TL;DR at the very bottom
Lore based argument:
We have likely already seen an Orc Druid named Rala Wildheart - An NPC from WoD. These are her interactions
Rala Wildheart says: The situation has become very dangerous on Ashran lately. This morning I nearly had my head taken off by
Shadow Hunter Askia says: Da must be desparate to obtain da artifact to unleash such foes upon us.
Rala Wildheart says: The fury of nature should not be abused in such a way. In the end, they will pay for their folly.
Rala Wildheart says: The primal forces of Draenor are wild and untamed. They seem to resist any attempt at control.
Shadow Hunter Askia says: Dat must make things difficult for ya on da battlefield.
Rala Wildheart says: Not necessarily. I still have my teeth and claws.
In order to best understand why Orcs have (and arguably always have) been a viable option for Druid, all you have to do is review the new race combinations after the WotlK expansion.
Darkspear Trolls - They were a secretive movement of practitioners, hidden away from the world.
Worgen - They had “Harvest Witches” who practiced natural magic to benefit their crops and once cursed, they received guidance by Night Elves to understand the source of their “Harvest magic” better, to become Druids.
Kul Tirans - Tugged away at a source of magic they knew as “death” (not necromancy) which was in fact an aspect of natural, druidic magic. No one, but the Kul Tirans knew of them or bothered to mention them prior to the Horde and Alliance going to their islands.
Zandalari - Barely druids in the first place - A caste of heathens who dabbled in “dinomancy” just happened to essentially unlock the mysteries of Druid magic.
Now let’s look at the original druids
Night Elves - Approached by a Wild God from a different realm known as “Cenarius”, Malfurion was taught personally and delved into the Emerald Dream along with a few other of his people, worthy of being taught.
Tauren initially, they were said to have learned druid magic after the Night Elves, but retcons have gone out of their way to reason that Tauren ancestors were there when the first Night Elves, likewise received Cenarius’ blessings.
These two are important because they represented a hard wall that arguably made it impossible for the Druid class to be represented by other races than Night Elves and Tauren.
For two main reasons
1: A historical precedence
2: A Wild God’s blessings were required to enter the Emerald Dream.
Neither of these are relevant anymore.
For the Trolls, I’d say it’s reasonable to assume they were likewise there, but forgotten about (perhaps embraced by an even smaller population size than Tauren and Nelves?)
But Kul Tirans and Worgen have no real right to be represented if we are to consider these.
However, I don’t believe in “This is bad, so it’s ok to cause more bad”.
Which is why I’ll now explain why Orcs are worthy.
Orcs are known for being marauders, trampling down everything in their path. They literally proclaim “Blood and Thunder” when interacting with them, which shouldn’t take a lot to figure, is another way to express their love for violence and the glory of warring.
That is often the counter-point to why Orcs shouldn’t have druids.
It is however, also very ignorant to the culture of various Orc clans and their very clear development on Azeroth as a people (most recently seen in 10.0.7 with the Korsh’harg festival. The very obviously “Bad”, even the worst of the worst such as the Dragonmaw, Shattered hand and Burning Blade, have all developed far beyond their initial roots as evil-doers, even spelling it out by expressing remorse for their ways (Dragonmaw, Shattered Hand) and being lost (Burning Blade with their absolute lack of Blademasters).
That’s not even getting into the clans who are more in the middle such as Blackrock and Warsong
Or the ones who are so historically good and kind that it’s a little cheesy, such as the Frostwolves.
In particular the latter is a clan of great potential to the topic. In fact, it baffles me that we got to see Zandalari Druids before Orcs considering that the Frostwolves practice restraint and naturality rather than the unhinged violence many Orcs have been known for. This is not even covering any link to druidism.
Since we’ve already established that seasoned Druids can serve as an appropriate teacher (Night Elves for the Gilnean worgens), I think it’s every bit within reason to assume that both Trolls, but especially also the Tauren can serve as appropriate teachers for the first wave of Orcs wishing to become Druids.
Korsh’harg festivities (Orc heritage quest) contains a side-quest that sees the Orc restoring the flooded “Thunder Ridge” (Durotar) to its natural state with wildseeds. This is done by the Orc player, communicating with the spirit of a deceased Thunder Lizard - NOT an elemental. You tell me if this sounds more like a druid or a shaman endeavor.
In summary
If you are a purist, who believes extending the class beyond Tauren and Night Elf was a mistake, sure, I can see why you aren’t convinced. However, are you someone who believes in development post-classic era of WoW for the lore, there is PLENTY of areas in which Orcs have been showcased to be not just a reasonable option for the Druid class, but a down-right great one.
TL;DR
So in short(er) form
- Rala Wildheart, possibly a druid orc of azerothian descend featured in the WoD expansion
- New race options for Druid cemented that you can pass on druidism with capable (mortal) teachers
- Many clans have developed beyond their evil roots and are discovering their purpose anew
- Frostwolf was ALWAYS a clan, worthy of being taught Druidism
- Quest in DF displays perfectly how Orcs can take on druidic responsibilities, restoring Thunder Ridge in Durotar with the help of an animal spirit.