POTM #6

June 2015: Fox/Worg
worgThis month’s pet is one that I’m finally starting to use after years of hearing how good it is: the fox. These undead killing machines and tricky speedsters can really put a hurt on both undead and speed reliant teams. Since the foxes and worgs have the same move set it made sense not to limit the choice to one specific fox or worg pet but instead make them all available. Lately I’ve been using Flurry, Howl and Dazzling Dance, but in the past I’ve used Crouch and Leap. You have some options.

You can use whatever breed you like, if I don’t have it then I’ll go out and get it. Options are:
S/S Alpine Foxling
P/B Alpine Foxling
B/B Alpine Foxling Kit
S/B Alpine Foxling Kit
P/S Arctic Fox Kit
H/S Fox Kit
H/P Fjord Worg Pup
P/P Fjord Worg Pup
H/H Worg Pup

So how does the contest work? Each participant will submit one team that includes the pet of the month. Teams must be in by the 10th of the month. Once a team is submitted there is no changing the move set, so please be careful with your submission. No duplicate pets are allowed.

Please use this format:
Team Name (optional)
H/P Fragment Of Anger (Seethe, Spiritfire Beam, Spirit Spikes)
P/S Stonegrinder (Woodchipper,Thunderbolt,Clean-Up)
P/P Twilight Fiendling (Creepy Chomp, Crreping Ooze, Siphon Life)

… as opposed to:
Team Name (optional)
H/P Fragment Of Anger (2,1,2)
P/S Stonegrinder (2,1,1)
P/P Twilight Fiendling (1,2,2)

I like everything to be uniform and the latter creates an extra level of work for me. Thanks :)

Before I go into the new rules I would just like to say thanks for everyone that contributed ideas for the format of this competition. People put a lot of thought into it an I appreciate it.

There are no more team points. The system where team points were deducted for using top-tier pets but then allowed undefeated teams to progress was flawed. Sure, nobody benefitted from it last month, but it had the potential to be abused so it should be changed. Instead there will be a “pet allowance”. The allowance will enable you to use a high or top-tier pet(s) on your team, otherwise any pets above that tier are disallowed. For example, if the allowance was 1 top-tier pet then you could choose one top, high or non-tier pet, while the other must be a non-tier pet. By non-tier I mean pets that aren’t on the list at all.

This month’s pet allowance: 1 high-tier pet.

Just to be clear: one of your pets can be a high or non-tier, the other must be non-tier.

So your two options look like this:

POTM
high-tier pet
non-tier pet

or

POTM
non-tier pet
non-tier pet

Also, Graves is banned due to speculations of being OP. It’ll probably end up on the top tier list.

Here is the tier list: Top & High Tier List

I have decided to keep quality win points for now. Teams get extra points for beating higher quality opponents. If your team beats a team with a top-tier pet on it then you earn an extra point for each top-tier pet, if it beats a team with a high-tier pet on it then it’ll earn a half point for each high-tier pet on the enemy team.

Each win will be worth ten points, each draw will be worth five points. A stalemate will be considered a draw.

Initially I will play each submitted team an equal number of times. The number of times that I play each team will depend on the number of submissions. I will state this initial number of battles after all teams are submitted. Expect around four or five initial battles. After the initial battles the top five teams will move onto the championship round, where I will play each team four more times. Scores and records do not reset for the championship rounds. All undefeated teams will automatically move into the championship round, even if there are more than five. Quality win points will factor into the championship rounds. If there is either a tie or multiple undefeated teams after the championship rounds then those teams will enter a sudden death mode, where each team will play another battle until one team has more wins than the other in sudden death. Quality win points do not factor into sudden death.

In the event that a team that is not undefeated has a higher score than an undefeated team then both will go to sudden death. Undefeated means no losses. Sudden death cannot be won on a draw, if all teams draw or lose in a round of sudden death then another round will be necessary to determine the winner.

Good luck and I look forward to your foxy (or worgy) teams.

Last Month’s Teams:
I apologize for not showcasing the teams during write-ups throughout the month as I stated I would; my long break made it hard to do that. This month I will, really.

Here are how last month’s Young Talbuk teams did. I gave a few quick notes for each battle so people have some idea of what went on. There are no notes on the fourth battle because of a data saving issue. Luckily I was able to remember the wins and losses from the fourth battle with the help of screenshots, but I didn’t remember the details well enough to comment.

Note: Some of the results are different that what I originally published. After realizing that a certain team that I had faced a few times was probably a bot I went back and replayed those battles. Interestingly, the results for the top five teams didn’t change.

Initial Battles

Abyssal Buck
S/S Young Talbuk (Horn Gore, Tough n’ Cuddly, Flurry)
P/P Abyssius (Crush, Flamethrower, Volcano)
H/B Tiny Blue Carp (Surge, Wild Magic, Pump)

Score: 54 (3-2, 20 team points, 4 quality win points)
abyssaltalbukW: Kun-Lai Runt, Sunreaver Micro-Sentry, Bone Serpent (1.5)
Lightning helped me.
W: Teroclaw Hatchling, Teroclaw Hatchling, Pandaren Earth Spirit (2)
Surge was useful on a few occasions. The final TH couldn’t finish the talbuk through the shield.
L: Unborn Val’kyr, Mr. Bigglesworth, Kun-Lai Runt
Started with talbuk for quick takedown of valk, should have gone with fish for defense instead.
L: Fiendish Imp, Lovebird Hatchling, Bronze Whelpling
W: Core Hound Pup, Bonkers, Stitched Pup
Bonkers stunned once and Volcano stunned twice.

