Ahh the smell of fresh loot in the air, it must be summer. Well, fans of loot cards and the official Trading Card Game, I bet you have your calendar marked. Tomorrow sees the release of the latest - and possibly greatest - TCG expansion Fields of Honor. Yes, you too could have your very own El Pollo Grande, the greatest mount in the entire history of Azeroth. We've mentioned this thing was rarer than a spectral tiger's tooth, right? Indeed our very own Turpster has been raving about his (insert slightly rude giant chicken joke here) all week.

The best part that is the cards were activated in an earlier patch so you can use them as soon as you find one. No more waiting for 3.1.x or even 3.2. Just to recap, the Fields of Honor loot consists of El Pollo Grande, the Ogre Pinata and the groovy Path of Cenarius. You can also take a peek at Upper Deck's loot card preview page for some really cool screenshots.

But here's the best part. After the success of our last EU giveaway, Upper Deck International here in the UK have very kindly given us a set of shiny European loot cards. Isn't that nice of them? We certainly think so! We're going to give them away during this week's maintenance so check back then.

Quite a show on our podcast last weekend -- while, despite lots of pre-show tweaking, I still wasn't able to get audio set up correctly, we were still able to get all our guests on. Both Lesley Smith and Chase Christian joined us to talk about all of the patch 3.2 changes we've heard about on the coming PTR, including Chase's thoughts on Rogues getting Axes, what the Coliseum will be like and the changes to Emblems in raids and Heroic instances. We also talked for just a bit about the Midsummer Fire Festival, which is on the realms right now. Turpster will be doing it, as he's still in the chase for the holiday achievements, but the rest of us are pretty meh.

And we talked about our plans for BlizzCon (live streaming ahoy!), and even gave away some loot codes. The contest from during the show is over and done with (so please don't bother emailing us about Yogg Saron any more), but just so you weekly listeners aren't out in the cold, we'll do this: two random commenters on this post before Wednesday the 24th at midnight will win a loot card code each. That's right: comment on this post (using a real email) before Wednesday at midnight and you'll have a chance to win a Footsteps of Illidan loot card of your own, thanks to our friends at WoWTCGLoot.com.

Enjoy the show, and we'll see you next week.

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We've been giving a lot of loot card codes away on our Twitter account lately, but the nice folks over at WoWTCGLoot.com didn't think that was enough. They want all of our readers to have a chance at some awesome ingame stuff for free, so here you go: we're giving away not two, not four, but eight different loot card codes today.

What's up for grabs, you ask? We've got an Epic Purple Shirt that'll let you "be the center of attention," two of the very popular Sandbox Tiger codes (I just rode on one the other day, and it was so much fun my character was throwing their hands in the air), and five different P.A.R.T.Y. grenades, sure to blow up a party no matter where you are. To win, just leave a comment on this post telling us your favorite ingame item of all time, loot card or otherwise. You may only enter once, and we'll close the comments 24 hours from now (at 5pm Eastern on May 14th), choose eight random winners, and email the codes out to them, so use a real email address when you comment. Codes work in either the US or EU realms.

And while you're waiting to win, don't forget to head on over to WoWTCGLoot.com for pages and pages of great info about all of the loot cards available, including fact sheets and FAQ pages about each card, and even price trackers on eBay so you can get the card you want for less money than you thought. They're also giving away cards on their site -- you can hit up their chatbox page to talk with other readers and maybe even win some more cards. They're an awesome resource for everything you need to know about TCG cards, and as always, we are indebited to them for helping us run contests like this. Good luck to everyone!

Last week, we told you all about the giant chicken known as El Pollo Grande (now reincarnated as a mount). His presence was revealed thanks to a little datamining by MMO Champion's Boubouille. This giant chicken is set to be the new, rarer than hen's teeth, mount in the next set of loot cards in the TCG expansion Fields of Honor. Indeed a spokesperson at Upper Deck recently called this card 'the new Spectral Tiger' and it's got an awful lot of fans excited.

Well today the artwork for the new loot cards mysteriously appeared on the brand new Flickr account (which has since been deleted) of a user called wownudnik. We have no idea who this chap is but the artwork is amazing and certainly looks legit, even if Upper Deck have not officially confirmed anything. However the artwork has confirmed something we and Boubouille were guessing about; the Path of Cenarius card is indeed like Path of Illidan but with flowers. There's also an ogre pinata and, of course, El Pollo Grande, himself in what has to be one of the best pieces of TCG artwork yet. Although I was kind of hoping for a Tauren to be riding that chicken rather than a Night Elf.

Fields of Honor is due out on June 30th.

