Site Canceled

Thanks for all your support, I haven't had the desire to work on this site since I have quit playing WoW - Its unfortunate that It came at this time as this site was a lot of fun to work on untill the end when I was reaching to make my posts because I was bored. Hope you all enjoyed it while it lasts, it was a great idea but I just couldn't keep up with all the work I wanted in it by myself.

-blogmaster

Arena Melee - 5v5 - Week 7

What a great week it was for Arena in World of Warcraft finally the Season 1 tournament wrapped up this weekend at Blizzcon with an underdog pulling through with the win in dominating fashion – while showing America’s superiority in PvP. The online play for season two has stayed relatively the same Trounce still holds the #1 spot followed by the usual pack of teams from the Bloodlust battlegroup fighting for the most coveted #1 spot. Keep reading to find out more!

Averages of Top 50 5v5 Teams – 8-06-07
Rating: 2306.51 (Last week 2273.98)
Wins: 180.29 (Last week 157.1)
Losses: 47.68 (Last week 41.1)
Win Percentage: 0.8037 (Last week 0.8076)

Overview: Consistent with past weeks the average ratings for the Top 50 US teams have gone up by about 30 again, this week is different though as the average wins are up 30 while the loses only went up 6. This increase in wins means older teams probably moved their way back up in the place of re-made teams that passed them up last week. I am surprised to see that each week the win percentage stays relatively the same I figured this number would have spiked around – I guess I was wrong.


POWER 5 RANKINGS

1. We lose cuz Daorok sux (Korgath) – US #16
Lineup: Warrior, Mage, Hunter, Resto Shaman, Paladin
Did you expect any thing else? They have been dominating online for the last few weeks and now they did it on LAN and then some. Online they’ve had to remake their 5v5 team so they wouldn’t have to wait in queues to practice for Blizzcon in the process they went 70-5 and got their secondary team up to US 18th, two ranks worse then their main team. At Blizzcon their opponents wouldn’t fare so lucky as their opponents online as they went undefeated in the tournament winning every single match 3-0.

2. Team EG (Illidan) – US #14
Lineup: Warrior, Warlock, Shaman, Priest, Paladin
They placed 1st at the US finals defeating every team there, but didn’t fare so lucky at Blizzconn as they finished a respectable 3rd. Since attending Blizzcon and not being able to play online they have slipped out of the Top 10, but expect them to jump back up there by next week.

3. Rag Dolled (Tichondrius) – US #2
Lineup: Warrior, Mage, Shaman, Priest, Paladin
They just keep moving up, every week they have gone up 2-3 ranks while grinding it out in the Bloodlust battlegroup with a 76% win percentage well below the average of teams in the Top 50. At the rate they keep moving up they could de-throne Trounce within a week or two.

4. The Fallen Angels (Tichondrius) – US #3
Lineup: Warlock, Shadow Priest, Mage, Shaman, Paladin
In the same boat as Rag Dolled, while not as consistent, they have been constantly climbing in and round the Top 10 for quite some time now and have jumped to an all time high of 3rd. They also have a mediocre win percentage of 76% but it is nothing to scoff at. While their climbing has been more sporadic I don’t think they will pass up Rag Dolled at the moment.

5. grandmaster storytellers (Mannoroth) – US #4
Lineup: Unknown
This team has stayed in the Top10 for almost 10 weeks now and shows no signs of leaving it yet. They are currently the 4th longest team to hold a spot in the Top 10 at 14 days behind Pandemic, Trounce and RagDolled who have been in the Top10 for 20+. With the drop of We Lose Cuz Daorok sux out of the Top 10 as well as Pandemic falling down they have taken advantage of this and filled their spots but don’t expect them to stay here very long at the #4 spot, expect them to drop down to 5th or 6th by next week.

TOP 5 MOVERS (Teams only in Top 50 for previous week included)

(+39) – The Kraken (Bloodscalp) NEW->11th

(+28) – Our Warrior Ebayed (Sargeras) NEW-22nd

(+24) – Ahh Freak (Korgath) 34th->8th

(+21) – No Warriors (Stormreaver) NEW->29th

(+20) – Xylr and Friends (Shattered Hand) NEW->30th



BOTTOM 5 DROPPERS (Teams only in Top 50 for previous week included)

(-230) – Shame (Wildhammer) 20th->250th+

(-75) – Natheletes (Nathrezim) 35th->110th

(-74) – Hands up High (Mal’Ganis) 40th->114th

(-34) – Fluffy Bunny (Cho’Gall) 22nd->56th

(-32) – Clan HeX (Lightnings Blade) 28th->60th


TEAM OF THE WEEK
We lose Cuz Daorok sux (Korgath)
Lineup: Warrior, Mage, Hunter, Resto Shaman, Paladin
This is the second time they grace this slot, first when they jumped up 200 rating in one week now when they go undefeated on LAN to become Arena Season 1 Champions! With that win I think they prove that you don’t have to be from the “most competitive Battlegroup” to train well and become a top team (TFO is from Vengeance which is considered weaker then the popular Bloodlust). I also think this earns them the right to be called the #1 Arena team in the World, regardless if Pandemic has won all the WSVG 3v3 Tournaments – seeing as 5v5 requires more skill, patience and coordination to do well in.


IRONMAN TEAM AWARDS – (Top 50 Team Only)
Wins – (394) - YO (Thunderlord)
Losses – (162) – YO (Thunderlord)
Games Played – (556) – YO (Thunderlord)


STOCK RISING
(US #2) Rag Dolled (Tichondrius)
Lineup: Warrior, Mage, Shaman, Priest, Paladin
They keep going up and up and up – now there is only one more place they can go which is 1st. At their steady rate of climbing I give them two to three weeks before they dethrone Trounce, unless Pandemic or We lose Cuz Daorok sux jumps up there first, but I believe Rag Dolled will make it there first. Keep your eyes on this team; they could be our new #1 very soon.

STOCK FALLING
(US #5) Team Pandemic (Tichondrius)
Lineup: Warrior, Mage, Shaman, Priest, Paladin - Rogue
Many people thought they would go through this tournament winning every match by blowout in the ways they have at the WSVG 3v3’s but everyone was completely wrong. Not only did they not even win a round in a match rumors say they forfeited their lower bracket match because Blizzard wouldn’t allow them to play another character instead of their Rogue. In all my years of E-sports I’ve never heard of a top team forfeiting a match because they didn’t like the rules or how things are being run, Its hard enough to run these events for planners but to have a Pre-Madonna teams harping down your necks 24/7 it doesn’t help. If Pandemic did forfeit their last match I have lost what little respect I had for this team regardless if they had to play with a sub par lineup – a top team will always make due with what cards they get dealt… and not complain about it.

900 Club - Retaliation Battlegroup Added

Another week and another set of rankings, Trounce lost their #1 rank in the 900 Club this week after maintaining a 93% win percentage for quite some time - but this week 3 teams passed them up. Three teams left the rankings this week but finally Retaliation Battlegroup is included and because of that a few of their top teams made it on these rankings, keep reading to find out!

Guidelines for becoming a 900 Club team: Maintain Top 150 US Rank, while holding .900 win percentage in matches.