Blighted Talbuk
S/S Young Talbuk (Horn Gore, Tough ‘n Cuddly, Flurry)
H/P* Blighted Squirrel (Scratch, Crouch, Stampede)
H/P Zomstrok (Infected Claw, Rot, Carpnado)

Score: 72.5 (5-0, 20 team points, 2.5 quality win points)
blightedtalbuk2W: Amber Moth, Onyxian Whelpling, Nexus Whelpling (1.5)
Barely used talbuk.
W: Worg Pup, Leviathan Hatchling, Iron Starlette
Might have been harder if worg wasn’t level 24 green.
W: Jademist Dancer, Bonkers, Mossbite Skitterer (1)
Blighted Squirrel took out beast then left dancer with Shattered Defenses for the talbuk to triple Flurry.
W: Squirrel, Toxic Wasteling, Flat-Tooth Calf
W: Corefire Imp, Chrominius, Molten Corgi
Shattered Defenses + Carpnado = 1236 damage to end the battle.

Electrified Carps Of Doom
S/S Young Talbuk (Horn Gore, Tuff n’ Cuddly, Flurry)
P/S Yu’la (Jadefire Lightning, Celestial Blessing, Life Exchange)
H/P Zomstrok (Infected Claw, Shell Shield, Carpnado)

Score: 41.5 (2-3, 20 team points, 1.5 quality win points)
electrifiedcarpsW: Abyssius, Bone Serpent, Sunreaver Micro-Sentry (1)
I both played Yu’la poorly and got stunned. Talbuk survived with 33 health.
W: Clockwork Gnome, Effervescent Glowfly, Fel Flame (0.5)
Life Exchange used for +/- 483 health. Blessing went to Zomstrok.
L: Unborn Val’kyr, Mr. Bigglesworth, Kun-Lai Runt
Ugg, lost to this team twice now. I tried to get revenge with one of my own teams but ran into the flee bot three times in a row. I thought the talbuk’s shield would be enough to withstand the KLR sweeper; I was wrong.
L: Magical Crawdad, Sun Sproutling, Singing Sunflower
L: Nexus Whelpling, Nexus Whelpling, Ghostly Skull
A triple Flurry would have won, but a double meant 39 health remained.

Fiery Display Of Filth
H/P Zomstrok (Infected Claw, Shell Shield, Carpnado)
S/S Young Talbuk (Horn Gore, Tough ‘n Cuddly, Flurry)
S/S Molten Corgi (Flamethrower, Cauterize, Puppies of the Flame)

Score: 55.5 (3-2, 20 team points, 5.5 quality win points)
fireydisplayL: Ashwing Moth, Dread Hatchling, Silkbead Snail
Corgi lacked firepower at end to damage through Consume Corpse.
L: Clockwork Gnome, Effervescent Glowfly, Fel Flame
I’m finding the corgi hard to use. Miscalculated DoT damage and let Zomstrok die on back line.
W: Unborn Val’kyr, Oily Slimeling, Kun-Lai Runt (1.5)
The corgi stalled fifteen rounds while taking out the valk and some of the slimeling.
W: Mechanical Pandaren Dragonling, Fragment Of Anger, Hydraling (2)
W: Lil’ Ragnaros, Ashwing Moth, Bonkers (2)
I was able to avoid the second trap by going underground.

Friki Talbuks
S/B Young Talbuk (Horn Gore, Tough ‘n Cuddly, Flurry)
H/P Grinder (Stone Shot, Rupture, Rock Barrage)
P/B Royal Peacock (Quills, Dazzling Dance, Feign Death)

Score: 41.5 (2-3, 20 team points, 1.5 quality win points)
frikitalbukL: Amber Moth, Amber Moth, Silky Moth
Couldn’t take out the racials fast enough.
L: Teroclaw Hatchling, Ghastly Kid, Sky-Bo
I had a slight bit of hope at the end until I was chain stunned by Sky-Bo.
L: Anubisath Idol, Fossilized Hatchling, Iron Starlette
I tried to take out the Fossilized Hatchling with Flurry before it could get off its second BONESTORM, but the talbuk didn’t hit a single third attack.
W: Softshell Snapling, Corefire Imp, Skunky Alemental
W: Trunks, Mechanical Pandaren Dragonling, Xu-Fu (1.5)
Loser fled after missing two When Elekks Fly.

Green Acres
P/S Crazy Carrot (Ironbark, Acid Rain, Blistering Cold)
P/B Mr. Wiggles (Diseased Bite, Crouch, Headbutt)
S/S Young Talbuk (Horn Gore, Tough ‘n Cuddly, Flurry)

Score: 54.5 (3-2, 20 team points, 4.5 quality win points)
greenacresW: Unborn Val’kyr, Ashwing Moth, Infinite Whelpling (2)
Opponent fled early.
L: Jademist Dancer, Blighthawk, Emperor Crab
Thanks to a Headbutt stun it was closer than it should have been. Clonedance is still one of the best teams around.
W: Lil’ Bling, Twilight Wasp, Seagull (0.5)
Frostbite ticks against Lil’ Bling were painful at the end of the battle.
W: Son Of Sethe, Creepy Crate, Fossilized Hatchling (2)
L: Sky-Bo, Scourged Whelpling, Crimson Whelpling
Whenever I lose to a Crimson Whelpling I feel I’ve done something wrong. In this case it was using Acid Rain to break the decoy even when I thought a Dreadful Breath was incoming.

