Closes portal and conjures food easily.
Tauren, because they were surviving forever before anyone found them.
Trolls and goblins probably too, oldest races of Azeorth and all.
OwO
1 Like
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qVdgaSuAjII
Now replace “Gaston” with “an orc”.
1 Like
Murlocs win because now there can’t be a grand coalition of good to stop their evil reign of terror.
Tbf, humans (or atleast, the Dalaran ones) could do that too, and I assume the blood elves too.
So we’ll have the:
Draenei, gnomes and humans holding out on their islands.
the void elves and draenei stepping through their portals and going off-world.
The nightborne, humans and blood elves conjuring a massive mana bubble.
Man, seems like most races would/could/might survive after all 
I’m mostly considering geography and resources in this post, assuming everywhere the races have a particularly strong presence is safe-ish holdings. I’m also lumping allied races in with the main ones unless they’re actually different.
Humans probably do fine. Elwynn, Redridge, and Westfall can probably sustain most of the population fairly well for food, particularly with Redridge forming an orderly natural border to the north, and Duskwood forming a hazardous entry point to the south. The main hit would be to imports and such.
Dwarves probably do well. The only entry point from the north is the Thandol Span, and almost all of their kingdom is mountainous and difficult to navigate, not to mention dangerous. The Dwarf-dominated Explorer’s League probably captures the Badlands properly, and the Burning Steppes and Searing Gorge are either abandoned or become Dark Iron holdings, coupled with natural borders and lethal obstacles in the way.
The only real restriction is to agriculture, which would have to be largely (or entirely) in Loch Modan and the Wetlands.
Gnomes have few territorial holdings to begin with, and retreat to Mechagon. They thrive as an isolated power, through with limited ability to acquire new metal, they stagnate, relying on recycled material, or regress. The Gnomes probably have to rely on hydroponics, or extensive mechanisation to get by with limited food and limited growing space.
Night Elves cling onto survival has they have for years, occasionally venturing beyond their borders in lighting-fast raids and ambushes, before they sink back into the trees. The Night Elves sustain themselves in the forests as they always have done, taking what they need, and little more.
The Draenei, isolated in their few holdings, flourish before leaving Azeroth for good. Their islands are recolonised by the Night Elves. The Draenei, few to begin with, have little need of resources to the same extent that the other races do.
Worgen… Probably just go feral. I guess we lump them in with humans? I don’t know.
Void Elves retreat into Telogrus Rift. They survive mostly on conjured food, though for many, they become bandits; raiding farms and villages through void portals, vanishing as quickly as they arrive. The Void Elves eventually die out from combat losses and insanity.
Pandaren hold Pandaria itself. Pandaren don’t seem like a culture that’s particularly interested in conquest or colonies, and probably just prefer to distance themselves. Someone attempts to shroud them in mist once more, but it never quite works. Otherwise, Pandaria sustains itself successfully.
Orcs, while their biology gives them a lot of innate advantages, I don’t see them flourishing as much as some suggested. Their only reliable source of lumber is now in Bilgewater hands, as the post suggests. Their only reliable source of fresh water, the Southfury, is all but undrinkable because of pollution. The breadbasket of the Horde, Mulgore, is now hostile. The only land the Orcs hold absolutely is arid and almost entirely unsuited to growing anything, and the only real talent Orcs show in agriculture is… Rearing pigs. I don’t see Orcs thriving when compared to every other race, they’re extremely resource starved. This gets coupled with the fact the Orcs aren’t the technological or even magical heart of the Horde, so I expect Orcs do ultimately thrive as nomadic raiders, not empire-builders.
The newfound independence and hostility between… Well, everyone, means the rejuvenated Western Plaguelands are abandoned. The Forsaken expand across the Eastern Kingdoms, raiding every graveyard and charnel house for new recruits; stretching as far as Arathi, where they reach a natural bottleneck against the cannons and gryphons of the Dwarves. The lack of fresh recruits eventually means that they dwindle, shrinking back to less ambitious holdings.
The Blood Elves isolate themselves once more, constructing immense magical barriers at the south of Eversong, leaving the Ghostlands to the whims of fate. Every few years, they extend the barrier southwards, reclaiming old ruins and dealing with the rotten remains of the Scourge.
