Lore of Hearthstone, Episode #10 - The Grand Tournament [Non-Legendaries]

Welcome to the Grand Tournament, the third full expansion for Hearthstone. The Grand Tournament itself is based on the Argent Tournament event in Wrath of the Lich King, an event set up by the Argent Dawn to pit warriors against each other in a jousting and fighting tournament to determine the strongest warriors to go up against the Lich King, with the goal that the less warriors they send against the Lich King, the less bodies the Lich King will have to turn into his undead minions. With the Argent Tournament, there are several raids and instances that represent the challenges in the tournament.

TGT itself is based on a what-if scenario of just what the tournament runners do with the tournament grounds after the Argent Tournament is over... and in true Hearthstone fashion, apparently they just bring as many jousters from as many races as possible to just have fun and make it like the Azeroth Olympics or something.

ABILITIES:

Living Roots: Living Roots is based on the druid spell Entangling Roots, which first appeared as one of the Keeper of the Grove's hero powers in Warcraft III, and again for Balance Druids in World of Warcraft. Entangling Roots, as its name implies, will root an enemy with place with vines that come out of the ground. Saplings are the name of younger Treants in WoW, although unlike hearthstone WoW's Saplings shaer a model with Treants.

Astral Communion: In WoW, Astral Communion is an ability for druids added in Mists of Pandaria, which basically refreshes the druid's powers.

Lock and Load: Lock and Load is a Marksmanship Hunter talent in WoW, but the card is based on the pre-Legion version of Lock and Load, which is a Survival talent that allows the Hunter's next two Explosive Shots to be cast without cooldown or cost.

Powershot: Powershot is a Hunter ability added in Mists of Pandaria and recently removed in Legion, which in WoW deals a large amount of damage to a target, as well as extra damage to enemies between the target and the hunter. The artwork for Powershot depicts the skill being used on Garrosh Hellscream.

Arcane Blast: Arcane Blast is an ability for Arcane Mages in WoW, one of the first spells that arcane mages learn. In WoW Arcane Blasts deals more damage with each successive cast, but drains more mana as well, meaning that spamming Arcane Blast would allow the mage to deal a lot of damage quickly, but not quite efficiently since they burn a lot of mana.

Polymorph: Boar: In World of Warcraft, mages can customize their Polymorph spell with various tomes or glyphs to change the critter that the Polymorph spell turns the target into, ranging from penguins to porcupines to polar bear cubs. Polymorph: Boar is original to Hearthstone, although in Legion the similar "Polymorph: Pig," has recently been addded. Of course, Polymorph: Boar is a reference to Huffer, and the flavour text is a reference to the "Always Huffer"  meme where the then-popular face hunter decks always obtained the charging Huffer when playing Animal Companion.

Competitive Spirit: In WoW, Competitive Spirit isn't a Paladin ability, but rather a Battle Pet ability, which deals damage and increases damage dealt for several rounds.

Enter the Coliseum: No ability called Enter the Coliseum exists in WoW, but presumably the card is a reference to the Crusaders' Coliseum, an arena located at the center of the Argent Tournament Grounds and the location of the two dungeons Trial of the Crusader and Trial of the Champion, which pits adventurers against enemies in, well, a battling tournament. In the Trial of the Champion, adventurers would face off against a smattering of champions that represented the opposing faction, and later will be tested by representatives of the Argent Crusade, Paletress and Eadric, before they are interrupted with the arrival of the Black Knight. In Trial of the Crusader, adventurers would face off against the beasts of Northrend (Gormok, Icehowl, Acidmaw and Dreadscale), then against Wilfred Fizzlebang Lord Jaraxxus, then against more faction champions, then against the Val'kyr twins Eydis and Fjola, and then finally against the mighty Anub'arak (again, also below). Other than the faction champions, all the bosses are represented in The Grand Tournament as legendary cards.

Flash Heal: Flash Heal in WoW is a single-target healing spell learned early on by Priests, healing a large amount of health but consuming more mana than what is ideal for healing.

Shadowfiend: I placed Shadowfiend in the abilities section because in WoW, Shadowfiend is an ability that Shadow and Discipline Priests are able to cast, summoning the titular Shadowfiend to fight on your side for several seconds.

