because of this, Volcanic Lair's power doesn't trigger this turn.

As a rune Boss is destroyed, turn his rune face down but leave it next to the resource row. A face-down rune can still be exhausted to pay resource costs, though it still doesn't count as a resource.

A face-down rune no longer has active powers.

Recap

The Boss player puts the top card of the Minion deck face down into his or her resource row during the Minion phase of his or her turn. Every time a Boss is destroyed, the Boss player loses all of his or her resources (as they become allies).

Every time a rune Boss enters play, the Boss player gets an additional rune with which to pay resource costs. Runes remain in play even after a Boss is destroyed.

Boss Destruction

When a Boss is destroyed, the Boss player does the following in order:

• Removes the Boss from the game.
• If the Boss has a rune, the Boss player turns the rune face down. The face-down rune remains in the rune row and can be exhausted to pay resource costs.
• Removes all of his or her resources (the face-down Minions) from the game, then puts them into play face up as allies.

The next Boss will enter play on the Boss player's next turn. (See the "Boss Turn Sequence" section for more information.)

All Minions and ally tokens remain in play even if the current Boss is destroyed.

Endgame

Majordomo Executus

Majordomo Executus is the last Boss the raiding players must face before Ragnaros awakens. Majordomo Executus has no health value in his lower right corner because there's no way for him to take fatal damage. The only way to defeat him is by destroying all of his Minions and ally tokens. Once that happens, Majordomo Executus flips and announces the awakening of Ragnaros.

Ragnaros Awakens

When Majordomo Executus flips, he tells the players that Ragnaros awakens. When this happens, the Boss player immediately does the following in order:

• Removes Majordomo Executus from the game.
• Removes the Main deck and its graveyard from the game.
• Removes his or her hand from the game.
• Removes his or her allies (Minions and ally tokens) from the game.
• Removes his or her resources (the face-down Minions) from the game, then puts them into play face up as allies.
• Puts Ragnaros into play with his Submerged side (the side with "Submerged" on the right side of the type line) face up.
• Shuffles the Ragnaros deck and draws a starting hand of seven cards. Ragnaros's maximum hand size is ten. Note: Ragnaros can't mulligan his starting hand.

Fire Damage

Ragnaros and his associated ally token, Son of Flame, have a special power in their text box:

"This character can't be dealt fire ( ) damage."

(The fire symbol inside the parentheses is a card icon that did not survive text extraction from the booklet; it is shown here as an empty pair of parentheses.)

This means they can't be dealt damage from a card that deals fire damage, nor can they be dealt combat damage from a character or weapon with the ATK icon.

The Allies

Two Kinds of Allies

Two kinds of allies assist the Molten Core Bosses against the raiding players: the Minions and the ally tokens.

The Molten Core ally tokens are two sided. Most of them enter play with their associated Bosses. (See "Entering Play" in the "Ten Bosses" section for more information.) Like all ally tokens, they cease to exist outside of the play zone.

The booklet illustrates an ally token front and back. The front reads "Flamewaker Priest," type line "Ally Token — Flamewaker," with "Sulfuron Harbinger: 4" as the Boss entry, and the ability text: "Flamewaker Priest heals 4 damage from target hero or ally. Use only on your turn." The back is the Molten Core Token, 2/6.

The Minions start the game in the Minion deck. Minions enter play first as resources, then as allies when a Boss is destroyed. (See "The Minion Deck" in the "Minions, Runes, and Resources" section for more information.) When a Minion is destroyed, it goes to the graveyard for the Minion deck, not the Main deck's graveyard.

Just like normal allies, Molten Core ally tokens and Minions can't attack or use powers until they've been under the Boss player's control since the start of his or her most recent turn.

Special Ally Rules

Much like the Boss player's resources are immune to removal (see "The Minion Deck" in "Minions, Runes, and Resources"), the Minions and ally tokens are immune to some forms of leaving play. The only way for them to leave play is by taking fatal damage or specifically being destroyed. If an effect would have you put a Molten Core Minion or ally token into its owner's hand or on top of its owner's deck, or otherwise remove it from play, leave it in play instead.

Minions and ally tokens can change controllers.

The Treasure Pack

The treasure pack comes with ten randomized cards.

Some of the treasure pack cards are especially good in raid scenarios. All of the treasure pack cards are playable in traditional games.

You can save opening the treasure pack to reward raiding players who finally defeat Ragnaros, or you can choose to open it right away. It's up to you.