Welcome to our Lore of Hearthstone review for the "Descent of Dragons" set, the final part of the Year of Dragon trilogy and a year-long story featuring Hearthstone's original characters that ran through Rise of Shadows, Saviors of Uldum, Descent of Dragons and their respective story modes!Any of you who've been here long enough will see that the numbering for Lore of Hearthstone has suddenly been decreased a little. Like what I did with my Pokemon monster-design reviews, I spent a weekend just tinkering and combining redundant or short articles together and generally cleaning up the site. Previously I was a bit too afraid of having super-long articles, but I'm more confident about longer articles now so... yeah! At some point I would like to go back and revamp some of these older articles (mostly just to squish together all the 'original to Hearthstone' entries). I probably could've merged some of the Classic, and TGT articles together, but due to the sheer length of those pages I'll leave them be. I did some minimal editing to put in a bit more pictures in the Classic, Naxx, GvG and Blackrock pages, and to shorten a lot of the 'original to Hearthstone' segments.
Without further ado, we'll talk about the story of Descent of Dragons first, told via the "Galakrond's Awakening" story mode, and then we'll talk about the legendary cards and bosses, and then, as usual, after the break will be the rest of the cards.
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GALAKROND'S AWAKENING: THE STORY
In Saviors of Uldum, E.V.I.L. brought the city to the ancient Titan tombs of Uldum, and unleashed the plagues that were sealed beneath the tombs of Uldum. Four of the plagues took physical form and wreaked havoc all over Uldum, which gained the attention of the League of Explorers -- Elise Starseeker, Reno Jackson, Brann Bronzebeard and Sir Finley Mrrgglton. With the aid of their fellow explorers, they fought against both E.V.I.L.'s lackeys and the general dangerous desert threats of Uldum to beat down the four mighty Plague Lords, and also defeated one of Rafaam's lackeys, Tekahn, which was infused with the fifth plague. However, these plagues bought enough time for Rafaam to abscond with a sixth plague, the plague of undead. This brings us to Northrend, the frozen continent on the north of Azeroth, where Rafaam and E.V.I.L. will enact the rest of his nefarious plan, while the League of Explorers and their allies head off to stop their evil deeds once and for all.
The storyline in Galakrond's Awakening is told from two viewpoints, the viewpoint of the League of E.V.I.L. and the League of Explorers, only really differing in the final chapter. Presumably, the good guys' part is the 'canon' ending, considering, y'know, the fact that Rafaam's ending basically ends with everyone else dead.
Acting as a prequel to Galakrond's Awakening is the Tavern Brawl Road to Northrend, in which Reno Jackson has to rummage through his pile of junk in order to find a scroll that will allow the League of Explorers to portal from Uldum all the way to Northrend. This, of course, led to some hijinks where the League of Explorers ended up teleporting to (and fighting random people in) Orgrimmar, Un'Goro Crater, the chess board in Karazhan, Bae Chao's library (she moved out of Dalaran after the invasion), a random location where they fought Tak Nozwhisker (poor dude was left behind by EVIL), Hagatha's swamp (they fought Murgatha), and Rastakhan's arena (where the Explorers dueled each other).
Chapter I: Battle of the Frozen Coast
The League of Explorers arrive on the Frozen Coast of Northrend and immediately engaged in airborne battle against the forces of E.V.I.L., and one of the first battles is between Sir Finley against one of E.V.I.L.'s lackeys during their invasion of Dalaran, Kriziki. Lazul promised Kriziki the restoration of his wings should he serve E.V.I.L., and it appears that she made good on her promise, for Kriziki is known as Kriziki the Winged. Kriziki manages to force Sir Finley into a retreat. Meanwhile, Brann Bronzebeard rides a dragon into battle against Dr. Boom. Dr. Boom also faces off against Reno Jackson. Despite the best efforts of both explorers, Dr. Boom and Kriziki manage to abscond and capture Reno Jackson. Presumably, it's at around this point that Rafaam monologues to Reno about his evil plan with the aid of a musical score and a puppet theater, talking about how he is planning to use the sixth plague to revive the most evil thing that has walked the land -- Galakrond, the ancient proto-dragon.
While all of this is going on, on the coast itself, Rafaam instructs Puppetmaster Lazul to unleash the monstrosities frozen in the snow, but one such creature, the ice elemental Chenvaala, refuses to bow to Lazul's will and ended up facing off against her. Despite Chenvaala's best efforts, she was soundly defeated by Lazul's dark powers, and Lazul claims the formerly imprisoned Gronn called Dragonslayer Skruk as part of E.V.I.L.'s growing army. Archmage Khadgar of Dalaran also joins the fight on the side of the League of Explorers, facing off against a gigantic snow-and-ice elemental called Avalachan, overwhelming and taking out the ancient being with his own small army of arcane elementals. Meanwhile, Commander Elise Starseeker faces off against Kriziki the Winged, and eventually manages to take out the flying Arakkoa with her druidic powers.
Chapter II: Clash at Wyrmrest
One of the structures in Northrend is the great Wyrmrest Temple, where the five dragonflights would gather to discuss matters of importance. As a place where ancient dragons gather, Wyrmrest Temple was also home to a huge trove of draconic knowledge. King Togwaggle, riding the wax dragon Waxadred and calling himself 'Waxrider Togwaggle', faces off against one of Wyrmrest Temple's defenders, the Dragoncaster Askaara. Togwaggle's attempts to interrogate Askaara about the secret of the 'dragon is big candles, both breathing fire' is initially ineffectual, but Askaara eventually realizes that E.V.I.L. is attempting to revive dead dragons of their own. Togwaggle manages to beat back Askaara, but she flies off to alert the Dragonflights, bringing the dragonflights into battle.
The Explorers begin to help out as well, but Rafaam sends out one of his allies, the Galakrond cultist Kronx Dragonhoof, to face off against a group of four Senior Explorers. Kronx isn't the happiest about Rafaam's attempt to control his lord and master, but he plays along in order to help revive his master. Kronx and his group of Galakrond cultists defeat the United Sr. Explorers, and find out the location of Galakrond's corpse.While Elise and Brann research about what E.V.I.L. is planning, Sir Finley faces off against Puppetmaster Lazul, using his army of murlocs and newfound dragon allies to fight against Lazul's army of C'Thun cultists. During the fight, Lazul hints at something else buried deep underneath Wyrmrest Temple. Upon her defeat, Lazul laughs, noting that with her demise, 'the Old Ones rise'... and unleashes the slumbering Forgotten One, Go'rath, from deep undernath Wyrmrest Temple. Sir Finley panics, but continues to lead his forces and eventually slay Go'rath once more.
The defenders of Wyrmrest Temple also marshal to fight against E.V.I.L.'s forces, and one of these defenders is the forsaken dragon-rider Talritha. Talritha faces off against the mad High Cleric Dawnshatter, quickly figuring out from Dawnshatter's rantings that E.V.I.L. is looking for Galakrond's final rest. Talritha and her dragon allies manage to defeat Dawnshatter, and she heads off to warn the Dragon-Queen of E.V.I.L.'s plans. 
During the assault, Hagatha the Witch faces off against the mighty storm dragon Nithogg, boasting that she has corrupted much more powerful monsters than the storm dragon. Hagatha's foul swamp magic manages to overwhelm the mighty Nithogg, felling the beast and allowing Hagatha to claim the mighty artifact known as the Fist of Ra-Den.At this point, however, the Dragon Queen Alexstrasza herself arrives, fighting against Hagatha the Vengeful. The efforts of Wyrmrest's defenders have allowed Alexstrasza to figure out what the League of E.V.I.L. is up to, and Alexstrasza leads the combined army of the dragonflights to face off against Hagatha and her corrupting magic. After a long battle, Hagatha was ultimately defeated by Alexstrasza. During the fight, however, Alexstrasza attempts to tell something about Reno Jackson to Elise and the other explorers.
Chapter III: Air Battle over Dragonblight
With the race now heading from Wyrmrest Temple to Dragonblight, burial ground of many fallen dragons, both the League of Explorers and League of E.V.I.L. engage each other with flying mounts and devices, while Rafaam attempts to utilize the Plague of Undeath and the magics of Dalaran to resurrect Galakrond. One of the first battles during this period is Togwaggle's wax dragon, Waxadred, which faces off against Dragonrider Talritha and eventually besting her in battle. Brann Bronzebeard, meanwhile, rides in atop a red dragon, calling himself Dragonrider Brann, and faces off against one of E.V.I.L.'s hideous abominations, the rotting, fetid undead proto-dragon Rotwing. Brann is dead-set on taming the rotten dragon, eventually managing to get a saddle on top of Rotwing and seemingly capturing the creature.
The mighty Gronn Dragonslayer Skruk, released by Lazul from his slumber earlier during the conflict, manages to take out many dragons before he is confronted by the bronze dragon Chromie, first facing off in her gnomish form. Despite Chromie's efforts, Skruk's mighty Heartseeker arrows prove troublesome enough against Chromie... who then proceeds to stop time, revert it, and proceeds to unleash the full power of a bronze dragon, manipulating time in her true form as the bronze dragon Chronormu, and utterly decimating the dragonslayer.
Chapter IV: Showdown in Dalaran
The League of Explorers and their allies land on Dalaran to retake the city, rescue Reno and stop Rafaam. However, one of the conflicts that happened during this period is the long-awaited confrontation between George and Karl -- two paladins who were separated in Togwaggle's Catacombs, causing George to go insane from grief and joining E.V.I.L. in their raid on Dalaran. Karlis overjoyed to see his buddy George alive and well, while George thinks it's yet another trick, believing Karl to be dead. The two paladins fight each other, and eventually Karl's efforts manage to knock some sense into George (literally), and Karl convinces George to help redeem his sins by helping to retake the City of Dalaran from E.V.I.L.
Rafaam, growing more and more unhinged, unleashes his remaining minions on these warriors,starting with the pyromaniacal fire-elemental Rakanishu. Rakanishu faces off against the combined forces of George and Karl on the streets of Dalaran, with the instruction to burn down Dalaran itself if E.V.I.L. couldn't have it. During the fight, Rakanishu ended up burning all of the carts in the streets, and blossoming into a gigantic, dragon-esque form, and he eventually manages to defeat George and Karl.While Sir Finley secures the Dalaran Bank, Elise Starseeker ends up facing off against Waxrider Togwaggle in the Violet Hold while trying to free Reno Jackson. Elise faces off against Togwaggle while helping to free Reno, facing off against Togwaggle's constant attempts to create candle structures and golems and frustrating the kobold king. Eventually, Reno is freed and heads off to confront Rafaam, while Elise manages to defeat Togwaggle.
At this point, the story diverges depending on which side of the story you're on...
E.V.I.L.'s ending:
Rafaam, the Prime Evil, has lost many of his lackeys and allies during the course of his master plan, and as he is about to complete his ritual, Reno Jackson barges into the room and challenges him into a duel. Rafaam uses what remaining lackeys he has as well as the imps he summons from invoking Galakrond to fend off Reno and his erratic arcane powers, before finally summoning Galakrond, Progenitor of Dragons. The mighty Galakrond and his powers to summon undead dragons and unleash blasts of decimation against Reno Jackson and his allies.Thus victorious against the League of Explorers, Rafaam rode Galakrond and led his army of undead dragons to Stormwind, where he is opposed by King Anduin and a massive army of Alliance defenders and leaders, but the might of Galakrond is too mighty and burns down Stormwind, defeating Anduin and his allies. Rafaam repeats the process with the Horde, facing off against Warchief Sylvanas and her army. During these two fights, however, Rafaam starts to reflect that this victory leaves him feeling empty inside, realizing that if Azeroth itself is destroyed, there will be none left to fear Rafaam.
With this realization of his easy victory, Rafaam faces off against his former ally Galakrond, noting with sadness that he, Rafaam, has to destroy Galakrond, who has grown too dangerous. However, the furious Galakrond boasts that he is the ur-dragon, the beginning, and that Rafaam's miniscule role in all this is over. Rafaam has one last trick up his sleeve -- the Gauntlet of Origination, which he assembled all the way back in League of Explorers, as well as the massive amount of treasures he has stolen over the years from various sources. Despite being outclassed, Rafaam's usage of the treasures he has hoarded allowed him to gain the edge on Galakrond and eventually defeat the ancient proto-dragon, because HE IS RAFAAM. Thus victorious, Rafaam rides off into the sunset.
Explorers' ending:
Freed by Elise, Reno Jackson tells his allies to lock down the city as he goes off to confront the arch-villain Rafaam. Rafaam is still in his ritual to summon Galakrond, facing off against Reno with his army of imps and cultists. Eventually, Sir Finley, Elise and Brann arrive to assist Reno in battle, but they aren't enough to stop Rafaam from invoking Galarkond enough and resurrecting the mighty ancient evil in his full force. While Rafaam gloats, Galakrond unleashes his power, summoning giant undead dragons and other mighty evil drgaons.It's at this point, though, that Reno starts feeling funny due to the large amount of magic in the area. After casting enough amount of spells, however, Reno Jackson began to transform... into the blue dragon Renogos! Elise tells Reno about his origins, realizing that Reno's greed, brash attitude and his quick talent for magic are all clues that he's actually a dragon. That, and the fact that apparently Reno was found at an orphanage in an egg. Renogos faces off against Galakrond with the rest of the explorers and dragon aspects, and eventually manages to defeat him, slaying the ancient evil, stopping Rafaam and reverting back to good ol' Reno Jackson once more, noting that he has a 'fuzzy memory' on what happened. Victory for the good guys!