Beneath the Grounds: Beneath the Grounds summons Nerubians, and it is a reference to how Crypt Fiends and Nerubians in Warcraft III and World of Warcraft can hide underground with a burrowing ability, and then jump out to ambush you. Likewise, the nerubians live in the underground city of Azjol-Nerub.

Ancestral Knowledge: Ancestral Knowledge is a shaman talent added in Wrath of the Lich King and subsequently removed in Cataclysm. Ancestral Knowledge will increase the shaman's intellect passively.

Healing Wave: Healing Wave is a Restoration Shaman ability that is slow, but very efficient in the amount of health it heals, more useful when enemies deal low but consistent damage.

Dark Bargain: Dark Bargain is a warlock talent introduced in Mists of Pandaria and recently removed in Legion. Dark Bargain in WoW will prevent damage the warlock takes for 8 seconds, but for the next 8 seconds the warlock will take half of that prevented damage over time. Like Demonfuse, the card art for Dark Bargain depicts a Satyr.

Bash: Bash has been a passive ability for the Warcraft III's Mountain King unit, which passively gives the Mountain King a chance to deal bonus damage and stun the opponent for 2 seconds. Other more powerful creeps also sometimes have the Bash ability. In WoW, Bash is instead a druid ability usable in Bear form (later renamed Mighty Bash and usable by all other forms) that stuns the enemy.

Dire Shapeshift:  Dire Shapeshift is presumably based on Dire Bear Form, a form removed in Cataclysm that used to be simply a more improved version of Bear Form. Dire beasts have been around since Warcraft III and are simply stronger versions of regular beasts of the same type.

Fireblast Rank 2: Fireblast Rank 2 is a reference to the pre-Cataclysm version of spell ranking system, where instead of spells growing more powerful as the player increased in level (as they do now), each spell is available in multiple ranks, which are more powerful versions of the spell they replaced.

Heal: Heal has gone through many iterations in WoW, and currently it is a Holy Priest spell that heals pretty slowly, but is effective mana-wise.

The following spells and hero powers are completely original to Hearthstone: Mulch, Bear Trap, Ball of Spiders, Effigy, Flame Lance, Seal of Champions, Power Word: Glory, Confuse, Convert, Burgle, Elemental Destruction, Demonfuse, Fist of Jaraxxus, Bolster, Ballista Shot, Poisonous Daggers, The Silver Hand, Totemic Slam, Soul Tap and Tank Up. 
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WEAPONS:

King's Defender

Argent Lance: In WoW, the Argent Lance is a lance with the symbol of the Argent Crusade that must be used in several jousting matches in the Argent Coliseum. Obviously, in an expansion about jousting you do need the lance as a weapon, right?

King's Defender: King's Defender is an epic one-handed sword dropped from the Chess Event boss fight in the Karazhan raid, for high-level tanks.

The following weapons are original to Hearthstone: Poisoned Blade and Charged Hammer.
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CHAMPIONS OF THE ALLIANCE & HORDE

A fair amount of the TGT minions are just, well, jousters or minions that are based on a tournament setting, so some are just... well, there. So that I don't repeat myself many, many times, the jousting mechanic was introduced in the Argent Tournament in WoW, acting like a sort of a minigame. The term 'Aspirant', 'Valiant' and 'Champion' are the three ranks you can get, from the lowest to the highest, as you increase your skill in jousting and defeat increasingly powerful foes.


Note that a lot of the minions in TGT just represent jousters and random tournament staff that don't really have much lore behind them, but we can talk a fair bit about the cities and locations that they represent. 

Darnassus Aspirant: Darnassus Aspirant is a jouster that represents the town of Darnassus, the capital city of the night elves located atop the new world tree, Teldrassil. The Darnassus Aspirant is riding a nightsaber, a giant saber-toothed purple-furred cat, which is the night elven racial mount.

Dalaran Aspirant: The Dalaran Aspirant is a jouster representing the magical city of Dalaran, which is initially an Alliance-allied city ran by the mages of the Kirin Tor, but has gradually grown to accept other races from the Horde as well. Dalaran was completely destroyed by Archimonde during the Third War, but has since been rebuilt and turned into a floating city that is mobile and can move to locations of crisis to help out.

