Draenei

Prophet Velen, leader of the draenei, and prophet of the naaru

Draenei is a minion type. It was introduced in The Great Dark Beyond.

Most Draenei have effects that strengthen or add additional effects to the next Draenei played.

Draenei minions

For Wild format listings, see Draenei/Wild format.

Collectible

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Uncollectible

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Sources of Draenei

For Wild format listings, see Draenei/Wild format.

Draenei-generating

These cards can generate or summon new Draenei minions.

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Related cards

For Wild format listings, see Draenei/Wild format.

These cards have effects related to Draenei.

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Achievements

	Category	Name	Description	Rewards
	Gameplay - Great Dark Beyond - Neutral	The Naaru's Chosen	Summon 100 Draenei.	300 , 10
	Gameplay - Great Dark Beyond - Neutral	The Naaru's Chosen	Summon 200 Draenei.	300 , 10
	Gameplay - Great Dark Beyond - Neutral	The Naaru's Chosen	Summon 300 Draenei.	800 , 20

History

Developers initially had different ideas for the Draenei during the development of The Great Dark Beyond, including making it a keyword or a cycle of cards instead of a minion type. An early concept for Draenei was for it to be a smaller cycle of cards that impact the next minion played, but this cycle was later expanded into a full minion type.

Some early concepts for the "The next Draenei you play" effect included giving the next Draenei a Deathrattle or an ongoing effect, but eventually developers settled on it being an on-play effect.

Lore

Main article: Draenei art

This section uses content from the Warcraft Wiki.

The draenei are a faction of uncorrupted eredar who fled their home world of Argus and settled on the Azuremyst Isles, near the west coast of Kalimdor. They join the Alliance in the Burning Crusade expansion. Their capital city is the Exodar.

Long ago, on the planet of Argus, the eredar race arose. They were extremely intelligent and had a natural affinity for magic in all of its forms. Using their gifts, they developed a vast and wondrous society. They were aided in this development by an ancient artifact known as the Ata'mal crystal, a triangular crystal whose origin was a mystery to the eredar, though their legends suggested it had been a gift bestowed upon them in ancient times.

At the height of their society, the eredar's three most prominent leaders, Kil'jaeden, Archimonde, and Velen, were approached by Sargeras, the Fallen Titan. Sargeras claimed he was impressed by the work of the eredar and wanted to supply them with even more power and knowledge in exchange for their loyalty. But while Kil'jaeden and Archimonde readily accepted the deal, Velen had doubts. After touching the Ata'mal crystal in its temple, he had a vision of the future that filled him with dread. He hastened to warn Kil'jaeden and Archimonde, but they dismissed his concerns and proceeded to profess loyalty to Sargeras. Together, the latter transformed a majority of their people into an insidious race of warlocks and later allied themselves with the Burning Legion.

Velen knew he and those who shared his concerns would have to flee Argus, but the impossibility of such a feat brought him to despair. At that time, the Ata'mal crystal started to glow and arose from its pedestal. A voice came to Velen and explained that it was one of the naaru, a race of sapient energy beings bent on stopping the Burning Legion. The naaru offered to take Velen and any other like-minded eredar to safety, and instructed Velen to bring the Ata'mal crystal, revealing that it had been a gift from the naaru in ancient times and a beacon by which the naaru would find Velen and his followers. Deeply relieved, Velen gathered the other eredar loyal to him on the appointed day; they numbered only in the hundreds. With Kil'jaeden and Archimonde hot on their heels, they barely escaped from Argus in the naaru ship Oshu'gun.d Draenei. However, Forsaken player characters and NPCs are for most intents and purposes considered to be "humanoids" in World of Warcraft due to gameplay reasons and do not share all the characteristics of other Draenei.

Trivia

• Draenei is the first minion type in Hearthstone that is a playable race in World of Warcraft. Technically the undead are playable in WoW, but only specifically the Forsaken, and undead also cover many different species, whereas Draenei is its own species and not a categorization. Other playable races, like human, orc, dwarf, and blood elf do not have minion types in Hearthstone.