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LEGENDARY CARDS & ADVENTURE MODE BOSSES:
Galakrond, Azeroth's End
Let's start with the star of the set, the mighty Ur-Dragon, the Progenitor of Dragonkind, Galakrond. Presented in five different flavours as collectible cards, each of which with three different artwork, Galakrond himself was actually not a major character in any present-day storyline in World of Warcraft. He was, however, the primary antagonist of the e-novel series "Dawn of the Aspects", which detailed the original transformation of the five proto-dragons that would become the Dragon Aspects. Back during the prehistoric times where the Titans and their Watcher creations took a more active role in observing Azeroth, the proto-dragons flew over the skies of Azeroth. While somewhat resembling their modern-day counterparts, the proto-dragons did not wield the intelligence, cunning, immortality nor magic that their modern-day counterparts do. Mightiest among these proto-dragons was the one named Galakrond... but Galakrond was transformed by some unknown means, becoming larger, more territorial, and did the unthinkable to the proto-dragons -- Galakrond began consuming his own kin. Worse, the proto-dragons killed by Galakrond rose up as undead abominations, bound to Galakrond's will. Galakrond slew the various leaders of the proto-dragons, even those who attempted to venerate him. However, a particularly cunning proto-drake by the name of Malygos banded together with his close friend Neltharion, and together they gathered allies -- Nozdormu and the sisters Alexstrasza and Ysera. Together, they managed to drive away Galakrond, buying enough time before the Watcher Tyr arrived and drove Galakrond away.
The Watcher Tyr met with the five proto-dragons, attempting to slay the beast while he slumbers, but Galakrond has grown far more powerful and far larger than Tyr anticipated. During the course of the battle, Tyr's hammer, as well as his arm, were devoured by the mighty Galakrond, and the Spark of Tyr within the hammer further mutated and empowered Galakrond, and Galakrond became so hideously mutated that he began to grow eyes and limbs where there should not be. Galakrond began to grow more insane, devouring even his own undead minions. Galakrond and his remaining undead forces were eventually attacked by the five future dragon aspects, and a trick by Malygos ended up with a massive boulder wedged into Galakrond's throat, serving as enough of a distraction that caused the massive proto-drake to lose control of his undead. Neltharion blasted one of the undead minions into Galakrond's throat, causing the mighty beast to choke to death. For their bravery in fighting such a mighty beast, the Titan Pantheon awarded the five brave proto-drakes with part of their power, transforming Alexstrasza, Malygos, Ysera, Nozdormu and Neltharion into the Dragon Aspects we know of today. Not wishing for any of the other races to follow in Galakrond's footsteps, the Dragon Aspects ended up encouraging the rumour that Galakrond was the original dragon, that the Titans created the five Dragon Aspects from Galakrond. Galakrond's corpse was located in Galakrond's Rest, a place near the Dragonblight. During the events of Wrath of the Lich King, one of the Lich King's agents, Grand Necrolord Antiok, attempted to resrrect Galakrond as a minion for the Scourge. Antiok's plans was thwarted by the efforts of adventurers, who slew Antiok. During the events of Cataclysm, Galakrond's Rest was used by Deathwing's Twilight's Hammer cultists as an assault point. After Deathwing's defeat, the youngest of the aspects, Kalecgos (who replaced Malygos as the aspect of magic), discovered the Spark of Tyr within Galakrond's corpse and relived the memories of the events that led to the formation of the Dragon Aspects.
In Hearthstone, Rafaam actually succeeded in resurrecting Galakrond with the aid of the magics of the mage-city of Dalaran and the Plague of Undeath stolen from Uldum, commanding the mighty proto-drake for a moment before he was ultimately slain. Galakrond's five different collectible cards portray Galakrond mutated based on the themes of the five primary E.V.I.L. members. The Warlock Galakrond, representing Rafaam, shows him consumed with green fel flames. The Shaman Galakrond, representing Hagatha, shows Galakrond with elemental powers. The Warlock Galakrond, representing Lazul, shows Galakrond with eyes and tentacles that are characteristics of Old God corruption. The Warrior Galakrond, representing Dr. Boom, shows a Galakrond with armour. The Rogue Galakrond, representing Togwaggle, shows him with pustules and venom-drenched spikes (according to the flavour text, Galakrond refused to have anything to do with candles, so we get more generic rogue stuff).
The Five Original Dragon Aspects
All the five original dragon aspects get brand new cards in Hearthstone (Ysera, Awakened; Malygos, Aspect of Magic; Dragonqueen Alexstrasza; Nozdormu the Timeless; Deathwing, Mad Aspect), and since we've covered their lore here with the rest of the Classic set legendaries, I'm just going to be brief about them. Their lore is long and winding, after all, and we've gone through them before. During the events of Galakrond's Awakening, if the Descent of Dragons trailer is anything to go by, all five Dragon Aspects participated in the huge aerial battle, although it's not 100% clear which side Deathwing is on. During the actual campaign, Alexstrasza faces off and defeats Hagatha the Witched, and is instrumental in telling Elise Starseeker about the origins of Reno Jackson. While they don't appear as playable heroes, Ysera, Nozdormu and Malygos also show up in some League of Explorers decks, indicating that they helped out in those battles.
For a long time, Ysera, Aspect of Dreams, was known as Ysera the Dreamer, interacting with the world in a half-awakened state, but during the events of Cataclysm Ysera finally opens her eyes and became known as "Ysera the Awakened" during the conflict. The Descent of Dragons cards depicts her in this 'awakened' state. Nozdormu the Timeless borrows his title from his official full epithet, "The Timeless One". In his artwork, he's perched atop Wyrmrest Temple. One of Alexstrasza's many titles is "Dragonqueeen", and her quotes are taken from WoW. Deathwing, Mad Aspect, depicts the insane destroyer during the final boss fight against him in Cataclysm, where his plates of armour starts to break down and unleash the barely-contained elemental fury within. His quote, "Cataclysm", of course, comes from the expansion that he starred in.
Interestingly, Malygos, Aspect of Magic is the only Dragon Aspect (or really, any sufficiently large, iconic dragon) to have a significantly lower statline compared to the 4/12 or 8/8 statline assigned to these dragons. Judging by the artwork, maybe this card depicts Malygos during his youth, when the Dragon Aspects first became dragon aspects? Malygos's entrance and attack quotes are taken from his boss fight in World of Warcarft.
Murozond the Infinite
We briefly touched on Murozond in my coverage of the 'Taverns of Time' arena event, but it was very short, so I'll talk about it in length now. The Infinite Dragonflight is a group of black-and-light-blue dragons that mysteriously appeared during the course of World of Warcraft's history, appearing to be corrupted members of the time-traveling Bronze Dragonflight. The Infinite Dragonflight were insane, and wanted to destroy the 'true' timeway in order to bring about the Hour of Twiight. While their leader was a mystery for a time, it was later revealed to be Murozond. In one of Azeroth's possible futures, Nozdormu the Timeless One, the Dragon Aspect charged with guarding the time-stream, ended up witnessing his own death, and this Nozdormu attempted to subvert his own mortality and his eventual fate. The subtle manipulation and trickery of the imprisoned Old Gods drove this version of Nozdormu into insanity, and he began to style himself as "Murozond", an anagram of his name. Murozond created the Infinite Dragonflight, in order to shatter the timeways by changing the past events.
The Infinite Dragonflight first appeared in Burning Crusade, interfering in the Caverns of Time instances -- members of the Infinite Dragonflight went into critical moments in Azeroth's past, by first attempting to prevent Thrall's escape from Durnholde Keep (between the Second and Third Wars), and preventing Medivh from opening the Dark Portal (prior to the First War). Both events would've led to the Horde and Alliance, respectively, never being formed and leaving Azeroth ripe for the picking when the Burning Legion invaded. Heroes gathered by the Bronze Dragonflight arrived and prevented the Infinite Dragonflight's machinations. During Wrath of the Lich King, the Bronze and Infinite Dragonflights engaged each other in battle, and the bronze dragon Chronormu (a.k.a. "Chromie") sent adventurers to investigate the leader of the Infinites using a device known as the Hourglass of Eternity, but was puzzled when the Hourglass showed Nozdormu, the leader of the Bronze Dragons, who was missing in action at the time. The Infinites also made another attempt at disrupting the timeline, this time attempting to stop the Culling of Stratholme and stop Arthas from purging the city.
During Cataclysm, the true identity of Murozond is revealed to Thrall (who was investigating the missing Nozdormu) and the Bronze Dragonflight, and Murozond reveals himself to be an alternate-future version of Nozdormu, whose primary goal is to prevent the "Hour of Twilight". He has also revealed himself to be the one who has trapped Nozdormu within the time streams when Nozdormu attempted to investigate. After Nozdormu was freed, he discovered that his powers over time is being hampered by this leader of the Infinite Dragonflights, preventing the Bronze Aspect from sending heroes to the past to retrieve the Dragon Soul required to stop Deathwing. Thus, Nozdormu and a group of adventurers traveled to "End Time" -- the future 'outside of time' that Murozond came from, the distant future of what Azeroth would be if Deathwing wasn't stopped. Murozond engaged the adventurers in battle, summoning echoes of evil versions of Azeroth's champions to fight them... but Murozond was eventually slain with the aid of Nozdormu. With Murozond's death, Nozdormu's powers over time is returned to him, and he delivers a cryptic line which seems to imply that Nozdormu's corruption into Murozond in the future may still happen, and the loop has to be closed by the adventurers slaying him again.
Veranus
Introduced in Wrath of the Lich King, Veranus is the brood-mother of the proto-dragons of Storm Peak, and was the riding drake of Thorim, one of the Titan-forged Keepers that guarded Ulduar and the imprisoned Yogg-Saron within. When Thorim was tricked by the Old-God-corrupted Loken into slaying his own wife and going into a depressive stupor for millennia, Veranus was released back into the wild. Thorim would discover his fellow Keeper's treachery in Wrath of the Lich King due to the aid of adventurers, and would enlist those same adventurers to lure Veranus to her nest. While initially hostile, Veranus would eventually be re-tamed by Thorim once more. Thorim and Veranus's atempt to attack Loken on their own ended with their loss, however. Veranus was transformed by Loken's minions into Razorscale when iron plates are fused onto her body, driving her insane, and Razorscale serves as an optional boss encounter in the Ulduar raid. Adventurers ended up teaming up with expedition allies to utilize harpoons to bring down the mutated creature, and eventually Razorscale was put down. 
Nithogg
Introduced in Legion, Nithogg is a storm dragon (alternatively 'storm drake'), purple-skinned dragons native to the mountain peaks between Suramar and Stormheim. The storm dragons are noted by the local Vrykul to be "born of the gods", for the Thorignir brood of storm dragons swore fealty to the titan-keepers in the ancient past. However, one of the mightiest storm dragons refused to bow to the keepers -- the cruel Nithogg. Nithogg refused to bow to the Keepers, vowing to be more powerful then them, and took roost in the mountain Nastrondir, raising his own brood and terrorizing the mortals in the nearby lands. The storm dragons of Stormheim lived there and guard the artifact known as the Aegis of Aggramar, and the heroes of the Alliance and Horde who sought to claim the artifact to use them against the Burning Legion's third invasion had to prove their worth in the storm dragons' trials.
Nithogg himself perched atop the mountain of Nastrondir, known as the 'Scourge of the Skies'. The leader of the Thorignir, Vethir, tasked adventurers to slay Nithogg, who has terrorized the lands of Stormheim long enough. Nithogg thusly served as a world boss in Stormheim, and adventurers soon put an end to Nithogg's wanton rampages by slaying the storm dragon. Nithogg's WoW boss fight doesn't actually involve spawning eggs or storm-drake minions.
Zzeraku the Warped
Zzeraku is a Nether Dragon. Nether dragons were once black dragon eggs, which were brought to Draenor by Deathwing during the Second War, but were hastily abandoned by the Destroyer when things went south for him. When the insane orc shaman Ner'zhul opened multiple dark portals to different worlds, the large amount of arcane energies that warped the planet and transformed Draenor into what would be known as Outland also transformed these unborn black dragon eggs. When they hatched, they were no longer black dragons, but rather nether dragons of the netherwing dragonflight. These nether dragons are highly unstable, possessing accelerated aging but also a shorter lifespan, as well as the ability to seemingly 'phase' through objects.
