What Happened
Riot's co-founder is deep enough in Blizzard's WoW Forever beta to unlock one of its best-hidden rewards.
The post
- I'm a snake. Marc Merrill, Riot's co-founder and chief product officer and the executive sponsor of its MMO, posted "I'm a snake!" on X on September 22, 2026.
- His druid. The screenshot is from WoW Forever, the new version of World of Warcraft built on the original 2004 game, and shows his character Kyladrine coiled as a serpent.
- Launch date. Blizzard, the studio behind World of Warcraft, launches WoW Forever on November 4, 2026.
The hidden form
- Five pieces. Druids, the game's shapeshifting class, who wear all five "of the Fang" leather pieces, the Embrace of the Viper set, turn into a serpent instead of a cat.
- Wailing Caverns. The set drops in Wailing Caverns, a dungeon from the original game; Game Rant traces the pieces to five of its enemies, from Lord Pythas to Lord Serpentis.
- A player found it. Noah (@BwuhMG), a player in the WoW Forever beta, found the form on September 19, three days before Merrill posted his.
- The designer adds. Aidan "Zirene" Moon, a senior game designer on WoW Forever, says the snake changes colour by druid race and slithers along the ground while prowling.
The snake is a different color for each Druid race, and when you prowl/stealth you slink down to the ground and slither
— Aidan "Zirene" Moon, senior game designer, WoW Forever, post on X
The replies
- A snake back. Josh "Aggrend" Greenfield, a developer on Blizzard's Classic team, answered Merrill with a single snake emoji.
- Tudor reposted. Sarah Tudor, a game producer on Riot's MMO, reposted Merrill's post.
- Not a Cassiopeia hint. Replies called it "Cassiopeia confirmed", after League's serpent-bodied champion. It is Blizzard's content, and Riot has teased nothing.
What This Means for the Riot MMO
Riot's MMO leadership is studying WoW Forever from inside the beta, down to its hidden rewards.
- The sponsor plays. Merrill, who announced the MMO's 2024 reset and calls it "the grail", is farming a dungeon set in a competitor's beta six weeks before its launch.
- Not the first. Orlando Salvatore, an engineering manager on the Riot MMO, already joked that WoW Forever emptied his town.
- Friendly rivals. Blizzard's Classic team and Riot's MMO people now answer each other in public, from Greenfield's snake to Salvatore thanking Blizzard for the beta.
- Secrets as rewards. The serpent is a cosmetic payoff for finishing a full dungeon set, and players found it in the beta themselves.
- Scope unrevealed. Riot has said nothing about dungeons, classes or cosmetics in its MMO. The only confirmed fact is that it is set in Runeterra.
Our read. The MMO is Merrill's project, and what he chose to show off is a reward Forever hides: a set you finish for a form you had to find. That is worth copying. It gives a dungeon run a reason beyond gear and gives players something to post. We made the wider case in the six things Riot should take from WoW Forever.
Your Take
Should the Riot MMO hide cosmetic transformations behind full dungeon sets?
Reported from Marc Merrill on X and corroborating coverage. The MMO read is ours and clearly speculative. Analysis by RuneGrove.