Goblins carve out tiny empires where they have always thrived best; isolated places such as Booty Bay, Fuselight-By-The-Sea, and Everlook. The Goblins struggle, unable to sustain themselves by trading, their way of life fundamentally changed. The Bilgewater holdings in Azshara, Stranglethorn, and the Northern Barrens continue to thrive, however, though they are often raided by the Orcs.
The Nightborne shroud themselves in Suramar once more.
The Vulpera return to the desert.
The Tauren and Trolls live as nomads once more.
2 Likes
Orcs are the deceptively obvious choice because statwise they seem so well rounded and have been capable of some really crazy feats in the past- Except that they literally get their bottoms handed deceptively easily by the much more physically frailer humans, and most of their super crazy feats are actually not due to their own provess and skill but rather being either under the influence of felblood or having access to some other plotdevice. One must also remember that even with the best weapons and arnaments available the iron tide (that is, the iron horde) was very easily defeated by basically an expeditionary force. Orcs also infight regularly if there is no single warchief to unite them. They also suffer from an extremely detrimental plot-illness called “Honor” which causes them to be exceptionally susceptible to doing nonsensical crap which ends up costing them victory that is practically offered to them on silver platter (see: the conclusion of 2nd war).
Worse, even when they have a chance to build a better future for themselves they instead choose to live in inhospitable and harsh regions like Durotar that further curb their ability to grow their numbers. People also like to point out that they are excellent survivalists and as such would win over anybody else- But is this truly the case? Goblins themselves are no strangers to surviving: After all, from the moment your average goblin is born they are essentially living in a dystopian hell Detroit slums on steroids where murder, gang wars etc are common. Now I don’t know about you but I’d bet my pants that more people die in urban violence than they do in for example harsh deserts or jungles- Meaning that actually the enviroments goblins come from breed much tougher survivalists.
Could they survive to the end? Sure, but eventually even their resilience wouldn’t matter. There’s also the fact that really most races hate orcs on the side of the Alliance, and on the Horde even their previous affiliations wouldn’t matter because they never exist.
Anyway, enough about the orcs. Who’d win in the end? Probably goblins.
if everyone’s out for themselves, goblins surely would find a way to make profit out of it. So they’d either bribe their way out of fights only to doublecross their “allies”, or sweep in to collect the spoils of war when two other factions are already spent. Goblins are also literally found on every single continent and island known to Azeroth, breed like rabbits, and own tech that while unreliable and dangerous, has proven to turn the tide of war in their favor more than once (zeppelins, shredders, attack turtles, firearms, explosives). They are also plotwise the least hindered by moral dilemmas and have no trouble using slavery, lacking honor or other similar concepts.
Now, surely you can point out that goblins are scoundrels who will fight among eachother too? True, you’re absolutely right and while this’d at first seem like it’d be a hinderance to the goblins, it isn’t because this ruthless machievellianism actually benefits them since only the smartest and cleverest of goblins make it to the top, which allows them to control all the other goblins, which are by the way plenty, unlike in the orcs case (Who have far less children), which gives them access to even more resources and power. Some might also point out their small size as being a detriment, but goblin bruisers prove that they are more than capable melee fighters even against bigger opponents thanks to their surprising strenght and speed, as well as having the numerical and resource advantage.
The only way I suppose you could curb the race is if they ran out of Kajamite entirely, which doesn’t seem likely since new deposits seem to be found fairly frequently as BFA shows.
That or humans win because
2 Likes
The orcs are overrated: they have lost every single war against other playable factions since WC 2, with the exception of the Kul Tirans in Theramore where they needed other races too. And during WC 2 they were carried by Deathwing.
Imho, humans take this one - if they have the power to invade other lands, rather than create a stalemate. They got numbers - argent dawn, Dalaran, Stormwind, Kul tiras - and while powerful human characters are dead, they still sport OP characters like Jaina.
3 Likes
MURLOC POWER, invincible might. Mrgglglgggg.
1 Like
The dwarves would probably just end up battening down the hatches and just waiting things out. Ain’t nobody gonna crack the gates of Ironforge.
