Blizzplanet's got the news that Upper Deck is offering a break on shipping in the next 24 hours, so if you've been thinking of picking up any WoW TCG-related items for a friend, now's the time to do it.

It's a pretty terrible deal though -- you've got to order $50 worth of stuff to get the free shipping, and at Upper Deck's official prices, you're probably just better running out to a hobby store and picking the things up yourself. But who knows. Maybe there's one of you in Alaska who have wanted to buy tons of stuff from UDE without paying shipping, but don't have a hobby store for miles around -- if so, you're in luck.

The sale inexplicably ends on November 21st, which by my calculations is tomorrow, so get your order in fast. But seriously, someone needs to teach Upper Deck how to have a holiday sale -- who buys all their gifts by Thanksgiving? Maybe we'll see a better sale on Black Friday.

As predicted, the WoW Minis game from Upper Deck has launched -- starter packs and booster sets are now available at a collectible store near you. I got to play the game with one of its designers at BlizzCon, and I actually found it a lot of fun -- it's very much like a turn-based Arena match, though there are fewer abilities to choose from, and if your characters are killed, they actually come back, as the victory is points-based, not just a deathmatch. But it's very similar to Arena matches in that you spend points on abilities, terrain can help or hurt, and each class has its own counters and tactics.

I found it to be a lot of fun, and probably would get involved in it if I had a friend I could also sucker into it, but no dice so far. Plus, it's two hobbies in one -- not only do you get a fun strategy game (that's surprisingly versatile -- you can play with more than two players if you like, and your victory points requirements are based on your characters, not the opposing sides', so you can play with whatever characters you like), but you also get to collect some cool minature reproductions of some of Warcraft's most famous faces. Good deal. Have you checked the game out yet, or is it something you're interested in?

• A 31-card deck built for one of the 9 character classes
• 3 Epic Character Cards
• 2 booster packs
• Rulebook

To enter, leave a comment on this post before Monday, November 10, 2008 at 12pm ET (noon). Four winners will be chosen randomly and each will receive a WoW TCG Heroes of Azeroth Starter Deck (valued at $14.99). You must be at least 18 to enter and a legal resident of the United States or non-Quebec resident of Canada. You can only enter once. Click here for complete Official Rules.

More giveaways are coming every day including more BlizzCon Polar Bear mounts, more Wrath Collector's edition boxes and a complete BlizzCon swag bag.

EDIT: Giveaway closed to further entries. We'll be contacting the winner soon. Good luck to all who entered. Be on the lookout for more contests every day until Wrath launch!

This is one crazy fun loot card we're giving away today. Papa Hummel's Pet Biscuit increases the size of your non-combat pet to regular pet size. But it also enlarges Hunter and Warlock pets to super-size. Think of the fun you could have.

To enter, leave a comment on this post before Sunday, November 9, 2008 at 6pm ET. No age or location restrictions on this giveaway. Anyone can enter! One winner will be chosen randomly and will receive a "Papa Hummel's Pet Biscuit" loot card.

EDIT: Giveaway closed to further entries. We'll be contacting the winner soon. Good luck to all who entered. Be on the lookout for more contests every day until Wrath launch!

Here is one of two WoW TCG loot cards we are giving away today as part of our Countdown to Wrath celebration. When redeemed in-game, it grants one character glowing footprints just like the Betrayer of Azeroth.

To enter, leave a comment on this post before Sunday, November 9, 2008 at 12pm ET (noon). No age or location restrictions on this giveaway. One winner will be chosen randomly and will receive a "Footprints of Illidan" loot card. Anyone can enter!

We have one more giveaway going live later today and more this week where you may have a chance to win a Wrath of the Lich King Collector's Edition box, a 60-day game card or a complete BlizzCon Loot bag.

EDIT: Giveaway closed to further entries. We'll be contacting the winner soon. Good luck to all who entered. Be on the lookout for more contests every day until Wrath launch!

We were lucky enough to try out the WoW Minis game at BlizzCon, and I have to say that I really enjoyed it. I've never been much into collecting (I used to play CCGs back when I was a kid, and when, at one point, I spent half my allowance on one pack of cards that didn't have any new ones, I pretty much decided it was over), but the game itself is pretty fun, kind of a mix between an arena match and a turn-based battle. I'd need someone to play with, I think, but if I could convince a friend to sit down and be nerdy with me, I could see getting into it.

If you haven't gotten a chance to see the game in action yet, you're in luck. Upper Deck tells us that they've passed out free starter kits to more than 1,500 hobby stores around the country (they didn't provide a list, but if the previous TCG events went down at a store near you, odds are the minis kits will be there as well), so if you have some free time this weekend, stop in and ask if you can see the game and how it works.

The game itself launches on November 11th, so if you enjoy playing the game at the store this weekend, you'll be able to pick up a starter set and booster packs then.

The WoW TCG World Championships wrapped up this weekend, and an American player named Jim Fleckenstein emerged the winner. The World Champs took place in Paris, and there was a fun twist -- apparently last year, a French player won on American soil, and next year, the tournament is going to take place in Austin, Texas, so there's a rivalry building.

The WoW TCG site has lots more, including play-by-plays of all the matches if you're interested in how the top players play the game (Jim won with a Shaman -- SHAMAN POWER!), and they've even got video of all the folks throwing down to win the crazy prizes. Looks like lots of fun in Paris for players of the TCG.

The 2009 season kicks off with the end of these world champs -- the next event will be a Darkmoon Faire event in Anaheim, CA on November 9th (right before the Wrath release), and of course the Drums of War expansion is due out soon, with those loot cards we've been drooling over.