Undercity Valiant: The Undercity Valiant is a jouster that represents the Undercity, the Forsaken capital city that is located underneath the catacombs and sewers beneath the fallen human kingdom of Lordaeron. Undercity Valiant's summon quote, "Victory for Sylvanas!" is a quote that forsaken NPCs can say when clicked on in WoW.

Orgrimmar Aspirant: The Orgrimmar Aspirant hails from the orcish and Horde capital city of Orgrimmar, founded after the Third War in the harsh lands of Durotar and the base of Horde activity. As with Wolfrider, the Orgrimmar Aspirant ride a dire wolf, the racial mount for the orcs.

Thunder Bluff Valiant: The Thunder Bluff Valiant is a jouster that represents Thunder Bluff, the capital city of the Tauren, located in Mulgore.

Centaurs (WoW)

Gadgeztan Jouster: Gadgetzan Jouster is a jouster that represents the goblin town of Gadgetzan, located in the desert of Tanaris. We've talked about Gadgetzan before with Gadgetzan Auctioneer, and will do so when we reach Mean Streets of Gadgetzan.

Knight of the Wild: The Knight of the Wild is original to Hearthstone, but he is a centaur that, well, because he's half-man half-horse he just shows up with a lance to a jousting tournament. Centaurs are introduced in Warcraft III and are encountered by Thrall's Horde when they first arrived on Kalimdor. The Tauren and the Centaurs have had a particularly antagonistic relationship, having fought for resources in ages past, and the Horde would clash many times with centaur raiders in both Warcraft III and World of Warcraft, particularly in the areas of Durotar and the Barrens. Centaurs are born out of the unholy union between Zaetar, a Keeper of the Grove, and Princess Theradras, an earth elemental. The centaurs are savage brutes that live to raid and destroy, and are often called the "bastard children of Cenarius" although the term isn't exactly accurate.

Alexstrasza's Champion, Mogor's Champion & Mukla's Champion: These two are original to Hearthstone, although it's worth noting that they're basically representatives of the dragon queen Alexstrasza, Mogor the Ogre and King Mukla respectively. Mogor's Champion is riding a Stegodon, a stegosaur-esque dinosaur, while Mukla's Champion is riding a hippo -- which actually doesn't exist in Azeroth!

Shado-Pan Rider: The Shado-Pan is a secretive organization of pandaren based on ninjas that are dedicated to protecting pandaria, doing battle against the sha and the mantid that threaten the peace of Pandaria. They are the secret police that help to defend Pandaria, which otherwise have no standing army. Led by Taran Zhu, the Shado-Pan was initially founded by Emperor Shaohao in the ancient past, because the Sha that threaten Pandaria are creatures that feed on negative emotions like anger and fear, so the warriors able to battle in Pandaria must kept to a minimum so as to keep the Sha's influence at a mimimum as well. To join the Shado-Pan, one must go through an arduous trial. During Mists of Pandaria the Alliance and the Horde would arrive and bring their conflict to Pandaria, and the mantid would attack Pandaria early than what is normal, causing the sha to run rampant and Shado-pan Monastery to fall to the Sha of Hatred. With the Pandaren joining both Alliance and Horde, the Shado-Pan has been their ally every since in gratitude to their help in restoring Pandaria. The Shado-Pan Rider's summoining quote, "we are the sword in the shadows", is a reference to another name for the Shado-Pan.

Tiny Knight of Evil: The Tiny Knight of Evil is original to Hearthstone, and its name is a reference to an all-gnome guild in WoW called 'Tiny Masters of Evil'. The Tiny Knight of Evil rides a Felhound, marking the Felhound's first appearance in Hearthstone. Felhounds (also known as felstalkers or felbeasts) are first sighted in Warcraft III as savage, four-legged eyeless beasts with a skull-like head, giant horns and tentacle-like hair. Felhounds are able to 'eat' the mana from their prey, and in World of Warcraft Felhounds would be one of the original demons summonable as allies by a Warlock character.