Update 4: 8/3/07

Rank - Team - Win/Loss - Win%
1) MIC (The Underbog) 215-8 0.9641
2) My Heat go BOOM (Korgath) 70-4 0.9459
3) Meow Mix (Auchindoun) 202-14 0.9351
4) Trounce (Mal'Ganis) 188-14 0.9306
5) Game Over (Black Dragonflight) 146-13 0.9182
6) Hide and Seek (Auchindoun) 131-12 0.9160
7) Espada (Stormscale) 110-11 0.9090
8) Clan Hex (Lightning's Blade) 107-11 0.9067
9) SeeYouNextTuesday (Tortheldrin) 243-25 0.9067

Overview: MIC from the Underbog which is part of the Retaliation cluster took the top spot this week with an impressive 96.4 win Percentage while playing over 225 games. Runner up to them was We Lose Cuz Daorok Sux's remake team which went 70-4 in one week in their preparation for Blizzcon that starts today. 3rd ranked MeowMix and 6th ranked Hide and Seek are also teams from the Retaliation battlegroup. While Trounce actually improved their win percentage from last week it just wasn't enough to fend off the other surging teams as they dropped to 4th. Leaving us this week is Spray and Pray, yea we lift, and Slash Cyclone - all of which dropped out of the Top 150 in the US making them ineligible for these rankings. Interestingly enough Slash Cyclone finally played for the first time in 3+ weeks and went 9-1 keeping their win percentage still about .900 - hopefully they can get their rating back up to add to this growing list of 900 club teams!

Blizzcon Predictons - Round 1

Well here it is guys Blizzcon is upon us and your top 5v5 teams from around the world will be commencing in battle starting tommorow Friday the 3rd of August. Below is a prediction of the first round match ups.

Some of the lineups and or information might be a bit off, try not to critique me too much as I am not at the event and tried to pull together the best information available.

Notorious versus Meet Your Makers
Notorious Lineup: Warrior, Warrior, Warlock, Shaman, Paladin
Meet Your Makers Lineup: Warrior, Shadow Priest, Warlock, Shaman, Paladin

Notorious is the #1 team coming from the Asian Regional, after being defeated by DER Tenacity in the Upper Bracket Finals they came back in the finals to sweep DER to take the gold. Meet Your Makers, formerly Log, on the other hand met a wall at their Regional's which was SK Gaming, they lost to them in the Upper Bracket Finals and then again in the Finals. Given the fact that the tournament will be played on the new Arena patch, I do not believe MyM’s Warlock/Shadow Priest combo will synergize as well as it did in the past. Both teams will have heroism but Notorius will have two Mortalstrikes, I believe this match will be a lot closer than it should be – but in the end Notorious will pull through with a victory.

Notorious over Meet Your Makers [3-2]

Nashwan versus Team EG
Nashwan Lineup: Warrior, Mage, Shaman, Priest, Paladin
Team EG Lineup: Warrior, Warlock, Shaman, Priest, Paladin

Nashwan is the only team at this tournament that failed to defeat any of the other teams here at their qualifier. Nashwan defeated Art of War, then lost to SK gaming, defeated Knockout and Millennium before losing to MyM. In my opinion Nashwan is the weakest team at this tournament and they are going up against one of the strongest: Team EG, formerly known as HUKHUKs. EG steam rolled through the US finals defeating both Pandemic and TFO by scores of 3-1, although Pandemic had a non-ideal roster at the Regional’s. I expect this match to be a blow out with EG as the victor.

Team EG over Nashwan [3-0]

SK-Gaming (Warders) versus Team Pandemic
SK-Gaming Lineup: Warrior, Mage, Shaman, Priest, Paladin
Team Pandemic Lineup: Warrior, Mage, Hunter, Rogue, Paladin

What a great match up to start off the tournament, unfortunately for one of these two teams their journey will be slowly crushed as they are sent to the losers bracket. SK-Gaming, formerly Warders, made it here by winning the European Regional’s despite not being a top seed. They defeated MyM and Nashwan on their road to #1, where as Pandemic was forced to play with an unconventional lineup with a rogue and 4-DPS and some how managed to limp their ways into the 3rd spot at the US Regional’s to make it here. The big question here is whether or not Pandemic will be able to play their idea lineup or be forced to use the one they had in the Regional’s. If Pandemic is forced to play their 4-DPS set up again with a rogue expect them to lose 3-0 if not I believe they will take this mirror match-up convincingly seeing as they have more experience with it. *UPDATE* According to the Blizzcon website Pandemic is listed as playing their four DPS with a Rogue, unless this changes I do not believe they will be able to win this match up playing with a Rogue, the only one in this tournament.

SK-Gaming over Pandemic [3-0]

D E R Tenacity versus TFO
D E R Tenacity Lineup: Warrior, Warrior, Mage, Shaman, Paladin
TFO Lineup: Warrior, Mage, Hunter, Shaman, Paladin

This should best match up of this round seeing as both teams don’t play cookie cutter lineups like all the other teams, and the SK/Pandemic match will most likely be a blowout. TFO also known as 'We Lose Cuz Daorok sux' placed 2nd at the US Regional’s. At the Regional’s TFO lost to Pandemic’s ‘4-DPS’ team in the Semifinals but stormed through the loser bracket knocking the heavily favored Fighting Mongooses out of the tournament as well as beating Pandemic in the Lower Bracket Finals – then losing to EG in the Finals by a score of 3-1. DER Tenacity on the other hand steamed through their tournament until the finals where they lost two sets to Notorious a team they defeated earlier in the tournament. In the US ladder play lately TFO has been on an extreme tear defeating everything in their paths probably in preparation of this tournament. I belive TFO will continue their dominance into this tournament and win this match convincingly.
TFO over DER Tenacity [3-1]

Be sure to keep checking in, I will try to get live scores as well as Predictions for every round!

Link to Regional Brackets: Here
Link to the Blizzcon Offical Page / Brackets: Here

How to build a 5v5 team - Part 2

5) TEAMMATES
For this I will use the ‘2-Healer’ build for my model since it is the most common and easiest to play. First off you will want to find teammates that are around you in age, basically don’t get anyone in high school that has to go to bed at 11 PM when the rest of your team is in college and stays up until 4 am. This is what you will want to look for in your teammates:

Warrior – Find your self a good warrior, the core of every good 5v5 team will have a good Warrior, Caster DPS and Paladin. For this role you will want someone that is an ‘Alpha Male’, who is usually egotistical and likes to do lots of damage and kill people. Your warrior should be extremely outspoken seeing as he will be the natural leader of the team, he should be calling out assists and what your team should being so finding someone knowledgeable about the game and PvP helps a lot.

Caster DPS (aka Mage) - Unlike your Warrior your caster DPS should be someone who is really mellow and wont easily get flustered, as he will be one of the major components of your team. He shouldn’t worry too much about doing damage as much as he should be controlling the flow of the match with his crowd control abilities. This role is most easily filed by a Mage, but can also be done by a Warlock but not as efficiently.

Random DPS – This person’s personality should be somewhere between that of the Warriors and Caster DPS’s. You’ll want someone who can be egotistical but not as much as the Warrior seeing as he won’t be in the limelight at the end of the match, the Warrior will. He should also be able to take over the roll as the in-game leader if the warrior happens to go down early. So having a back up in-game leader is always a safe option, someone the other people on your team will listen to if things get chaotic. Do not use another Melee to fill this roll whether it is another Warrior or Rogue, seeing as you will only have one Paladin on your team, which equals one Blessing of Freedom, which can put you at a disadvantage using two melee against any heavy crowd control team.

Healers – First and foremost find your self a Paladin they are part of the holy trinity that includes the Warrior and Mage. A good Paladin is not hard to find and will be one of the easier parts of filling your team, another great advantage if you are a start up team your Paladin will not require as much gear as the rest of the team seeing as he will be able to use a lot of PVE gear in the beginning. As for your secondary healer, it doesn’t really matter what or who you pick the best choice would be a priest but they require a lot of gear seeing as they will usually be the focus of the other teams attacks. If you cannot find a Priest with amazing gear a Resto Shaman with decent gear can easily fill this role.