While some explorers that went into Outland during the events of the Third War enocuntered these nether dragons, it was not until the events of Burning Legion where large-scale exploration into Outland was done, and the Nether Dragons were finally discovered. Zzeraku was a mighty nether dragon who was featured during the events of the World of Warcraft manga and the Night of the Dragon novel. After a brief encounter with the blue dragon Tyrygosa, Zzeraku and his comrade Valoku teamed up with the Azerothian dragon to battle against the death knight Ragnok Bloodreaver, who attempted to enslave the nether dragons. However, during an attempt to save the nether dragons, the group ended up feeding power from the Nexus (magical fortress of the blue dragonflight) to the nether dragons, who were driven insane by it and attempted to take over Azeroth, with Zzeraku reasoning that only by taking more power can the nether dragons be truly safe. The slumbering Malygos, still insane at this point, woke up and saw the netherwing and blue dragonflights in combat, and consumed all of the nether dragons' energy, regaining his sanity in the process. Zzeraku was the only survivor of the battle, escaping with his life. The weakened Zzeraku was captured by Sintharia (a.k.a. Sinestra), former prime consort to Deathwing, who trapped and bound Zzeraku with her magics in order to use as a power source to create a new flight of dragons. Where her son Nefarian had failed in their attempt to create the chromatic dragonflight, Sintharia saw the otherworldly Zzeraku as having a type of magic not known to Azeroth, and thus a key to create a new flight of dragons -- what would become the twilight dragonflight. Sintharia's creations were able to drain energy like vampires from other magical beings, and were also able to blink and phase through objects. The bound Zzeraku was humbled and tortured in Deathwing's former base of Grim Batol as he became a power source that Sintharia fed to her new creation, the gigantic twilight dragon Dargonax. A group of separate heroes infiltrated Grim Batol -- heroes like Korialstrasz, Vereesa Windrunner, Kalecgos, Rhonin Dragonheart -- but one of them, the young draenei priestess Iridi, did not just brush Zzeraku as a mere beast, and instead attempted to free him, telling Zzeraku that he was 'worth saving'. Iridi's attempt to free Zzeraku was successful, but she was nearly killed by the rampaging Dargonax. Zzeraku ended up doing the first selfless thing he did in his life, and despite his fear, charged Dargonax with the intent to avenge Iridi. Zzeraku was easily slain by the more powerful twilight dragon, but Zzeraku's sacrifice allowed Iridi and her allies to eventually exploit the magical defect that would prove to be Dargonax's undoing.
Sky Gen'ral Kragg & Sharkbait
Skycap'n Kragg has apparently been promoted to Sk Gen'ral Kragg in Hearthstone lore! First debuting in Hearthstone's The Grand Tournament expansion as the crazy orc pirate riding a pirate featured prominently in promotional material, Battle for Azeroth featured Skycap'n Kragg and his giant parrot mount Sharkbait as the first boss fight of the pirate den Freehold, where the two of them acted as the lookout for intruders. At least, that's what they're supposed to be doing; Kragg is far more likely to sleep on the crow's nest and Sharkbait's far more likely to drop, er, guano on those below. Kragg would be slain by the adventurers that arrived to raid Freehold.
In Hearthstone, Sky Gen'ral Kragg and Sharkbait are part of the crew that fought against E.V.I.L., with Sky Gen'ral Kragg being featured as part of the Wanderer's deck.
Mindflayer Kaahrj
Mindflayer Kaahrj is a N'raqi Faceless One that was imprisoned in Violet Hold in Dalaran, being captured specifically from the depths of Ulduar. Mindflayer Kaahrj is noted to be in a catatonic state ever since the defeat of Yogg-Saron during the events of Wrath of the Lich King, but when Dalaran was teleported above the Broken Isles during Legion, Kaarhj has mysteriously awakened once more. Mindflayer Kaarhj is one of the eight bosses in the Assault on Violet Hold raid, specifically the Legion revamp, which includes some faces familiar to Hearthstone players like Fel Lord Betrug, Millificent Manastorm and Sael'orn. Kaarhj is freed by the fel orc Lord Malgath alongside many of the other prisoners of Violet Hold by Burning Legion agents, and adventurers banded to take down Kaarhj.
Despite being captured in Ulduar, a prison connected to Yogg-Saron, Kaarhj apparently venerates N'Zoth, saying N'Zoth's name in his various lines of dialogue (spoken in the ancient language of the Old Gods) and being described by the sentient blade Xal'atath as an "idiotic pustule of N'Zoth". His summon lines, "you are a prisoner in your own body", is translated and taken from one of his quotes during his WoW boss fight.
Shu'ma, the Maw of Ruin
The gigantic servant of the Old Gods, Shu'ma, was one of the three massive servants of the Old Gods that were hiding under the Dragonblight, and resurfaced during the final battle in Cataclysm during the Dragon Soul raid. Shu'ma is a particularly massive being that's a gigantic mound of flesh, a gaping maw and sharp tentacles. No real lore exist about these 'maw creatures', and several have appeared in both Cataclysm and Battle for Azeroth, but it's assumed that they are simply minions of the Old Gods, presumably similar ones to the Forgotten One featured in Warcraft III. Whatever the case, Shu'ma, Go'rath and a third such creature known only as the Maw of Destruction surfaced under the ground as a sign of help from the imprisoned Old Gods (well, mostly just N'Zoth at this point since the others are dead).
During the fight against Deathwing and his Old God allies, the heroes of Azeroth face off against the commander of the Faceless Ones, Yor'sahj the Unsleeping, who provides Deathwing with the means to unleash more Faceless Ones from deep beneath the earth. Upon the death of Yor'sahj, the Faceless One's control over Shu'ma is broken and it ceases attacking and is presumably destroyed soon afterwards.
Go'rath, the Maw of Unmaking
Go'rath's lore is basically the same with Shu'ma, being one of the three Forgotten Ones that are summoned from deep under Northrend to assist Deathwing. Go'rath in particular assaulted Wyrmrest Temple, led by the mighty C'thrax General Zon'ozz, one of the mightiest generals in service of the Old God N'Zoth. Eager to assist Deathwing in bringing the Hour of Twilight, N'Zoth has unleashed this mighty servant to assault Wyrmrest Temple. Like Yor'sahj, Zon'ozz was slain by adventurers who would later go on to slay Deathwing himself. Like Shu'ma, once the general within it was slain, Go'rath would cease attacking Wyrmrest Temple. Go'rath would reappear in Battle for Azeroth, surprisingly, where adventurers can sometimes find portals in the island expedition that would lead them once more into the Maw of Go'rath. This time, a mutated C'thrax known as General Shuul'aqar awaits to fight adventurers.
In Hearthstone, Madame Lazul ended up resurrecting Go'rath from beneath Wyrmrest Temple with the cost of her life after she was felled in battle while fighting the League of Explorers, although Go'rath itself was eventually defeated by Sir Finley and his dragon allies.
Sathrovarr the Corruptor
Sathrovarr the Corruptor was a Dreadlord that was introduced in the Burning Crusade expansion as the first boss encounter in the Sunwell Plateau raid. As agents of the Burning Legion attempted to use the Sunwell to summon the mighty Kil'jaeden, Sathrovarr corrupted and possessed the blue dragon Kalecgos. During the battle, adventurers would fight off their possessed ally Kalecgos in the physical plane, and sometimes they will enter the Inner Veil, a shadowy realm where they can help Kalecgos fight off the corruption done by Sathrovarr. Eventually, Sathrovarr was killed and Kalecgos was freed from possession. In Legion, Sathrovarr was among the many demons previously slain that appeared in the Broken Shore, although he did not participate in any of the Legion's subsequent war efforts.
Chromie, a.k.a. Chronormu
Like Murozond, we've talked about Chromie before when she showed up in the Taverns of Time arena event, and as one of the more popular World of Warcraft characters it's likely that Chromie will show up again at some point in Hearthstone's history.
While Nozdormu might be the leader of the Bronze Dragonflight, perhaps the most prominent bronze dragon that adventurers in World of Warcraft will meet (had met, is meeting) is Chronormu, better known by the alias she takes when she is transformed in her gnomish form, "Chromie". Chromie first appeared in World of Warcraft's original iteration in Andorhal, where she was sent to investigate time manipulation experiments done by the Scourge, investigating from a little 'time pocket' within Andorhal's inn. Chromie was a quest-giver for a significant portion of Andorhal's storyline, recruiting adventurers to eliminate Temporal Parasites that were interfering with the reuglar flow of time, assisted in the fall of Araj the lich, and helped the plight of local guard Carlin Redpath by sending adventurers back in time to witness the death of his brother and give Carlin some closure.
In Wrath of the Lich King, Chromie acts as the Bronze Dragonflight's ambassador in Wyrmrest Temple, and sends her adventurer allies to investigate the origins of the mysterious infinite dragonflight, sending adventurers to help out alongside future/past versions of themselves. Chromie also meets the adventurers when they travel back in time to the Culling of Stratholme to stop the Infinite Dragonflight's attempts to disrupt the timeline. In Cataclysm, Chromie assists the adventurers and other heroes in defending Mt. Hyjal, although notably Chromie's true form during this period is that of a dragon whelp, indicating that for the time-traveling Chromie, this is chronologically earlier than any of the other times you meet her. After Deathwing's defeat, Chromie hangs out in Stormwind and allows adventurers to go back to the past and witness the fall of Deathwing. In Mists of Pandaria, Chromie is one of the leaders of the Timewalkers, a group of mortals and bronze dragons that have formed to protect the timeways from those that would do it harm. Chromie is also present as one of the bronze dragon arbiters of Garrosh Hellscream's trials during the events between Mists of Pandaria and Warlords of Draenor. However, Chromie was assaulted and knocked out by her fellow bronze dragon Kairozdormu, who is secretly in league with Garrosh and is plotting to lead him out.
Feeling guilty over this, Chromie is part of the massive expedition in Warlords of Draenor that arrived in the alternate-timeline Draenor to stop Garrosh Hellscream. Chromie, Khadgar and a group of adventurers follows the trail of the renegade Kairozdormu, only to find the treacherous bronze dragon killed by Garrosh. It's notable that during the events of Warlords of Draenor, Chromie's dragon form uses the 'drake' model, where she's still younger than how she was when adventurers first met her pre-Cataclysm.In Legion, Chromie (this time a whelp again) is part of a long quest chain known as "the Deaths of Chromie", where she admits to her adventurer friend that she will die in the near future, but notes that this isn't when or where she's supposed to die. While she loathes to meddle with the timeline for personal gain, this is an aberration in the timeline, and Chromie enlists her adventurer friends to see her death via magical assault, and ended up sending the adventurer back in time several minutes before her assassination to play detective, asking those on Wyrmrest Temple about possible clues to the assassination. Thus begin some hijinks as Chromie and her unknown adversary blocks each other's attempt to enter specific points of the timeline prior to the assassination, gaining clues and chrono-shards that lead them to points that Chromie has been in the past/will be in the future (but are all 'the past' for the adventurer) and had to go to these various points in the timeline to stop Chromie from being killed at those specific times. Ultimately, they did not find the mysterious assassin, but the timeline is still restored to how it originally was. In Battle for Azeroth, Chromie visits Mechagon Island and allies herself with the Rustbolt Resistance, and sends adventurers to a possible future where the machines have taken over in order to take evidence from this mechanized future in order to make sure that the Rustbolt Resistance doesn't make the same mistake. Chromie is also a part of a group of powerful dragons that empowered the Heart of Azeroth.
The League of Explorers & E.V.I.L.
We've spoken about the League of Explorers multiple times before, when they first appeared in the titular League of Explorers, when Elise and a group of junior explorers starred in Journey to Un'goro, and when the League returned in Saviors of Uldum to fight against EVIL's plagues that are unleashed upon the land of Uldum. Their story is also told in the Galakrond's Awakening story mode, and the big takeaway here is that Reno Jackson is actually Renogos, a blue dragon who was left in an orphanage as an egg, is stuck in a disguised human form and never quite realized that he's a dragon. This was actually forshadowed all the way back from One Night in Karazhan, where part of the trailer showed Reno Jackson, Sir Finley and a cow hanging out in a pool before the Curator jumps into the pool. The Curator, of course, being a minion that specifically tutors a beast (the cow), a murloc (Finley) and... a dragon. Other dragons in their human guises have also consistently been shown to not have the dragon tag in Hearthstone -- see Wrathion, Countess Ashmore, Kazakus and the Chromie card in Taverns of Time.
Other than that, well, we've pretty much covered everything about Brann, Reno, Elise and Sir Finley up above in our coverage of the story mode. Ditto for Rafaam, Lazul, Hagatha, Dr. Boom and Togwaggle. They basically fight each other, yeah? Sometimes they lose, sometimes they win, and presumably none of them permanently die because this is, well, Hearthstone. They probably just went off with comical bandages or something, other than maaaaaybe Madame Lazul, who sacrificed herself to summon Go'rath. But this is Azeroth. People come back from the dead all the time.Also, interestingly is the fate of the nine lackeys from Rise of Shadows -- Eudora, Rakanishu, Kriziki and George all show up in this expansion, while Tekahn was left behind as the final boss of Saviors of Uldum and was presumably killed there. Vessina, Ol' Barkeye, Squeamlish and Mr. Chu were all last seen as possible bosses in Saviors of Uldum, and were presumably simply left behind in Uldum when E.V.I.L. went off to Northrend like many of the other lackeys there. While only Reno got a brand-new collectible card, all of the main members for the League of Explorers and E.V.I.L. received new artwork and titles that are all shown on top in the story mode.
As a little bonus, and also because I'm kind of a geek, I did a bit of a list of every single time that the League of Explorers and League of EVIL characters have shown up in a collectible card. I decided against including adventure-specific cards as well because it'd be too much.
- Brann Bronzebeard: Brann Bronzebeard, Dinotamer Brann, Unseal the Vault
- Elise Starseeker: Elise Starseeker, Elise the Trailblazer, Elise Starseeker (hero), Elise the Enlightened, Untapped Potential, Strength in Numbers
- Reno Jackson: Reno Jackson, Forgotten Torch, Pilfer, Reno the Relicologist, Raid the Sky Temple, Learn Draconic, Elemental Allies, The Amazing Reno
- Sir Finley Mrrgglton: Sir Finley Mrrgglton, Unite the Murlocs, Sir Finley of the Sands, Making Mummies, Righteous Cause
- Arch-Thief Rafaam: Arch-Thief Rafaam, Arch-Villain Rafaam, Rafaam's Scheme, Supreme Archaeology
- Hagatha the Witch: Hagatha the Witch, Earthen Might, Swampqueen Hagatha, Hagatha's Scheme, Oblivitron, Corrupt the Waters
- Madame Lazul: Madame Lazul, Madame Lazul (hero), Forbidden Words, Activate the Obelisk, Strength in Numbers, Whispers of EVIL, Dark Prophecy
- Dr. Boom: Dr. Boom, Dr. Boom, Mad Genius, Blastmaster Boom, Daring Escape, Dr. Boom's Scheme, Hack the System
- King Togwaggle: King Togwaggle, Heistbaron Togwaggle, Daring Escape, Togwaggle's Scheme, Bazaar Burglary, Candle Breath
Dragonbane
Dragonbane seems to be a unique anti-dragon ballista affixed to a gunship, seemingly an Alliance one. It's original to Hearthstone.
