WTH? They have a Druid!

After the success of my first article about Rogues in 5v5 Arena I have decided to continue this section and extend it this week to Druids. This second week I will be examining the Druid class since it is even more unorthodox to play a Druid in the 5v5 Arena even with the 3 viable roles they can play (Melee DPS/Healer/Caster DPS). I will examine the teams that have Druids on them and play them at least 75% of their games (the Druids that aren’t back ups or bench warmers), trying to determine their exact role on this team and why it is working for them. Since I do not want to see 10 Resto Druids or 10 Feral Druids I will take a look at the Top 3 of each talent build.

TOP 3 RESTO DRUIDS:

3) Doubtful [13/0/48] – Beat the Breaks Off It – US #82 – 2145 Rating – (116-16)
Lineup: Warrior, Warrior, Resto Shaman, Resto Druid, Paladin

This team is the definition of stacked as you can see, taking full advantage of Warriors in arena with Windfury Totem and not having any squishy targets. This team just simply out lasts every other team having 3 healers, and their two Warriors have endless DPS. Doubtful probably spends most of his matches running around the arena with Warriors or other DPS’ers chasing him while he shifts out and Cyclones or throws big heals while his team slowly beats every other team. Its no wonder they’ve only played 130 matches this season it probably takes them twice as long to win, but do so with minimal risks. Also a side note, this team was formerly a ‘900 club’ member but have since dropped off the rankings dropping their win percentage to 88% from 91%.

2) Pronne [8/11/42] – Don’t hurt me no More – US #66 – 2165 Rating – (92-21)
Lineup: UA Lock, Mage, Shadow Priest, Resto Druid, Paladin

The second I saw this lineup I started to question whether or Prone plays Arena as Resto or just happened to be that spec for PVE inspecting his team at the wrong time. But with 11 points deep in feral makes me believe otherwise, I cannot see his talent build but ill assume he has: Thick armor, Imp Bash, Feral Charge. That leads me to believe he spends most of his time like most Druids kiting people that are attacking him, while he feral charges to get out of danger then shifts out to do his Cycloning/Healing. Not sure if I would play a ‘3-DPS’ team with out a Warrior or even a Rogue with wound poison, but at US rank #66 they are pulling it off.

1) Zos [8/11/42] – Fraps This – US #57 – 2176 Rating – (97-37)
Lineup: Shadow Priest, Shadow Priest, UA Lock, Mage, Resto Druid

This team plays the ‘4-DPS’ comp like you should, and even then some with two Shadow Priests to synergize with the one Warlock. With a team like this most of their matches are a gamble, they run in, Fear everything, DoT their main target and try to kill it before one of theirs drops. With Zos he probably casts Cyclone right off the bat stopping all healing from other team and once one of his teammates get low he uses Nature Swiftness to ensure his teammate lives longer then their focus fire. A team like this probably trade off kills with the other team but with 72% win percentage looks like they are the last team standing the majority of the time. Also this type of team would ONLY work with horde players seeing as any team with lots of crowd control will dominate them and 6 of their 7 casters are undead eliminating fears from the table.

TOP 3 MOONKIN DRUIDS:

3) Fehnris [40/0/21] – Chronic Fluke – US #83 – 2145 Rating – (73-17)
Lineup: Warrior, Aff/SL Warlock, Moonkin Druid, Resto Shaman, Paladin

This is an interesting line up, they play a ‘3-DPS’ build that is far from cookie cutter and are pulling it off nicely with an 81% win percentage. The Warlock on this team probably spends a lot of his time crowd controlling and using some dots for DPS, whereas Fehnris’s main role is to nuke the death out of the other team also using cyclone on opposing healers. Out of all the Moonkins on this list I like his build the best since his team has almost unlimited DPS with the Warrior and Warlock. Playing certain teams with heavy DPS might require him to heal, with 21 points deep in Resto he can heal with out worrying about running out of mana and nature swiftness to ensure ‘4-DPS’ teams do not drops his teammates early. If you are a Druid and thinking about going Moonkin I suggest you go this build for maximum efficiency for your team.

