How To Obtain a Spectral Tiger in World of Warcraft

            We don’t usually write about trading card games or anything that isn’t a video game for that matter, but this is a topic we found to be particularly relevant. The WoW tie-in card game has a system built in that allows its players to unlock rare and exclusive in-game equipment. Well, technically you don’t really have to play the WoW TCG to get the unlockables, but that’s beside the point. The point is that there are some exclusive and increasingly rare items that you can only obtain from real-world collectible trading cards and we are going to explain how all that works.  Due to the rarity of these cards, WoW accounts for sale with spectral tiger mounts are extremely valuable.

            Statistically, it’s actually really rare for you to have even seen a player with one of the rarest mounts available as an unlockable from the WoW TCG. If you have seen the Swift Spectral Tiger, you’ll understand why this awesome mount is so desirable. The Swift Spectral Tiger isn’t just rare, it’s practically unknown, with only 3% of players owning one. But how would you get a hold of one just by playing a game?

            If you think that maybe the Swift Spectral Tiger is an in-game reward for winning some sort of WoW TCG tournament or event, then you used to be right. The company that used to own the rights to the TCG ran a point system, UDE, that would allow you to purchase these types of rewards. When the rights changed hands, though, the UDE point reward system didn’t transfer with it so those points can no longer be used to claim rewards.

            This leaves only one way to obtain the Swift Spectral Tiger: Luck.

            You see there is a special extremely rare type of card that exists within booster packs of the World of Warcraft card game. These cards are called Loot Cards, special versions of already rare cards that have a scratch-off code in the corner that can be claimed in WoW for the in-game item. The good news, that the expansion that the Swift Spectral Tiger loot card was present in actually has higher loot draw rates than many other expansion sets. The bad news? The reason its pull rate is different is that it was one of the earliest sets released, which makes obtaining boosters pretty difficult and expensive.

            One other option would be to buy the card or code directly from a supplier or seller. Normally you would weigh the rarity of the card against the cost of paying someone directly for a code. For example, The Red Bearon card, which unlocks the Big Battle Bear mount, has a rarity of 1/264 booster packs, which means the cost of getting one via a booster, on average, would be around $715. So it would be easier and cheaper, if that was the only thing you wanted, to pay something like $450 for the card.

            Normally these types of purchases are a bit iffy in terms of player ToS, but according to Blizzard, since the card is a real-world object, it doesn’t violate the terms and is allowed, if that’s the route you choose to take. 

            Though how much of a choice that is with Reins of the Swift Spectral Tiger is depends a little more. We know that the card’s rarity sits at 1/484 booster packs, the problem is that the booster packs have also grown incredibly rare so you can’t really try and pull one for yourself without a humongous personal investment. Individual sales of Reins of the Spectral Tiger are reaching between $5000 and $7000, and remember that is supposed to be the cheaper option.

            What about obtaining it in-game? Blizzard has made it possible to trade loot card items in specific circumstances. Items obtained from Blizzard TCG cards are bind on pick up, so anyone planning on selling their exclusive mount won’t be able to take it for a test ride or anything like that. If you happen to find a player who is willing to part ways with their extremely rare mount, then you likely looking at a price point over 20 million gold, which is not chump change by any stretch of the imagination.

            Maybe you got your hands on a loot card, or you have a bunch lying around just by chance, how do you claim that loot? It’s a bit of a process, especially if it’s something you haven’t done before. Once you submit the card code to your region’s promotional page, you’ll be given an in-game code. Keep in mind, if you are purchasing international loot cards those cards are somewhat region locked. American and European card codes work interchangeably, but Korean, Japanese, and Chinese cards must be redeemed separately.

            What do you do with this in-game code though? You bring it to a goblin named Landro Longshot in Booty Bay. He is found on the lower docks and has a distinct purple shirt. Make sure you have space in your inventory for your new loot and talk to Landro.  He will ask you what sort of promotion you are claiming, you select from the list and give him your code and you are all set.

            There are two common problems that people run into when trying to claim their TCG loot. One is a bug that causes Landro’s text box to be too small for the code you were given, in which case you have to log out and log back in and that should solve the problem. The other issue people have is if you are hated by Booty Bay then the cards might make claiming your loot a little tough. If you are high enough level bypassing the guards shouldn’t be too hard but if you are low level you might have to recruit a high-level player to draw the guards away for you while you talk to Landro.

            Melding real-world game mechanics with video games has often yielded interesting results, and we don’t think the WoW TCG is an exception to that rule. Could we have predicted that would lead to a  $7000 price tag on a trading card for a game the buyer might not even play? No, but that doesn’t make it any less interesting.