The World of Warcraft Trading Card Game World Championships have started up this weekend in Paris, France -- there's some excellent coverage on the official site about all of the CCG gaming going on over there. They've got everything from a roundup of the swag bag to play-by-play on the featured matches and some good commentary on what kinds of decks players are bringing to the tables. All told, the players are fighting for a prize pool of $250,000 -- some serious cash for playing cards.

They're in the middle of Day 2 right now, so there's lots more tournament coverage to come from Paris. If you're a fan of the TCG, this weekend's your chance to check out what some of the top players are up to as they battle for the big prize.

Everyone going to BlizzCon has already left, right? And there's no Internet access for people in Anaheim, right? Good, because we wanted to talk just to you folks who aren't going. Sure the next few days are going to be full of fun Blizzard news and galleries full of nerds dressed like Night Elves, but we wanted to make sure those of you at home aren't left out. While we've got tons of giveaways to pass out at our reader meetup later this evening, we're not forgetting about you forlorn souls: thanks to the good folks at WoWTCGLoot, we've got a tabard code to offer you.

That's right, leave a comment on this post during BlizzCon (that is, before Saturday night, October 11th, at midnight Eastern), and you'll be entered in a contest to randomly win a code for a Tabard of Flame. We'll pick one random winner (and you can use the code on the US or EU realms), and help them make up for missing out on BlizzCon by putting them in some sweet tabard threads. Please note: you may only enter once, by leaving a comment on this post, and please use a real email so we can contact the winner afterwards.

We just wanted to make sure the weekend wasn't a complete wash -- thanks to WoWTCGLoot for helping us out with this (and make sure to visit them if you want any info about all the loot from the TCG). Good luck to everyone, whether you're at BlizzCon or not.

The latest WoW TCG expansion pack, the Drums of War, hits stores in late October (the 28th, to be exact), and Upper Deck has revealed three new loot cards that will come along with it. These are pretty wild.

• Slashdance is a super common card that will give you a party G.R.E.N.A.D.E. that, when thrown, will explode into a dance party on any unsuspecting characters who happen to be standing around.
• Owned! Flag is probably my favorite -- it lets you plant a flag, Emissary of Hate style, with a "thumbs down" flag in your conquered opponent.
• And The Red Bearon will give folks who missed out on the War Bear another chance -- it's a black battle bear mount.

All very cool (still not quite worth paying for by themselves, in my opinion, but that's up to you). If nothing else, folks playing the TCG will have a nice chance at some cool loot.

But that Owned! flag is nuts. Hopefully that's not the only flag we get to stab into corpses in the future -- even if the" thumbs down" stays TCG only, I'd be a big fan of stabbing someone with a Horde flag.

Mike Hummel at the official WoW Trading Card Game site posted some interesting teasers about the upcoming Black Temple expansion. Specifically, the man behind Papa Hummel's biscuits brings us news of the new, bad-mofo Master hero: Illidan himself.

Illidan's going to be a Master Hero. At first glance, they play like most any other card. They start off in your deck, and they get shuffled into your hand as normal. However, when you can afford the resources to bring Illidan into play, he replaces your existing hero. He starts off with same states and effects as the hero he replaces -- this includes any counters and damage, or other effects like Gouge.

Of course, folks on the TCG forums aren't entirely convinced of Illidan's uberosity. As Zubino points out, you have to wait at least until turn 11 to get him out. If you're stalling until turn 11, then you need a whole lot of other oomph in your deck to be able to prop up the card. Still, being able to call out a Traitor ally every round is a nice ability, and we can all hope to boost him up a little more with Warglaives. And don't forget -- 35 health is nothing to sneeze at in a Hero card.

The Master hero definitely brings another facet of play to the TCG, which is about more than just the loot cards. Of course, now I have to wonder who the next Master hero will be.

Didn't win the Tabard of Flame in our recent contest? Worry not, Less QQ More Pew Pew has another chance at a great tabard for you -- all you've got to do is answer a few questions about the blog over there, and submit them by tomorrow evening. And then, oh yeah, you need to be the first person to email in all the answers (not likely), or be one of two random people who sent the answers in. That last part is the hard one.

Just to help you out, we'll answer the first question for you: "Khagan." Cheating? Maybe, but we really want you to have that tabard. Good luck to everyone who enters, always nice to see members of the community holding fun contests like this to hand out some special items to the public.

[via Mania]

Our good friends at WoW TCG Loot recently gave away a number of special tabards (apparently Tabard of the Void was the most popular among the choices, and you can also see some of the funny reasons people said they needed to wear a Tabard). And they kindly saved one for us, and so we're teaming up with them to give away a code for an ingame Tabard of Flame. This tabard was originally released with the "Heroes of Azeroth" TCG set, but we're giving it away now to one lucky reader.

To enter, all you have to do is leave a comment on this post (and if you need something to comment about, you can try coming up a name for the color on this tabard -- "Flame Red" is not an option). In fact, we're making it so that you can comment once every day all the way up until Friday, August 29th at midnight Eastern. That means that, if you show up every day, you could have four chances total to win this tabard.

And we've got better news: this contest is open to anyone playing World of Warcraft in the US or EU regions. The code is valid in either region of the game and the Tabard works for all classes and levels, so if you have a character in World of Warcraft (or just know someone who does) on US or EU realms, you can enter. On Friday at midnight, we'll choose one lucky commenter to recieve the Tabard code, and they'll have to go the TCG promotional page and redeem it themselves. Please use a legitimate email that you check often to leave your comments, so we can get in touch with you if you win.

Huge thanks to WoW TCG Loot for their help with this contest -- if you want to know more about any of the TCG Loot items in the game, go visit them. Good luck!