Murkalot (WoW)

Murloc Knight: Murloc Knight is original to Hearthstone, being a murloc that rides around a frog, but his appearance is similar to the pet Murkalot, which is a pet given out in BlizzCon 2013 to World of Warcraft players, and a reference to the Crusader class from Diablo III.

Stablemaster: The term Stablemaster (parsed as Stable Master in WoW) are a title held by multiple NPCs in World of Warcraft. Titles are tend to be found under the name of the character, such as this: Varian Wrynn <King of Stormwind>. Stable Masters are NPCs that allow hunters to stable their inactive pets and make room to tame new ones in their current roster, and also allow players to stable their Battle Pets (a mini-game that's completely separate from the companion pets used by hunters and warlocks). Nearly every major city or settlement has a stable master of some sort. There are multiple stable masters in the Argent Tournament grounds, but none that correspond to being a female dwarf.

Lowly Squire: The Lowly Squire is a more faithful adaptation of the WoW version of the Argent Squire, which we covered in the Classics cards section. Basically while Hearthstone's Argent Squire depicts a generic Argent Crusade paladin, the Lowly Squire depicts the young squire follower that runs around in the Argent Tournament, helping you out.

Argent Watchman

Argent Watchman: The Argent Watchman are members of the Argent Crusade that ride hippogryphs and act as the guards in the Argent Tournament Grounds.

Coliseum Manager: The Coliseum Manager is the title held by Barrett Ramsey, the Argent Coliseum Manager. Barrett is an NPC found in the Argent Tournament's Crusader's Coliseum and is the person that players talk to to begin the dungeon Trial of the Crusader.

Garrison Commander: Garrison Commander is a reference to the garrison game feature introduced to World of Warcraft in the Warlords of Draenor expansion where players would manage their own garrisons in the alternate-universe Draenor, constructing buildings that allow them to obtain specific quests and bonuses, as well as allowing followers and other characters to show up in your garrison (including Ben Brode!). The Commander of the garrison, of course, is the player character. Also to note that the Garrison Commander is holding a King's Defender weapon.


Dragonhawk Rider: We talked a bit about Dragonhawks in the Classics section (here), but here we'll be talking about the Dragonhawk Rider. Dragonhawk Riders are campaign-exclusive units in Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos, used by Sylvanas's high elven forces in Quel'thalas during the undead campaign where Arthas destroys the high elven city. In the expansion, Frozen Throne, the Dragonhawk Rider, this time featuring blood elves, would be added as a playable airborne unit for the human race, able to create clouds to stop buildings from attacking, and use aerial shackles to bind enemies in the air. The Dragonhawk Riders were used by Kael'thas's blood elves throughout the campaigns of Frozen Throne. In World of Warcraft, Dragonhawks are the flight transportation of choice in blood elven areas and are purchaseable as a mount to Horde-allied characters, which explains why a Goblin is riding it. The quote "I can see my house" is a reference to the quote of the Goblin Zeppelin unit in Warcraft II.

Maiden of the Lake

Maiden of the Lake: The Maiden of the Lake is based on the Maiden of Ashwood Lake questline in Wrath of the Lich King, where Alliance and Horde champions would be tasked as a daily quest to seek out the legendary Maiden, cursed to take the form of a frog, who would grant a legendary and powerful sword if you kiss the frog. When kissed, the Maiden would transform into her original form and give the player the blade Ashwood Brand. The questline is a reference, of course, to the fairytale story Princess and the Frog as well as the legend of King Arthur and Excalibur. The quotes of the Maiden of the Lake is a reference to Monty Python and the Holy Grail, a movie that parodies the legend of King Arthur.

Recruiter: The Recruiter is presumably based on the Argent Recruiter, which are NPCs found in Alliance capital cities to recruit adventurers in assisting the battle against the undead Scourge. Various other NPCs with the title Recruiter, usually asking adventurers to travel and aid the Alliance or Horde campaigns in a certain location, are also often found in cities

Warhorse Trainer: While no specific NPC corresponds to the Warhorse Trainer, various NPCs in WoW do have the rank of riding trainer, allowing you to summon new riding mounts. The card artwork for Warhorse Trainer depicts a blood elf with the mount Thalassian Charger, which is a recoloured version of the golden Charger mount that all other paladins can summon.