Horny Animals
S/S Young Talbuk (Horn Gore, Tuff n’ Cuddly, Flurry)
P/P Death Talon Whelpguard (Shadowflame, Whirlwind, Darkflame)
H/P Trunks (Smash, Ethereal, Avalanche)

Score: 52 (3-2, 20 team points, 2 quality win points)
hornyanimalsL: Gilnean Raven, Electrified Razortooth, Desert Spider
Had a 50% chance of winning when a Nocturnal Strike crit ended it early.
W: Stitched Pup, Blue Clockwork Rocket Bot, Harbinger Of Flame
Very close. Mech left a rocket unused.
W: Teroclaw Hatchling, Ashwing Moth, Father Winter’s Helper (2)
DTW is a beast one on one against an Alpha Strike Teroclaw.
W: Lil’ Tarecgosa, Netherspawn, Chaos Pup
L: Nexus Whelpling, Nexus Whelpling, Ghostly Skull
I used the talbuk’s defense as well as I could, b ut there was still just too much offense to deal with.

Iced Talbuk
S/S Young Talbuk(Horn Gore,Tough n’ Cuddly,Flurry)
H/P Tundra Penguin(Surge, Slippery Ice, Ice Lance)
S/S Nether Faerie Dragon(Arcane Blast,Evanescence,Cyclone)

Score: 44 (2-3, 20 team points, 4 quality win points)
icedtalbukL: Teroclaw Hatchling, Stunted Direhorn, Corfire Imp
The ultra-tier Teroclaw Hatchling was too much to handle. If it’s any consolation I gave a dark spanking with Rich Girls for revenge.
W: Shore Crab, Dread Hatchling, Lesser Voidcaller (1)
Easy win against new battler.
W: Anubisath Idol, Fossilized Hatchling, Iron Starlette (2)
Three misses in the final showdown made this one a nail biter. Penguin survived with 8 health.
L: Dread Hatchling, Son Of Sethe, Jungle Darter
L: Lil’ Tarecgosa, Soul Of The Aspects, Molten Corgi
Feel bad about this one, I lost track of the recovering rounds. Playing bad and chain queuing to finish up is not working out well.

Lord of the Flies
S/S Young Talbuk (Horn Gore, Tough n’ Cuddly, Flurry)
P/S Voodoo Figurine (Shadow Slash, Wild Magic, Rot)
H/B Swamp Croaker (Water Jet, Swarm of Flies, Bubble)

Score: 43.5 (2-3, 20 team points, 3.5 quality win points)
lordofthefliesL: Bone Serpent, Dread Raven, Stone Grinder
Two darkness misses and a stun makes it hard to beat a Bone Serpent. I let it Nocturnal Strike my frog, oops.
W: Tiny Snowman, Amber Moth, Netherspace Abyssal (1)
Rot/Flurry synergy worked wonderfully.
L: Fiendish Imp, Blossoming Ancient, Bone Serpent
Blossoming Ancient is one of the worst griefing pets around. 24 rounds of me having no chance to win. Goodbye POTM battles, hello Jademist Dancer.
L: Amber Moth, Bonkers, Lil’ Ragnaros
W: Mechanical Pandaren Dragonling, Stunted Direhorn, Scourged Whelpling (2.5)

Shock and Awesomely Fast
S/S Slithershock Elver (Deep Bite, Dodge, Dive)
S/S Young Talbuk (Horn Gore, Tough n’ Cuddly, Flurry)
S/S Nightshade Sprouting – (Lash, Call Darkness, Blinding Poison)

Score: 44 (3-2, 20 team points, 4 quality win points)
shockandawesomelyfastW: Unborn Val’kyr, Murkalot, Menagerie Custodian (2)
Ate buffed Ion Cannon with Nightshade Sproutling.
W: Sunreaver Micro-Sentry, Nordrassil Wisp, Pandaren Air Spirit
Darkness got rid of the lightning twice.
L: Magical Crawdad, Fiendish Imp, Sen’Jin Fetish
It was closer than I thought it would be. Surge was a PITA.
W: Son Of Sethe, Dread Hatchling, Mojo (2)
L: Mechanical Pandaren Dragonling, Fel Flame, Zandalari Toenibbler
A team slow can be devastating when you rely on speed. Primal Cry is a brutal move against this team.

Shock and D’aww
S/S Young Talbuk (Horn Gore, Tough ‘n Cuddly, Flurry)
S/S Molten Corgi (Flamethrower, Cauterize, Inferno Herding)
P/B Firewing (Alpha Strike, Sunlight, Healing Flame)

Score: 76 (5-0, 20 team points, 6 quality win points)
shockanddawwW: Xu-fu, Spawn Of G’Nathus, Alpine Hare (1.5)
Almost lost due to a mispress.
W: Molten Corgi, Iron Starlette, Celestial Dragon
Used my own puppy as a soft counter threat to the Wind-Up.
W: Young Talbuk, Royal Moth, Pet Bombling (1)
Firewing was able to kill the Pet Bombling and outlast its Minefield.
W: Son Of Animus, Amber Moth, Lil’ KT (1.5)
W: Argi, Lil’ Ragnaros, Dread Hatchling (2)
Opponent fled after ten rounds of Firewing dominating the darkness bird then Argi.

