Sigh... damn you forum CMs
11:56 AM
Eating yet another 24h ban from the WoW Forums. I swear, I don't do anything! They implemented a new system which allows you to log in and see your characters when you are banned now, but if you try and do a restricted action (post a reply, start a new thread, report someone, etc), you will get this prompt explaining 1) that you are banned, 2) how long you are banned for, 3) which thread/reply you were banned for, and 4) the official ruling on the ban (were you trolling, posting CP, etc?).
It's pretty nice... at least now I know that the CMs banned me for telling a Shammy that the reason he thought he had the lowest hp in the arenas was because he wasn't wearing the latest season's PvP gear, and thus was down a few thousand hit points. Oh well...
I really do HATE 3v3s... it's hard to find competent players. I've rolled with Guntir for 7 seasons now, so we have a vague understanding of one another. That and we have a synergy (anyone watching the 2s matches can see that). The problem is that whenever we go looking for a 3rd, we either find short-bus rejects or we find people who consider US to be short-bus rejects.
Maybe that speaks more toward the problem... if Guntir and I had ever hit 2400, we could post in the Arena Junkies forum and would be sought as teammates by basically everyone else on our server... but we never gave it that much attention. I am really thinking that we are going to be forced to hit 2400 this season to find a replacement for our warrior for next season.
Don't get me wrong. I love Seere, he's a VERY good warrior, and once we have a strat for a comp down, he can execute it as well as anyone. The problem I have is that there simply isn't enough synergy between Warrior and Priest to make the comp viable at high-end play. Priests are considered the third DPS slot in 3v3 teams... they have to be able to turn around and toss out 3-5k damage from Holy Fire, MB, and SW:D as well as keep DoTs rolling. Unfortunately, Warriors don't put out enough front-end pressure for this to work effectively.
Here's an example: you run PMR, one of the opponents gets CC'd somehow (either via sap or blind or poly or w/e). Now, the rogue opens on a target, the Mage starts nuking a target... the priest doesn't really have to heal anyone because the Rogue has cooldowns to live through ANYTHING the opposition can dish out for 15 seconds while the Priest is nuking. PMR plays this way... make it a 3v2 for a few seconds, unload the pain.
Warrior+Feral... both of us are on melee and really I'm the ONLY one who provides offensive utility in the way of CC. Warriors are simply blunt instruments of destruction who happen to provide a 50% healing debuff. If they target me, I don't really have any cooldowns to survive without heals, and if they target Seere, he's in the same boat. Either one of us can D-up and survive for a bit without heals, but our offensive output goes straight into the crapper.
On the other hand, you replace that warrior with a Mage and you lose a little bit in the way of damage output and control, and you also lose a bit of healing reduction (20% instead of 50%... ouch), but you gain AMAZING CC against everything but druids, you gain Counter Spell, which is one of the most hilariously OP spells in the game, and you gain the ability to root opponents in place, making it easier for a Feral to get behind the target and apply Shred damage.
Oh well, I'll keep looking for good players... Seere's not bad, and we can definitely hit 2k with him... but I am always thinking about more. I strive for bigger and better things.
November 17, 2009 at 2:02 PM
Sounds like the new ban explanations are really nice. My GF and I quit for three months over forum bans this spring and I discovered that the moderation team does not answer their e-mail. Ever.
Question for you. Why do so few of the 2s games I see (yours or others) have attempts to create extended lockouts and thereby get kills on DPS?
I understand that your opponents can use cooldowns and trinkets to live through at least two good CC chains. But why do I see so many high-rating players throwing out CC at seemingly random times? Times when it looks like it won't help them apply pressure (the non-CCed player has an easy out) and they don't seem to need an escape (they have an easy out themselves or have full support from their partner).
Is it just a reflex or are there good reasons?
November 17, 2009 at 2:21 PM
We USED to try getting good CC-chains off for KBs in seasons past, but from the middle of s5 on, it became apparent that Priest+Feral couldn't rely on that any more (and more and more Priest+Rogue are seeing the same thing).
The problem is this: the Priest uses a lot of mana trying to deal damage effectively... mana the priest really can't do without. There are cooldowns to aid in this fashion, but if your priest runs out of mana with 30 seconds left on Innervate... you're going to lose the match.
Additionally, and I'm guessing that the majority of our matches in this regard are against pally+dk, pally+warrior, druid+warrior, or something to that extent. Essentially, Warriors are the be-all-end-all anti-Priest dps. They will kill a priest if you can't peel them off. That being said, for the majority of warrior teams, we end up training the healer and CC'ing the warrior/dk, thus not trying to get blanket CC windows to get kills.
Also, for Feral+Disc, you have to remember that Cyclone does a number of useful things depending on the opponent: it can be used to knock off lifebloom stacks, it can be used for footing (I mean, getting yourself or your priest into a better position), it can be used to draw out a healer (if you Cyclone the dps target when they're at 50%, the healer IS going to come out to heal), etc.
It may seem like CCs are going out at random times, but trust me, there are no 2k+ Feral+Disc teams who don't know why they're using Cyclone exactly when they're using Cyclone. Sometimes I try to land a Cyclone on a warrior RIGHT as he Charges Guntir, so he can't get the snare off, and I follow that with Roots to keep him locked down while we beat on his healer etc.