Last week's battle was all about size. In the end, being tougher trumped being larger, as Anub'Arak Pounded King Dred with 64% of the spectator vote. We'll get a view of the beat-down after the break -- plus we'll set up the vote for this week's battle between Ley-Guardian Eregos and Skadi the Ruthless.
Alert fans will note a different schedule on their weekly Thunderdome tickets. Starting this week, you'll find the past week's roundup and the next week's fight and vote in a single post. Be sure to follow the jump if you'd like to debate and vote on the upcoming battle between Eregos and Skadi. Then starting next week, we'll be hosting the Two Bosses Thunderdome on Wednesdays (moved up from Thursdays).
Join us after the break for last week's wrap-up plus next week's battle: Ley-Guardian Eregos (The Oculus) versus Skadi the Ruthless (Utgarde Pinnacle). Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls ... Dyin' time's here.
Anub'Arak Pounds King Dred
Spectators roared their approval for Anub'Arak last week, with the former Nerubian royal bringing in 64.5% of the votes against King Dred's 31.9%. (Only 3.5% thought the match would end in a tie or other scenario.) The battle ultimately boiled down to physical size -- but the question is, how much did it matter?
Cuwi: Are people seriously arguing that Dred would win because he's too big to be Pounded? The rules specifically state that their abilities work on each other.
SR: For your information, Tyrannosaurus Rex (or all large bipedal dinosaurs, for that matter) had a HUGE flaw to their design: They were easily thrown off-balance, and when they fell, it was their end. The thing is, herbivores with clubs on their tails AIMED at their legs, so that they would break under all that WEIGHT that the BIPEDAL holds on their BODY. How easy is it to knock over an upside-down wine bottle? Quite easy. You can even see it with horses ... How many of them survive in nature if they fell over and broke their leg?
With that said, Anub can literally SMASH INTO Dred's legs with all his weight ... And I dunno about you, but he looks damn heavy with his size, his natural armor AND additional armor that he wears. When Dred falls, he's gonna get eaten alive or simply impaled to death, as geveldion said. And what's to stop Anub'Arak from doing that?
Outofideas: I think a lot of people are seriously overestimating the size difference between the two combatants. King Dred may be a tower of teeth and claws, but Anub'Arak still dwarfs us lowly bipeds. When he rears up for Pound, I wouldn't be surprised if Anub could carve up Dred's stomach like a birthday cake. Add in the Spider Lord's intelligence, combat prowess and the pound-for-pound equality of all his adds vs. Dred's, and the true king brings home mighty new corpse for his lord to reanimate.
Ley-Guardian Eregos vs. Skadi the Ruthless
- The Two Bosses Thunderdome is considered neutral territory, where both combatants are able to access their usual encounter mechanics and abilities. If you can't imagine it inside the Thunderdome, imagine it someplace else – but you must include all of each bosses' abilities and mechanics.
- All of the competitors' abilities, including crowd control and other effects to which bosses are usually immune, work on their opponents (with apologies to considerations of lore on this count).
- Assume that the opponents share similar levels, health pools and comparative overall damage output.
- Don't get caught up in gameplay mechanics and what actual players might do in each encounter.
- Don't neglect style, story and scale.
In Corner One: Ley-Guardian Eregos (The Oculus)Simpletons! You cannot comprehend the forces you have set in motion. The ley line conduit will not be disrupted! Your defeat shall be absolute!
Ley-Guardian Eregos, the great Blue Dragon boss, flies at the pinnacle of The Oculus. Players normally battle him astride drake mounts with various abilities.
Inside the Two Bosses Thunderdome, there will be no player drake mechanic. Judge the battle on the basis of the abilities of Eregos and Skadi themselves. Eregos may engage in battle in the air and/or on the ground -- your choice; neither is mandatory -- without the player drake mechanic. Consider Eregos' minions capable of handling the harpooning of Skadi's drake mount.
- Arcane Barrage
- Arcane Volley
- Enraged Assault
- Planar Anomalies
- Planar Shift
- Whelps Two to three spawn at a time; heavy DPS can push Eregos into a Planar Shift before he has a chance to summon
In Corner Two: Skadi the Ruthless (Utgarde Pinnacle) What mongrels dare intrude here? Look alive, my brothers! A feast for the one that brings me their heads!
Skadi the Ruthless, an Undead Frost Vrykul who resides in Utgarde Pinnacle, is named after the northern goddess of winter and the hunt in Norse mythology. Upon engaging in battle, he flies up above the terrace on his Protodrake, to strafe foes below as they push through waves of his Frost Vrykul. Opponents pick up harpoons to shoot the drake, eventually killing it and forcing Skadi to the ground and into hand-to-hand battle.
Remember that inside the Two Bosses Thunderdome, you should consider Skadi's minions to have the same comparative output as Eregos' minions. Don't forget that we are considering Eregos' minions to be capable of handling the harpooning of Skadi's mount.
- Crush
- Poisoned Spear
- Whirlwind
Inside the Thunderdome
Two Boss matchups are about substance and style, not game play and mechanics. Don't base your strategies on player tactics, which opponent has been easiest or most difficult for you personally, or the difficulty of each opponent relative to instance progression. Vote for the spirit of the battle as set forth above. Set aside differences in opponents' health pools, game level and actual damage output. Absolutely no game-mechanic nitpicking!
Before you cast your vote, join the debate in the comments. Who wins, and why? Style points go to spectators who use the comments to sway other readers to their point of view!
ORIGINAL WRATH FIVE-MAN SEASON: QUARTER FINALS
MATCH 1
Anub'Arak (Azjol-Nerub) -- WINNER!
vs.
King Dred (Drak'tharon Keep)
MATCH 2
Skadi the Ruthless (Utgarde Pinnacle) (seeded at 63.8%)
vs.
Ley-Guardian Eregos (The Oculus) (seeded at 50.7%)
MATCH 3
Xevozz (Violet Hold) (seeded at 62.1%)
vs.
Loken (Halls of Lightning) (seeded at 58.1%)
MATCH 4
King Ymiron (Utgarde Pinnacle) (seeded at 60.3%)
vs.
Krik'thir the Gatewatcher (Azjol-Nerub) (seeded at 58.6%)
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