2) Lethi [52/0/9] – Keepin it Real – US #69 – 2162 Rating – (68-13)
Lineup: Warrior, SL Warlock, Moonkin Druid, Holy Priest, Paladin

Lethi almost plays an identical lineup as the team above, but he plays a different spec and is completely Moonkin with no healing capabilities. I disagree with Lethi’s choice of talent builds but it is working for them and they are higher rating and win percentage than Fehnris’s team. Since his warlock is full Soul Link he probably does less DPS and spends more time crowd controlling, requiring Lethi to throw out more DPS to balance it out. He spends the majority of his time just blowing up targets, with his spec they probably don’t need him to cyclone as he just Boomkin’s everything to death.

1) Influenza [48/0/13] – Spray and Pray Lite – US #52 – 2183 Rating – (85-20)
Lineup: Unknown

I have no clue how this team plays seeing as all of its other 6 members must have left the team because they have less than 8 games played compared to Influenza being the loner with 105. From what I can make of it they play 1 healer that looks like a Paladin with ‘4-DPS’ being every class except a Warrior. I’m sure Influenza just Boomkins targets to death and casts cyclone’s here and there, with 13 points in the Resto tree he probably only went for the shape shifting talent and Intensity. This team would probably benefit a lot more with him getting a few more points in Resto so he can help out heal if his teammates do get close to death.


TOP 3 FERAL DRUIDS:

3) Garboon [1/46/14] – Were Not That Drunk – US #? – 2010 Rating – (66-13)
Lineup: Warrior, Enhancement Shaman, Feral Druid, Holy Priest, Paladin

This team almost plays the cookie cutter build with Garboon instead of a Mage that would usually acquire the slot. Of their roster which hosts 7 members Garboon has the highest win percentage of any of their players with 86% compared to the next highest of 77%. His role in this group is probably to assist train with the Warrior and Shaman who mass purge their main target, while Garboon can shift out at key moments and throw out a deadly Cyclone on a healer.

2) Greks [1/46/14] – Leftovers – US #? - 2019 Rating – (62-31)
Lineup: Warrior, Hunter, Feral Druid, Resto Shaman, Paladin

Not to hate on Druids but Greks does not fit in this lineup. One thing that is nice about this line-up is that they use a Resto Shaman instead of a Holy Priest to give the warrior more DPS with Windfury totems. They have no caster DPS and 99% of teams run with a Paladin, which can render a whole assist train useless with one Blessing of Protection. Its not surprise their win percentage is only 67% which is extremely low if they traded out one DPS for a Warlock or Mage who can crowd control or even do magical damage they would probably see dramatic increases in their wins. Also this team would make an awesome 4-DPS group if their Shaman went Elemental seeing as none of their targets wear cloth and have high survivability.

1) Chaquito [1/46/14] – MoreLikeSeriousG@Yness - US #? - 2047 Rating – (87-38)
Lineup: Rogue, Rogue, Feral Druid, Resto Druid, Holy Priest

Team leather unite? I seriously do not know what to make of this lineup, but I think their name says it all. I’ve never seen two Rogues in a 5v5 match let alone two Druids, but 4 on one team? The only way I see this team working is if each DPS, including Chaquito, has separate targets. The Resto Druid probably acts as not only the secondary healer but also the Crowd Controller too while casting Cyclone on Healers when their targets get low. I would love to see this team in action just to see how they pull this off.

Overview: Its interesting to see that all of the Feral Druids use the same exact spec while none of them are ranked in the Top 150 in the US, maybe because you cant cast cyclone in bear form while Moonkins can. Moonkin and Resto are very viable builds but unfortunately there are no actively played Druid’s in the Top 50 in the US, whereas the Rogues had 4 which I thought was less played in 5v5 Arena - I was obviously wrong. One thing that also made me chuckle, out of the 9 Druids listed above, 8 of them were Tauren with Garboon the #3 ranked Feral Druid being the lonely Night Elf. I highly doubt a 2-minute war stomp stun and 5% base HP versus 1% dodge and 10% increased running in wisp form is the reason Tauren are all at the top… or is it.

Be sure to check back tomorrow to catch interviews with a few of these top Druids as they give you their take on the Druid class, Racials, Cyclone, and more!

Also we are looking for someone to help make a new banner, the one up there is extremely plain and boring, so if you are interested in helping us make one, email me at arenamelee@gmail.com.