Sportsman’s Paradise
S/S Young Talbuk (Horn Gore, Tough ‘n Cuddly, Flurry)
H/P Ancient Nest Guardian (Metal Fist, Entangling Roots, Feathered Frenzy)
H/P Zomstrok (Infected Claw, Shell Shield, Carpnado)

Score: 77 (5-0, 20 team points, 7 quality win points)
sportsmansparadiseW: Son Of Animus, Junglebeak, Fragment Of Desire (1.5)
Junglebeak did 0 damage thanks to AoE and coming into frenzy/roots combo.
W: Tranquil Mechanical Yeti, Fishy, Ashstone Core
The ANG took out the yeti and half of the core. Zomstrok finished it off.
W: Xu-Fu, Fossilized Hatchling, Iron Starlette (1.5)
A close battle that required a triple Flurry on the last round for the win.
W: Emerald Proto-Whelp, Fingal Abomination, Lil’ Ragnaros (1.5)
W: Unborn Val’kyr, Rabbit, Hydraling (2.5)
The talbuk started against the valk, then the ANG really hurt the Hydraling.

Stack ‘em High
P/S Ominous Flame (Spiritfire Bolt, Scorched Earth, Forboding Curse)
H/P Macabre Marionette (Macabre Maraca, Death and Decay, Bone Barrage)
S/S Young Talbuk (Stampede, Tough n’ Cuddly, Flurry)

Score: 64 (4-1, 20 team points, 4 quality win points)
stackemhighW: Ji-kun Hatchling, Ruby Sapling, Pint-sized Pink Pachyderm
Field effects and curse worked amazingly well.
L: Bone Serpent, Trunks, Qiraji Guardling
Unlucky, got hit with 40% Nocturnal Strike and missed in sandstorm.
W: Ashwing Moth, Mirror Strider, Silkbead Snail (1)
Had to be careful of the aquatic damage against my elemental, but other than that it was easy.
W: Emerald Proto-Whelp, Fingal Abomination, Alpine Hare (0.5)
W: Nexus Whelpling, Nexus Whelpling, Stitched Pup (1)
Changed the weather to avoid the double Mana Surge. It turned out to be an easy win.

Winnebago Warriors
S/S Young Talbuk (Horn Gore, Tuff n’ Cuddly, Flurry)
S/S Nightshade Sprouting (Lash, Call Darkness, Blinding Poison)
H/P Zomstrok (Infected Claw, Shell Shield, Carpnado)

Score: 65 (4-1, 20 team points, 5 quality win points)
winnebagowarriorsW: Unborn Val’kyr, Lil’ Bad Wolf, Sunreaver Micro-Sentry (1)
Didn’t use the talbuk.
W: Unborn Val’kyr, Mr. Bigglesworth, Kun-Lai Runt (1.5)
Used Blinding Poison effectively to deny CoD and prevent slow.
L: Unborn Val’kyr, Spineclaw Crab, Spineclaw Crab
An unfortunate crit on the valk’s undead round killed my elemental on the swap. I would have been able to blind, Call Darkness, Lash, Carpnado for a possibly close win. The crit ruined that, Carpnado never reset. Rarely due I bemoan rng this vehemently but this was an intense, well-played battle on both sides that shouldn’t have been decided like that.
W: Abyssius, Lil’ K.T., Harbinger Of Flame
W: Fiendish Imp, Blighthawk, Clockwork Gnome (2.5)
I started with my elemental so the imp would force Zomstrok in. It worked, Zomstrok’s shield then dominated with turret an Immolation blocks.

If I added anything up wrong then please let me know :)

Championship Rounds

Blighted Talbuk
champ1D: Mechanical Pandaren Dragonling, Murkalot, Swamp Croaker
What a horribly ugly tactic my opponent used: Decoy, Bubble and Shieldstorm. As disappointed as I was at not winning I was even more pleased that my opponent didn’t win.
W: Bone Serpent, Ruby Droplet, Chrominius (1)
Sigh, another early flee after the afk Bone Serpent got hit with a bleed and debuff. I may need to re-evaluate early flees and afk battles since since they are having such an impact on this month’s competition.
W: Unborn Val’kyr, Silkbead Snail, Emerald Turtle (1)
This was an easy battle that only required Zomstrok to finish off the turtle with a Carpnado.
W: Mechanical Scorpid, Alpine Foxling, Creepy Crate
When Tough n’ Cuddy expired it caused the scorpid’s Extra Plating to disappear, I didn’t know the bug worked that way as well. It wasn’t that close of a battle, but if the talbuk had to take a Wind-Up things could change drastically.

