The First MLG Predictions, ESL TR Information, Wizard Cleave On TR, Death's Verdict Is Mine

Yesterday it happened that because of a domino effect which Daanzka triggered by raping kids and my Shaman decided that I was too inactive and he wanted to play with Shaman hero Glyptic's Mage, which is fair enough since I my time is very limited with university and Eurospective and also I'm sure that a 300 games per week playing Glyptic is the better player.

I decided that it was time to go back to Ret, a class that suits my playstyle meaning I think I'm pretty good at understanding if I need to play offensive or defensive which Ret has great tools for and also I don't need the practice to perform well like a Mage does. When Mage hero  4star General Another switched from Mage to DK as his main class, he handed the best Mage EU title to Flyn (some people say Trig <3) and went down the ranks. He's still a top Mage, just not the guy he was before.

This also means that I kept Death's Verdict and while I sport only the t1 2h weapon, because I bought T2 sword and board for Protri or ProtBEATZ as Roma likes to call it, my damage is already very acceptable. We aim to play Warrior Paladin Priest in the future although I'm not sure how good the comp is. It's feels so insanely retarded because the comp is only about momentum and bladestorming as the 3rd global when two people stand together is the best my Warrior partner can do. Our Priest is very ****ty equipped and he's the make or break in that comp as he has to survive for quite a bit with very few help while we simply nuke the **** out of the enemy cloth target. The absolute ridiculousness is that if my warrior bladestorms in the 3rd global and we end up killing a target right away, I will still end up with more damage done since both Darkmoon Card: Greatness and Death's Verdict are up at that time and I judge for 8k even in my **** gear. I will have to sit down with Tehseus and discuss how much PvE gear I can wear without being too much of a glass cannon.

I still haven't given up fully on my Mage but this is not the class I want to go high-rated with rather than goofing around with some fresh comps. If you feel you got a nice hot comp for a Mage that I should definitely try out, leave a comment and I will see what I can gather.




ESL TR Information


I've gotten quite some emails/PMs lately from people not knowing what's up with their application for the ESL Online Qualifiers so I asked Shawn what's happening at the moment.
As Pookz pointed out lately, the ESL TR for NA is up and running. As for the European TR there are still a couple of problems as all accounts were reset because of the battlenet account change and I tell you, it's a ***** to create an account and give it to a player, not even speaking of hundreds. Shawn is on it and expects the accounts to be handed out soon(tm).



Wizard cleave not viable in S5 gear?


Quite some people I've talked say that Wizard Cleave won't work on TR because of the differences of up to 1k spell power for casters. That is only partially true as Wizard Cleave is the name for a couple of comps.  As for Wizard Cleaves like Elemental Shaman/Destro lock/Priest I'd say that they aren't viable on the TR as the comp doesn't have as much CC capabilities and Shamans profit from their PvE Set bonuses like no other class.

There is one Wizard cleave, the Dumbledore or Hogwards if you like, that still has a chance in my opinion. I'm talking about Shaman/Destro Lock/Mage and I'm not alone. I know that Daanzka applied with his Furious Gladiator Wizard cleave to the TR to proof that there is more about him than just gear although I don't know if that is still going as he's so confident in his new comp.

Dumbledore Cleave has more potentially  to it than just bombing the **** out of an opponent in the absence of CC. Against most comps Warlocks run with Succubus which saves them many globals for CC'ing while Shaman and Mage have quite an arsenal of CC and control spells themselves. The only CC that shares DR in that comp is Shadowfury and Deep Freeze and in between DRs you still have Shaman Shocks and Mage CS to make a healers life a true pain in the ass. I personally wouldn't be surprised if the finals 16 of each continent had at least a couple of these comps and having the name Daanzka in one of those, if he decides to go with Wizard Cleave doesn't seem unlikely at all.

What can make Wizard Cleave not work though is the meta game going on on the TR. I expect a majority of the teams on the European TR being RMP again, but there are quite some quality players ready to play comps such as Divine Inflame's Shadow Cleave, which aren't quite the easiest line up for chief wizards. Only time will tell and when only about 50 teams are around, the possibility of having one Wizard Cleave making it to the top 8 by the art of selective queueing isn't too slim.


The First MLG Predictions

That's right, I'm so confident in my ability to weave the future that I'm the first one to officially announce my predictions for MLG Anaheim even though the tournament is still one week away. I'm that cool and that retarded. Tell me what you think in the comments.


Evil Geniuses

With a rather unpredictable line-up, Azael leads his RLS to MLG Anaheim. I'm sure some readers have found out which players are on his line up just by reading comments and I can honestly say that I as a European have never heard of these guys. RLS for me is a second tier comp anyway, so I predict a hard time for them and even though Azael is a nice guy, I have to trust my ability and say that they won't make it out of Round Robin and will most likely fight for the last spots.


