New World of Warcraft Classic update sees the return of one of MOP's best raids, so get your group back together

World of Warcraft Classic has just had a major content drop for its Mists of Pandaria expansion, bringing with it two new zones, three new factions, and much more. Most importantly, the 2025 version of the classic 2012 expac has also reintroduced one of WoW's most iconic raids, Throne of Thunder.

While you can debate which World of Warcraft expansion is the best, it's almost impossible to deny that Mists of Pandaria hosts the most beautiful biomes Blizzard's ever created for the legendary MMO. From the Jade Forest to the Kun-Lai Summit, the environmental art team had the heat on max when cooking up those pandas - wait, that doesn't sound right. Anyway, it also introduced two of WoW's best raids: Siege of Orgrimmar and Throne of Thunder.

Now, with The Thunder King update, you can turn back the clock and take to the Throne of Thunder once more, facing off against Lei Shen in an epic three-phase showdown. This shockingly chaotic encounter asks the Shakespearean question of your raid group: to stack, or not to stack? He's not the hardest boss by any means, but his mechanics can initially be a little tricky to overcome if you're jumping in for the first time; I know I had my ass handed to me many times back in the day.

The WoW Classic Throne of Thunder raid unlocks in all regions on Thursday December 11, at 3pm PST / 6pm EST / 11pm GMT / midnight CEST.

With the holiday season in full swing, this is likely going to cause a headache when trying to get the band together to go and face Lei Shen. I expect the first few weeks of raiding are going to be more than a little turbulent, so let's hope everyone has their excuses for why they need to leave the Christmas dinner table early.

Elsewhere in The Thunder King update, you can now return to the Isle of Thunder to mess up some Zandalari trolls, and the Isle of Giants where you'll be hunting down its behemothic inhabitants; it's the Isle of Giants, not the Isle of Dwarves, after all. Fighting the good fight will get you in the good books of new factions the Kirin Tor Offensive and the Sunreaver Onslaught, who both ultimately aid the Shado-Pan Assault faction - yay, special ops pandas!

Of course, this isn't all copy-pasted over from the original MoP, as Blizzard is continuing with its Classic-exclusive additions. Celestial Dungeons now have extra Lei Shen-inspired modifiers, while there's a new platinum medal to scoop up in challenge modes. If you rack up enough Platinum Coins from unlocking Challenge Conqueror achievements, there's some slick new transmog drip in it for you. Now, my little loot goblins, get to it.