Final Score: 109.5 (8-0-1, 20 team points, 4.5 qwp)

Shock and D’Aww
champ2W: Sister Of Temptation, Ancient Nest Guardian, Nether Ray Fry
I was almost able to two-pet this with the corgi and bird. I love Inferno Herding. I think since everyone and they’re mom uses Puppies of the Lame the swap can surprise people.
W: Bone Serpent, Ruby Droplet, Chrominius (1)
The talbuk couldn’t hit a triple Flurry against the Bone Serpent, but managed to take it out and survive thanks to the shield. After that there was a lot of swapping to avoid the strong nuke against my flyer. Once again Inferno Herding was invaluable.
L: Mr. Bigglesworth, Rotten Little Helper, Tiny Snowman
Dang, there’s the first loss. Without any avoidance the Ice Tomb was a problem. Really the problem was an estimation error on my part. I’m generally quite good at mental math estimations, you know, being a math teacher and all that, but I was off by a few health. Instead of the corgi taking out the humanoid it survived to lay more mines. Sucks to get the first loss that way.
W: Dread Hatchling, Fossilized Hatchling, Mechanical Pandaren Dragonling (3)
Rng went horribly for me with Nocturnal Strike hitting my elemental, a big crit and a darkness miss. The battle ended in a healing showdown between my bird and the Fossilized Hatchling. Thanks to the it’s main attack being a weak Claw I was able to out heal for the win.

Final Score: 110 (8-1, 20 team points, 10 qwp)

Sportsman’s Paradise
champ3D: Teroclaw Hatchling, Lil’ K.T., Abyssius
I didn’t think I was even going to be able to pull out the draw, but Tough n’ Cuddly saved me at the end.
W: Corefire Imp, Unborn Val’kyr, Scourged Whelpling (2)
I was stressing over how to handle the valk and Wild Magic combo that I thought might be coming. I decided to eat everything with Zomstrok. It didn’t matter because my opponent used the “I’m going to take strong damage with my imp then run away when it doesn’t work out strategy”. I wouldn’t suggest trying that one at home. Oh, the flees.
L: Mechancial Pandaren Dragonling, Stunted Direhorn, Spawn Of G’Nathus
This was a hard one; I felt I played it well enough, but Flurry was being stingy with its triple hits. I was in decent shape to win at the end if Horn Attack didn’t proc. It did, I still had a chance to win with two high hits from infected claw, but it wasn’t in the cards.
W: Unborn Val’kyr, Silkbead Snail, Emerald Turtle (1)
An easy win against an inexperienced player.

Final Score: 105 (7-1-1, 20 team points, 10 qwp)

Stack em’ High
champ4L: Ore Eater, Fel Flame, Minfernal
Ore Eater godmode activated! Nerf the damn Shell Armor already! Forboding Curse hardly put a dent into the OP amor.
W: Molten Corgi, Rabbit, Syd the Squid (1)
Flurry handled the bubble well. The rabbit was slower than the talbuk, a faster rabbit may have ended differently.
L: Trunks, Qiraji Guardling, Bone Serpent
The battle really came down to one round, where I was either going to change the weather or get killed by When Elekks Fly. I got killed so that move had priority of the rest of the battle. Sometimes I wonder how I’ve lasted so long doing pet battles with the introduction of idiotic strategies like WEF spam. Graves is next.
L: Zandalari Toenibbler, Bone Serpent, Stunted Yeti
The Lift-Off caught me off guard while I was dealing with a real life distraction. Sounds like a cop out, I know, but that’s what happened. Not to say I would have won anyways, Primal Cry screwed me up yet again.

Final Score: 75 (5-4, 20 team points, 5 qwp)

Winnebago Warriors
champ5W: Nether Fairie Dragon, Crimson Whelpling, Sister Of Temptation
The Nightshade Sproutling took out the Crimson Whelpling and frustrated the other two pets with its blind. Frustration after another blind saw them flee.
W: Teroclaw Hatchling, Corefire Imp, Scourged Whelpling (2)
Wow, just wow. This was a Zomstrok massacre! The undead pincher countered this team so incredibly hard: it block the Immolation ticks, did strong damage to the humanoid, did strong damage while the bird was in elemental form and took weak damage from the Scourged Whelpling. Two darkness misses and a crit in my favor made things worse. The bird fled after its companions were gone and Zomstrok still had plenty of life.
L: Sky-Bo, Spawn Of G’Nathus, Chrominius
I’m again disappointed at this one. Flurry double hit and then two Infected Claws hit low. I could have tried to head game the Surge Of Power for the win but instead lost. Carpnado bugged in the end but since Chrominius had more than 309 health it wasn’t the deciding factor.
W: Anubisath Idol, Muckbreath, Chrominius (2)
I started with my elemental to change the weather. I swapped to Zomstrok to take on the idol, which stayed in to tank the strong damage. Bad idea.

Final Score: 98 (7-2, 20 team points, 8 qwp)

Sudden Death
Interesting situation here: Shock and D’aww is the winner on points yet Blighted Talbuk is still undefeated. I did say that any teams undefeated after the championship rounds will go on to sudden death, so here we go…

(I explicitly stated this will be case up above for POTM #6 so there’s no confusion next time)

Round 1
Blighted Talbuk
D: Mr. Bigglesworth, Menagerie Custodian, Pocket Reaver
I lost a head game about the Ice Barrier that prevented the win.

Shock and D’aww
L: Teroclaw Hatchling, Sky-Bo, Scourged Whelpling
Teroclaw Hatchling. I… HATE… that… pet. I can’t believe that I chose it as a previous POTM. This was a forty-six rounder that saw too much healing. There was no way that my bird was going to keep up with the Teroclaw Hatchling.