Also it helps to have a back up player or two, if you don’t feel a certain class or member is performing poorly versus a team or group composition you are playing sub someone in. Try to have a secondary healer back up and one or two back ups for your ‘Random DPS’ slot, your team should consist of at least 7 people on it. If you do have 7 do not make it a goal that everyone gets 30% even if they are your best lineup, once you have established your best lineup play with it and often.

6) GEAR
As much as I hate to say it, gear is an extremely important part of the arena with out it you could lose to inferior teams who do have better gear, which can be extremely frustrating. Find players who already have a few pieces of Arena gear and pieces from farming Honor. If they don’t have this gear make sure they are willing to farm honor to make sure they have the best possible gear in every slot. PVE Gear doesn’t work in 5v5 Arena unless you are a Warrior or Paladin, every other class must have the MAXIMUM amount of resilience possible once your team gets near the top 50 in your battlegroup.

Make sure that all your members have a high ranked 2v2 or 3v3 team that they can fall back on to get gear from if they have to sit for a week and not get arena points from your 5v5 team.

7) GOALS
Once you have your team set up, set some goals. Determine what you want to do with this team, do you just want to get gear every week and play 10 games? Do you want to have fun and play all the top teams in your battle group every week? Or do you want to be the best team on your server.

Set realistic goals, if your team is brand new with mediocre gear the chances are you wont be #1 any time soon or even in the top 10 in your battlegroup if it is highly competitive. If you are a experienced players with almost all the top gear available then set the goal as high as you can, and once you get to it set a new one whether it takes you 1 day to reach it or a whole season.

8) SCHEDULING
This depends completely on what the goals for your team is, if you want to be the #1 team on your battle group you will most likely need to assign 3-4 days a week that you can spend a few hours a night playing on. If you just want to be a team that does good 1-2 nights will be sufficient so long as everyone shows up on those nights, if you cant make it tell your teammates in advance so they can line up the 2-3 back-ups you have set asides. In the end make sure everyone knows what days you are playing and at what time, make sure some of your backups are available during this time too just in case.

9) COMMUNICATION
I cannot stress this point enough; with out good communication your team will not do well in the Arena.

1) Make sure everyone on your team has a Microphone
2) Use a Vent or Team Speak server, go in a private channel so you are not distracted by other guild mates or friends

If someone on your team does have a microphone but refuses to talk or communicate while in game give them a few weeks to get adjusted to communicating while playing, if they don’t REMOVE them from your team. Players who don’t have microphones or refuse to talk to you while you are playing are extremely detrimental to a team.

A great example would be a mage who has a microphone but refuses to talk, when this person counter-spells the opposing healer it would be a good time to let your teammates know that the other team wont be getting heals for 5-6 seconds which would be a good time for them to use cool downs to do more DPS and maybe kill something. If the mage never says anything then the team will never know, and this is just one of the many ways having a non communicative person on your team will hurt you from being at the top. Also it doesn’t hurt to call out for heals and dispels because healers some times get tunnel vision and don’t always see what’s going on so letting them know never hurts.

10) HAVE FUN
Chances are you are going to lose a lot of matches, remember you will not be the #1 team over night it will take time. Do not get frustrated over small things and call out teammates and make them feel bad. Take EVERY loss as a learning experience and try to improve on what you did wrong. In the end, have a positive attitude, and have fun!

How to build a 5v5 team - Part 1

Want a sure fire guide on how to make a Top 5v5 team? Well wait no longer that guide is here! Follow these amazing steps and you can have your self a 2000+ rating team, or even a Top 50 US team maybe even be lucky enough to become a prestigious 900 Club team! This guide will help you if you are making a new team or just want to make your current one better.

If you’ve already made your character or don’t plan on re-rolling for any reasons, skip to step 3. The first 2 steps will be for people who don’t even have characters or want to re-roll.

1) FACTION
This first step is simple if you’ve never played WoW before then maybe I can help you in choosing your faction. For the rest of us who made our characters 3+ years ago because It did a “sweet back flip!” or has “cool floppy ears” we wish we could go back in time and guide our younger selves into re-choosing this decision unfortunately we cannot. Since this is a Arena/PvP site I really wont dab into pro’s and con’s with PvE/PvP the simple line is: Horde racials are better for almost every class there is and will be more beneficial to someone who wants to be a top PvPer. So unless you want to run around as a sweet looking Gnome (and yes they are the COOLEST looking class in the game hands down) you should probably choose Horde. Ok so now you got your faction picked lets move on to step #2.

2) RACE/CLASS
But there are so classes and races to choose from! You may be overwhelmed at first to see all the different races you can pick, 5 in total. So what is the best? It all depends on what you want to do in arena, ask your self these questions to figure out what class you want to be:

Do I want to do damage? Yes->(Warrior/Rogue/Hunter/Mage/Warlock)
Do I want to heal? Yes->(Paladin/Shaman/Priest/Druid)
Do I want to support other players and feel more gratifying when we win/lose? Yes->(Everything Except Rogue/Warrior)
Do I want to be the clutch player that changes the tide of the match? Yes->(Any class!)

Once you’ve asked yourself some of those questions the answer is pretty simple. If you really want to be a Druid you can only be Tauren, and if you really want to be a Paladin you’ll have to Blood Elf. Both of these classes have better racials than their Alliance counter parts. What if I want something other then those classes? If you are Warrior do not pick Undead as you will not need the extra fear immunity. Unlike a Warrior a Rogue would benefit the most from picking Undead since you will most likely be attacking cloth targets that can fear you. Other then those two classes pick any race, all of them have nice racials for PvP. Tauren, Undead and Orc are always safe bets for any of the classes not mentioned above.

3) SERVER/BATTLEGROUP
If your goal is to be a top Arena player transfer to a high population Battlegroup which will more than likely not be included with any new servers. Stay away from these as they are often clustered up with other new servers and usually have the lowest populations, which means longer queue times. Any Servers not on Battlegroups: Stormstrike, Emberstorm, Whirlwind and Retaliation will do.

Once you’ve found your Battlegroup you want to roll or transfer to make sure the server you pick is not low population in case you ever have to recruit new teammates you will want the largest pool of players available to pick from.


4) GROUP COMPISITON
Once you’ve figured out where you are going to play, you will want to ask yourself how you want to play. To me there are really only 3 different group compositions you can play that being: ‘4-DPS’, ‘2-Healer’, ‘3-Healer’. Lets take a look at each one and what their play styles are like to see if that would suit the way you want to play your arena match.

‘2-Healer’ – This is pretty much dubbed the ‘cookie cutter’ build, which would consist of Warrior/Mage/Random DPS/Paladin/Priest. Usually with this build you will have medium damage out put, medium crowd control and medium healing. The warrior / random DPS spend the whole arena doing damage to a target, where as the mage just controls the other team. Usually you want a Paladin as the main healer with a Priest or Shaman as backup who can use offensive abilities when healing isn’t required. This lineup requires you to out think other teams and play on their minor mistakes that will lead your team to a victory.

‘4-DPS’ – This group compusition is becoming more common this season, there is no real trick to it all you do is get 4 classes that can throw out a lot of damage at the begning of a match hoping to drop one of their members quickly. 4 DPS group comp matches are very short and require your team to have the best possibly gear to insta-gib a target, if your initial bursts fails you will more then likely lose. This type of team has high damage, medium to high crowd control, and low healing. Seeing as this is very gear dependent you usually wouldn’t want to start off with this group composition as a new team. Do not try to play this as your first arena team, It will require a lot of coordination and control in game to be able to pull this off, something you wont get until you’ve experienced arena for awhile.

‘3-Healer’ – A 3 healer group is probably the most boring to play, you play with out taking any real risks and just simply try to out last the other team. Games with 3 healers usually take as long as it takes the other team to run out of mana so depending on how many healers the opposing team has can take anywhere from 4-8 minutes. With this team you have low to medium damage, low crowd control and high healing. With this type of lineup you need DPS’ers that can provide endless damage as long as they are still alive, this includes Warriors/Rogues/Warlock’s only. Now that you have the group comp you want your team to play, now you must pick your teammates.