Chenvaala
Chenvaala is a unique ice/snow elemental that attempted to defend the frozen monstrosities hidden beneath the snows of Northrend's coast from the machinations of Madame Lazul, and faced off against her. Unfortunately, she was defeated by Lazul's dark powers, and is unable to prevent Lazul from claiming Dragonslayer Skruk and Avalanchan, among others. Chenvaala, and the visual look of her design, is unique to Hearthstone.
In Battelgrounds, the "Volcanic Chenvaala" skin depicts Chenvaala after learning fire magic, transforming into a giant volcanic island.
Dragonrider Talritha
Dragonrider Talritha is original to Hearthstone, seemingly a Forsaken Paladin who's also serving the Dragonflights in Wyrmrest Temple. I don't think any undead, Forsaken or otherwise, have been seen in Wyrmrest Temple or in the vicinity of the good Dragonflights. Talritha participated in two battles during the events of Galakrond's Awakening, first facing off and driving away High Cultist Dawnshatter and gleaning the information of E.V.I.L.'s plans and informing the Dragonflights; and later on facing against Waxadred during the attempt to retake Dalaran, but was apparently routed by the wax dragon.
Goru the Mightree
Goru the Mightree is a gigantic one-armed Ancient that has seemingly joined the fight on the side of the Explorers against the League of E.V.I.L. He is original to Hearthstone, and seems to be a bit of a homage to Marvel character Groot due to the fact that, like, Groot, all Goru is able to say is variations of his name.
Waxadred
Waxadred is, obviously, original to Hearthstone, a bizarre dragon created out of wax seemingly by King Togwaggle. How Togwaggle is able to accopmlish this is unknown, but presumably the magical capabilities of Togwaggle's fellow EVIL buddies helped to bring this waxen abomination to reality. Waxadred is capable of speech and thought, and even participated in battle against some of EVIL's foes, facing and routing Dragonrider Talritha during the final fight in Dalaran.
Flik Skyshiv
Flik Skyshiv is original to Hearthstone. Presumably, she is one of the many lackeys that joined under E.V.I.L.'s banner, and, being a kobold, likely is one of Togwaggle's minions.
Bandersmosh
Bandersmosh is original to Hearthstone, a member of the bizarre 'Muckling' creatures that are associated with Hagatha and appeared several times in The Witchwood, Rise of Shadows and Saviors of Uldum. Like the Shudderwock, "Bandersmosh" is a homage to Lewis Carroll's poem Jabberwocky, a corruption of the creature Bandersnatch in that poem.
Valdris Felgorge
Valdris Felgorge is unique to Hearthstone, and... there's not much lore to him. Presumably he's original to Hearthstone? Valdris Felgorge is a "Felblood" elf, a group of blood elves that have been mutated even further by continued exposure to demonic energies, bleaching their skin red, turning their eyes green, their skin marked with demonic runes and causing them to even grow demonic horns. They are equivalent to the Fel Orcs that serve the Burning Legion in Outland. Felblood elves were mostly followers of Kael'thas Sunstrider who did not abandon the mad prince alongside most of the blood elf people, and these felblood elves have gorged so much on the gifts given to them by Kael'thas's demonic masters for days that they have been transformed and twisted.
Frizz Kindleroost
Frizz Kindleroost is original to Hearthstone, one of the many goblin henchmen under the employ of E.V.I.L. and presumably one of Dr. Boom's minions. As her name, her summon quoets and card effects indicates, Frizz is using some cobbled-together artificial incubator in order to quickly get dragon eggs to hatch to fight for E.V.I.L.
Grand Lackey Erkh
Grand Lackey Erkh is a female Ethereal member of E.V.I.L, and is original to Hearthstone. Presumably, she's the organizer of all Lackeys under their employ? Intersetingly, she seems to have some aspects of most of E.V.I.L.'s primary leaders -- she's an Ethereal like Rafaam; she's got bombs on her belt representing Dr. Boom, candles on her shoulders representing Togwaggle, and a lantern representing Hagatha. Only Lazul is left out.
Kronx Dragonhoof
Original to Hearthstone, Kronx Dragonhoof is an insane Tauren and one of the most devout of the members of Galakrond's cult that have aided E.V.I.L. in their attempt to bring back their dread master. While chafing under the leadership of the insane, egomaniacal Rafaam, Kronx assisted E.V.I.L. in fighting against a group of banded senior explorers and drove them away by channeling the invoked power of Galakrond during the fight. What happened to Kronx afterwards is not known, though.
Avalanchan
Avalanchan is a boss in the Galakrond's Awakening story mode, also represented as a collectible card in "Animated Avalanche". He is a massive snow elemental awakened by Madame Lazul and sent to menace the League of Explorers, being particularly massive that he's basically an avalanche unto himself. He's original to Hearthstone, though -- all ice or snow themed elementals in World of Warcraft are basically recoloured versions of the earth elemental or revenant models.
High Cultist Dawnshatter
One of the bosses in the adventure mode and represented as a collectible card as "Cleric of Scales", High Cultist Dawnshatter is a member of Galakrond's insane cult that faces off against Dragonrider Talritha during the events of Galakrond's Awakening. She has awesomely impractical but badass-looking giant dragon-horn accessories. She's original to Hearthstone.
Dragoncaster Askaara
Yet another one that's original to Hearthstone, Dragoncaster Askaara shares her card art with the collectible "Dragoncaster". She is a draenei dragon-rider who faces off against the King Togwaggle riding atop his candle-dragon mount Waxadred, and is completely baffled by Togwaggle's kobold-speech.
Rotwing
Rotwing, also represented as a collectible card as "Rotnest Drake", is a proto-drake that was initially loyal to E.V.I.L, but engaged Brann Bronzebeard in battle and apparently turned into a mount. Unlike most proto-dragons, Rotwing is capable of speech. The closest analogue to Rotwing and the Rotnest Drakes in World of Warcraft are the Plagued Proto-Drakes, which are proto-drakes that are transformed and mutated into plague-spreading creatures thanks to the corruption of the Scourge's Blight. They were the target of the destruction in Wrath of the Lich King, where they were employed by Frost Vrykul members of the Scourge who rode them into battle. Like most other proto-drakes (and Brann!) players are able to earn them as mounts, albeit it's a bit of a harder thing to do nowadays.
Dragonslayer Skruk
We've talked about Gronns before when we talked about Gruul in the past and how Gronns do have a penchant to hunt down dragons. Skruk is original to Hearthstone, and is apparently frozen deep beneath the icy wastes of Northrend until awakened by Madame Lazul. Skruk apparently shot down many of the Explorers-allied dragons before finally being slain by Chromie and her awesome time-warping abilities. How a Gronn ended up showing up in Northrend of all places considering they are native to Draenor/Outland is a mystery for another time, it seems.
The Slipstream & The Wanderer
The Slipstream and the Wanderer are two airships that are original to Hearthstone. Not much to say here, other than the fact that airships have been utilized in war since Warcraft III, and was especially prominent in Wrath of the Lich King. The Slipstream is piloted by Captain Eudora, a vulpera pirate captain that was recruited by E.V.I.L. and was one of the nine primary lackeys that led the assault on Dalaran.
George and Karl
The story of George and Karl has finally reached what I presume to be its conclusion! Originally a fun joke in the flavour texts for Journey to Un'Goro (specifically in 'Vinecleaver' and 'Lost in the Jungle') as two Silver Hand Recruits that nearly fell prey to the hazards of the valley, George and Karl appeared as a boss in the Dungeon Run in Kobolds & Catacombs, where they apparently wandered into after Un'Goro Valley. Facing off against adventurers and kobolds alike, George and Karl were separated, and George went insane after thinking that Karl had died in the catacombs, eventually being recruited by E.V.I.L. and turning into "George the Fallen", the paladin representative amongst E.V.I.L.'s lackeys during the Rise of Shadows' Heist on Dalaran. Karl, however, actually survived, and was one of the collectible special cards during the League of Explorers' storyline during Saviors of Uldum's Tombs of Terror, assisting Sir Finley and the rest of the League of Explorers in their fight against the Plague Lords. And finally, in Galakrond's Awakening, Karl finally confronted George, happy to see that his friend is alive, and proceeded to beat some sense into his deranged friend before George is finally redeemed and returned back as a paladin of the light. Huzzah! It's kind of a shame that Rakanishu beat them up almost immediately afterwards, though.
United Sr. Explorers
A quartet of four explorers that fought Kronx Dragonhoof, the United Sr. Explorers are the four unnamed senior explorers that the player can unlock (first as "junior" versions of their title) and subsequently upgrade during the playthrough of Saviors of Uldum's Tombs of Terror storyline. The dwarf on the lower left is the Sr. Excavator, who you unlock for the Brann Bronzebeard hero. The night elf on the upper left is the Sr. Navigator, associated with Elise Starseeker. The human on the upper right is the Sr. Tomb Diver, buddies with Reno Jckson. And the gnome on the lower right is the Sr. Scout, who fights evil with Sir Finley.
Click below for the rest of the expansion!
NON-LEGENDARY MINIONS:
DRAGONS!
...there really aren't much to say here. We talked about the Storm Drakes and Nether Drakes above with Nithogg and Zzeraku; while we covered the proto-drakes in Journey to Un'Goro, the other primary dragonflights in Classic and the Dragonspawn/Dragonkin in Blackrock Mountain. A lot of these are just original variations to Hearthstone.
The Squallhunter are the name of Nithogg's brood of renegade storm drakes, all of them residing in Stormheim and terrorizing the people in the island, and they kill both their own kin and other races with no mercy. Many are the targets of quests given to adventurers by the Thorignir storm drakes as well as other residents of Stormheim. No specific mob called just a 'Squallhunter' exists, but all six different mobs of Nithogg's brood all have the title "Squallhunter" somewhere, like the Adult Squallhunter, Rampaging Squallhunter, Alpha Squallhunter, et cetera.While it's also a term for the race as a whole, Storm Drake shares its name with a specific level 101-110 mob in the Halls of Valor.
Nether Drakes are, well, 'drake' members of the Netherwing Dragonflight, which we covered in Zzeraku's entry up above. The term "Nether Drake" was first applied to these mysterious shadowy dragons in Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne, where the Nether Drakes showed up as some of the 'neutral creeps' in Outland. In Burning Crusade, the full story of the Netherwing Flight was expanded upon. The specific mob called a "Nether Drake" are level 68-69 mobs on the Celestial Ridge of the Netherstorm, and they will either be friendly or hostile depending on your character's reputation with the Netherwing Dragonflight faction.
The Fate Weaver, Aeon Reaver and Chronobreaker are both members of
the Infinite Dragonflight, being an infinite dragon, an infinite drakonid and an infinite
dragonspawn respectively. There are many mobs with similar titles to
them (Infinite Time-Weaver; Infinite Chronomancer; Infinite Timebreaker,
et cetera) but none with these specific titles.
The Evasive Feywing's title is original to Hearthstone (although WoW has an Enchanted Feywing as flight-master mounts in Warlords of Draenor), but the artwork depicts a Giant Faerie Dragon, seen in the alternate-universe Draenor in Warlords of Draenor, where the Draenei of this alternate universe ride around in gigantic faerie dragons. Draenor's Faerie Dragons have far more bat-like/dragon-like wings and a more pronounced lizard-like head and stumpier limbs, compared to the butterfly wings, amphibian head, prominent spinal ridges and far lankier limbs of the Azerothian Faerie Dragons.
Chromatic Egg is presumably a reference to the Chromatic Dragonflight, featured previously in Blackrock Mountain as part of Nefarian's failed experiments to create a brand-new dragonflight that's a mixture of all five dragonflights' blood -- the chromatic dragons are nominally considered failures, with many whelps dying before maturity and those that do were unstable, volatile or short-lived. The chromatic dragonflight, however, would eventually lead to a series of research that would lead to the birth of the Twilight Dragonflight in Cataclsym. While most of the Chromatic Dragons were wiped out in the raid by adventurers in Blackrock Mountain, several appeared in Cataclysm when Nefarian himself was resurrected, and at least one resurfaced in Battle for Azeroth alongside the black dragonflight.
Obviously, the Emerald Explorer, Primordial Explorer, Azure Explorer and Bronze Explorer are all original to Hearthstone, being respectively a green dragon, a green proto-drake, an adorable blue dragon whelp and a bronze dragon whelp who are all dressed up in explorer outfits.
These are all dragons, but are all titles original to Hearthstone: Amber Watcher (a bronze dragon), Crazed Netherwing (a nether dragon), Scion of Ruin (a black dragon with the same 'magma in the body' look that Deathwing has), Big Ol' Whelp (a big ol' bronze whelp), Evasive Drakonid (a blue drakonid, and an unseen-in-WoW female drakonid), Evasive Wyrm (a red dragon), Twin Tyrant (a drakeadon like Chromaggus), Cobalt Spellkin (a blue dragonspawn, also an unseen-in-WoW female variant), Rotnest Drake (a plague-corrupted proto-drake) and Scalelord (a bronze dragon).