7 Likes
My money is on which ever side gets the Player Character
Just as long as there’s nothing lurking underneath Ironforge…
Night Elves, similar to Warcraft 3.
I like to think that Trolls would actually do pretty good in a situation where all races are hostile. The biggest losses to the Troll empires have been from different races banding together to whoop some Troll posteriors. Unless we’re not counting all Trolls as one and we’re separating the tribes, because in that case it’s just the same old tune for the Trolls. 
Depending on level of hostility. If it´s open war of annihillation, then dwarves, humans, trolls (if we are talking all of them, not just Darkspear) and Forsaken simply because they probably have the numbers to last the longest.
If it´s simple hostility, as in “we are going to secure our lands and maybe wage war on others for land and resources”, then any race which has territory removed from the others or has huge numbers is a winner:
Blood elves would be fine because there´s lot of contested territory anyone has to go through before getting to Eversong and then there´s Sunwell which offers huge magical boost for defense.
Dwarves because their lands are amazing for defensive war and they have the numbers to wage offensive war on others.
Humans because hUmAN pOtENtIal, but also because as a race they are everywhere and still form bulk of Alliance armies.
Night elves because at this point they are based in highly defensive terrain of Hyjal, helped by perpetual winter terrain and corrupted demon forest that you have to take before getting to their core territory.
Draenei because spaceships and distant islands locked in TBC era.
Forsaken because of their Blight, probably still big numbers and ability to do scorched earth tactic better than any living race, with no fear for consequences of having a kingdom that´s mostly burned husk.
And trolls, because like humans, there´s billion of them spread around the world.
Who would do really badly, I´d say:
High elves, their only actual settlement is Quel´Danil which is between two stronger forces. The only reason why it survives is because one of those forces is friendly. The rest would be destroyed because they form a minority population in mostly human cities.
Gnomes, without Gnomeregan, they would be destroyed by dwarves. Unless they abandoned Dun Morogh to live in Mechagon, there´s no survival for them.
Darkspear trolls, they would have to flee Durotar because of superior orc forces. Pretty much similar scenario to gnomes.
Gnomes will stand strong with unity!
2 Likes
I’m inclined to say the dwarves would do well, having not been genocided like almost every other race in the setting in living memory, the clans united and having a huge fortified industrial base in Ironforge and Shadowforge to fuel a modern military with guns, tanks and 'copters. They eagerly await their young emperor’s ascent and Moira fuels the Imperial Imperative ideology to the logical conclusion of turning all of the Eastern continent into a dwarven protectorate, the Wildhammers eager to reclaim the highlands.
Vulpera may not carve an empire from the ashes but nobody is taking them out. They’ll scavenge and survive as they always have.
The Forsaken have some of the most effective weapons via their apothecaries but lose the attrition game unless they go all out to kill everyone faster than they can be harmed. Desperation may well give them a blighted hermit kingdom nobody else can enter. Tirisfal becomes the Fallen State where rivers run green, the air is thick with heady chemicals and nothing grows but resentment!
I really liked the idea of void elves isolating and resorting to banditry, emerging from random portals to take what they need in a very dark eldar fashion. Nobody knows what they do with the materials, resources and even people that they claim but there are rumours…
The united forces of gnomanity is effectively an unbreakable minor power with sci-fi solving every issue of logistics and weaponry as they bunker up. Whoever gets too close is vindicaar’d by actual orbital weaponry demonstrated in early gnome questing. They become an untouchable fortress state guarding their technological secrets fiercely like the Brotherhood of Steel.
Humans are consumed by conflicting interests, ambitions and Borgia level politics without the stabilizing presence of faction leadership as expats and vengeful troops strike out to reclaim lost lands. They’re picked apart by their enemies, existing as resouceful survivors or a trampled minority in the new kingdoms, despised for their self interested hubris, having spent their good will attacking old enemies and friends alike in ambitious frenzy for a golden age that never comes. Anduin is pacified by abdication and serves as Archbishop of the Church; serving to keep the subjugated humans under a unifying figure in faith who consistently advocates passivity, patience and piety above all.