Now that you have what kind of group comp you want to play picked out, its time to fill that group comp with your teammates. Which will be released tommorow.

Arena Melee - 5v5 - Week 6

Pandemic started off the week slow dropping to an all time low of 7th so far this season, but at the end of the week they pulled it together and bounced back to #2. Trounce still leads the rankings but slowly creeping up on them is TeamPandemic and We Lose Cuz Daorok sux. Keep reading to find out all the statistical breakdowns and who were the big losers and winners this week.

Averages of Top 50 5v5 Teams – 7-30-07
Rating: 2273.98 (Last week 2242.52)
Wins: 157.1 (Last week 157.56)
Losses: 41.1 (Last week 43.24)
Win Percentage: 0.8076 (Last week 0.8010)

Overview: The average rating went up this week by about 30 while the wins and losses stayed relatively the same. The only thing these numbers could represent is a new re-make team making it into the Top 50 bumping the older ones with more wins/losses out. One example of this would be CAPSLOCKCREW who transferred their team to Tichondrius losing their old record of (345-56) and trading it for their new one of (76-13).


POWER 5 RANKINGS
1. TeamPandemic (Tichondrius) – US #2
Lineup: Warrior, Mage, Elemental Shaman, Holy Priest, Paladin
A bumpy week for this team as they started it off very rocky dropping to 7th overall in the US, but towards the end of the week they regained their form going 59-22 for the week and improving their rating by 22 in the process. It’s nice to see that the top teams actually play more than just 10 games a week while maintaining a top rank. They continue to stay #1 in the Power Rankings again because of their continued dominance over the #1 Battlegroup Bloodlust.

2. CAPSLOCKCREW (Tichondruis) – US #11
Lineup: Warrior, Hunter, Warlock, Holy Priest, Paladin
You will notice they no longer have (Kel’Thuzad) attached to their name that’s because they are no longer on that server. When you transfer servers you lose all your arena teams and their ratings and have to re-build each of your teams. This was no problem from this top team seeing as they went (76-15) an 85% win percentage which is roughly the same as on their old battleground. The good thing about re making a team is that every team you play will always be higher ranked than you so you will always get a lot of points from beating them (around 20-30) and when you lose you’ll barely lose anything so It make it extremely easy for top teams to regain their status just by winning.

3. We lose cuz Daorok sux (Korgath) – US #3
Lineup: Warrior, Mage, Hunter, Resto Shaman, Paladin
This team has been on an absolute frenzy these last few weeks and its still going and probably wont stop for a while. This week they went an impressive 16-0 and gaining 42 rating in the process, compared to last weeks 49-3. In the last two weeks they are 65-3, which is an amazing 96% win percentage well above their total right now that is 85%. If they continue to keep winning at this rate if they win 20-30 games next week should be enough to give them the #1 spot for the first time this season.

4. Trounce (Mal’Ganis) – US #1
Lineup: Warrior, Mage, Elemental Shaman, Holy Priest, Paladin
Still holding strong at #1 they continue to hold off TeamPandemic, the usual #1, and We lose cuz Daorok sux who has been extremely hot as of lately. This week Trounce only played 10 games, but won all of them improving their rating by only 16 points meaning they were only beating teams that gave them anywhere between 1-2 points. I am not a fan of teams only getting their 10 games in a week so they can just get their Arena Points, if they want to stay on these power rankings they will need to play more then 10 next week before I drop them off.

5. Rag Dolled (Tichondruis) – US #4
Lineup: Warrior, Mage, Elemental Shaman, Holy Priest, Paladin
This team hasn’t made too much noise so far this season, but has steadily climbed up the ranks each week. They have slowly moved up the rankings and now they are US #4, which is this teams all time high. Out of all the teams in the Top 10 they have the lowest win percentage at 75%, which means they like to grind out their ranks. This week they went an impressive 46-11 while gaining 53 rating which moved them from 6th to 4th, expect this team to continue to keep climbing possibly into the Top 2 next week.


TOP 5 MOVERS (Teams only in Top 50 for previous week included)

(+45) – Owls That Fly at Dawn (Tichondrius) NEW->5th
Lineup: Rogue, Warlock, Warlock, Shadow Priest, Resto Druid
Not sure if this team was created 1-2+ weeks ago or this week, but regardless they have shot up all the way to 5th out of no where. They are 100-25, which is an 80% win rate, no easy feat on the #1 Battlegroup Bloodlust. One thing that is for certain though is they have a really stupid team name, and hopefully that’s some kind of inside joke because I am pretty sure a 4th grader could make something cooler than that.

(+42) – TEAM EG (Illidan) 54th->13th
Lineup: Warrior, Warlock, Elemental Shaman, Holy Priest, Paladin
Last week they were in the opposite list being one of the Top 5 losers dropping 43 ranks, this week they almost gained all of them back. A few days ago they even made it up into the Top 10 but have since barely fallen out, If a team can rebound as much as they can it says a lot – they will probably stay in or around the Top 10 for a few weeks unless they have another bad week.

(+27) – DOOM TRAIN (Uldum) NEW->23rd
Lineup: Rogue, Mage, Warlock, Shadow Priest, Resto Shaman
This is the first time this team has graced the Top 50, and they are ranked fairly high playing a lineup that is far from cookie cutter. While they did make it all the way to 23rd they do have a fairly low win percentage of 77% playing in the weak Cyclone Battleground. If they want to stay on these rankings they will have to prove them selves week after week by gaining ranks and improving their rating and record.

(+26) – Smug Lyfe (Eldre’Thelas) NEW->24th
Lineup: Warrior, Mage, Elemental Shaman, Holy Priest, Paladin
Considering they play the extremely popular cookie cutter build it’s surprising that they have such a low win percentage, which is 70%. I’ve seen this team hovering around the Top 50 before and might have been in it two weeks ago, I cant remember, but given the fact their win percentage is so low they must have just had a good week, I don’t expect them to stay around this rank for very long with that low of a win percentage.

(+25) – MIC (The Underbog) NEW->25th
Lineup: Warrior, Rogue, Mage, Holy Priest, Paladin
Hailing from the weakest battleground: Retaliation, this team has an extremely impressive win percentage of 96% and grace the Top 50 for the first time. Even on a “weaker” battleground that is no easy feat especially playing with two melee: a warrior and a rogue. The website I used to calculate all the rankings/statistics just recently added Retaliation to its list (it wasn’t added because they merged two BG’s together to make it) So they could have been in the Top 50 before, I don’t know. With a 96% win percentage they will probably be here for awhile, expect this team to moving up ranks.


BOTTOM 5 DROPPERS (Teams only in Top 50 for previous week included)

(-235) – Weekend Respecs (Korgath) 15th->250+
Lineup: Warrior, Warlock, Elemental Shaman, Holy Priest, Paladin
Holy crap I’m speechless right here, 235+ ranks? I think that will be a record for a very long time on this website, the best part is it might even be more then 235 ranks. I really don’t think this team is a sold team either because a team who sells their team can only lose about 100 rating in one week; this team has lost more than that and still have members with games played on their lineup. Last week they had a rating of 2247 with a record of 135-51, this week they went 3-17 and lost 200 rating in the process dropping them completely out of the Top 150 by 100+ rating. Their actual rank is probably something closer to 300 or more but Ill go easy on them and say they are ranked 250. Some times teams have an off night, and losing to teams you probably should beat 2-3 times in a row would probably prompt you to stop, but 17? I don’t know who or what they lost to but could only assume they weren’t smart enough to stop after they lost 50 or even 100 rating.

