Before we get to this week’s pet, let’s see who won last week.
And before we get to that let me tell you about the scoring system I’ve come up with. I will play each submitted team an equal number of times. Each win will be worth ten points. Each pet on a submitted team that is not on either of the top or high tier list will be worth ten extra points. Each pet on a submitted team that is not on the top tier list (but on the high tier list) will be worth five extra points. No extra points are awarded for the pet of the week itself.
I think I will call these extra points “team points” until we can come up with something better.
Here is the tier list: 12/20/14
For example, Team A includes a Spirit Crab and a Gilnean Raven, both of which are on the top tier list. Its record is 4-1. It would receive a score of 40: 10 points for each win, but no team points.
Team B includes a Kun-Lai Runt and a Gilnean Raven. Its record is also 4-1. It would recieve a score of 45: 10 points for each win plus 5 team points since the Kun-Lai Runt is not on the top tier list.
Team C includes a Kun-Lai Runt and a Clockwork Gnome. Its record is also 4-1. It would recieve a score of 50: 10 points for each win plus 5 team points since the Kun-Lai Runt is not on the top tier list, plus another 5 team points since the Clockwork Gnome is not on the top tier list.
Team D includes a Kun-Lai Runt and a Twilight Fiendling. Its record is also 4-1. It would recieve a score of 55: 10 points for each win plus 5 team points since the Kun-Lai Runt is not on the top tier list, plus 10 team points since the Twilight Fiendling is not on either of the top or high tier lists.
Team E includes an Emerald Shale Hatchling and a Twilight Fiendling . Its record is also 4-1. It would recieve a score of 60: 10 points for each win, plus 10 team points since the Emerald Shale Hatchling is not on either of the top or high tier lists, plus 10 team points since the Twilight Fiendling is not on either of the top or high tier lists.
Or you can think of it like this: adding a pet not on the tier lists is worth the equivalent of one win. Adding a pet not on the top tier list but on the high tier list is worth half of a win.
In the case of a tie, all winners will go into the drawing for the Blizzard pet store at the end of the month.
Phew, that took a few minutes. Bless the person who invented C&P.
Just a note about the first week, I didn’t clearly state the scoring system because I still wasn’t sure how to do it. So it’s not exactly fair, sorry about that. Consider it growing pains. I won’t change the rules or the tier list mid week again; any changes will be made on the following POTW announcement.
Ok, onto the POTW #1 teams.
Bleatdown
P/P Imperial Eagle Chick (Thrash, Adrenaline Rush, Lift-Off)
P/S Alterac Brew-Pup (Bark, The Good Stuff, Call the Pack)
P/P Stinker (Scratch, Rake, Bleat)
Score: 20 (Record: 0-5, 20 team points)
I feel that I let down this team due to my inexperience with AoE heals. A few times I found myself in a position where I was unsure of how to use The Good Stuff effectively. Even then, three (yes three!) of these battles were decided by less than two hundred hp, so they were close. One loss was a direct result of a sandstorm miss. I’ve been seeing a lot more skunks these past few days, I think the AoE meta that people predicted is starting to take shape. I had better learn to use the skunk more effectively.
Two Gifts from Northend
P/P Imperial Eagle Chick (Thrash, Cyclone, Lift-Off)
H/H Scourged Whelpling (Tail Sweep, Death and Decay, Plagued Blood)
P/S Omnious Flame (Spiritfire Bolt, Nimbus, Forboding Curse)
Score: 30 (Record 2-3, 10 team points)
I found myself really wanting Adrenaline Rush after I lost the flying racial. This team made me miss the Ominous Flame. At one point a Sunfire Kaliri swapped into the Spiritfire Bolt then died on the next round to another one, good times.
Fun with Flyers
P/P Imperial Eagle Chick (Thrash, Adrenalin Rush, Lift-off)
P/S Chi-Chi, Hatchling of Chi-Ji (Fire Quills, Wild Magic/Tranquillity, Feign Death)
H/H Netherspace Abyssal (Immolate, Explode, Nether Gate)
Score: 35 (record: 2-3, 15 team points)
This team suffered a lot from me flooding the queue with Imperial Eagle Chicks last night. Someone started running double pets with magic attacks. I didn’t have the right breed of Netherspace Abyssal so I used a P/P. That made Explode less useful. The most satisfying win was against a Haunt and stall team that included the new sproutling with Refuge and a skunk.
Blue Moon Buster
P/P Imperial Eagle Chick (Thrash, Adrenaline Rush, Lift-Off)
P/P or P/S Moon Moon (Moon Fang, Crouch, Moon Dance)
Spawn of G’nathus (Swallow You Whole, Dive, Paralyzing Shock)
Score: 40 (record: 2-3, 20 team points)
I’m now a fan of the Spawn Of G’Nathus. That three round root is great for taking out elementals. Think you’re gonna cast Sunlight then leave? Too bad. I’m certain this team would have done better if I had either of the breeds of Moon Moon that were suggested. Instead I used an S/S, which really wasted some of the utility of Moon Dance. There were some close losses where that little bit of extra power would have been the difference. One loss was 100% attributable on a crit. The first win was against a clonedance team.
