A fellow gamer claimed too young, Woundman 12, Valrath's Cheese, SC2's negative effect on WoW, Tauren Hope (and it's white!)

While I know this is a WoW blog, and many of you may not give two hoots about other games, I feel obligated to let everyone know of the recent tragedy that struck down a pro-CS player.  As Zyz let us a know in his latest blog, Antonio "cyx" Daniloski, died in a tragic car accident, on his way home from the airport after missing his flight for a Counter-Strike tournament.  The mousesports player was only 19, and hearing the news that he passed stuck a nerve with me.  I've attended the same events as the guy and seen him in action, and seeing him claimed so young makes me count my blessings.  We're all gamers, and seeing another pass is a tragedy no matter what platform they compete on.  R.I.P cyx.  Read more at SK-Gaming.



Woundman 12

On a brighter note, Woundman 12 has been released!  This installment features matches with his new EG lineup, as well as some with Velsuz healing, and a collection of RMP mirrors against coL.Red.  In Woundman fashion, it includes Skype, and a host of amazing rogue play.  And this time he doesn't black out his keybinds, ZOMG!!! 

While the video contains slightly less competitive matches due to the lack of tournament realm, Emerson makes up for the early slaughterfest with a lengthy series against his main adversary Reckful.  Some may get a bit bored with the large quantity of RMP mirrors against the same team, but personally I found them amazing to watch.  The Reckful vs. Wound matchup every game was a phenom, with clutch cheap/kidneys on vanishes, fanning each other out of stealth, and an overall amazing chess match between these two rogue juggernauts.  From the looks of the video, Woundmans team came out on top, but we all know how PvP videos must be taken with a grain of salt.  Players always insert the matches that make them look best, so I assume complexity won their fair share as well.

What I found rather alarming though in this match was the fact that Wound's team was able to keep up with coL.Red with Snutz playing priest.  We all know Snutz is a premiere warlock, but he was keeping up neck and neck with Sodah on priest!  Wow!!  I'm not sure if this speaks volumes as to how good Snutz is at multiclassing or if we should be a bit concerned about coL's RMP for the remainder of MLGs this year (I still consider Harry Potter Cleave their main lineup, and its what they will run at regionals.  Either way, do you think Inflame could take over for Hydra and compete against coL.Red or Loaded Black? 

Likely not.  Does this mean Snutz is the better player/ Warlock?  I know that's a question I am dying to have answered.  With Inflame and Snutz both slated to do well at their respective regionals this month and progress to BlizzCon, I hope we manage to see these two warlock heroes face off at BlizzCon.  Perhaps a new Azael / Inflames rivalry will be born this year at the Arena Tournament finals?  When I asked Inflame what he thought about Snutz, he had the following to say:

"Like Azael and the rest of the American warlocks, Snutz is really just ******* ****."



Will Snutz be the recipient of a big Inflame delivered cleveland steamer?  Or will Inflame feel the wrath of the CHIKA!?  Time will certainly tell.

Valrath: Delivering TSG-esque cheese to a New Game Near You!

Since it's inception and debut in the tournament scene last year, the TSG cleave lineup has been categorized as a cheesy rushdown lineup by many of the players on the receiving end of the beat stick received from Healer, Veex, and Valrath.  Sticking to his m.o. Valrath has started to ellicit tears from other games now as well! 

Teaming up with former WoW All-Stars, sp0h and wojo, Valrath placed second in last weeks Bloodline Champions weekly US tournament, running a TSG-esque lineup of healer (Astronomer), double tank (Glutton).  The game is still very much so in balance stages, but I got a laugh out of some of the complaints from experienced teams as they were wamboozled by this "cheesy" lineup ran by my WoW brothers.  It seems as though the same mindset of "skilled" comps being healer, ranged, melee has extended into BLC, as the tournament winners, despite coming out on top didn't seem to appreciate Merciless M1'ers (Valrath's team) comp decision.

While the lineup is akin to many of the double melee cleaves you see in WoW, I have to tip my hat to Valrath, sp0h, and especially wojo for their performance last week.  Not only did they have the balls and foresight to run a risky comp in the tournament, they actually played really well, and wojo impressed me as one of the best BLC players I have seen thus far.  Props go out to their team, because no matter what game you are playing; BLC, WoW, Counterstrike, HoN, Warcraft3, or Stacraft 2, results are what matters, not how you go about getting them.  To echo an old adage, "Don't hate da playa, hate da game."

It's been nice to see well recognized WoW players holding their own in this new game.  While I am still fairly green myself, many people including the guys mentioned above, Hafu (her team was 3rd I think), kae, shader, noonia, and beast are all doing really well in the game.  GJ dispelling the stereotype that WoW players are bad at games that take skill!

On a side note, if anyone's interested in checking out Bloodline Champions, hit me up on GameRiot.  I can't promise anything but I have a few contacts who have access to beta keys


Distractions and Stagnation

Speaking of Starcraft2 (it's out now by the way) and BLC, I've noticed that many of the pro WoW teams in America haven't been practicing all that much lately.  You'd think with regionals and MLG Raleigh incoming during August we'd see a flurry of activity, but on the contrary many seem content to experiment in these other titles.  While coL.Red has been very dedicated in their practice schedule, coL.Black hasn't seemed to practice much at all.  Jokes about beast cleave aside, you have to be a bit concerned about some of these teams complacency when it comes to preparation.  From first hand experience, you cannot put practicing for tourneys on the back burner, especially when they are less than a month away!  Regionals will be a brutal competition as everyone vies for a spot at the big money from BlizzCon, and you damn well better expect EG and SK to come out with guns blazing at Raleigh to make up for their failure to qualify in the Tourney Realm!

While part of the problem certainly lies in the appeal of other games, I think the stagnation of the current arena season has a ton to due with the lack of practice as well.  Let's face it, this season is already dragging its coat-tails and if we're really expected to be doing combat under wrathful banner until Cataclysm, I'm a bit concerned about arenas.  As it stands, this could potentially be longer than any season before (shudders upon recollection of long TBC seasons).  I would really like to see Blizzard do one of two things: A) End the season in the next two months, and produce another season without new gear from arena or honor.  Rather introduce a greater amount of vanity titles, items, mounts, and tabards with a new season.  Relate them to the to the precursor event for Cataclysm or something, but give some incentive for people to queue up between now and the expansion, rather then sitting on ratings for many more months to get a title.  B) Do choice A) for every season in the future.  Create some new type of weekly rating that earns you cosmetic items or something.  I know this might seem trivial to some, but I really think it would stir up activity.  People crave **** like this, and it has no influence on actual gameplay.  It's an easy HGH injection into the arena activity scene, and I think it's very needed.

Good News for Taurens!

In historic fashion, Congress has approved the relaxation of its crack cocaine penalties.  In the 80s, in order to curtail the rampant production and slangage of rock, they passed a law that would incite penalties on those convicted of possession / sale of crack cocaine to 100 times that of powdered cocaine.  I'm glad to see the Obama administration continue to make strides in the affirmative action department!  No longer will the Taurens face harsher consequences for their drug of choice than their gnome and undead counterparts in America!