So again… an interesting situation. Can you win sudden death on a draw? Seems like such an unepic way to win the competition. Here’s what I’m going to do: both participants in sudden death will get a store pet for their efforts and their “help” working out some still existent kinks in the competition. For now the sudden death must go on! You must actually win to be the winner!

Round 2
Blighted Talbuk
L: Trunks, Xu-Fu, Mechanical Pandaren Dragonling
This battler is truly a pathetic excuse for a human being. If When Elekks Fly hits a few times they stick around, if not they flee. Sometimes they don’t even try and flee if I’m using one of my better teams. This time When Elekks Fly hit so they stuck around. Now I have a name for this team: “pathetic excuse”.

Shock and D’aww
W: Arcane Eye, Voodoo Figuring, Lil’ Tarecgosa
I had to watch out for all of that magic damage against the bird. Inferno Herding kept the Arcane Eye out when it was read to Mana Surge. A good win to win the competition. I have much more respect for the Molten Corgi and Inferno Herding after using this team. I’m not a fan of healing teams so even though Firewing did a fabulous job I can’t see myself using it too often in the future.

Congratulations Liwei!

Both Liwei and Zero please email me at discodoggywow@gmail.com with your choice of pet, and whether you are on a US or EU server. Please use the email that you want the pet gifted to.

If I counted it up correctly the Young Talbuk ended up at 59-32-3. Not great, but respectable.

Here are the links to previous POTM posts:
POTW #1 Imperial Eagle Chick, 14-16, Winner: Vek
POTW #2 Hopling, 27-8, Winner: Liwei
POTM #1 Son Of Sethe, 22-17-3, Winners: Wiff & Wamp
POTM #2 Frostwolf Ghostpup, 47-21-2, Winner: Zero
POTM #3 Teroclaw Hatchling, 71-18-1, Winner: Wamp
POTM #4 Fragment Of Anger, 130-15-2, Winner: Bullfeathers
POTM #5 Young Talbuk, 59-32-3, Winner: Liwei

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57 Responses to POTM #6

  1. zero says:

    Great job dysco, good luck everyone on the championship round.

  2. Discodoggy says:

    Edit: added all available breeds and added a sentence about undefeated teams to the rules.

  3. Vapid says:

    I’m using Graves since it comes out tomorrow (June 2) for this team. Let me know if you have it Disco, if not then I will think of something.

    Team Name (TBD)
    P/P Fjord Worg Pup (Flurry, Howl, Dazzling Dance)
    x/x Graves (Consume, BONESTORM, Grave Destruction)
    S/S Nightshade Sprouting (Lash, Call Darkness, Blinding Poison)

    Note:I originally thought the Nightshade would be a high-tier pet, but it is not on your list. Based on your rules do I need to have a high-tier pet for my team or does your phrase “can be” imply that I can elect not to?

    • Vapid says:

      Edit: Mostly for Disco to try in one of his blog battles – try this team for pvp.

      Alot of Graves
      P/P Murkalot (Blessed Hammer, Falling Murloc, Righteous Inspiration)
      x/x Graves (Consume, BONESTORM, Grave Destruction)
      H/P Trunks (Smash, Moonfire, Avalanche)

      My understanding is that Murkalot’s RI always selects the pet with the most health (not sure if this means most active health though). Assuming Graves has the most mediocre stats of B/B that equates to:
      1603H/301P/227S
      Trunks only has:
      1546H/338P/211S

      This is good because we would prefer the Graves goes first. Anyway your battle would play out like this:

      Round 1: Righteous Inspiration (selects Graves)
      Round 2: BONESTORM*
      Round 3: Consume
      Round 4: Grave Destruction
      Round 5: Consume
      Round 6: BONESTROM
      Round 7: Consume
      Round 8: swap back to Murkalot
      Round 9: RI has an 8 round cd – fancy that 😀
      * if your opponent has a Decoy it might be better to use Grave Destruction here

      You then can repeat this, but since Graves will be low health you will probably just use Bonestorm (Round 10) and then Grave Destruction (Round 11).

      Or if RI works that it selects the pet with the most active health, then Trunks comes in and uses Avalanche (Round 10) and Moofire (Round 11).

      Based off of the theory work from some folks at Warcraftpets (Poofah), Graves stats equates to the following damage+healing in the 9 rounds:

      Bonestorm is 241 per pet (723 total vs 3 pets), and does 160 back to Graves,
      Gravestorm is 642 split evenly,
      Consume is 193 dmg/heal.

      So with that rotation, Graves is dealing 3390 total damage in 7 turns (1516 frontline plus 937 to each backline pet), while dealing 320 back to himself via Bonestorm and healing 579 via Consume. If you want to kill him before the 2nd Bonestorm, you have to deal 1862 damage to him in 5 turns. And likely dealing 1862 damage required will only happen with a Flurry damage pet. If you are able to get R10+11 off with the bonus from RI you are looking at an additional 2088 damage to the enemy team (2212 frontline plus 1633 to each backline). I doubt there are many teams that run with three pets all over 1600H.

      For the sake of completion, if Trunks is picked after Round 9 it deals 1432 split with Avalanche and then 447 with Moonfire. I elected to use Smash since it does critter damage, but I could see someone deciding the When Elekks Fly being a fun ‘sweeper’ move considering all the damage that proceeds it.

      Either way I suspect this will be a brutal team – enjoy.

