Hello everybody and welcome to another Fan Community Spotlight. This week, the end where it is, is rising. We're taking a look at Rise of Endwhere, a set made by LutriSpellcaster appearing for the fourth time on this series to talk about this interesting set. I've been meaning to do an installment on this expansion since back in April of this year. The delay was a result of some development on other projects to tie into this one, but this set is happily and officially finished.

So what's going on in Endwhere? Well, we've got a new keyword and a new card type. The new mechanic of this set is Power, which appears on 9 cards of the expansion. They are 0-Attack weapons that have special abilities and one appears in every class except Demon Hunter. Remember that this set came out before United in Stormwind was first revealed by a few months. Unlike the "profession" tools though, all the Power abilities are ones that you activate by targeting something and losing 1 Durability.

The card type of the set are "Story" cards, which use the "Location" border. There are 5 Neutral story cards, each of them start of with one effect and then activate new effects over time. Think Saga cards from MTG.

When you've got information like that, you're not sure where to go. After all, this land is so mysterious and many believe that it doesn't even exist. Fortunately, we've got someone who knows the ins and outs perfectly (almost like he made the set or something), so let's hand the spotlight over to LutriSpellcaster so we can learn everything we can.

What exactly is this set about?

LutriSpellcaster: "This set is about the grand city of Endwhere, an ancient Azeroth city lost in time. Endwhere was a bit crazy and the classes and creatures hadn’t quite been figured out yet, but it lived in harmony. It has yet to be determined where Endwhere fits into Azeroth lore exactly, and nobody knows why it was destroyed."

Of note here are the 5 Neutral "Story" cards. What significant do these serve?

Remaining Parts of each Story

LutriSpellcaster: "The five neutral story cards are made to act as an anchor to the WoW universe. Due to the nature of Endwhere, it was impossible to bring well-known WoW characters. So instead the tale cards are from a small WoW quest, showing how although Endwhere was lost in time, its significance allowed its story to continue as myth. Functionally the stories also acted as a secondary-keyword. With Power being a weapon keyword, it was not possible to make as many Power cards as you normally get for a new expansion, so stories aimed to bridge the gap."

In a very similar vein, each class also received a "Power" weapon. Where do these come from?

LutriSpellcaster: "The idea behind power is that we’ve never had a weapon specific keyword before and it could be useful to have one that would become evergreen. Power also shows the differences between Endwhere and modern Azeroth, as weapons used to be used very differently to now."

What about specifically Goat Warlock and Burn Rogue?

LutriSpellcaster: Goat Warlock served to focus on how Warlock has changed. Warlock used to not quite be as broad as it is today in Azeroth and had a more ritualistic feel to it. With Ritual head Jakkal, and the God of Sacrifice, it’s clear that the entire range of warlock had yet to be figured out. For rogue I wanted to take it into a very different direction that it normally does, again to show the change. Getting lots of resources is something that rogues do, but typically it just generates more and more. Burn rogue acts as a way to use these resources quickly to generate fast power.

Are there any other cards you wish to highlight for any particular reason?

LutriSpellcaster: Paladin is certainly the class I am happiest with; cards like Drink of Kings and RUN! I think are simple designs that work well and have some interesting interactions. I do also want to point out that Screaming Mandagora, while effectively a battlecry, is worded in such a way to avoid infinite shenanigans without losing the concept. Also, Gingerbread Witch is an effect I’m obsessed with and I’m very happy with the flavour it ended up with.

Do you have anything behind the scenes that you wish to share?

LutriSpellcaster: "Behind the scenes there was going to be a mini-set known as Fall of Endwhere, expanding on Ujima who is teased with Hoo’Ra, but ended up abandoning it as I couldn’t get both the Hearthstone feel and the end of a city feel to match up well."

Do you have anything else you wish to share?

LutriSpellcaster: I do want to say that the effects in a lot of the design aim to push what is possible, and that is what chs is all about. Learn the rules to design, learn what works and then push both as far as you can without breaking them. It is that way that allows for the best of cards.

We have reached the end of this week's Fan Community Spotlight, but much like the land of Endwhere itself, much of this set still remains a mystery. Unless you've already looked at all the cards that is, but if you haven't, then what are you waiting for? There's plenty more to explore. Click the banner below to check out the full expansion.