Buccaneer: Buccaneers are a rank among the pirates of Azeroth, with the Bloodsail pirates being more formally known as the Bloodsail Buccaneers. Numerous other mobs allied with pirate organizaitons are also called Buccaneers.

Cutpurse: The Cutpurse is a low-level bandit mob found in Elwynn Forest, the human starting zone. The Cutpurse was formerly known as Defias Cutpurse, but after the Defias Brotherhood fell with the death of Edwin VanCleef prior to Cataclysm, the Defias Cutpurses became independent. The artowkr, however, depicts an undead rogue.

Shady Dealer: The 'Shady Dealer' is a title that several NPC vendors have, where they sell illicit products like poisons and other goods that tend to not be carried by other vendors. Among these Shady Dealers, none are actually found in the Argent Tournament. A male gnome shady dealer is the NPC Tynnus Venomsprout found in Ironforge, although Tynnus has no known association with pirates. While there are other Shady Dealers associated with pirates, none are gnomes.

Wyrmrest Temple

Wyrmrest Agent: No specific mob is called Wyrmrest Agent in WoW, but he is an agent of the Wyrmrest Accord. The Wyrmrest Accord is founded in Wrath of the Lich King by the other dragonflights (including the black flight, represented by Nalice... although they would turn tail when the Cataclysm happened) first in order to combat the maddenned aspect of magic, Malygos. Eventually, the blue dragonflight under Malygos would join the Wyrmrest Accord as well. In Cataclysm the return of Deathwing would cause the non-black-dragonflight members of the Wyrmrest Accord to band together against Deathwing's forces, and Wyrmrest Temple would be the site of one of the final battles against Deathwing.

Kodorider: The Kodorider represents a tauren riding a kodo beast, which is the racial mount of the tauren. Kodo Beasts were weaponized by the Horde as mounts in Warcraft III. After assisting the tauren in escorting their beasts of burden throughout the land of Durotar and Mulgore, the Kodo beasts would be ridden by orcs as beasts of war, and Kodo Beasts would be able to temporarily devour an enemy, taking it out of battle and dealing damage until consumed or the kodo beast is slain. The Kodo Beast's main effect in battle was the war drums effect, where the Kodo Beast would emit an aura that increases the attack of allies around it. War Kodo, the token summoned by the Kodorider, shares its name with a kodo beast outfitted with armour used by Horde forces in Ashenvale forest.

The following are all original to Hearthstone, with no associated lore at all: Druid of the Saber, Savage Combatant, Wildwalker, Spellslinger, Brave Archer, Argent Horserider, Armored Horse, Holy Champion, Draenei Totemcarver, Ram Wrangler, Mysterious Challenger, Flame Juggler, Sparring Partner, Fencing Coach, Silent Knight, Master of Ceremonies, Lance Carrier, Tournament Medic, Tournament Attendee, Light's Champion, Saboteur, Grand Crusader, Crowd Favorite, Silver Hand Regent, Clockwork Knight, Master Jouster, Sideshow Spelleater and Pit Fighter. They are all participants in the joust!

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THE SCOURGE!

Boneguard Lieutenant (WoW)

Fallen Hero: The Fallen Hero is a wraith (which we covered in Naxxramas) that is based on the Fallen Hero's Spirit, mobs found in Icecrown. The Fallen Heroes are the spirits of the Alliance and Horde forces that died in the Broken Front, where Horde forces attempted to backstab Alliance forces and the resulting battle killed both sides of the battle. The dead are raised into the Fallen Hero's Spirits by the Scourge, and as a possibly daily quest, the Argent Crusade would send adventurers to put these fallen heroes to rest.

Boneguard Lieutenant: The Boneguard Lieutenant is a mob found in the Court of Bones, death knights riding deathchargers and are the target of a daily quest given by the Argent Tournament. Just like the Hearthstone card, the WoW mob also has red shields circling around it.

The following are original to Hearthstone: Spawn of Shadows and Evil Heckler. Evil Heckler's artwork is recycled from the TCG card art for the necromancer Dalronn the Controller, a boss in the Utgarde Keep dungeon.
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The Kvaldir!