(-71) – FoRtY PeRcEnT AzN (Cho’gall) 9th->80th
Lineup: Warrior, Mage, Elemental Shaman, Holy Priest, Paladin
This team was up around the Top 10 for quite some time so it’s surprising to see them drop this low. Last week they had a 2270 rating with a record of 105-12, this week they tried to just get 10 games in which turned out to be extremely costly. They went 3-7 and lost 90 rating in the process, playing 10 games to get arena points isn’t worth losing almost 100 rating they should’ve just not played.

(-59) – Diablo (Deathwing) 18th->77th
Lineup: Unknown
This team had a brief stint in the Top 50 last week but quickly threw it all away. Last week they were 2239 with a record of 150-50, this week they tried to get just 10 games in and probably lost to some very low ranked teams going 7-3 they some how lost 50+ rating. If you want to be a top ranked team you can’t wait till Sunday or Monday night to get your games in, and 10 games a week definitely doesn’t cut it unless your battleground is extremely weak.

(-46) – Mississippi Roadblock (Blackrock) 35th->81st
Lineup: Warrior, Mage, Hunter, Holy Priest, Paladin
This wasn’t a horrible weak for this team, but it wasn’t the best either. To maintain your rank in the Top 50 US you’ll usually need to gain at least 30-40 rating each week, so If you go down even a little bit or break even your going to lose a lot of ranks with teams passing you. This is what happened to Mississippi Roadblock, they went a mediocre 4-5 this week and have lost only 30 rating but its enough to drop them 46 spots and get them on the list for one of this weeks biggest losers.

(-36) – is this a new arena (Alter of Storms) 13th->49th
Lineup: Warrior, Mage, Warlock, Holy Priest, Paladin
Two weeks ago this team was barely hovering in the Top 50 in the US, and here again they are ranked 49th. After a great week shooting all the way up to 13th they didn’t continue that play this week and lost everything they gained. Despite having a winning record this week of 9-4 they dropped roughly 40 rating and that was enough to drop them 36 ranks.


TEAM OF THE WEEK
CAPSLOCKCREW (Kel’Thuzad)- US #11
Lineup: Warrior, Hunter, Warlock, Holy Priest, Paladin
After transferring and remaking their team they shot up all the way to the top 10 before the week was even over, they have since then barely dropped out of the Top 10but the fact that they can regain their status and that quick gives them the award for top team this week. Another impressive note is if that they play more then every other team in the top 50 and still maintain an great win percentage, if you combined their two teams they would be 421-69 which is a win percentage of 86%.


IRONMAN TEAM AWARDS – (Top 50 Team Only)
Wins – (289) TeamPandemic (Tichondrius)
Losses – (150) Shame (Wildhammer)
Games Played – (413) Shame (Wildhammer)


STOCK RISING
(US #5) Owls That Fly at Dawn (Tichondrius)
Lineup: Rogue, Warlock, Warlock, Shadow Priest, Resto Druid
If they can shoot up to 5th in the US while playing in the Bloodlust battlegroup that means they are good enough to stay up there, and for awhile. Expect this newly made team to stay up in the Top 10 for a while and even get better every week.

STOCK FALLING
(US #31) Team Pulse (Feathermoon)
Lineup: Warrior, Mage, Elemental Shaman, Holy Priest, Paladin
I really enjoyed covering this team especially since they were a ‘900 Club’ team while maintaining a Top 10 US rank, but as each week goes on they keep dropping. Two weeks ago they were all the way up to 4th rank, then last week 8th, now 31st if this trend continues they might even drop out of the Top 50 US by next week. They have kept their win percentage at an decent 87%, so they aren’t completely out of it a good week or two of play and they could possibly re join the Top 10 or even the ‘900 club’ once again.


On a side note, I have recently just quit WoW. I got extremely frustrated with PvE and both PvP/Arena in this game and decided to give everything away on all my characters, It might just be a break or for good who knows. But try not to be too surprised if this site stops getting updated, I may lose the will power to keep doing this especially if im not playing.

Most Competetive Battlegroup? #2 - Bloodlust barely leads

Bloodlust Battlegroup took the #1 spot last week to every ones expectations, but will they be able to hold #1 this week? TeamPandemic falling almost out of the Top 10 with poor play this week could hurt Bloodlust by next week unless they turn it around. Nightfall held strong at #2 last week but rumors have it they could be losing their #1 team to Bloodlust which will completely nuke them to the bottom of these rankings. Keep reading to find out more!

Information taken from Top 10 Teams only on each battle group.

Average Rating Per Top10 Teams: To determine the battlegroup rating I simply calculated the top 10 team's rating from each battle group's and added that together with the amount of matches those teams played to get their 'Battlegroup Rating'

Rank - Battlegroup - AverageRating - GP - Battlegroup Rating - Gain
1) BLOODLUST - 2267.1 - 2159 - 4426.1 (+529.8)
2) RAMPAGE - 2222.8 - 2178 - 4400.8 (+645.7)
3) VENGEANCE - 2218.1 - 2179 - 4397.1 (+634.6)
4) VINDICATION - 2208.8 - 2106 - 4314.8 (+605.2)
5) NIGHTFALL - 2181.1 - 2034 - 4215.1 (+391.8)
6) SHADOWBURN - 2175.4 - 1998 - 4173.4 (+588)
7) STORMSTRIKE - 2214 - 1773 - 3987 (+512.3)
8) CYCLONE - 2199.4 - 1779 - 3978.4 (+334.6)
9) WHIRLWIND - 2130.9 - 1665 - 3795.9 (+452.7)
10) RECKONING - 2204.1 - 1568 - 3772.1 (+103.1)
11) RUIN - 2192 - 1425 - 3617 (-103.7)
12) EMBERSTORM - 2006.7 - 1471 - 3477.7 (+460.2)
13) RETALIATION - 2042.2 - 1416 - 3458.2 (N/A)


Overview: Bloodlust barely holds the lead while their poster team TeamPandemic is falling quickly down the Top 10 ranks, from 2nd to 7th. Last week Bloodlust led by 73 Rating, this week it has been dwindled down to 26. Closely snipping at Bloodlust's heels is Rampage and Vengeance who were ranked 4th and 3rd last week. Rampage's burst up the ladder came from some unexpected play from TeamEG who was ranked outside the Top 50 in the US now shot up to 10th with 2300 rating, as well as great play from the Cho'Gall server. Vengeance who had just an impressive week is being fueled by We lose cuz Daorok sux, who has shot up 400 rating since the last rankings were released, their server Korgath also holds the majority of the top spots helping bring BG rating up. Trounce the #1 team in the US for the past two weeks has helped bring their Battleground Stormstrike up to 7th from 10th, moving it out of the bottom tier to a mid tier Battleground now. Last weeks #2 ranked Battleground Nightfall has dropped all the way down to 5th, and with rumors that their #1 team CAPSLOCKCREW will be transferring they will most likely keep going down. Almost every server had a good week gaining this week except for Ruin the only Battleground to drop rating.

Be sure to check back next week to see if Bloodlust can maintain its narrow lead, and if Vengeance and Ramage will duel it out for the #1 Ranked Battlegroup.

900 Club - 5 teams drop again, Trounce stays strong

This week another 5 teams drop off the list, especially #1 from last week ONE EIGHT VII who falls completely off the radar. Top ranked Team Pulse also leaves us after having a medicore week. Can Trounce take the #1 spot in the 900 Club while holding #1 in the US overall? Will Game Over another Top 15 team be able to challenge Trounce for the top? Check below to find out more to see which teams stayed and which didn’t!

Guidelines for becoming a 900 Club team: Maintain 150 Top US Rank, while holding .900 win percentage in matches.