Speaking of golden ages, the hardline Lightforged assimilate the blue skinned “civilians” out of necessity and become a crusader state. Only the most pious and mad will work with them. One such group is Rightful Queen Liadrin’s Blood Knights, in open rebellion since the union of Quel’Thalas with the new Suramar Dominion, refusing to put Elunarian heresy on equal footing to the Light’s irrefutable absolute truth. The Sunwell will be reclaimed by the faithful, elf and draenei as it was when kil’jaeden and his false king were cast from that holy place mere years ago!
The kaldorei are nearly gone from the world, their society retooled by necessity to be ruled by the druids to preserve themselves, Life and The Balance. Old imperial ambitions and wars of vengeance aren’t viable anymore so they fortify and guard Hyjal and the last World Tree now and forever while turning more and more fey by the day. Malfurion broods, looking to the eternal cycle to forget what was lost, including Tyrande as she fought to the last with her sentinels to protect Ashenvale which now truly lives up to its name.
On a related note, the orcs conquer. It’s their solution to everything. Inner turmoil? Find an external foe to unite the clans. Durotar runs out of resources? Push west and north. Many know the shape of the world through Garrosh’s reforms and adopt a proudly orcish identity but Durotar as a kingdom cannot survive by looting alone. Unused to meaningful statecraft without the likes of Thrall to direct them, they break down along clan lines and survive as a raiding scourge of each other and the kingdoms beyond, getting a very viking reputation as ruthless plunderers.
The tauren are divided between those who will fight in a more orcish way and those who wish to isolate the mulgore plains. The latter inevitably lose as the demands of survival become pressing and the emerging new tauren are a changed people by cultural compromise; a confederation of tribes that hold the southern barrens and Desolace in a continent spanning belt, able to make the most of the arid lands and exploiting those who try to pass through. Defensive but fiercely aggressive in keeping what they have, they creep north in inevitable conflict with the orcs.
The goblins are doing quite well for themselves, selling guns to everyone and maintaining the world’s hub of mercenary activity from the newly conquered Freehold. The old trade prince structure broke down fast but greased palms make for elastic policy on an individual level and the cartels have been reorganised into formal crime families. They’re the mafia they pretended not to be, and loving it.
The Trolls as a whole can’t hold what they had without the support of their faction and the tribes pour into Zul’dazar. After a brief but intense period of reforms, bribes and assassinations, Talanji is Queen of all Trolls in a sprawling realm as dazar’alor expands outward. Their gods protect them on their home turf but become more and more demanding in turn. To maintain the prosperity and safety of the realm and have any hope of reclaiming Nazmir, Talanji acquiesces to their demands. The Loa are the true power in Zaldalar and few would argue it was ever any different even as the old altars start to run red.
Pandaria is rather a mess. The Shado-pan were overwhelmed as enemy ships reached their shores in the middle of the next centennial culling of the mantid and the valley of the four winds is fought over daily to either preserve or claim the world’s uncontested breadbasket even as it’s reduced to muddy trenches along the yan-zhe river. Warlords rule in pockets, each looking for legitimacy by claiming the nominal capital of Dawn’s Blossom, currently held by the Stormstout Celestial Legitimists but threatened by the determined peasant militias rallying under the banner of Haohan Mudclaw Thought. The Tushui are pushed far into the steppes by the Reorganized Houjin State, the latter’s ideology lending itself better to constant conflict in its Cult of Action for Action’s Sake but it remains unstable and disorganized with its weak leadership being constantly questioned while Cloudsinger’s loyalists can efficiently organize and plan the defences of the Neverest slopes. The August Celestials are defending the Vale every moment of every day, their interests far removed from the outside world and that suits everyone else just fine.
Dalaran is Switzerland and crawling with spies. Khadgar, First of the Council of Six is very tired.
I have such depressing ideas…
2 Likes
I look at every tribal RPer being a majority over Zandalari and frown
The only reason why trolls were defeated in the past was because other races united against them. With Zandalari chads in charge - the only civilisation on Azeroth that mastered both shadow and arcane - y’all wouldn’t stand a chance. Not to mention colossal dinosaurs, mighty Wild Gods by their side, and superior regeneration.
Let’s not forget that Gurubashi almost conquered Stormwind without the aid of other tribes, and they only lost because the most OP mage ever obliterated them.
You’re wrong.