HUMANOIDS!
The Lightforged Zealot and Lightforged Crusader are both original to Hearthstone, but are among our first examples of the Lightforged Draenei race -- recently made playable as an allied race in Battle for Azeroth, Lightforged Draenei are members of the Army of the Light, a group of holy draenei who devote themselves to the Light to battle the Burning Legion throughout the Twisting Nether. Those Draenei that become Lightforged undergo a ritual to infuse their very bodies with the Holy Light, most distinguished from regular Draenei by their eyes that glow with the holy yellow glow of the Holy Light, as well as white hair and marble-like skin. After the Burning Legion's defeat, the Lightforged have pledged their loyalty to the Alliance and joined them in fighting their foes. During the events of Battle for Azeroth, a decent amount of Draenei are also transformed into Lightforged via the Forge of Aeons, which reinforces a Draenei's body, soul and mind with the power of the Holy Light.
Troll Batrider is a Warcraft III unit added with the Frozen Throne expansion for the Orcish Horde, depicting a Darkspear Troll riding a gigantic bat, unleashing liquid fire upon the enemies below. Troll Batriders are able to utilize their ability 'unstable concoction' to basically go out as a suicide bomber, dying in a massive blaze of glory for the Horde. In World of Warcraft, Bat Riders (usually parsed as two words) appear among troll and forsaken members of the Horde, serving both as defenders and guards of towns as well as travel flight-masters.
Faceless Corruptor: The term 'Faceless Corruptor' has been used for mutliple different Faceless One enemies in World of Warcraft's history. In Cataclysm, Faceless Corruptors were level 85 enemies that assisted the mighty C'thrax general Erudax, Duke of Below. While adventurers fought Erudax, the Faceless Corruptors would appear and would attempt to corrupt Alexstrasza's eggs to turn them into twilight dragons. A group of gigantic aquatic-variant Faceless Corruptors were enemies who attacked Wyrmrest Temple in the Dragon Soul raid in Cataclysm. Two different mobs called Faceless Corruptor showed up in Battle for Azeroth, one appearing as level 110-120 mobs in the swamps Nazmir, and the second one being level 111-121 mobs in the Underrot dungeon, encountered in the final part of the dungeon.
Envoy of Lazul: The Envoy of Lazul is a Merciless One, also known as Zoatroids, which are octopus-like parasitic creatures created by the Old Gods and utilized by the Naga and Faceless ONes to essentially mind-control lesser beings. They attach themselves to the heads (and sometimes just straight-up devour) of sentient beings to enslave them. They are primarily seen in Cataclysm in the underwater regions of Vashj'ir, assisting the naga and n'raqi, and are rarely seen afterwards until Battle for Azeroth, where a large amount of Merciless Ones are utilized by the naga queen Azshara and her dread master N'Zoth during the Nazjatar storyline.
Utgarde Grapplesniper is a member who is a member of the Dragonflayer Clan, a clan of Vrykuls loyal to the Lich King that are based in Utgarde Keep, led by the slumbering King Ymiron. While the Vrykuls in Wrath of the Lich King are fanatics that are determined to prove their worth to be conscripted into the undead armies of the Lich King, after the fall of the Lich King many of the fanatical Vrykul of Northrend have been wiped out by the Alliance/Horde efforts. Whether this one is hanging out with E.V.I.L. or the League of Explorers is a bit more ambiguous, though.
Dragonmaw Poacher: The title 'Dragonmaw Poacher' is original, but the Dragonmaw Poacher is clearly a member of the Dragonmaw Tribe. One of the nine original orc tribes that formed the first Horde, the Dragonmaw Tribe was led by the cruel shaman Zuluhed the Whacked, and was particularly prominent during the events of the Second War, where, with the machinations of the black dragon Deathwing (disguised as an orc shaman) and the artifact Demon Soul, the Dragonmaw Tribe was able to capture the mighty Dragon Queen Alexstrasza and hold her captive in Grim Batol, forcing her young to serve the Dragonmaw Tribe as mounts that would give the Horde air superiority during the Second War. Efforts of agents of the Alliance and the various dragonflights led to the downfall of the Dragonmaw Tribe when Alexstrasza was freed and Deathwing was defeated, however. The survivors fled into the nearby Wetlands and clashed with the local Wildhammer dwarves, while Zuluhed fled to Outland to serve Illidan Stormrage and used their dragon-taming techniques to enslave nether dragons. The rest of the Dragonmaw Clan would be recruited by Garrosh Hellscream into the New Horde during Cataclysm, although they, under leadership of Warlord Zaela, are proponents of the old ways and staunchly supported Garrosh even during the Siege of Orgrimmar, and even allied themselves with the dimension-hopping Iron Horde. A small group of Dragonmaw representatives led by Gorfax Angerfang remains loyal to the Horde.
Zul'drak Ritualist: While the title 'Zul'drak Ritualist' is original to Hearthstone, we've covered Zul'drak before in Knights of the Frozen Throne, a temple city inhabited by the Drakkari ice trolls, and the location of a raid in Wrath of the Lich King. The Drakkari of Zul'drak, in desperation, killed and consumed their own Loa gods in an attempt to strengthen themselves.
The following are minions that are original to Hearthstone, and are, from their looks, aligned with the League of Explorers and assorted allies: Shrubadier, Dwarven Sharpshooter, Dragoncaster, Stowaway, Blazing Battlemage, Dragon Breeder, Grizzled Wizard, Wyrmrest Purifier, Blowtorch Saboteur, Scalerider, Platebreaker, Licensed Adventurer and Skydiving Instructor.
The following are minions that are original to Hearthstone and are member of E.V.I.L. and the Cult of Galakrond from their very obvious appearance of either the EVIL badge or the big-ass horn accessories that the Galakrond cultists wear: Disciple of Galakrond, Umbral Skulker, Necrium Apothecary, Corrupt Elementalist, Abyssal Summoner, Dragonblight Cultist, Veiled Worshipper, EVIL Quartermaster, Sky Raider, Transmogrifier, Goboglide Tech, Devoted Maniac, Shield of Galakrond, Tentacled Menace, Draconic Lackey, Cleric of Scales, Shadow Sculptor, Bomb Wrangler and Boompistol Bully.
The following are pirates! I'm not sure which side they're on because, well, pirates, muddied a bit more because Captain Eudora is aligned with E.V.I.L. and pirates are nominally villains, but Kragg is apparently allied with the Explorers? Eh? Some, like the Sky Raider, do have EVIL insignia so I grouped them above. Anyway: Bloodsail Flybooter, Parachute Brigand, Hoard Pillager, Kobold Stickyfinger, Risky Skipper and Skyvateer.
Demons
Frenzied Felwing: The Frenzied Felwing is a Felbat, a race of winged, bat-like demons that was first introduced in Legion, arriving en-masse when Gul'dan opened the gateway to the Burning Legion in the Broken Isles. Felbats are not particularly intelligent, and are used by the Burning Legion either to swarm the enemy or as mounts ridden by their soldiers. The Felbats are also employed by the Illidari Demon Hunters as mounts. The Felbats apparently breed very rapidly, and their young resembled normal bats without the gangly arms and humanoid torsos the adults have. No specific Felbat mob is called 'Frenzied Felwing', although several do use the adjectives 'Frenzied' or 'Felwing'.
Fiendish Servant: The Fiendish Servant is a Wyrmtongue, yet another type of demon newly introduced in Legion. Wyrmtongues are a race of tiny demons with massive horns that serve as laborers and porters, bringing around books and other objects lashed onto their back. The Fiendish Servant in particular is apparently one that's doing some work for Dr. Boom, hauling around a massive sack of explosives.
The Chaos Gazer has an identical name to level 71 Observers that are located in the Sunwell Plateau raid in Burning Crusade where agents loyal to Kael'thas Sunstrider are attempting to open a portal to summon the leader of the Burning Legion, Kil'jaeden. Many demons, the Chaos Gazers among them, are summoned during this period.
The Draconic Imp is an imp variant original to Hearthstone.
Beasts
Dread Raven: Dread ravens are a species of giant raven-like birds that are native to Draenor, venerated by the Arakkoa as children of the Raven God Anzu. The flightless Arakkoa outcasts who worship the Raven God Anzu also venerate these mighty dread ravens, which are territorial and will attack any who approach the Spires of Anzu. While all but extinct in the prime timeline when Draenor was turned into Outland, during the events of Warlords of Draenor, the alternate-timeline Draenor's dread raven population flourished a lot. The Dread Raven itself is notable as the bonus mount from the digital deluxe edition of Warlords of Draenor, which is the specific dread raven with head ornaments that Hearthstone's artwork is emulating.
Evasive Chimaera: The two-headed Chimaera first appeared in Warcraft III as gigantic, two-headed two-tailed dragon-esque beasts that were native to Ashenvale, and are among the many denizens of Kalimdor who assisted the Night Elves during the Third War, trained in the Chimaera Roost and are among the mightiest among the night elven forces, having developed an emphatic bond with the night elven people despite their hostile territoriality. Their corrosive breath allows them to deal additional damage to buildings. In World of Warcraft, the Chimaera native to Azeroth resembled more of a mix between dragon and wyvern or lion, perhaps to better communicate that these are beasts that merely resemble dragons. When adventurers entered Outland in Burning Crusade, they discovered that Outland has their own type of Chimarea, although the Outland Chimaera are far more sleek, covered with some sort of hard armour and having far more reptilian features. The Evasive Chimaera in Hearthstone is an Outland Chimaera.
Diving Gryphon: We haven't really had a gryphon minion in Hearthstone before, huh? Gryphons (also 'griffins') are half-lion, half-eagle beasts that are native to the Aerie Peaks, and have long bonded to the Wildhammer dwarves that lived there. Intelligent and cunning, the gryphons have since became an inseparable part of Wildhammer culture. During the Second and Third Wars, the Gryphon Riders are instrumental as part of the Alliance in establishing air superiority against the Horde, Scourge and Burning Legion. In addition to serving as mounts, gryphons are extremely fierce in combat to those it does not recognize as its master. Trained from young by the Wildhammer dwarves, gryphons have since been introduced to other races of the Alliance, although they are mostly ridden by other dwarves and humans. Grypons in particular have became the favoured flight service in Stormwind and the areas around it. In addition to the many domesticated gryphons bred in specialied aviaries, wild gryphons populate many parts of Azeroth.
Hippogryph: While at a glance looking similar to the Gryphons, the Hippogryphs (sometimes Windgryph) are a different breed, a mixture of stag and raven features. They first appeared in Warcraft III as part of the Night Elf army, being trained by the Ancient of Wind. They are airborne units that can savagely attack other air units, and can pick up night elven Archers to form the Hippogryph Rider unit. Native to Kalimdor, Hippogryphs are highly territorial and viciously attack any enemy of the wilds, and legend has it that they were created by the demigod Cenarius himself as a gift to the night elves. Hippogryphs are highly intelligent, and moreso than any other beasts, will only allow those it trusts to ride it into battle. While exclusively used by the night elves during the Third War, by the time of WoW, they have grown to be used by other races of the Alliance, with the Argent Crusade, Gilneans and Draenei utilizing hippogryphs as well. A far more feathered variant was seen more often in Legion, and it's this later-model Hippogryph that Hearthstone's artwork draws from.
Phase Stalker: The Phase Stalker is a Warp Stalker, which we previously saw in Hearthstone as a Rumble Run exclusive minion. The Warp Stalkers are lizard-like creatures introduced in Burning Crusade, native to Outland, having been mutated from chameleon-like lizard by the fel energies that permeate Outland. Mostly gathering in Terokkar Forest and the Netherstorm, the warp stalkers are able to utilize their ability to phase in and out of the physical and astral dimensions, 'warping' and teleporting in and out of sight to stalk their prey. These strange creatures are able to be tamed by experienced hunters, who can train them to even slow down time around an enemy.
Bad Luck Albatross: Albatrosses first appeared as critters in Warcraft III, showing up and not having any attacking capabilities. Albatrosses would show up as collectible pets in Legion, although they share the same model with seagulls. The flavour text for the Albatross Chick pet in Legion emphasize how sailors view harming albatrosses will bring bad luck for their voyage. Albatrosses would show up in Battle for Azeroth, particularly in Kul Tiras, with a new model and acted as enemies.
Escaped Manasaber: Manasabers are introduced in Legion, and are a type of unique saber cat native to Suramar of the Broken Isles, where they have apparently been altered by either the Nightborne elves that lived in Suramar, or simple exposure to ley-lines. Manasabers are distinguished by other saber cats that populate Azeroth by the magical, glowing runes that mark their body. They are the favoured pets and mounts of the Nightborne, equivalent to the Nightsabers of the Night Elves.
Beasts of types that we've covered before, and are otherwise original to Hearthstone: Steel Beetle, plus we covered Winged Guardian who showed up in Saviors of Uldum as a boss. TL;DR, it's a unique winged lion mount purchaseable from the Blizzard shop. We did cover Fire Hawk before as part of 'Druid of the Flame' in Blackrock Mountain, but I decided to talk about it a bit more.
Elementals
Fire Hawk: Introduced in Cataclysm, fire hawks are elementals that resemble skeletal birds on fire that are native to the Firelands, the elemental plane of fire. Fire hawks behave similarly to birds, making nests and laying eggs, but are otherwise elemental creatures. Notably, the treacherous green dragon Alysra was transformed by the powers of the Firelands into a fire hawk, indicating that apparently other creatures -- or at least dragons -- are able to be transformed into these skeletal fire-birds. Druids of the flame also transform into fire hawks when they shapeshift, while Azerothian adventurers have claimed some fire hawks for use as mounts. . Notably, Descent of Dragons' Fire Hawk art have placed armour chunks around the fire hawk's torso.