Kvaldir Raider

Well, we're going to talk about the kvaldir, members of the Vrykul race which is introduced in Wrath of the Lich King and became particularly important to the plot in Legion as well. The Vrykul were one of the few creatures created by the Titan Watchers, and were giant warriors of iron. However, when the old gods infected the titanforged races with the Curse of Flesh, the many of the Vrykul became flesh and bone giants. The Vrykul would continue to live, mostly in Northrend, and King Ymiron would demand that the Vrykul children born as disfigured runts to be killed. Many Vrykul mothers refused to do this, however, and instead spirited their children away and sailed to Tirisfal Glades so their children could live there. These runts would become the progenitor of the human race. In an effort to halt the Curse of Flesh, the Vrykul went to a deep slumber.

During Wrath of the Lich King, the Lich King's undead armies swarmed across Northrend and awakened the slumbering Vrykul, who saw the Lich King as a god of death, and worshipped the Lich King and pledged their armies to the Lich King, all save for the clann of Hyldnir, who continued to pledge themselves to the Titans. Most of the Vrykul would fight in arenas for the honour of becoming one of the Lich King's elite servants, the Ymirjar -- undead Vrykul who still retain their independence. Powerful female warriors would be turned into the angelic undead known as Val'kyr. Those that fail these competitions would be turned into the mindless Vargul.

Drottinn Hrothgar

The Kvaldir are a group of undead Vrykul that raid coastal settlements as well as Alliance, Horde and Tuskarr ships and settlements. The Kvaldir are working for the Titan Watcher Helya, who rules over her own realm of death in Helheim. Kvaldir use the power of mists to hide themselves, and pull other Vrykul warriors deep into the realm of Helheim, denying their spirits the chance to be called into the Halls of Valor, in a war between the Titan Keepers Odyn and Helya for Vrykul souls. In Wrath of the Lich King, the ranks of the kvaldir are significantly boosted by vrykul who try to the power of Helya to cure themselves of the Curse of Flesh, only to be themselves transformed into Kvaldir. The Kvaldir returned to Northrend en masse when items from Vrykul graves are robbed. In Legion, when Helya finally became a more active force in the world of Azeroth, armies of Kvaldir worked as Helya's minions.

Kvaldir Raider: Kvaldir Raiders are specific level 63-69 mobs found in the Borean Tundra and the objective of several quests.

Sea Reaver represents Drottinn Hrothgar, the Sea Reaver, a named level 79 Kvaldir that has claimed the location of Hrothgar's Landing from the Tuskarr, and is the subject of a daily mission where adventurers are tasked by the Argent Crusade to challenge the Kvaldir lord and slay him.

The Injured Kvaldir, meanwhile, is completely original to Hearthstone.
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Tuskarr

The Tuskarr are a race of humanoid walrus-people who lives in Northrend. They first appeared in Warcaft III: The Frozen Throne as neutral enemies that can be found in Northrend areas, and would re-appear in WoW in Wrath of the Lich King. Tuskarr are kind-natured and nomadic, although they often face conflict against the Kvaldir and the Gorlocs. Their society revolves around fishing and whaling, as well as breed penguins as farm animals. Due to their similar shamanistic faiths, the Tuskarr of Northrend have befriended the Horde, although they remain neutral and would allow Alliance members to enter their territory as well. The Tuskarr would ask adventurers to aid them in fighting both the Scourge and other threats in Northrend.

All the Tuskarrs are original to Hearthstone, however: Refreshment Vendor, Tuskarr Jouster and Tuskarr Totemic.
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CREATURES OF NORTHREND -- Dragons, Demons and others

DRAGONS

Nexus Drake (WoW)

Coldarra Drake: Coldarra is an island off the west coast of Northrend, and is the base camp of the blue dragonflight and their leader, Malygos, who went crazy and vowed to destroy all mortal magic users during the events of Wrath of the Lich King. While no mob is called Coldarra Drake specifically in WoW, numerous drakes (younger dragons without beards) do appear in Coldarra, serving Malygos and attempting to drive out the mortals.

