Dragonriding races return in WoW patch 10.2.5 with the Outland Cup on January 18!

When the Dragonflight patch 10.2 PTR first went live for testing, it gave players a preview of all the new things players could look forward to in the Emerald Dream but hidden among the then-new patch content was the tease of new dragonriding races in old-world Azeroth coming in 2024, building upon on the previously held Kalimdor Cup and Eastern Kingdoms Cup. These dragonriding cups were listed as upcoming events on the in-game calendar like holiday events, the Darkmoon Faire, and Timewalking and teased four new race events named after their host continent. The first of these dragonriding races, the Outland Cup, is part of the content coming in patch 10.2.5 and will run from January 18 to January 31!

Want to know more about patch 10.2.5? Check out our guide to all of the major features in Dragonflight patch 10.2.5: Seeds of Renewal!

Originally, the patch 10.2 PTR listed four dragonriding races coming to Azeroth in 2024, with each cup being named after its host continent: Outland, Northrend, Pandaria, and the Broken Isles. The Outland Cup was first scheduled to run from January 11 to January 24 before the live patch 10.2 calendar was updated ahead of patch 10.2.5’s release date to January 18. The Outland Cup also lines up with dragonriding becoming an old-worldwide feature available to players can use throughout all of Azeroth and not just in the racing zones!

The other Dragonriding cups are still scheduled on the following dates in patch 10.2’s in-game calendar but can change at any time before their release:

• Northrend Cup, April 11-24
• Pandaria Cup, July 11-24
• Broken Isles Cup, October 10-23

If the schedule remains unchanged, this means we’ll get a new dragonriding cup nearly every other patch throughout WoW’s 2024’s release cycle. Interestingly enough, each expansion that introduced a new continent would get a dragon racing cup except for Warlords of Draenor, Battle for Azeroth, and Shadowlands. It’ll be interesting to see if all of the expansions continents would get dragon racing cups as well. Of the remaining expansions, zones in Kul Tiras and Zandalar would be prime locations for another dragon racing cup, since Warlords occurs in an alternate timeline and Shadowlands happens in the dimension of the dead, which would make dragon racing tougher to justify.

The Outland Cup will at least reward its own Drake Racer set like the Kalimdor Cup did but it still remains to be seen if you can earn new mount customizations.  Having dragon racing cups on the different continents would have been a great way for Blizzard to reintroduce expansion-specific mounts that have been updated with Dragonriding animations as rewards for completing racing challenges or for purchase using medals you earned from racing. The Outland Cup, as well as the other upcoming races, could also introduce more achievements, titles, and other gear themed to each continent’s expansion or setting as rewards but we’ll just have to wait and see.

If you enjoyed the dragon racing cups be sure to keep an eye on the site so you can stay up-to-date on any new dragon racing news!

Originally published on September 12, 2023. Updated on January 18, 2024.