Violet Spellwing: The Violet Spellwing is a flying mount introduced in Legion, awarded as part of an achievement to players that were able to kill Argus the Unmaker in the Antorus raid on heroic difficulty. The Kirin Tor's Council of Six would gift these great adventurers with the Violet Spellwing, seemingly a massive bird made out of mana.
Elementals in this expansion that's original to Hearthstone: Living Dragonbreath, Hailbringer, Arcane Amplifier, Animated Avalanche, Mana Giant, plus all of these uncollectible tokens: Snow Elemental, Stormblocker, Brewing Storm, Living Storm, Raging Storm and Windswept Elemental.
Mechs & Murlocs
The Sky Claw is a mount that was supposed to be added to WoW during the Mists of Pandaria expansion, appearing as a craftable mount via the Engineering profession. However, due to unspecified issues with how the Sky Claw was animated, the Sky Claw mount was removed after the 5.2.0 patch PTR (basically a beta for WoW patches) and was essentially replaced with a Sky Golem mount.
Gyrocopters first showed up in Warcraft history in Warcraft III, as a gnomish-made, dwarven-piloted helicopter unit that, while rickety and fragile, are able to move very quickly through terrain and launch cannons and bombs. Gyrocopters were utilized for the majority of the Third War, up until the events of Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne, where they were replaced with the upgraded dual-rotor Flying Machines (we covered Flying Machines in GvG). In World of Warcraft, the term 'Gyrocopter' and 'Flying Machine' basically became interchangeable for any vehicle with rotor blades created b the gnomes -- indeed, the Hearthstone art uses a WoW Gyrocopter/Flying Machine model as its basis.
The name is the same, but while the Skybarge in Hearthstone is a flying ship with a dragon's head mast and approximately 80% cannons by surfaec volume, it shares its name with the modified zeppelins used by the undead Scourge in Warcraft III used to transport ground troops.
The Shotbot, Chopshop Copter, Microcopter and Camouflaged Dirigible are all original to Hearthstone. Depth Charges aren't an ability or enemy in WoW, but depth charges in general have been utilized over the various conflicts in Azeroth. Hot Air Balloons in a general sense show up a fair bit in World of Warcraft as a transportation device, particularly used in goblin and pandaren areas, but none that resemble the crazy contraption seen in the Hearthstone card.
Murlocs introduced in this expansion are all original to Hearthstone: Tasty Flyfish, plus the half-dragon, half-murloc Skyfin. Skyfins do share their name with a group of mana rays in World of Warcraft.
WEAPONS:
The Fist of Ra-den
The Fist of Ra-den were the mighty gauntlets created by the Titan Highfather Aman'thul, and gifted to one of his most prized creations, the Titanic Watcher, Highkeeper Ra, who wielded the powers of the Fist during the ancient war against the Black Empire and its Old God masters. Later on, during the period where the Titans left Azeroth, the to-be-Thuunder-King of the Mogu Lei Shen confronted Highkeeper Ra and stole the power of the Titan Aman'thul from Ra. Lei Shen also stole two of the mighty titanic artifacts that Ra had -- the Fist of Ra-den and the Highkeeper's Ward. However, while Lei Shen was able to wield the purloined powers from the Highkeeper, he was unable to master or utilize the two titanic artifacts. After Lei Shen's first death in an attempt to steal the Titanic weapons from Uldum, the Fist of Ra-den was presumed lost to history.
Throughout the milennia, the Fist of Ra-den was presumed lost until the events of Legion. The tiger August Celestial Xuen had discovered the Fist of Ra-den with the aid of a group of Shado-pan operatives. Xuen, recognizing the danger that the Fist would cause in the wrong hands, safeguarded the immensely powerful artifact until someone worthy could take up the weapon in a righteous cause. Such a worthy person would appear as one of Azeroth's greatest heroes, a Shaman from the elemental specialization, arrived and proved their worth to Xuen. Thus granted the Fist of Ra-den and its twin, the Highkeeper's Ward, the Fist of Ra-den became one of the many artifacts utilized during the fight against the Burning Legion.
The Stormhammer isn't the name of a specific weapon, but rather a type of electrically-charged weapons favoured by the gryphon-riding Wildhammer dwarves. Utilized in both the Second and Third Wars, the Stormhammers were forged inside the enchanted aviaries located within each Gryphon Aviary, and had magical enhancements that allowed them to return back to the hands of their wielder once tossed at an enemy. In Warcraft III, "Storm Hammer" is a research perk that players could research in Gryphon Aviaries to allow their Gryphon Rider units to hit multiple ground targets with a single strike. Several minor weapons called 'Stormhammer', based on the Wildhammers' Stormhammers, have existed both as loot and as equippable weapons in WoW.
The legendary warrior weapon Ancharrr, as well as Ritual Chopper and Dragon's Claw weapons are all original to Hearthstone.
SPELLS
As with the past couple of expansions, practically almost every spell in Descent of Dragons are original to Hearthstone, with a lot of them playing on the whole 'air battle' theme. Many of the cards basically depict the battle between the League of Explorers against the League of E.V.I.L.
The side-quests aren't exactly a term in World of Warcraft (all quests are just 'quests') but it is a term in the general gaming and role-playing community at large to refer to quests that don't exactly feed into the main storyline of the game.
The Paladin spell Sanctuary shares its name with the now-removed Paladin Talent "Sanctuary", a passive ability of Protection-specialty Paladins. It's a defensive passive ability that basically increases the paladin's ability to dodge and block attacks. It was relatively recently removed in the Legion expansion, which added a talent with the same name for Priests -- which is basically a passive buff to the Priest's Smite ability.
The Warlock spell Rain of Fire is based on a WoW Warlock spell that has been around since the original vanilla version of WoW, an area of effect spell where the Warlock channels the power of the Twisting Nether to summon a rain of green flaming meteors. A similarly-named ability is also available to the Doomguard minions that Warlocks can summon. Both the Pit Lord hero unit and the Doom Guard unit in Warcraft III had access to the spell 'Rain of Fire' as well, which, well, summoned meteors over a period of time on an area.
Both Dark Skies and Rising Winds share their names with artifact traits for the Windwalker-specialty Monk artifact Fist of the Heavens in Legion, but we'll chalk that up to coincidence. Eye of the Storm also shares its name with a 15-v-15 PvP battlegrounds above the Netherstorm region introduced in Burning Crusade, which, again, we'll chalk up to coincidence.
The 'dragon breath' spells (Breath of Dreams; Corrosive Breath; Arcane Breath; Sand Breath; Breath of the Infinite; Candle Breath; Lightning Breath; Nether Breath; Molten Breath) are a reference to how dragons in World of Warcraft (and indeed most other RPG-inspired media) how dragons are able to unleash specific, thematic breath weapons. If they had any real equivalent in WoW, it'd be the breath weapons used by enemy dragons. Breath of Dreams, Arcane Breath and Sand Breath are respectively representing the specific unique breath attacks done by the green, blue and bronze dragonflights. Lightning Breath shares its name with a (now-removed, circa BoA) ability in World of Warcraft's pet battles, unique to wind-serpent type pets.
The following spells are all original to Hearthstone: Embiggen; Secure the Deck; Treenforcements; Aeroponics; Rising Winds; Strength in Numbers; Clear the Way; Toxic Reinforcements; Fresh Scent; Learn Draconic; Elemental Allies; Rolling Fireball; Righteous Cause; Air Raid; Whispers of EVIL; Grave Rune; Time Rip; Dark Prophecy; Praise Galakrond; Dragon's Hoard; Seal Fate; Waxmancy; Invocation of Frost; Dragon's Pack; Explosive Evolution; Eye of the Storm; Fiendish Rites; Dark Skies; Twisted Knowledge; Awaken!; Ramming Speed; Boom Squad.
Dragonrider Talritha
Dragonrider Talritha is original to Hearthstone, seemingly a Forsaken Paladin who's also serving the Dragonflights in Wyrmrest Temple. I don't think any undead, Forsaken or otherwise, have been seen in Wyrmrest Temple or in the vicinity of the good Dragonflights. Talritha participated in two battles during the events of Galakrond's Awakening, first facing off and driving away High Cultist Dawnshatter and gleaning the information of E.V.I.L.'s plans and informing the Dragonflights; and later on facing against Waxadred during the attempt to retake Dalaran, but was apparently routed by the wax dragon.
Goru the Mightree
Goru the Mightree is a gigantic one-armed Ancient that has seemingly joined the fight on the side of the Explorers against the League of E.V.I.L. He is original to Hearthstone, and seems to be a bit of a homage to Marvel character Groot due to the fact that, like, Groot, all Goru is able to say is variations of his name.
Waxadred
Waxadred is, obviously, original to Hearthstone, a bizarre dragon created out of wax seemingly by King Togwaggle. How Togwaggle is able to accopmlish this is unknown, but presumably the magical capabilities of Togwaggle's fellow EVIL buddies helped to bring this waxen abomination to reality. Waxadred is capable of speech and thought, and even participated in battle against some of EVIL's foes, facing and routing Dragonrider Talritha during the final fight in Dalaran.
Flik Skyshiv
Flik Skyshiv is original to Hearthstone. Presumably, she is one of the many lackeys that joined under E.V.I.L.'s banner, and, being a kobold, likely is one of Togwaggle's minions.
Bandersmosh
Bandersmosh is original to Hearthstone, a member of the bizarre 'Muckling' creatures that are associated with Hagatha and appeared several times in The Witchwood, Rise of Shadows and Saviors of Uldum. Like the Shudderwock, "Bandersmosh" is a homage to Lewis Carroll's poem Jabberwocky, a corruption of the creature Bandersnatch in that poem.
Valdris Felgorge
Valdris Felgorge is unique to Hearthstone, and... there's not much lore to him. Presumably he's original to Hearthstone? Valdris Felgorge is a "Felblood" elf, a group of blood elves that have been mutated even further by continued exposure to demonic energies, bleaching their skin red, turning their eyes green, their skin marked with demonic runes and causing them to even grow demonic horns. They are equivalent to the Fel Orcs that serve the Burning Legion in Outland. Felblood elves were mostly followers of Kael'thas Sunstrider who did not abandon the mad prince alongside most of the blood elf people, and these felblood elves have gorged so much on the gifts given to them by Kael'thas's demonic masters for days that they have been transformed and twisted.
Frizz Kindleroost
Frizz Kindleroost is original to Hearthstone, one of the many goblin henchmen under the employ of E.V.I.L. and presumably one of Dr. Boom's minions. As her name, her summon quoets and card effects indicates, Frizz is using some cobbled-together artificial incubator in order to quickly get dragon eggs to hatch to fight for E.V.I.L.
Grand Lackey Erkh
Grand Lackey Erkh is a female Ethereal member of E.V.I.L, and is original to Hearthstone. Presumably, she's the organizer of all Lackeys under their employ? Intersetingly, she seems to have some aspects of most of E.V.I.L.'s primary leaders -- she's an Ethereal like Rafaam; she's got bombs on her belt representing Dr. Boom, candles on her shoulders representing Togwaggle, and a lantern representing Hagatha. Only Lazul is left out.
Kronx Dragonhoof
Original to Hearthstone, Kronx Dragonhoof is an insane Tauren and one of the most devout of the members of Galakrond's cult that have aided E.V.I.L. in their attempt to bring back their dread master. While chafing under the leadership of the insane, egomaniacal Rafaam, Kronx assisted E.V.I.L. in fighting against a group of banded senior explorers and drove them away by channeling the invoked power of Galakrond during the fight. What happened to Kronx afterwards is not known, though.
Avalanchan
Avalanchan is a boss in the Galakrond's Awakening story mode, also represented as a collectible card in "Animated Avalanche". He is a massive snow elemental awakened by Madame Lazul and sent to menace the League of Explorers, being particularly massive that he's basically an avalanche unto himself. He's original to Hearthstone, though -- all ice or snow themed elementals in World of Warcraft are basically recoloured versions of the earth elemental or revenant models.
High Cultist Dawnshatter
One of the bosses in the adventure mode and represented as a collectible card as "Cleric of Scales", High Cultist Dawnshatter is a member of Galakrond's insane cult that faces off against Dragonrider Talritha during the events of Galakrond's Awakening. She has awesomely impractical but badass-looking giant dragon-horn accessories. She's original to Hearthstone.
Dragoncaster Askaara
Yet another one that's original to Hearthstone, Dragoncaster Askaara shares her card art with the collectible "Dragoncaster". She is a draenei dragon-rider who faces off against the King Togwaggle riding atop his candle-dragon mount Waxadred, and is completely baffled by Togwaggle's kobold-speech.
Rotwing
Rotwing, also represented as a collectible card as "Rotnest Drake", is a proto-drake that was initially loyal to E.V.I.L, but engaged Brann Bronzebeard in battle and apparently turned into a mount. Unlike most proto-dragons, Rotwing is capable of speech. The closest analogue to Rotwing and the Rotnest Drakes in World of Warcraft are the Plagued Proto-Drakes, which are proto-drakes that are transformed and mutated into plague-spreading creatures thanks to the corruption of the Scourge's Blight. They were the target of the destruction in Wrath of the Lich King, where they were employed by Frost Vrykul members of the Scourge who rode them into battle. Like most other proto-drakes (and Brann!) players are able to earn them as mounts, albeit it's a bit of a harder thing to do nowadays.