Update 3: 7/27/07

Rank - Team - Win/Loss - Win%
1) Trounce (Mal'Ganis) 178-14 0.9270
2) Game Over (Black Dragonflight) 134-12 0.9178
3) Slash Cyclone (Bleeding Hollow) 120-11 0.9160
4) SeeYouNextTuesday (Tortheldrin) 196-21 0.9032
5) Espada (Stormscale) 100-11 0.9009
6) Spray n Pray High Life (Mannoroth) 89-10 0.9000
7) Clan Hex (Lightning's Blade) 97-11 0.9000
8) Yea We Lift (Mal'Ganis) 104-12 0.9000


Overview: Trounce takes the #1 spot this week while maintaining the #1 rank in the United States which is extremely impressive even if their battleground is considered "weak". Game Over stays strong on these rankings although they’ve only played about 20 matches since our last update versus Trounce’s 30+. Slash Cyclone, in shambles over the loss of one of their teammate, has yet to play a match but stay in the Top 150 in the US they will be able to stay on another week maybe two with out playing before dropping out of the Top 150. Last weeks #1 ranked team ONE EIGHT VII has gone 45-25 (64%) since our last update dropping their total win percentage to 72% and will probably never join these ranks again. Team Pulse a Top 10 team who also maintained 900 Club status has since dropped out of the Top 10 and dropped their win percentage all the way down to 87% from 94%. New teams fill spots #4-8 this week, with the exception of Clan HeX who barely made it in last week and is now barely staying in. With most of these teams barely being above .900 there might not be any 900 Club Teams within a week or two, stay tuned to see who can hold out the longest!

Be sure to check back tomorrow to see the new Battle Ground Competitiveness Rankings!

Interviews with Top Arena Druids

After yesterdays articles I interviewed a few of these top Druids to see what they think of their class and many other aspects of the Arena! Unfortunately none of the Feral druids were available for comments, so here are the voices of your top druids:

Pronne (Dark Iron) – Restoration – (US #66) Dont hurt me no more
Lethi (Darkspear) – Moonkin – (US #69) Keepin it Real

Introduce yourself to the readers, describe your team and how a typical arena match goes for you.

PRONNE(Resto): Hey guys my name is Pronne, I play a tauren druid on the server Dark Iron in BG 8 or Shadowburn battle group. My 5v5 team called "Baby Dont Hurt Me" plays a three caster dps and two healer 5v5 team consisting of myself as the restoration druid, Xantus as a shadow priest, Mikeyo as a mage, Superpaul as an affliction warlock, Tinkerbellia and Nausikaa filling the roles of our paladin. My role in my team is to protect my casters from damage, interrupts and being crowd controlled for the most part with coordinating my cyclone and feral charge on a healer with my teams burst. It seems to work out extremely well.

LETHI(Moonkin): Lethi here. We roll a 3 dps setup that differs from the usual cookie cutter. MS/Fury Warrior, Holy Pallydan, Holy Priest, SL Warlock, Balance Druid. Best thing about our team is we aren't completely reliant on the warrior like all of the bloodlust/windfury warrior teams that make up the top 20 - every one of us can hold our own and get the damage done. I get focus fired a lot of games and it's fairly easy to lock a balance druid down but with 14k armor, 350 resilience and 12k health unbuffed I'm pretty tank. Depending on the team we're facing I sometimes even run out there first acting as a massive feathery bull’s-eye to get them onto me. The only teams that really give us trouble are mana burn/outlasting teams, still working on a strat for those teams.


Racials have always been a heated debate since the early days of organized Warsongulch, but now with Arena and more riding on the line especially people getting new gear and possibly money through tournaments the debate has gotten even hotter. To my findings a large majority of top Druids in Arena are Tauren, it has long been said that Horde’s racials are more PvP oriented (WoTF, Warstomp, etc) while Alliance racial’s are more PvE oriented (Diplomacy, Wisp Spirit, etc). What are your thoughts on Racials?

LETHI(Moonkin): Warstomp's gold for a spec with no interrupts but there's still a few situations where I wish I had shadowmeld. 5% health seals the deal though; glad I'm a cow! I've always thought all racials should be banned in arenas, it just adds to the whole scissor paper rock "team a > team b and there's nothing team b can do about it" thing.

PRONNE(Resto): Racials are huge when it comes down to a big tournament or even the everyday ladder. Horde does have an advantage in racials for pvp but the priest racials of alliance are far superior. Will of the forsaken is on par with escape artist in my opinion but when you compare other horde racials to alliance, horde is favored without a contest. As a tauren druid, racials give me the option to get better healing stats with the extra 500-600 health from endurance along with warstomp. Where as night elves get a mediocre talent, shadow meld, which can get you a few extra ticks of drinking but that’s about it. For my own benefit racials would be nice to keep on but in all fairness there can’t be any racials when it comes to arenas.


Since the launch of TBC Blizzard has been fixated on nerfing the Paladin class so it is not relied on 100% in both PvE and PvP. In the most recent published plans for the class they are adding a cool down of 1 minute to Blessing of Sacrifice, while it looks solid on paper this is extremely detrimental to non-dispelling healing classes in Arena such as: Resto Druids/Resto Shamans. With the dependency of two dispellers in 5v5 Arena this new Paladin change will render every class except Priests useless as a secondary healer. What are your thoughts on this up coming change?

PRONNE(Resto): I think nerfing their Blessing of Sacrifice is a bad idea. For a lot of paladins its a huge crutch, not only to break crowd control abilities, but it's also used as a way to reduce damage taken on one target. In lower tiers of arena play I think we will see fewer paladins on the top but I don’t think they will be hurting too badly in large-scale arenas. This nerf will most likely relinquish the crown of 3v3 healers to druids and priests.

LETHI(Moonkin): Maybe it's because all my teams are full offensive caster dps teams but paladin utility doesn't seem like much of a threat. Since we're unaffected by BoP and BoF and paladins are so easy to CC and their heals are slow they're pretty much a joke to us. I've always seen priests and resto druids as better pvp healers and imo shaman utility blows paladins away. I really can't see the problem with paladins but I'm probably not in the best position to.


There was a time when Moonkin Druids were the laughing stock of most guilds. With TBC and the ability for people to get exceptional gear from all over not just PvE you are seeing more of them come out of the wood works and are actually fairing quite well in the Arena. What are your thoughts of Moonkin’s in the arena, and can we see more of them in the future?

LETHI(Moonkin): I honestly think Balance Druids are one of the most overpowered class/specs in the game. Yeah, we were a little lacking pre-BC and I even PvPed as spell damage resto for the longest time but they went too far with the buffs. I just can't work out why there aren't more high rated moonkins out there.

PRONNE(Resto): I was actually considering going a balance spec for my 5v5's for a while but decided not to because I would have to invest a lot of arena points into a restoration and balance set of gear. But personally I think this spec is on par with resto. The abilities that moonkins have to disrupt almost everything going on by placing treants on a caster dps to give them spell pushback to reduce damage taken, along with cyclone/roots, amazing burst damage, and an option of popping out of form to toss a few heals around. I'm sure we'll see more rise up in the rankings. I also plan on giving this spec a try in the near future.


As an attempt to make Druids more viable in a PvP aspect blizzard gave them one of the now most infamous abilities in the game: Cyclone. Many players have voiced extreme disgust over this talent seeing as it is non-dispelable (and even removes Aura’s/Stance’s). As a Druid what are your thoughts on Cyclone, was it much needed for the Druid class or something that didn’t help the problem or even made it worse?

PRONNE(Resto): Cyclone was an absolute must for the druid class in my opinion. We, as a class, did not have the benefits of the other healing classes that give them more versatility. Abilities such as blessing of freedom/sacrifice, mana burn, and an overall dps increase with bloodlust and totems from the three other healing classes gave them the synergy with other classes. Without cyclone we would only have roots to which is mediocre at best being dispellable and considering the fact that most melees run with a paladin giving them blessing of freedom. We would just be a pure heal-bot that goes oom faster than any other class.