SK.US

Team America is in serious trouble as their reputation is on the line. Last time at MLG Dallas, the team didn't even make it out of Round Robin and my ability tells me, that it will be a tough tournament this time and while Pookz is still goofing around with Azael's Wizard Cleave on live, they didn't do all that well with RMP. I think they might have a save spot for the MLG finals next year though so they might not feel that they have to perform. Who needs two firebirds anyway? I don't see them coming out of round robin this time as they are the weakest RMP at the tournament in my books. Pookz strong shoulders might make something happen, but I seriously doubt it.


Check-Six (formerly eMg)

Check-Six, the team around melon nightmare Flexx and Twixz's pet is on fire. Although their comp of Beast Cleave took heavy nerfs, I still see the comp going strong in the meta game. It wouldn't surprise me if they came up with a completely new comp to shock everyone once again though. With the addition of Toez, I think they can compensate the nerfs their comp has gotten and will be very strong in Anaheim. I feel happy for Toez as I think that this is the first team after he left Realz that has the potential to win it all. My prediction: they will definitely be in the top 4 and have very good chances for the grand finals.


Complexity

It's hard to formulate an honest opinion for the team that I work for. Fortunately there isn't really anything negative to say about these guys other than their comp. It's my honest opinion that RMP is just not a top tier comp anymore and new age Rogue hero Reckful  agreed. Nevertheless they still managed to pull of a respectable 3rd place in Dallas and were the best RMP at the tournament, a title that they will fight out this time with Button Bashers. My weaving skills are very undecided which two of the following three teams will make it out of round robin: Button Bashers, Fnatic and coL. I put on my clan glasses and say that they will be in the top 4 again but will have an insanely hard time making it to the grand finals. My bet is that if an RMP can beat SK.EU, it will be Complexity.


Complexity BHMS

The 2nd spot of the qualification tournament and the controversial but rightful winners of the wild card sponsored by complexity is BHMS. They play the same comp as SK.EU but I'm afraid that they don't have the quality of an Inflame or an Another, as much as it hurts me to say that to a team that has at least temporarily the same clan tag as I do. Venruki felt pretty confident against them and I'm afraid they will already have a very hard time against every team at that tournament. On top of that, all players as far as I'm informed are new to the tournament scene and LAN jitters will be an issue, as they also don't have the confidence of having won the qualification tournament. What they do have though is the realization that either their parents are cool and supportive or they are grown up enough to make their own decisions. I declare this team as a team that can potentially surprise everyone though and if they win their first matches (which also depends on seeding) and they have momentum, very similar to the eMG success story, as they play a very good comp. Unless this happens, they will not make it in the final four.


Button Bashers

Oh how I learned to love Orangemarmalade in his interview on ArenaCast. If my affection towards Europe and my clan weren't so pure, I'd hand the guy the firebird myself. Button Bashers is hungry for a win and they switched their Rogue which is now Hiren after a very disappointing tournament in Dallas to come back strong. The strength of a Rogue in an RMP setting is so important, you can go from ESL World Champion to not even qualifier for the finals within month. I'm sure they are putting an unreal amount of time into training as you read and they will be very strong in mirrors and against RLS. They got one disadvantage though that carried over from TBC; they have no chance to prepare for Divine Inflame. Koreans with their unique style of RMP are always hard to predict against comps they don't train against and as I said earlier, they are definitely a candidate for the top 4. It really comes down to how they perform against Fnatic as I feel that this will be the make or break match for them. I think my ability tells me that they are more likely to make it to the top 4 than Fnatic.


Fnatic

Douja sounded relatively confident on ArenaCast when I asked him about the strength of RLS as a comp and while I really think it's a second tier comp, it doesn't mean that they can't straight outplay their opponents and if someone is able to pull that off, it's definitely Yog. Moreover quite some people say that Woundman has an edge over Reckful at the moment, which doesn't sound too implausible considering his hair is longer. They are a candidate for the top 4, but as I said have the lowest chance of the three teams in question. It will really depend on their form of the day.


SK.EU

Oh how I love this flag and how I love the players of the team. In my honest and most sincere opinion the team of Divine Inflame, 4star General Another and Private Enigmz are the best team that has ever been under a sponsored team going to tournaments of all times. They are unquestionably the best players of their respective class in Europe and together they form a EuroPEON's wettest dreams. Their is no doubt in my mind that they will make it into the top four but there is one thing that can break them and that, my beloved readers, is nothing else than their own ego. Proclaiming your own victory and behaving like you already won the tournament will make you an outlaw among the other teams and can poison your mind with anger or even hate against your enemies. Moreover it can cloud your judgement of which comp to play if you're too confident in your ability and while I think they are justifiably arrogant (tm Xom) a firebird has to be earned first. To date, a European team has never won an MLG tournament and it's time my fellow EuroPEONs. My prayers will include you, Divine Inflame. Bring it home, homie. Yiska out.