Dragonslayer Skruk
We've talked about Gronns before when we talked about Gruul in the past and how Gronns do have a penchant to hunt down dragons. Skruk is original to Hearthstone, and is apparently frozen deep beneath the icy wastes of Northrend until awakened by Madame Lazul. Skruk apparently shot down many of the Explorers-allied dragons before finally being slain by Chromie and her awesome time-warping abilities. How a Gronn ended up showing up in Northrend of all places considering they are native to Draenor/Outland is a mystery for another time, it seems.
The Slipstream & The Wanderer
The Slipstream and the Wanderer are two airships that are original to Hearthstone. Not much to say here, other than the fact that airships have been utilized in war since Warcraft III, and was especially prominent in Wrath of the Lich King. The Slipstream is piloted by Captain Eudora, a vulpera pirate captain that was recruited by E.V.I.L. and was one of the nine primary lackeys that led the assault on Dalaran.
George and Karl
The story of George and Karl has finally reached what I presume to be its conclusion! Originally a fun joke in the flavour texts for Journey to Un'Goro (specifically in 'Vinecleaver' and 'Lost in the Jungle') as two Silver Hand Recruits that nearly fell prey to the hazards of the valley, George and Karl appeared as a boss in the Dungeon Run in Kobolds & Catacombs, where they apparently wandered into after Un'Goro Valley. Facing off against adventurers and kobolds alike, George and Karl were separated, and George went insane after thinking that Karl had died in the catacombs, eventually being recruited by E.V.I.L. and turning into "George the Fallen", the paladin representative amongst E.V.I.L.'s lackeys during the Rise of Shadows' Heist on Dalaran. Karl, however, actually survived, and was one of the collectible special cards during the League of Explorers' storyline during Saviors of Uldum's Tombs of Terror, assisting Sir Finley and the rest of the League of Explorers in their fight against the Plague Lords. And finally, in Galakrond's Awakening, Karl finally confronted George, happy to see that his friend is alive, and proceeded to beat some sense into his deranged friend before George is finally redeemed and returned back as a paladin of the light. Huzzah! It's kind of a shame that Rakanishu beat them up almost immediately afterwards, though.
United Sr. Explorers
A quartet of four explorers that fought Kronx Dragonhoof, the United Sr. Explorers are the four unnamed senior explorers that the player can unlock (first as "junior" versions of their title) and subsequently upgrade during the playthrough of Saviors of Uldum's Tombs of Terror storyline. The dwarf on the lower left is the Sr. Excavator, who you unlock for the Brann Bronzebeard hero. The night elf on the upper left is the Sr. Navigator, associated with Elise Starseeker. The human on the upper right is the Sr. Tomb Diver, buddies with Reno Jckson. And the gnome on the lower right is the Sr. Scout, who fights evil with Sir Finley.
Click below for the rest of the expansion!
NON-LEGENDARY MINIONS:
DRAGONS!
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| Squallhunter |
The Squallhunter are the name of Nithogg's brood of renegade storm drakes, all of them residing in Stormheim and terrorizing the people in the island, and they kill both their own kin and other races with no mercy. Many are the targets of quests given to adventurers by the Thorignir storm drakes as well as other residents of Stormheim. No specific mob called just a 'Squallhunter' exists, but all six different mobs of Nithogg's brood all have the title "Squallhunter" somewhere, like the Adult Squallhunter, Rampaging Squallhunter, Alpha Squallhunter, et cetera.While it's also a term for the race as a whole, Storm Drake shares its name with a specific level 101-110 mob in the Halls of Valor.
Nether Drakes are, well, 'drake' members of the Netherwing Dragonflight, which we covered in Zzeraku's entry up above. The term "Nether Drake" was first applied to these mysterious shadowy dragons in Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne, where the Nether Drakes showed up as some of the 'neutral creeps' in Outland. In Burning Crusade, the full story of the Netherwing Flight was expanded upon. The specific mob called a "Nether Drake" are level 68-69 mobs on the Celestial Ridge of the Netherstorm, and they will either be friendly or hostile depending on your character's reputation with the Netherwing Dragonflight faction.  |
| Nether Drake |
The Evasive Feywing's title is original to Hearthstone (although WoW has an Enchanted Feywing as flight-master mounts in Warlords of Draenor), but the artwork depicts a Giant Faerie Dragon, seen in the alternate-universe Draenor in Warlords of Draenor, where the Draenei of this alternate universe ride around in gigantic faerie dragons. Draenor's Faerie Dragons have far more bat-like/dragon-like wings and a more pronounced lizard-like head and stumpier limbs, compared to the butterfly wings, amphibian head, prominent spinal ridges and far lankier limbs of the Azerothian Faerie Dragons.
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| Draenor Faerie Dragon |
Obviously, the Emerald Explorer, Primordial Explorer, Azure Explorer and Bronze Explorer are all original to Hearthstone, being respectively a green dragon, a green proto-drake, an adorable blue dragon whelp and a bronze dragon whelp who are all dressed up in explorer outfits.
These are all dragons, but are all titles original to Hearthstone: Amber Watcher (a bronze dragon), Crazed Netherwing (a nether dragon), Scion of Ruin (a black dragon with the same 'magma in the body' look that Deathwing has), Big Ol' Whelp (a big ol' bronze whelp), Evasive Drakonid (a blue drakonid, and an unseen-in-WoW female drakonid), Evasive Wyrm (a red dragon), Twin Tyrant (a drakeadon like Chromaggus), Cobalt Spellkin (a blue dragonspawn, also an unseen-in-WoW female variant), Rotnest Drake (a plague-corrupted proto-drake) and Scalelord (a bronze dragon).
HUMANOIDS!
The Lightforged Zealot and Lightforged Crusader are both original to Hearthstone, but are among our first examples of the Lightforged Draenei race -- recently made playable as an allied race in Battle for Azeroth, Lightforged Draenei are members of the Army of the Light, a group of holy draenei who devote themselves to the Light to battle the Burning Legion throughout the Twisting Nether. Those Draenei that become Lightforged undergo a ritual to infuse their very bodies with the Holy Light, most distinguished from regular Draenei by their eyes that glow with the holy yellow glow of the Holy Light, as well as white hair and marble-like skin. After the Burning Legion's defeat, the Lightforged have pledged their loyalty to the Alliance and joined them in fighting their foes. During the events of Battle for Azeroth, a decent amount of Draenei are also transformed into Lightforged via the Forge of Aeons, which reinforces a Draenei's body, soul and mind with the power of the Holy Light.
Troll Batrider is a Warcraft III unit added with the Frozen Throne expansion for the Orcish Horde, depicting a Darkspear Troll riding a gigantic bat, unleashing liquid fire upon the enemies below. Troll Batriders are able to utilize their ability 'unstable concoction' to basically go out as a suicide bomber, dying in a massive blaze of glory for the Horde. In World of Warcraft, Bat Riders (usually parsed as two words) appear among troll and forsaken members of the Horde, serving both as defenders and guards of towns as well as travel flight-masters.
Faceless Corruptor: The term 'Faceless Corruptor' has been used for mutliple different Faceless One enemies in World of Warcraft's history. In Cataclysm, Faceless Corruptors were level 85 enemies that assisted the mighty C'thrax general Erudax, Duke of Below. While adventurers fought Erudax, the Faceless Corruptors would appear and would attempt to corrupt Alexstrasza's eggs to turn them into twilight dragons. A group of gigantic aquatic-variant Faceless Corruptors were enemies who attacked Wyrmrest Temple in the Dragon Soul raid in Cataclysm. Two different mobs called Faceless Corruptor showed up in Battle for Azeroth, one appearing as level 110-120 mobs in the swamps Nazmir, and the second one being level 111-121 mobs in the Underrot dungeon, encountered in the final part of the dungeon.
Envoy of Lazul: The Envoy of Lazul is a Merciless One, also known as Zoatroids, which are octopus-like parasitic creatures created by the Old Gods and utilized by the Naga and Faceless ONes to essentially mind-control lesser beings. They attach themselves to the heads (and sometimes just straight-up devour) of sentient beings to enslave them. They are primarily seen in Cataclysm in the underwater regions of Vashj'ir, assisting the naga and n'raqi, and are rarely seen afterwards until Battle for Azeroth, where a large amount of Merciless Ones are utilized by the naga queen Azshara and her dread master N'Zoth during the Nazjatar storyline.
Utgarde Grapplesniper is a member who is a member of the Dragonflayer Clan, a clan of Vrykuls loyal to the Lich King that are based in Utgarde Keep, led by the slumbering King Ymiron. While the Vrykuls in Wrath of the Lich King are fanatics that are determined to prove their worth to be conscripted into the undead armies of the Lich King, after the fall of the Lich King many of the fanatical Vrykul of Northrend have been wiped out by the Alliance/Horde efforts. Whether this one is hanging out with E.V.I.L. or the League of Explorers is a bit more ambiguous, though.Dragonmaw Poacher: The title 'Dragonmaw Poacher' is original, but the Dragonmaw Poacher is clearly a member of the Dragonmaw Tribe. One of the nine original orc tribes that formed the first Horde, the Dragonmaw Tribe was led by the cruel shaman Zuluhed the Whacked, and was particularly prominent during the events of the Second War, where, with the machinations of the black dragon Deathwing (disguised as an orc shaman) and the artifact Demon Soul, the Dragonmaw Tribe was able to capture the mighty Dragon Queen Alexstrasza and hold her captive in Grim Batol, forcing her young to serve the Dragonmaw Tribe as mounts that would give the Horde air superiority during the Second War. Efforts of agents of the Alliance and the various dragonflights led to the downfall of the Dragonmaw Tribe when Alexstrasza was freed and Deathwing was defeated, however. The survivors fled into the nearby Wetlands and clashed with the local Wildhammer dwarves, while Zuluhed fled to Outland to serve Illidan Stormrage and used their dragon-taming techniques to enslave nether dragons. The rest of the Dragonmaw Clan would be recruited by Garrosh Hellscream into the New Horde during Cataclysm, although they, under leadership of Warlord Zaela, are proponents of the old ways and staunchly supported Garrosh even during the Siege of Orgrimmar, and even allied themselves with the dimension-hopping Iron Horde. A small group of Dragonmaw representatives led by Gorfax Angerfang remains loyal to the Horde.
Zul'drak Ritualist: While the title 'Zul'drak Ritualist' is original to Hearthstone, we've covered Zul'drak before in Knights of the Frozen Throne, a temple city inhabited by the Drakkari ice trolls, and the location of a raid in Wrath of the Lich King. The Drakkari of Zul'drak, in desperation, killed and consumed their own Loa gods in an attempt to strengthen themselves.
The following are minions that are original to Hearthstone, and are, from their looks, aligned with the League of Explorers and assorted allies: Shrubadier, Dwarven Sharpshooter, Dragoncaster, Stowaway, Blazing Battlemage, Dragon Breeder, Grizzled Wizard, Wyrmrest Purifier, Blowtorch Saboteur, Scalerider, Platebreaker, Licensed Adventurer and Skydiving Instructor. The following are minions that are original to Hearthstone and are member of E.V.I.L. and the Cult of Galakrond from their very obvious appearance of either the EVIL badge or the big-ass horn accessories that the Galakrond cultists wear: Disciple of Galakrond, Umbral Skulker, Necrium Apothecary, Corrupt Elementalist, Abyssal Summoner, Dragonblight Cultist, Veiled Worshipper, EVIL Quartermaster, Sky Raider, Transmogrifier, Goboglide Tech, Devoted Maniac, Shield of Galakrond, Tentacled Menace, Draconic Lackey, Cleric of Scales, Shadow Sculptor, Bomb Wrangler and Boompistol Bully.
The following are pirates! I'm not sure which side they're on because, well, pirates, muddied a bit more because Captain Eudora is aligned with E.V.I.L. and pirates are nominally villains, but Kragg is apparently allied with the Explorers? Eh? Some, like the Sky Raider, do have EVIL insignia so I grouped them above. Anyway: Bloodsail Flybooter, Parachute Brigand, Hoard Pillager, Kobold Stickyfinger, Risky Skipper and Skyvateer.
Demons
Frenzied Felwing: The Frenzied Felwing is a Felbat, a race of winged, bat-like demons that was first introduced in Legion, arriving en-masse when Gul'dan opened the gateway to the Burning Legion in the Broken Isles. Felbats are not particularly intelligent, and are used by the Burning Legion either to swarm the enemy or as mounts ridden by their soldiers. The Felbats are also employed by the Illidari Demon Hunters as mounts. The Felbats apparently breed very rapidly, and their young resembled normal bats without the gangly arms and humanoid torsos the adults have. No specific Felbat mob is called 'Frenzied Felwing', although several do use the adjectives 'Frenzied' or 'Felwing'.
Fiendish Servant: The Fiendish Servant is a Wyrmtongue, yet another type of demon newly introduced in Legion. Wyrmtongues are a race of tiny demons with massive horns that serve as laborers and porters, bringing around books and other objects lashed onto their back. The Fiendish Servant in particular is apparently one that's doing some work for Dr. Boom, hauling around a massive sack of explosives. The Chaos Gazer has an identical name to level 71 Observers that are located in the Sunwell Plateau raid in Burning Crusade where agents loyal to Kael'thas Sunstrider are attempting to open a portal to summon the leader of the Burning Legion, Kil'jaeden. Many demons, the Chaos Gazers among them, are summoned during this period.