    • gsv says:

      allowed… not compulsory… but on another note… how the hell is nightshade not at least high tier?

      • Celya says:

        I *think* it’s really only the S/S breed of Nightshade that is all that competitive in pet pvp, and since it’s hard to get one at all (nevermind the right breed) people probably don’t realise how powerful it is? Just guessing. I find the S/S to be a very strong pet myself.

        • gsv says:

          I totally agree with that… it is the SS… and I am finding it impossible!!! to get (cries on own shoulder)… one day.

    • Discodoggy says:

      You do not need a high-tier pet, but you can have one if you choose to. I added some more info to the rules to make it clear.

      Also, I do not have Graves. I just installed HotS yesterday and haven’t even tried it yet. I think Graves is going straight to the top-tier anyways, so I’d like to keep it out of the competition this month. I also added that to the rules above for future reference.

      • gsv says:

        lol I also wanted to use graves if you had him… nvm… :)

      • Vapid says:

        I haven’t logged in, but I saw the stats for Graves is H/P:
        1668H/314P/211S

        This actually makes him better then expected. @25 his moveset that I quoted earlier becomes:
        Consume (200 dmg/heal)
        BONESTORM (250 dmg per enemy – I think this is the strongest bonestorm version in the game now)
        Grave Destruction (668 dmg – split AoE)

  4. Liwei says:

    Looking forward to the championship round results. :)

    In the meantime, since we’re using foxes and worgs this month I think I’ll throw one of my Ye Olde Schoole teams at you and see how it goes :3

    Drunk Dancing

    S/S Alpine Foxling (Flurry, Howl, Dazzling Dance)
    Wolpertinger (Horn Attack, Sleeping Gas, Headbutt)
    Death Talon Whelpguard (Blitz, Whirlwind, Clobber)

    I don’t expect it to do all that well since it’s kind of hoping for sleep procs, but hey who knows :)

  5. caloides says:

    Fox’em!

    S/S Alpine Foxling (Flurry, Crouch, Dazzling Dance)
    H/P Infected Squirrel (Stampede, Creeping Fungus, Consume)
    P/P Ore Eater (Acid Touch, Shell Armor, Body Slam)

    General idea: start with squirrel, try to kill one pet and then get shattered defences on the second one, get the fox in after squirrel dies, finish off second pet if possible, if not, make sure to get dazzling dance up for the ore eater to sweep.

    Have fun!

    • Discodoggy says:

      Hi caloides,

      The rules have changed since last month. Top-tier pets are not allowed in this month’s competition, so the Ore Eater will have to be replaced with something else.

    • Josh says:

      So this team wouldn’t be permitted based on the rules…

      Ore Eater is top tier, none of them are allowed. Only one high tier and a non-tier pet (or two non-tiers).

  6. Celya says:

    Okay, my entry is just one of my old teams that I have fun playing with (and sometimes even winning with):

    Power Punches
    P/P Fjord Worg Pup (Flurry, Crouch, Dazzling Dance)
    P/P Servant of Demidos (Magic Sword, Siphon Anima, Soulrush)
    P/P Rotten Little Helper (Ice Lance, Booby-Trapped Presents, Call Blizzard)

    And basically, I just play off of what the opposing team does, with the obvious gimmick being taking advantage of the speed buff to up my powerful hitters. They hit hard and die fast and win or lose you won’t have to deal with long battles.

  7. Josh says:

    S/S Alpine Foxling (Flurry, Howl, Dazzling Dance)
    P/B Mr. Wiggles (Diseased Bite, Buried Treasure, Uncanny Luck)
    P/P Thundering Serpent Hatchling (Tail Sweep, Roar, Cyclone)

    Clone Dance, but with a few tweaks to make it different/interesting and not fall foul of the Tier Rules.

    Start with Dragon and Cyclone. Instead of adding Lightning to the equation (which seems greedy with an already powerful team and no protection against lightning myself) I went for Roar, so the dragon can buff his cyclone before swapping to the Pig. Pig buffs with Uncanny Luck and damages and heals as necessary. Rinse and repeat. The speedy Fox might not even need Dance to sweep opponents. Howl over Crouch might seem a gamble but we’ll see which opponents you get.

    Sandstorm and Waves (things that ‘clear’ the battlefield) are my only fears.

  8. Wiff says:

    I don’t doubt that this will probably come to get wrecked by the Graves meta, but this has been one of my more consistent teams.

    Safety Dance
    B/B Tiny Snowman (Snowball, Call Blizzard, Deep Freeze)
    B/B Wretched Servant (Nether Blast, Weakness, Consume Magic)
    S/S Alpine Foxling (Flurry, Crouch, Dazzling Dance)

    The Snowman protects both allies from Mechs while using its one-two punch to punish swappers. The real star of the show though is the Wretched Servant which can neutralize significant damage through both Consume Magic and Weakness while faster. I’d often open up with it against Haunt teams to soak. Weakness even makes Valk punches survival and often leads them to burn their CDs if they didn’t otherwise plan to. Nether Blast is for buildup while tanking, anti-air, and pressing durable pets, especially ones with shielding. Just beware that Consume Magic will also remove Dazzling Dance potentially diminishing the power of Weakness (345 with, 276 without).

    I would go back and forth on whether P/B was more optimal for the fox, but ultimately decided that outspeeding Teroclaw Grieflings is way too valuable to pass up.