Twilight Guardian: The Twilight dragonflight is an artificial dragonflight created by the black dragon Sinestra by experimenting with other types of dragon blood, and one of their first appearances was during the Wrath of the Lich King period, where the Argent Tournament took place. No specific mob is called the Twilight Guardian, however, and the WoW mob called Twilight Guardian are orcs and taurens loyal to the Twilight's Hammer Cult.

DEMONS
Wrathguard: Wrathguards are members of the man'ari eredar that serve as bodyguards to higher-ranked members of the Burning Legion. The Wrathguard race was first introduced in the Burning Crusade expansion. While a majority of the eredar are sorcerers  and warlocks, Wrathguard are front-line warriors. They are distinguished from other eredar by their double set of horns, as well as clawed feet as opposed to hooves. A specific mob called the Wrathguard can be found in Hellfire Peninsula in Outland, and in Mists of Pandaria, warlock players are able to upgrade their 'Summon Felguard' spell into 'Summon Wrathguard'.

Dreadsteed

Dreadsteed: The Dreadsteed of Xoroth is, in vanilla WoW, a mount obtained from a very long epic quest chain. In subsequent expansions, summoning the Dreadsteed would be an ability that warlocks can learn from their trainers at level 40. Subsequent expansions would expand on the lore behind the Dreadsteed, giving the race of demonic horses the delightfully punny name of 'nightmare' and adding two variations -- the weaker Felsteed and the mightier Wrathsteed. The Dreadsteeds hail from the planet of Xoroth, a world belonging to the Burning Legion and subjugated by the mighty dreadlord Hel'nurath. The flavour text for Dreadsteed references the Hearthstone fan Crescendo1909, who was fighting cancer during the development and release of the Grand Tournament expansion, but has since thankfully recovered.

The following demons are original variants to Hearthstone: Void Crusher and Fearsome Doomguard. Fearsome Doomguard's name is a reference to Wilfred Fizzlebang's line as he initially summons Jaraxxus into the mortal realm, where he claims that he's summoning a 'fearsome Doomguard'.

OTHERS

King's Elekk: The Elekk are a race of beasts resembling a cross between an elephant and a tapir, with four tusks jutting out of the side of their mouths and two horns. They are the racial mount of the draenei race, and the draenei have domesticated the Elekk during their time in Draenor, where the elekks are also native. When they crashed on Azeroth, the draenei bought the Elekk with them. The wild Elekk left in outland are hunted by Ethereals for their tusks.

Captured Jormungar: Jormungars are gigantic worm/centipede like creatures native to Northrend, having a large body with rows of crystalline spines on either side of it. The jormungar are apparently once the labour beasts of the Nerubian race, but with the nerubians falling to the Scourge, the jormungar has since run amuck as wild beasts of Northrend. They are able to use their teeth to burrow straight through solid rock, and live in broods led by a spawn-mother. They breed very quickly if left unchecked, and thus several NPCs in Northrend would heroes to slay these beasts. The bosses Acidmaw and Dreadscale which get turned into Legendary cards are Jormungars.

Frigid Snobold: Snobolds are a sub-species of the common kobold found in Northrend, and instead of candles, Snobolds carry around a pot with flowers on its head. Snobolds are often found in the company of larger magnataur, apparently thriving from the larger magnataur and also using them as protection. The Snobolds, as always, disrupt mining operations and have done several hit-and-run raids on Horde and Alliance operations. The Snobolds in WoW are led by the shaman Kaganishu.

North Sea Kraken: There are two different creatures called 'kraken' in Azeroth. The first, rare kind, are giant octopus creatures such as the mighty Ozumat -- though these have seemingly been referred to as Leviathans at other times. The octopus-like kraken is what the Hearthstone Year of the Kraken uses. The other type of kraken resemble armoured giant fish-creatures, which is what the North Sea Kraken depicts. These fish-like Kraken are apparently native to Northrend, and are often summoned by the Kvaldir to aid in their raiding although they have been found in the wild. The North Sea Kraken refers to an enemy that is found in Sea Reaver's Run, and the target of a daily quest there. I'm not sure why the North Sea Kraken isn't a beast,  though. It should be.