Upper Deck has released the first expansion to the WoW minis game, called Spoils of War. The new set of figures introduces legendary lore figures like Jaina and Kael'thas into the mix, and they can now jump onto the gameboard with player characters and duke it out in the streamlined Arena-style turn-based battles. The new set also contains Action Bar cards, which can modify your characters and party's abilities before a battle (like casting a Wrath of Air totem to modify all of your team's die rolls). And finally, the new expansion also brings items into the mix, so there's one more medium in which you can wield Sulfuras, the Hand of Ragnaros. (And no, unfortunately, real life isn't one... yet.)

The new set is available in booster packs at a hobby and collectible store near you -- the MSRP is about $14.99, but they'll probably be around for cheaper than that eventually, if they're not already. If you're a regular player of the minis game, it sounds like it'll be a must-have addition, and if you've never picked it up before, maybe the prospect of playing some of the more famous lore figures will get you interested.

Everyone has a list of WoW loot they must own. For some it's Frostmourne. For others it's the prestige of having all of the Limited Editions and in-game pets. Well, WoW packrats, pay attention! BlizzPlanet is reporting that the Peninsula Education Foundation is auctioning off $3,500 worth of precious Blizzard loot.

The auction is being held online between 17th-27th April and all proceeds are going to the Peninsula Education Foundation in order to support all schools in the Palos Verdes Peninsula Unified School District. There are lots of different items on auction but Blizzard fans will be wanting to pay special attention to the World of Warcraft basket which has a starting bid of $1,100 and includes:

• World of Warcraft: Collector's Edition (autographed by the development team)
• World of Warcraft: Burning Crusade Collector's Edition (autographed by the development team)
• World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King Collector's Edition (autographed by the development team)
• Spectral Tiger Mount Loot Card (Upper Deck)
• World of Warcraft - one year free gift card
• Limited Edition Arthas Helm (Sideshow Collectibles)
• Limited Edition Cinematic Art of WotLK book
• The Music of Blizzard (Echoes of War), deluxe Eminence CD set
• 2008 BlizzCon exclusive World of Warcraft Hardback comic collection
• Deluxe edition, World of Warcraft miniatures Game, Core Set
• Talking Murloc Plush Toy
• Vindicator Maraad Deluxe collectors action figure

The auction still has five days left, so if you really, really feel the need to get yourself some shiny loot while helping a good cause, check out the World of Warcraft basket page.

Upper Deck has officially released the latest expansion in the WoW Trading Card Game -- the Blood of Gladiators is the game's eighth expansion set (can you believe this game has been around for three years already?), and features new PvP action, including a new Duel Faction Ally card and a new Arena setting in the Gurubashi Arena. There are three new characters in the game as well, coming straight from the pages of the World of Warcraft comic, with art by none other than Jim Lee. And of course it's got the loot cards we talked about earlier, including the Foam Swords rack and the Sandbox Tiger. Can't wait to see those in the game.

Booster packs from the set run about $4 in most places, though demand for the game can actually drive the prices up at retail if store owners feel they're running out too fast. Seems like, at this point, the WoW TCG has its fans, and the online game does as well, and sometimes the two are not the same people. Anyone been waiting for this release, or, eight times in, is yet another expansion set actually business as usual in the collectible card game?

Our friends over at WoWTCGLoot have posted what they believe are the next three loot cards coming out in the "Blood of Gladiators" expansion of the card game.

• A Sandbox Tiger, we're told, will be a cooldown-based location toy like the D.I.S.C.O. ball, and will allow you to ride a spectral tiger in place, like a rocking horse.
• An Epic Purple Shirt will not only look epic, but should allow you to do a special emote (probably /flex) that will make you "the center of attention."
• And perhaps more exciting, a Foam Swords Rack will let players around you grab foam swords and swordfight to the finish, complete with a declared winner.

Very cool. The first time we'll see these in stores will likely be the upcoming preview of the new expansion, taking place on the weekend of March 7th. Since these likely came from information found in the PTR, they are, of course, subject to change. Upper Deck will likely share a few screenshots and some more information on these soon, and when they do, we'll let you know.

We're finishing off our holiday week of giveaways with a bang. Today, not only have we got the prize we've given away every day this week (two pet biscuits and four dance grenades, courtesy of WoWTCGLoot.com), but we've got an extra special code to toss in to a seventh lucky winner: a D.I.S.C.O. ball, guaranteed to make Ironforge's bank, or the arena starting area, or your local raid, or wherever else you congregate in game, a palace of dancing mania.