LETHI(Moonkin): I admit cyclone's overpowered. I can see it getting nerfed in the near future when the new flavor of the month resto druid/SL drain lock 2v2 combo really takes off and dominates the bracket. Although it'd hurt my teams I kind of hope it does get nerfed, its way over the top.


If there was one thing you could change about the Druid class to make your time playing World of Warcraft more enjoyable whether it be in PvE or PvP, what would it be?

LETHI(Moonkin): We need a spell interrupt. Badly. It's the one thing holding balance druids back from being a huge force in top ranked arenas. Maybe a talent somewhere high up in the balance tree since it might be a bit overpowered in the hands of a resto druid supports healing. Furor and feral stuns are great but they're not enough and cost way too much mana. My armory usually doesn't show it but I'm 45/11/5 when we arena.

PRONNE(Resto): I personally think its fine the way it is. Although itemization is kind of off with the balance set, which I will begin to pick up after this week.


Thanks for your time, are there any shout outs you would like to make?
LETHI(Moonkin): Many waffles to all my teammates - Lethul, Rockwell, Toez, Kokokang, Schweex, Heinous and that warlock scrub whose name eludes me. Also I'd like to give a shout out to my boys Aarc and Connect. Props to all the balance druids out there who put the effort in instead of qq’ing about the class, keep it up lads!


Thank you to Pronne and Lethi for going out of their ways to do these interviews.Be sure you to come back tomorrow for the new 900 Club rankings as well as a new update on the Battle Ground Competitiveness Ranks this weekend! Also on a side note, after only 1 week we’ve amazingly already had 5000+ hits, so keep spreading the word!

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.

Arena Melee - 5v5 - Week 5

Welcome to my weekly Melee of the Top 50 teams in the US, this will be released every week on Mondays. This will cover the 5th week of this Arena Season 2 spanning from the 17th to the 23rd of July. Read below to find out more about your favorite 5v5 teams! Who will be #1? Trounce and Pandemic battle for the top spot continues as 14 new teams join the Top 50 this week, with others plummeting off especially the big loser this week Team EG who dropped completely off the Top50 after being ranked 11th. Keep reading to find out more!

Averages of Top 50 5v5 Teams – 7-23-07
Rating: 2242.52 (Last week 2236.72)
Wins: 157.56 (Last week 136.5)
Losses: 43.24 (Last week 31.3)
Win Percentage: 0.8010 (Last week 0.8366)

Overview: Of the Top 50 teams this week the average ratings went up by 21 rating, with the 50th rank making it in this week with 2191 Rating versus last weeks 2145. Overall the top teams lost about a game more then they won this week dropping the win percentage of all teams by about 3%.


POWER 5 RANKINGS
1. TeamPandemic (Tichondrius) – Anything less then #1 is a bad week for this team, and they have been getting their butts kicked by Trounce so far this season. Even though they are ranked #2 right now one thing you might consider this: Pandemic hails from Bloodlust the #1 most competitive Battleground, while Trounce is from Stormstrike(which was 10th out of the 13th Battlegrounds). Their win percentage from last season is relatively the same staying above 85% which is better then the average Top 50 team, but not as high as you’d expect the #1 team to be after 1.5 seasons of playing almost the same lineup.

2. Trounce (Mal’Ganis) – Trounce is showing they are one of the teams to beat this season, challenging Pandemic for the title they held most of last season for the #1 spot. Most of the week they held the #1 slot except for a brief day where Pandemic pulled ahead by a few rating but Trounce answered back shooting 40 rating above them. If Trounce’s Battlegroup’s Rating wasn’t so low I would give them the #1 spot, unfortunately it is 10th/13 battlegroup’s at the moment.

3. We lose cuz Daorok sux (Korgath) – Starting the season very slow they finally got to where they belong at the top. Another favorite and top team from last season they shot up to the #4 spot this week with great play and getting there with less games played then the other teams around them. Expect them to keep climbing.

4. CAPSLOCKCREW (Kel’Thuzad) – Another top team from last season, they are doing it again holding up one of the top spots. Surprisingly they are the only horde team in the Top 5, the way racials are in this game you’d think there would be more, I guess not. Another interesting note is they have almost twice as many games played as other teams in the Top 5 with the same win percentage as them, they hail from Nightfall which is currently ranked #2 on the Battleground Competitiveness rankings.

5. Team Pulse (Feathermoon) – Another team that wasn’t around the top last season or even to my knowledge alive, is Pulse, they have amassed an amazing win percentage of 95% which is no easy feat even if you are from Cyclone which is 8th/13th in the Battleground Competitiveness Rankings. It would be nice to see them play more games and sustain that same winning percentage (they currently have only played 110 games compared to the others around them playing 200+).


TOP 5 MOVERS (Teams only in Top 50 for previous week included)
(+37) – is this a new arena (Altar of Storms) T50th->13th
This team barely made it in the Top 50 last week with 2145 rating, now they have shot up all the way to 13th with 2253 rating. They went 29-14 for the week increasing their total record to 156-33.
(+27) – We lose cuz Daorok sux (Korgath) 31st->4th
For the first 3-4 weeks of the season they didn’t really play enough games to get back to their top spot where they belong, now they have and did so and in the blink of an eye. They went from 31st rank with a 2162 rating all the way up to 4th with 2350, during this stint of 200 rating gain they went an amazing 41-3 in Vengeance Battlegroup currently ranked 3rd/13th which is no pushover battlegroup.
(+23) – No Druids (Stormreaver) 40th->17th
Barely hanging in the top 50 last week 8 rating above the Top 50 cut off they proved this week they belong there. Shooting up from 2153 rating to 2242 with a 9-2 record.
(+15) – we r Godzilla u r japan (Tichondrius) 22nd->7th
Last week they were ranked 22nd with a dismal win percentage of 70% which is extremely low even for a team barely in the Top 50. This week was different however they went up 15 ranks to 7th going an impressive 39-11 while improving their win percentage to 72%.
(+14) – Downie Trip (Barthilas) 24th->10th
One good week puts them in the Top 10, after being ranked 24th with a record of 122-23 at 2190 rating, this week they went 18-1 improving their rating to 2264 enough to nab them a spot in the Top 10.


BOTTOM 5 LOSERS (Teams only in Top 50 for previous week included)
(-47) – Smug Lyfe (Eldre’Thelas) 32nd->79th
The #1 loser from this week is Smug Lyfe; although they were only 32nd ranked they dropped the most ranks out of any team ranked in the Top 50 last week. Last week they had a rating of 2161, which is good enough for the 32nd spot, this week they went 8-5 losing about 20 rating dropping out of the Top 50 by a lot all the way down to 79th.
(-45) – E Harmony (Sargeras) 20th->65th
At an impressive 20th rank last week they completely fell off the radar this week. They were at 2200 rating with a record of 166-48, but this week disaster fell for this team as it looks like they only tried to get 10 games in going 7-3 losing 43 rating and 45 ranks in the progress.
(-43) – Team EG (Illidan) 11th->54th
They didn’t drop the most ranks this week, but in my opinion they were the biggest losers. Usually a team that can obtain a top 15 rank is quality enough to stay on there or hang around at least in the Top 50, but not Team EG. Not only did they lose 44 rating, they also had double the amount of losses this week then they had all season combined going a surprising 31-15 but losing rating and a lot of ranks in the process.
(-28) – Xlyr and friends (Shattered Hand) 21st->49th
A week of not playing will kill you in these rankings and this has happened to xlyr and friends, they dropped 28 ranks so far this week just because they haven’t played a match leaving their rating at 2194 and record at 123-15.
(-24) – Not quite Vanquish (Staghelm) 23rd->47th
Although they have gained 10 rating this week improving their rating to 2196 from 2186, they have fallen behind other new teams that have gained rating this week. After a mediocre week of 16-9 they drop 24 ranks.