Magnataur Alpha: The Magnataur are a race of creatures with the lower body and tusks of a mammoth but an upper body resembling a bulky human. Magnataurs were first seen in Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne as neutral creeps encountered in Northrend, and a brutal, cannibalistic race. Magnataurs live in prides similar to lions, led by a particular dominant male, which the Magnataur Alpha seems to represent. Various Magnataur has become enemies and bosses over the course of WoW, and at one point the Horde enslaved magnataurs to unleash upon the night elves of Ashenvale, threatening to murder their children otherwise -- one of the crimes that Garrosh Hellscream is tried for.

The following are original to Hearthstone: Totem Golem, which is completely original to Hearthstone, and Ice Rager, a bound water/ice elemental variant that's meant to be a pastiche of Magma Rager.
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Hearthstone and the WoW TCG
This is the lsat segment that I'll do this for, because, well, subsequent expansions will heavily feature Hearthstone-original artwork, and, in fact, the next bunch of expansions (League of Explorers, Whispers of the Old Gods, One Night in Karazhan and Mean Streets of Gadgetzan) are basically almost entirely using a Hearthstone twist on things, and, if I'm remembering things right, I don't think the WoW TCG artwork ends up being really used or repurposed elsewhere down the road -- mostly for single player boss cards, I believe, and even then only the ones that actually properly represent the artwork being used. So here we go!


Tournament Attendee uses the WoW TCG artwork for Veteran Crusader Aliocha Segard, a quartermaster for the Argent Crusade that's found in the Argent Vanguard in Icecrown. He sells items, but it otherwise not very remarkable.


Evil Heckler uses a modified version of the artwork for Dalrann the Controller, removing the goat-skull headpiece that Necromancer units have to make it easier for the card to get past international censors. Worth noting that previous Necromancer artwork (Gothik and Heigan) went by without any issue, and the Evil Heckler still has goat skulls on his robes. Dalronn the Controller is an agent of the Scourge stationed in Utgarde Keep, and is the third boss to be faced. It's noted that Dalronn was assigned to be partners with the vrykul Skarvald the Constructor because it's apparently vrykul tradition to make unlikely partners work together, but most people just suspect that Ymiron's being kind of a dick in partnering the two together.


Coliseum Manager reuses artwork of Father Kamaros. Father Kamaros is a level 80 human quest-giver found in the Fleshworks of Icecrown, where adventurers of the Alliance and Horde would rescue him before he is used as spare parts by the Scourge butchers, and would escort him out into safety.



Spellslinger borrows the artwork of Instructor Antheol, a level 30 blood elf quest-giver located in Stillwhisper Pond in Eversong Woods, initially encountered by a burgeoning Blood Elven adventurer when they are asked to lie to Instructor Antheol by a couple of slacking students. The adventurer opts to tell Antheol of the students' attempted deception, causing Antheol to polymorph the students, before sending the Blood Elven adventurer into a series of short quests investigating the nearby pond for magical mysteries.


Charged Hammer uses the artwork for the weapon Gurubashi Punisher, a one-handed mace that drops randomly in the dungeon of Zul'Gurub.


Demonfuse depicts the character Tyrus Blackhorn, a level 81 Satyr that is imprisoned at Blackhorn's Penance in Mount Hyjal. Tyrus Blackhorn was captured after the events of the Third War, after Archimonde's defeat at Mount Hyjal, after being tempted by the powers of the Burning Legion during the events of the Third War and being transformed into a satyr by Archimonde. During Cataclysm, adventurers are asked to talk to Tyrus Blackhorn to try and get information from him to fight the Twilight's Hammer, but Tyrus tricks the adventurer into freeing him. Tyrus Blackhorn's whereabouts after that questline, however, is not known, and he's never seen again.


Dark Bargain uses TCG artwork for Jadefire Felsworn, level 50-51 satyr enemies found in Felwood. Night elf quest-givers would give adventurers quests to help clear out the Jadefire Satyrs to purify and reclaim Felwood.


North Sea Kraken reuses artwork for Kolorath, a level 85 kraken that circles the border of the Abyssal Depths. He's just a slightly more powerful creature that hangs around there, and there isn't any specific quest or achievement related to beating Kolorath.