To enter, just comment on this post within the next 24 hours, and please use a real email so we can contact all of the winners when we randomly choose them. These codes are valid in the US or EU, so you're eligible to win as long as your characters are on one of those realms (actually, you're eligible to win anyway, but since all you get is the code, it's pretty useless if you don't have a character to use it).

In fact, here's hoping you had a happy holiday week. Hopefully the family didn't get to you too much, and hopefully you got what you wanted (or at least the gift receipts for the things you didn't). Good luck to everyone, and thanks for entering these all week.

'Twas the day before Christmas
And all through the blog,
Commenters were commenting,
Even Badger and Zugzog.

When up from WoWTCGLoot.com
Arose such a clatter:
It was a contest for six loot cards
You can win with just chatter.

There's four grenades to make you dance
Like a bowl full of jelly,
And two pet biscuits for growing pets
(Though they'll still be quite smelly).

Yes, comment on this post today
To be one of six winners,
Codes work in the US or EU,
So it's super easy, even for beginners.

Good luck and don't forget
to come back to the site,
Merry Christmas to all,
And to all a good night!

Hey hey it's our holiday buddy Great-father Winter! What's up, GFW, how's your holiday going? It's going great? Good to hear!

What's that? You've got more presents under the tree for our readers today, thanks to WoWTCGLoot.com? You've got six prizes in total, four dance grenades, and two pet biscuits, and you want to give them away to six lucky commenters on this post in the next 24 hours? You say the codes work on both US and EU realms, so all players need is to comment with a real email (so we can reach them when the contest is over) and make sure their characters are on one of those realms? Well that sounds just peachy, GFW! Thanks so much!

Boy, that Great-father, he's quite a guy. Oh, what's that, Great-father? You were hoping that we brought cookies and milk for you? Oh... errr, ummm... we actually ate them already. Sorry about that. But thanks for the giveaway, and good luck to everyone who enters!

What are you possibly doing up this morning? Didn't you stay up late last night and play Wrath like a normal person? Oh well, since you're up and around, let's give out some free stuff. The good folks at Red Sun Comics (hit them up for all of your comics and collectible needs -- here's their Warcraft stuff) have kindly supplied us with not one but two /slashdance loot cards. Yes, that's right, now there's an item other than the Piccolo that will make your friends dance with joy whether they want to or not.

So here's the deal: leave a comment on this post telling us why you're up at this ungodly hour, and we'll pick two lucky winners to nab two different /slashdance loot cards, good for the ingame G.R.E.N.A.D.E. that'll make your friends (or raid, or just random people in the IF bank) dance like maniacs. You can be in anywhere in the world, as long as you play on a US or EU realm (because that's where the codes work).

Enter a comment before Saturday night (November 15 at 6pm Eastern), because after that we'll be closing the comments down and your chance to win will be over. And do go check out Red Sun Comics -- they were nice enough to hook you all up, the least you can do is find some cool stuff on their site.

If you remember way back to the end of June, we told you about the new tabards available for purchase using your UDE points from the WoW Trading Card Game. At the time, Upper Deck said the new tabards would be included with patch 2.4.3. Well, 2.4.3 is here, but the tabards are sadly not.

According to UDE_Patrick, the plan for releasing the tabards is now a little different. The first tabard will be available on August 1st, and each additional tabard will be added one at a time over "several months." He doesn't really specify why this change has been made, or even which tabard will be first.

Some of us will obviously be disapponted (like tipster Donna, who already has ample points to pick up one for her, and one for her boyfriend). Some of us will have a little more time to pick up more points in before the release, and maybe score some of the cool loot cards from the new set.

Upper Deck is hosting a fun little TCG event at various stores around the country this weekend -- the Two-headed Ogre Smash and Bash is a new event they have planned in which two players (so you and a friend) show up and fight together against another team with constructed decks (which means you show up, and they give you cards to make decks with, without having to bring your own). It seems like a lot of fun, and even if you're not a huge WoW TCG fan, if you can bring along someone who knows what they're doing, they can probably carry you (just like real Two-headed Ogres).

There's a $40 per team entrance fee, but the good news is that you get to keep all the cards you play with (eight booster packs, and you never know, there might be a loot card in there), and additionally, everyone who turns out for the tournament gets a code for one of those fireworks trinkets (that sets off fireworks at will), and the winner of each tourney gets an Ogre disguise to wear ingame.

There's a list of tournament locations over on the website -- the TCG probably isn't for everybody, but we've never really seen a more beginner-friendly event for the card game, since the fact that you've got two players here means that you can back each other up. Seems like fun -- if you go, definitely be sure to tell us how it went.