TEAM OF THE WEEK
We lose cuz Daorok sux (Korgath)
Going an extremely impressive 41-3 this week in the Vengeance (3rd/13th) Battlegroup they have climbed up to Top 4 again this season. After a 200 rating climb in one week you would think 68 more rating to gain the #1 one spot would be nothing, but we will have to wait and see if this team can claim #1 for the first time this season which has been dominated by Pandemic and now Trounce.


IRONMAN TEAM AWARDS – (Top 50 Team Only)
Wins – (328) CAPSLOCKCREW (Kel’Thuzad) – US #3 – 2362 Rating – (328-54)
Losses – (144) Shame (Wildhammer) – US #24 – 2231 Rating – (239-144)
Games Played – (464) YO (Thunderlord) – US #43 - 2203 Rating – (321-143)


STOCK RISING
(US #12) The Fallen Angels (Tichondrius)
This team wasn’t ranked in the Top 50 last week, but has managed to jump all the way up to 12th spot, with great play and a 2261 rating they have a current record of 133-32 which is no easy feat on the #1 ranked battlegroup: Bloodlust.


STOCK FALLING
(US #39) Dejthstoneegslyfunecima (Cho’Gall)
Not sure where to start with this team, last week they weren’t even on the Top 50, yesterday they were ranked 6th, and today they are ranked 39th now after losing 81 rating in one night. Not sure what to make of it, but losing that much rating and dropping that low can be extremely detrimental to a team, I do not expect to see them back in the Top 10 any time soon.

(1. I only count the Top 50 in some rankings because I could care less if a team goes from 200th 85th rank, seeing as it is much harder to go from 50th-10th)
(2. To refer to my “Battleground Competitiveness Rankings see: http://arenablogger.blogspot.com/2007/07/most-competetive-battlegroup.html)
(3. Also sorry for such a long post I am an HTML newbie that doesn’t know how to make it more then one page.)

Movie Review: Team Overall 5v5

This will be the first of hopefully many movie reviews, we will try to focus mainly on 5v5 arena, but those movies are not always the most common so expect the types to possibly change. This first week we will be covering "TeamOverall Arena 5v5 #1 EU-Cataclysme", who runs the cookie cutter Warrior, Paladin, Priest, Hunter, Mage.

Team Overall Arena 5v5 #1 EU-Cataclysme
Arena: 5v5
POV: Paladin
Length: 20 Minutes

Technical Ability:
This movie is extremely simple the way a 5v5 movie should be, since 5v5 your not going to see big numbers or huge crits your going to want to see whats going on, not a Mortal Strike critting on a hunter for 1500. No in game editing of the clips so all you see is what the paladin will see when hes playing.

Visual Content:
The intro is very short and sweet, no need for any dramatic scenes of people flying around on mounts or doing other silly stuff that peopledon't need to see. A simple display of their team and they get right into the action within a minute. The pally displays excellent work of line of sighting the other team in theNagrand Arena which is what every pally on a good team must do, if they don't it could break their team with deathly mana burns or what not. On Lorderon which isn't a LOS friendly map he is usually clustered up in the middle of action, taking aoe damages, he would benefit more more using the grave then again that arena can be very frustrating on a healer.

Audio Content:
I was once an avid collector of Counter-Strike movies when I was competitive in that game, and out of all of them I always enjoyed the ones that came from Europe the most because they know their techno music. The music flows very well with the play style of a Paladin which can be well kinda dull, not to say the music is dull just techno fits its style.


Overall: 4.5/5
Great movie, if you want to know how a Paladin plays his class correctly and efficiently watch this movie. If you can watch closely you can see he does a great job of using the few offensive abilities a paladin has: stunning targets with seal of justice, holy shocking & hammer of wrathing low targets. If you wanna know what high end arena is like with slow killing assisting down targets slowly with kiting and LOS'ing, this is your movie!

Link: http://www.warcraftmovies.com/movieview.php?id=43474
(If you are going to watch it, I suggest you use the stream from warcraftmovies, although it is slower, the quality is much better then file front)

Website Review: Wowjutsu

This site is about Arena 5v5/PvP, but I wanted to post about this site because it is something WoW players have wanted for a long time and ironically something Blizzard could've easily incorporated into their site years ago. What am I talking about? WowJutsu the Automated World of Warcraft PVE Guild Rankings.

Look no further WoW players, you wont have to troll your realm forums any more or make silly lists of which guilds on your server have killed what boss or who is #1, all you have to do is open up this site and click on your server and its already done all the work for you. You will no longer have to go to sites like boss killers and manually update your guild's progression while you sit there and know its not 100% because some guilds are just too lazy or don't care to update theirs or don't even know about the site, you will never know what your true status is. Wowjutsu has just changed all that and made everything before it obsolete; as long as you log off with your new loot it will be 100% accurate.

It has break downs of what instances guilds are doing with 99.99% of them fighting bosses in Karazhan 6 months after Burning Crusades release while only 40% can kill Gruul and only 15% can kill a boss in Tempus Keep or SSL. More interesting is that less then 1% of the guilds in the US can zone in and beat a boss in Black Temple with only 7 having killed every boss in TBC.

How does it work? Easy this site automatically scans the armory to check the gear your guild is wearing, if a player is found with a new piece of gear attributed to a new boss your guild hasn't beaten your guilds ranking will go up! All you have to do is log off each night with the shiny purples you get when beating a new boss, something WoW players have no problem doing!

Find out where your guild stands! http://www.wowjutsu.com

900 Club - 5 Teams Drop Off List

ONE EIGHT VII takes the lead while SPIDER PIG falters, meanwhile, Trounce, Team Pulse, Game Over stay in the Top 15 US teams and still maintain their 900 club status. A few teams leave us this week with a few more joining us, check below for more info!

Guidelines for becoming a 900 Club team: Maintain 150 Top US Rank, while holding .900 win percentage in matches.

Update 2: 7/20/07

Rank - Team - Win/Loss - Win%
1) ONE EIGHT VII (Stormreaver) 55-3 0.9482
2) Team Pulse (Feathermoon) 104-6 0.9454
3) Slash Cyclone (Bleeding Hollow) 120-9 0.9302
4) Trounce (Mal'Ganis) 145-12 157 0.9235
5) Game Over (Black Dragonflight) 114-10 0.9193
6) Thrallstars (Cho'Gall) 59-6 0.9076
7) Minglings (Lightning's Blade) 49-5 0.9074
8) Clan HeX (Lightning's Blade) 77-8 0.9058
9) Rise Against Pruples (Blackrock) 96-10 0.9056

Overview: SPIDER PIG leave us this week with a dismal week going 4-6, and dropping out of the Top150 US leaving us with no undefeated teams, ONE EIGHT VII takes their spot adding 4 solid wins and 0 losses to improve their win percentage. Trounce, Team Pulse, Game Over stay solid on the ranking with more great play this week while maintaining Top 15 status, very impressive for such high quality teams. Slash Cyclone and Clan HeX yet to play maintain the same ranks while GO HARD GO PRO, Beat the Breaks Off It, Pretty Standard, TEAM EG all drop off the list dropping their win percentage below .900 or not making Top 150 US. Although 5 teams left us this update, 3 new ones joined us: Thrallstars, Minglings and Rise Against Purples, unfortunately their win percentages are barely above .900 dont expect them to last very long.

Stay tuned for more info and my new feature of weekly updates on the Top 50 US teams starting next week!