The Draconic Imp is an imp variant original to Hearthstone.
Beasts
Dread Raven: Dread ravens are a species of giant raven-like birds that are native to Draenor, venerated by the Arakkoa as children of the Raven God Anzu. The flightless Arakkoa outcasts who worship the Raven God Anzu also venerate these mighty dread ravens, which are territorial and will attack any who approach the Spires of Anzu. While all but extinct in the prime timeline when Draenor was turned into Outland, during the events of Warlords of Draenor, the alternate-timeline Draenor's dread raven population flourished a lot. The Dread Raven itself is notable as the bonus mount from the digital deluxe edition of Warlords of Draenor, which is the specific dread raven with head ornaments that Hearthstone's artwork is emulating.
Evasive Chimaera: The two-headed Chimaera first appeared in Warcraft III as gigantic, two-headed two-tailed dragon-esque beasts that were native to Ashenvale, and are among the many denizens of Kalimdor who assisted the Night Elves during the Third War, trained in the Chimaera Roost and are among the mightiest among the night elven forces, having developed an emphatic bond with the night elven people despite their hostile territoriality. Their corrosive breath allows them to deal additional damage to buildings. In World of Warcraft, the Chimaera native to Azeroth resembled more of a mix between dragon and wyvern or lion, perhaps to better communicate that these are beasts that merely resemble dragons. When adventurers entered Outland in Burning Crusade, they discovered that Outland has their own type of Chimarea, although the Outland Chimaera are far more sleek, covered with some sort of hard armour and having far more reptilian features. The Evasive Chimaera in Hearthstone is an Outland Chimaera.
Diving Gryphon: We haven't really had a gryphon minion in Hearthstone before, huh? Gryphons (also 'griffins') are half-lion, half-eagle beasts that are native to the Aerie Peaks, and have long bonded to the Wildhammer dwarves that lived there. Intelligent and cunning, the gryphons have since became an inseparable part of Wildhammer culture. During the Second and Third Wars, the Gryphon Riders are instrumental as part of the Alliance in establishing air superiority against the Horde, Scourge and Burning Legion. In addition to serving as mounts, gryphons are extremely fierce in combat to those it does not recognize as its master. Trained from young by the Wildhammer dwarves, gryphons have since been introduced to other races of the Alliance, although they are mostly ridden by other dwarves and humans. Grypons in particular have became the favoured flight service in Stormwind and the areas around it. In addition to the many domesticated gryphons bred in specialied aviaries, wild gryphons populate many parts of Azeroth.
Hippogryph: While at a glance looking similar to the Gryphons, the Hippogryphs (sometimes Windgryph) are a different breed, a mixture of stag and raven features. They first appeared in Warcraft III as part of the Night Elf army, being trained by the Ancient of Wind. They are airborne units that can savagely attack other air units, and can pick up night elven Archers to form the Hippogryph Rider unit. Native to Kalimdor, Hippogryphs are highly territorial and viciously attack any enemy of the wilds, and legend has it that they were created by the demigod Cenarius himself as a gift to the night elves. Hippogryphs are highly intelligent, and moreso than any other beasts, will only allow those it trusts to ride it into battle. While exclusively used by the night elves during the Third War, by the time of WoW, they have grown to be used by other races of the Alliance, with the Argent Crusade, Gilneans and Draenei utilizing hippogryphs as well. A far more feathered variant was seen more often in Legion, and it's this later-model Hippogryph that Hearthstone's artwork draws from.
Phase Stalker: The Phase Stalker is a Warp Stalker, which we previously saw in Hearthstone as a Rumble Run exclusive minion. The Warp Stalkers are lizard-like creatures introduced in Burning Crusade, native to Outland, having been mutated from chameleon-like lizard by the fel energies that permeate Outland. Mostly gathering in Terokkar Forest and the Netherstorm, the warp stalkers are able to utilize their ability to phase in and out of the physical and astral dimensions, 'warping' and teleporting in and out of sight to stalk their prey. These strange creatures are able to be tamed by experienced hunters, who can train them to even slow down time around an enemy.
Bad Luck Albatross: Albatrosses first appeared as critters in Warcraft III, showing up and not having any attacking capabilities. Albatrosses would show up as collectible pets in Legion, although they share the same model with seagulls. The flavour text for the Albatross Chick pet in Legion emphasize how sailors view harming albatrosses will bring bad luck for their voyage. Albatrosses would show up in Battle for Azeroth, particularly in Kul Tiras, with a new model and acted as enemies.
Escaped Manasaber: Manasabers are introduced in Legion, and are a type of unique saber cat native to Suramar of the Broken Isles, where they have apparently been altered by either the Nightborne elves that lived in Suramar, or simple exposure to ley-lines. Manasabers are distinguished by other saber cats that populate Azeroth by the magical, glowing runes that mark their body. They are the favoured pets and mounts of the Nightborne, equivalent to the Nightsabers of the Night Elves.
Beasts of types that we've covered before, and are otherwise original to Hearthstone: Steel Beetle, plus we covered Winged Guardian who showed up in Saviors of Uldum as a boss. TL;DR, it's a unique winged lion mount purchaseable from the Blizzard shop. We did cover Fire Hawk before as part of 'Druid of the Flame' in Blackrock Mountain, but I decided to talk about it a bit more.
Elementals
Fire Hawk: Introduced in Cataclysm, fire hawks are elementals that resemble skeletal birds on fire that are native to the Firelands, the elemental plane of fire. Fire hawks behave similarly to birds, making nests and laying eggs, but are otherwise elemental creatures. Notably, the treacherous green dragon Alysra was transformed by the powers of the Firelands into a fire hawk, indicating that apparently other creatures -- or at least dragons -- are able to be transformed into these skeletal fire-birds. Druids of the flame also transform into fire hawks when they shapeshift, while Azerothian adventurers have claimed some fire hawks for use as mounts. . Notably, Descent of Dragons' Fire Hawk art have placed armour chunks around the fire hawk's torso.
Violet Spellwing: The Violet Spellwing is a flying mount introduced in Legion, awarded as part of an achievement to players that were able to kill Argus the Unmaker in the Antorus raid on heroic difficulty. The Kirin Tor's Council of Six would gift these great adventurers with the Violet Spellwing, seemingly a massive bird made out of mana.
Elementals in this expansion that's original to Hearthstone: Living Dragonbreath, Hailbringer, Arcane Amplifier, Animated Avalanche, Mana Giant, plus all of these uncollectible tokens: Snow Elemental, Stormblocker, Brewing Storm, Living Storm, Raging Storm and Windswept Elemental.
Mechs & Murlocs
The Sky Claw is a mount that was supposed to be added to WoW during the Mists of Pandaria expansion, appearing as a craftable mount via the Engineering profession. However, due to unspecified issues with how the Sky Claw was animated, the Sky Claw mount was removed after the 5.2.0 patch PTR (basically a beta for WoW patches) and was essentially replaced with a Sky Golem mount.
Gyrocopters first showed up in Warcraft history in Warcraft III, as a gnomish-made, dwarven-piloted helicopter unit that, while rickety and fragile, are able to move very quickly through terrain and launch cannons and bombs. Gyrocopters were utilized for the majority of the Third War, up until the events of Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne, where they were replaced with the upgraded dual-rotor Flying Machines (we covered Flying Machines in GvG). In World of Warcraft, the term 'Gyrocopter' and 'Flying Machine' basically became interchangeable for any vehicle with rotor blades created b the gnomes -- indeed, the Hearthstone art uses a WoW Gyrocopter/Flying Machine model as its basis.
The name is the same, but while the Skybarge in Hearthstone is a flying ship with a dragon's head mast and approximately 80% cannons by surfaec volume, it shares its name with the modified zeppelins used by the undead Scourge in Warcraft III used to transport ground troops.The Shotbot, Chopshop Copter, Microcopter and Camouflaged Dirigible are all original to Hearthstone. Depth Charges aren't an ability or enemy in WoW, but depth charges in general have been utilized over the various conflicts in Azeroth. Hot Air Balloons in a general sense show up a fair bit in World of Warcraft as a transportation device, particularly used in goblin and pandaren areas, but none that resemble the crazy contraption seen in the Hearthstone card.
Murlocs introduced in this expansion are all original to Hearthstone: Tasty Flyfish, plus the half-dragon, half-murloc Skyfin. Skyfins do share their name with a group of mana rays in World of Warcraft.
WEAPONS:
The Fist of Ra-den
The Fist of Ra-den were the mighty gauntlets created by the Titan Highfather Aman'thul, and gifted to one of his most prized creations, the Titanic Watcher, Highkeeper Ra, who wielded the powers of the Fist during the ancient war against the Black Empire and its Old God masters. Later on, during the period where the Titans left Azeroth, the to-be-Thuunder-King of the Mogu Lei Shen confronted Highkeeper Ra and stole the power of the Titan Aman'thul from Ra. Lei Shen also stole two of the mighty titanic artifacts that Ra had -- the Fist of Ra-den and the Highkeeper's Ward. However, while Lei Shen was able to wield the purloined powers from the Highkeeper, he was unable to master or utilize the two titanic artifacts. After Lei Shen's first death in an attempt to steal the Titanic weapons from Uldum, the Fist of Ra-den was presumed lost to history.
Throughout the milennia, the Fist of Ra-den was presumed lost until the events of Legion. The tiger August Celestial Xuen had discovered the Fist of Ra-den with the aid of a group of Shado-pan operatives. Xuen, recognizing the danger that the Fist would cause in the wrong hands, safeguarded the immensely powerful artifact until someone worthy could take up the weapon in a righteous cause. Such a worthy person would appear as one of Azeroth's greatest heroes, a Shaman from the elemental specialization, arrived and proved their worth to Xuen. Thus granted the Fist of Ra-den and its twin, the Highkeeper's Ward, the Fist of Ra-den became one of the many artifacts utilized during the fight against the Burning Legion.
The Stormhammer isn't the name of a specific weapon, but rather a type of electrically-charged weapons favoured by the gryphon-riding Wildhammer dwarves. Utilized in both the Second and Third Wars, the Stormhammers were forged inside the enchanted aviaries located within each Gryphon Aviary, and had magical enhancements that allowed them to return back to the hands of their wielder once tossed at an enemy. In Warcraft III, "Storm Hammer" is a research perk that players could research in Gryphon Aviaries to allow their Gryphon Rider units to hit multiple ground targets with a single strike. Several minor weapons called 'Stormhammer', based on the Wildhammers' Stormhammers, have existed both as loot and as equippable weapons in WoW.
The legendary warrior weapon Ancharrr, as well as Ritual Chopper and Dragon's Claw weapons are all original to Hearthstone.
SPELLS
As with the past couple of expansions, practically almost every spell in Descent of Dragons are original to Hearthstone, with a lot of them playing on the whole 'air battle' theme. Many of the cards basically depict the battle between the League of Explorers against the League of E.V.I.L. The side-quests aren't exactly a term in World of Warcraft (all quests are just 'quests') but it is a term in the general gaming and role-playing community at large to refer to quests that don't exactly feed into the main storyline of the game.
The Paladin spell Sanctuary shares its name with the now-removed Paladin Talent "Sanctuary", a passive ability of Protection-specialty Paladins. It's a defensive passive ability that basically increases the paladin's ability to dodge and block attacks. It was relatively recently removed in the Legion expansion, which added a talent with the same name for Priests -- which is basically a passive buff to the Priest's Smite ability.
The Warlock spell Rain of Fire is based on a WoW Warlock spell that has been around since the original vanilla version of WoW, an area of effect spell where the Warlock channels the power of the Twisting Nether to summon a rain of green flaming meteors. A similarly-named ability is also available to the Doomguard minions that Warlocks can summon. Both the Pit Lord hero unit and the Doom Guard unit in Warcraft III had access to the spell 'Rain of Fire' as well, which, well, summoned meteors over a period of time on an area.Both Dark Skies and Rising Winds share their names with artifact traits for the Windwalker-specialty Monk artifact Fist of the Heavens in Legion, but we'll chalk that up to coincidence. Eye of the Storm also shares its name with a 15-v-15 PvP battlegrounds above the Netherstorm region introduced in Burning Crusade, which, again, we'll chalk up to coincidence.
The 'dragon breath' spells (Breath of Dreams; Corrosive Breath; Arcane Breath; Sand Breath; Breath of the Infinite; Candle Breath; Lightning Breath; Nether Breath; Molten Breath) are a reference to how dragons in World of Warcraft (and indeed most other RPG-inspired media) how dragons are able to unleash specific, thematic breath weapons. If they had any real equivalent in WoW, it'd be the breath weapons used by enemy dragons. Breath of Dreams, Arcane Breath and Sand Breath are respectively representing the specific unique breath attacks done by the green, blue and bronze dragonflights. Lightning Breath shares its name with a (now-removed, circa BoA) ability in World of Warcraft's pet battles, unique to wind-serpent type pets. The following spells are all original to Hearthstone: Embiggen; Secure the Deck; Treenforcements; Aeroponics; Rising Winds; Strength in Numbers; Clear the Way; Toxic Reinforcements; Fresh Scent; Learn Draconic; Elemental Allies; Rolling Fireball; Righteous Cause; Air Raid; Whispers of EVIL; Grave Rune; Time Rip; Dark Prophecy; Praise Galakrond; Dragon's Hoard; Seal Fate; Waxmancy; Invocation of Frost; Dragon's Pack; Explosive Evolution; Eye of the Storm; Fiendish Rites; Dark Skies; Twisted Knowledge; Awaken!; Ramming Speed; Boom Squad.
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