Backstab Glyph Bug Fix Will Devastate Shadow Dance, Neilyo-Kun Destined To Wear The Rogue Jersey Again, Hafu/Glickz Relationship At Level 80?

By now pretty much every rogue is running around with the bugged backstab glyph, getting 20% higher damage (that includes white, yellow, poison and even engineering) during stuns thanks to the dirty deed bug that was discovered on arena junkie forums.  The glyph barely keeps the rogue class competitive, as I actually feel like a legit threat again on overkill bursts.  Mutilate/prep hasn't been the same since the 30% nerf, and it is refreshing to be able to power someone down again.

Will Blizzard fix this bug before S5 is over?  You bet.  Today's PTR patch had yet again, zero changes for the beloved rogue class, and we really need all the help we can get.  Unfortunately for shadow dance rogues, most of them already using the backstab glyph and getting the 20% damage increase on stunlocks, I really don't know how will they be able to compete without it.  Shadow dance with the glyph is hardly mainstream.  Without it?  It may very well be extinct.  Did the Korean (knowingly) abuse this bug back at ESL?  It is not important.  What is important is Blizzard put ambush back on lethality when they fix the bug!  Shadow dance really needs to hurt when you do catch someone in a stunlock! 

In the mean time, for rogues without a top RMP (such as the hokage himself), the road to gladiator is even harder.  The mage I did RMP with at start of season lost his account.  My shaman sold his account and quit the game after playing casual for a long time, and our rogue/shaman was stuck in 2300's going nowhere.  Playing rogue/lock/healer against RMPs with double/triple engineering trinkets and bugged backstab glyph, it is an uphill battle for sure.  The increased burst on stunlocks favors burst teams immensely.  And we already had trouble beating good shadow cleave and PHD teams. 

I can certainly relate to how paladin/hunter felt back in S2-S4, when having quality teammates is not enough to compensate for the weakness of your class.  You as a team, needs to be exceptional.  The difference is of course, S2-S4 had very lax requirements for the gladiator title.  I helped retribution paladin and enhancement shaman getting titles no sweat, playing tier 2 comps.  Here in S5, it is infinitely more difficult especially if you are trying to do it with non-traditional comps.  I am going to mess with rogue/DK/paladin, and if it doesn't work out I have to put together a RMP in a hurry for the last a few weeks.  Really can't afford to mess around with rosters anymore, have to devote everything to one comp and make it work.

Neilyo-kun Destined To Be A Rogue Again

With Neilyo-kun playing casual under a secret identity on Cho'gall, the rogue community desperately needed another hero to look up to.  I still believe deep in his heart, Neilyo still believes in the rogue class and it is just a matter of time before he changes his character name back to Neilyo, and releases Neilyo 16 (most likely when the rogue class gets some much needed attention from developers).  Minti-sama went DK for a while too, before coming back to the class that defined him.  The sharingan sees the same path for Neilyo-kun.

In the mean time, I am not sure if Litreocola can release the same number of videos and even if he does, his fighting style is simple, effective, and not nearly as flashy.  A sharp contrast of his fight against Scarywerk (dwarf priest) compared to Unmercey's on TR.  Unmercey did sap into CS to get 5 combo points, expose armor without breaking sap, restealth reopen and rushdown, and he couldn't overcome Scarywerk's stone form + holy nova spams.  Litreocola did CS into KS into blind, forces a trinket, puts up expose armor + slice and dice, vanish  -> CS -> KS for the kill right before the second fear.  It doesn't look exciting, as few casual fans would notice how he gouged the priest right before he could shield again, before going for the full stunlock.  How he sprinted away to avoid the trinket-fear when he anticipated it.  How he never stunlocks into a stone form or pain suppression. 

And we are not talking about hand picked scenes, we are talking about doing it match after match throughout a series.  It takes a different type to appreciate what Litre has to offer, and I am not sure if he is cut out to be mainstream entertainment even if I find his jutsus far more practical.  You watch Neilyo to be entertained, you watch Litreocola to improve your game.  It is his surgical precision that makes him lethal.  I see so many rogues trying to replicate his success, CS KS rupture sprint vanish, oops the warrior just trinketed your KS and you still hit rupture, now you can't blind him and he is in your face mashing overpowers.  Here in 3.0.9, if the opponent actually fights back, you die.  Your execution has to be perfect and that is in my opinion, the reason Litreocola won series no one else could.

I almost couldn't hold back tears of joy when I saw Xecks the golden child playing the game again!  Unfortunately it was too good to be true, as it turned out the 11th team on TR is Zyz(playing with Xecks's name)/Azael/Kollectiv.  They took the 11th spot over Minti-sama's RMP with rogue/lock/shaman.  Zyz playing 17/0/54 shadow dance over mutilate which is a very interesting choice, given their comp is not really based on bursts.  Of course, one of the strongest assets of rogue/lock/healer is swapping to a pre-dotted target, bursting him down from 100 to 0 in seconds.  And shadow dance does swaps much better than mutilate. 

Hafu/Glickz Relationship At Level 80?

Kollectiv started a side project with Glickz/Offcell, as they rebuilt Team Shadowplay (affliction warlock/ shadow priest/restoration shaman, the comp that dominated the American TR of TBC) without Mazud.  While this comp is nowhere near what it used to be, when played by three of the best players in their positions, it still competitive even on TR.

The question is of course, what happened to Hafu-chan?  Scout saw this in her new AIM profile (it will probably be changed by the time this blog goes live):

There isn't a moment in my life that rivals those I've had with Alex. Before I met him, I looked toward heaven with a tinge of anticipation and envy. Now, I realize I'm already in heaven. May we be together for eternity. - Hafu

With the hokage setting an example for the entire community, are we talking about marriage?  Believe it!  But I believe there is still unfinished business for the most famous couple of WOW.  They have yet to win an international championship, and with druid getting HUGE buffs for 3.1, will we see them in action again?  Or will Hafu give up the spot light and cheers her love from a distance as he defends American pride?  We will find out soon!