Clonecrit
P/P Imperial Eagle Chick (Slicing Wind, Cyclone, Hawkeye)
S/S Jademist Dancer (Steam Vent, Rain Dance, Acid Rain)
H/H Scourged Whelpling (Tail Sweep, Call Darkness, Dreadful Breath)
Score: 40 (record: 4-1, 0 team points)
If any team lost out from me not being initially solid on the rules it was this one. It tied for the highest winning record but didn’t gain any team points. Clonedance is still as awesome as ever, Darkness help shut down some healing. Taking Dreadful Breath in the third slot was a great idea; it led to one of the victories.
This week’s winner is:
Old Avoid , submitted by Vek
P/P Imperial Eagle Chick(Thrash, Cyclone, Lift-Off)
P/S Blighthawk(Ghostly Bite, Consume Corpse, Lift-Off)
H/S Scalded Basilisk Hatchling (Crystal Prison, Feign Death, Thrash)
Score: 45 (4-1, 5 team points)
Congratulations Vek! I didn’t use the suggested breed of Blighthawk, instead I used an H/P (I only have an H/H and H/P). The SBH is very dependent on speed and the queue was kind to it. Not many flyers were faced. The highlight victory was against three tonks. The basilisk was able to take one out then do a healthy chunk of damage to another thanks to hitting multiple Thrashes. It may have done even better with a P/S breed of Blighthawk.
Ready for the next pet?
S/S Hopling
I always say that I’m going to use this little guy but never get around to it. Well, now we’re getting around to it. He’s got an interesting move set that could lead to a variety of types of teams. Crush or Tongue Lash, Sticky Goo or Poison Lash, Backflip or Dreadful Breath. So many options. I’m excited to see what people can do with him!
Note: I’m going on a trip for a the majority of next week and won’t be playing WoW. The winner of this week’s POTW won’t be announced until January 3rd or 4th.
Latest Tweets
Halitosis (pleasant team name, right?)
S/S Hopling (Tongue Lash, Poison Lash, Dreadful Breath)
P/S Crazy Carrot (Iron Bark, Acid Rain, Bash)
H/H Scourged Whelpling (Tail Sweep, Death and Decay, Dreadful Breath)
There’s a lot of possible permutations of this team, I’m going to throw this one out there and see how it goes for you. Crazy Carrot seems like he’s a reasonable setup man. He has a spammable attack that reduces incoming damage which can buy a little time if you have to wait for them to change the weather first. Then the Acid Rain comes out, and Bash makes your pet switch safer.
From there it’s pretty much Dreadful Breath spam. Nobody can cast more of those than our H/H Scourged Whelpling.
Have a great vacation, DD!
Nice write-up. No complaints on the scoring. I wonder if there could be a bonus for using “weak” pets that could net you bonus points or negate the penalty for a top pet. Of course that might limit the quality of the teams and the fun of testing. Regardless, I love the POTW feature. Here’s my week 2 entry:
Squid Breath
S/S Hopling (tongue lash, sticky goo, breath)
H/P Syd the Squid (water jet, bubble, cleansing rain)
P/B Droplet of Y’Shaarj (swallow, acid rain, breath)
Dreadful breath with a few unique advantages from the hopling and squid. I would probably open with the squid to change the weather, bubble and switch to a breath spammer. The 2x block from bubble should allow a safe trip to come back out and change the weather again later or soak. Sticky goo gives the hopling some control to prevent swaps, especially to weather changers. Rain buffs both water jet and swallow. Magic pet racial and block negates heavy hitters like the iron starlette. Lack of a heal in the rain and possible buff to opposing healers is a concern.
I almost suggested this exact team! I wasn’t sure if DD had a Squid or not though, since it’s relatively new. I like it in theory, though.
I was able to get one yesterday. I still don’t have the Crazy Carrot, though. I should be able to get my 1000 seeds after I return from my trip and before next weekend.
If borrowing mine would be helpful, that option is on the table! I would hate to put you in a position where you feel like you need to go herb gathering, lol…
I love this PotW feature, hope you won’t burn out with it being weekly. Also great that that old team worked out that well for you.
Btw since I am in EU feel free to any price to the runner-up instead. Im just in for the fun.
Week 2. This is a team I run into very frequently in my meta. The player is really good and makes very little mistakes and I always have trouble when running into this guy(and it seems I always do). I really hate it.
Myself sadly I use less and less humanoids since they just get murdered by Weebomination and BONESTORM, which there are plenty of where I play.
Nemesis of Vek
S/S Hopling(Tongue Lash, Poison Lash, Backflip)
Fossilized Hatchling(Claw, Ancient Blessing, BONESTORM)
Lil’ Bling(SMCKTHAT.EXE, Blingtron Gift Package, Launch Rocket)
This team has good coverage, can do AoE and packs a real punch. Usually it starts with either Hopling or Hatchling and tries to save Bling for last(or a low health Hopling if it can).
Hopling is not too afraid of undead. Backflip starts you off with damage for a turn, then you can apply the Poison Lash or nuke with Tongue Lash if it is undead. After a turn or two(tops) switch out and let it regain health from poison ticks.
Fossilized Hatchling. Can’t remember if it uses Claw or Bone Bite. But plan is to AoE, heal and hope for another turn of AoE. Don’t be afraid to bench it for a turn to let the cooldown run.
Lil’ Bling. Rocket packs a true punch and Gift Package can murder birds(that are faster than the hopling or bling). But my opponent prefers to use Gift Package as a heal, always using it when suspecting an avoid except when seeing an opening for a bird hit. With a rocket you also have something else to do when opposing pet is using an avoid. And don’t be afraid to build a rocket and then switch out to launch it later.
Good luck.
Shame that you didn’t have the more power based Moon Moon breeds. But I’m glad that the basic idea worked, and glad you found an appreciation for the little lightning worm-snake-thing!
Here’s my attempt with this week’s setup. I apologise for the terrible pun in the team name.
Hopalong Zappity
Hopling (Tongue Lash, Poison Lash, Backflip)
S/S Cogblade Raptor (Batter, Screech, Exposed Wounds)
Hydraling (Tail Slap, Call Lightning, Shell Armor)
Should be a fairly self explanatory team I think.
Gluttony
P/P Netherspace Abyssal (Immolate, Immolation, Nether Gate)
Son of Sethe (Plagued Blood, Touch of Animus, Drain Blood)
Hopling (Tongue Lash, Poison Lash, Backflip)
The heals are simply disgusting. Ideally you would want to open up with the Abyssal, which is protected even from its counter by the passive while setting up (plus you can easily set up heals on the Son afterwards while your opponent either does reduced damage or swaps). The Abyssal’s high power allows both of its dots to do single digit damage under an Anubisath’s Sandstorm, thus triggering the heals from Plagued Blood and Touch regardless of the shielding.
The Son can heal over just about anything capable of shielding. Get Plagued Blood and Touch on a target poisoned by the Hopling and its health will shoot right up there. And don’t even get me started on Tongue Lash with those debuffs; sometimes it’s more worthwhile to hold off the Touch until the Immortal round if the Son is getting pounded.
Even under Darkness the healing is significant. Unfortunately, this team would likely be deadlocked against a standard Sunlight comp.
Thanks for all of the submissions. Can’t wait to test them out when I return
Happy holidays, have a nice trip.
D’oh! Just realised I’m on EU, so… [what Vek said]. Also, agree with others who said it might be easier to do this every other week rather than every week exactly.
Ok, my team this time: DoT Off
S/S Hopling (Tongue Lash, Poison Lash, Backflip)
S/B Clockwork Gnome (Metal Fist, Repair, Build Turret)
P/P Jade Oozeling (Absorb, Corrosion, Acidic Goo)
Basically, a team with a lot of small attacks and DoTs. The Oozeling is there to provide the damage increasing debuffs, I use a P/P because that’s what I have. Possible alternative could be a H/H or H/P Oily Slimeling with same moveset, which means your DoTs do less damage but your pet usually lives longer. The Gnome is there because turrets are useful and also because Metal Fist hits a bit harder than the other attacks I have.
Ofcourse, as a sidenote, the Dreadful Breath teams I used in the past with the Hopling have been very effective, but I see a lot of those type of entries already! 😀
Here is my team:
Hope in decoy
S/S Hopling(Tongue lash, Poison lash, Backflip)
S/S Brown Marmot(Chomp, Crouch, Burrow)
H/H Lifelike Mechanical Frostboar(Missile, Pig out, Decoy)
The idea here is start with Hopling, apply the dot after backflip and heal in backline after one or two hits. Brown marmot for counter undeads (besides hopling do it well too). Crouch gives some extra time, and burrow avoidance. LMF counters beasts with Missile, and with decoy, pig out and the H/H breed allows him log time in the field.
The lack of power is a concern.
I had some nice ratio, about 60% wins.
I thought about it some more and I think your recommendations are right. Once a week may prove to be too much and may turn in to a chore rather than something fun. I think every three or four weeks will give me more time to play the teams effectively. Really five isn’t a great indicator of how well a team will do, I would feel better about doing closer to ten. If it’s closer to a monthly competition then each winner could win a prize rather than go into a pool. I’m fine with that.
This leads to the question: what shall it be called if not the pet of the week? Team Competition #3 doesn’t really have a nice ring to it. Any ideas?
Oh, and I was able to score a Syd off the ah and I finally got my 1000th seed from my garden. I’m have all the pets and breeds at level 25 except for the marmot, but I have a level 21 Yellow-Bellied Marmot which has the same stat allocation. It won’t be hard to get it to 25.
If it’ll be monthly, why not just call it Pet of the Month? :p
I know, seems kind of obvious. I was thinking about keeping it more fluid than that, like sometimes a two week duration, sometimes three, sometimes four depending on my schedule. Just writing that seems too complicated, keeping it simple is the way to go. Pet of the month it is.
I didn’t get enough battles in with your teams so I’m going to extend the competition for the week. Sorry about that. I blame my altoholism, the achievement needed for the level 3 fishing shack and having to do MC before it’s too late!