  9. tekulve says:

    Dont expect Graves to be all that common right away. I bought 2 stimpacks and it still took me 15 hours to get to level 20. Once people get helplessly flayed by Graves a couple of times, they may get straight to completing the HotS requirement.

    I figure sombo combo of a foxling, healer and aquatic or sandstorm might counter it ..we’ll see

  10. zero says:

    Zero says:

    May 10, 2015 at 7:57 pm

    Here is my team: blighted talbuk

    S/S Young Talbuk
    P/B Blighted Squirrel
    H/P Zomstrok
    :-)

  11. Vapid says:

    @Disco I wasn’t one of the winning teams. I doubled checked the POTM #5 and
    —————————————-
    Liwei says:
    May 4, 2015 at 2:20 am
    Shock and D’aww
    —————————————-
    Zero says:
    May 10, 2015 at 7:57 pm
    Congratz to the winner :-)

    Here is my team: blighted talbuk
    —————————————-

    I suspect it was my undying love for using Zomstrok in teams that possibly confused you. Congrats to both! Now I have to come up with a non-Graves team, hmm.

  12. Vapid says:

    No Graves, so instead I will return to the happy Zomstrok.

    Team Name (TBD)
    P/P Fjord Worg Pup (Flurry, Howl, Dazzling Dance)
    H/P Zomstrok (Infected Claw, Shell Shield, Carpnado)
    S/S Nightshade Sprouting (Lash, Call Darkness, Blinding Poison)

  13. Tekulve says:

    I hate to send you into the trenches, Disco, but I’ve lauded the p/b Alpine Foxling too long to let him sit on the bench this month

    Mountain Magicians
    p/b Alpine Foxling – Flurry / Crouch / Dazzling Dance
    h/p Zomstrok – Infected claw / shell shield / Carpnado
    p/p Abyssius – Crush / Scorched earth / Volcano

    you’ve got some speed, shielding and a stun chance with Volcano .. it has strong atks vs a number of pet races too …hopefully you don’t encounter too many Graves/Murkalot combos !

  14. Corndog says:

    I figured I’ll let the Spirit Crab have some love this month. Can’t think of a name so I’ll let you decide.

    H/P Fjord Worg Pup (Flurry, Crouch, Leap)
    P/P Droplet of Y’Shaarj (Swallow You Whole, Acid Rain, Dreadful Breath)
    H/H Spirit Crab (Snap, Surge, Shell Shield)

  15. Sibel from Kazzak says:

    Name: Dazzling Deep Disco Dance Dominion

    P/S Fjord Worg Pup (Flurry, Crouch, Dazzling Dance) (Arctic Fox Kit)
    P/S Nightshade Sproutling (Poison Lash, Call Darkness, Blinding Poison)
    P/B Hydraling (Deep Bite, Call Lightning, Shell Armor)

  16. gsv says:

    k ima follow on from Tekulves post… I’ll stick with my Worg Pup… little paranoid about P/P in the graves meta (although the extra punch would help, it does nothing from the backline)

    Pigs Don’t Fly
    H/H Worg Pup (Flurry,Crouch Dazzling Dance)
    H/P Trunks (When Elekks Fly, Moonlight, Avalanche)
    P/B Mr Wiggles (Diseased Bite, Crouch, Uncanny Luck)

    You can see where I am going with this… like most combos there are holes… and Uncanny Luck only goes for 4 rounds… but if you can get Dance or Moonlight up first then it makes WEF very interesting… a fun team.

  17. Vek says:

    Dancing Puddles
    P/S Arctic Fox Kit(Flurry, Crouch, Dazzling Dance)
    H/H Imperial Silkworm(Chomp, Moth Balls, Moth Dust)
    P/S Puddle Terror(Water Jet, Clobber, Dive)

    The 289 speed/Power fox is one of my most used fox/wolves. Mainly because 289 speed was faster than DAH with Dance and still having more power than 260.
    Imperial Silkworm gives another undead hurting attack, moth balls to remove decoys/bubbles and possibly slow. Moth Dust, while not a favourite, can get a lucky stun.
    I hope Puddle Terror can make good use of Dance to get fast stun and dive.

    Was tempted to go with Gu’chi Swarmling for excellent undead kill combo Chew + Swarm.

    Also very interested to try one of the Hippos, but it would be two beasts in the team so not really feasable. The Hippos might do wonders against the Teroclaw Hatchling with Water Jet, while having useful Clobber for stunning RI-noobs and Takedown for a huge hit when opponent stunned. Have not been interested in them Before, but perhaps they can find use now?

    • Vek says:

      So with all “dancing” team names as Liwei stated I change team name to:
      Crouching Fox Diving Terror

      • Sibel from Kazzak says:

        That’s against the rules :(

        You chose a wonderful name, gogo Dancing Puddles!

        • gsv says:

          Nope re-read them… there is nothing against changing the name… only the move set… (which also automatically means changing pets is out too) so Vek is gtg. :) and crouching fox diving terror is genius (unless you haven’t seen the movie… then it is probably just confusing)

          • Sibel from Kazzak says:

            How about:

            Dancing Crouching Fox Diving Terror

          • gsv says:

            Doesn’t make sense… the name is a take of the movie Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon… (a few WoW references refer to it.
            Thinking about it.. I could have used Crouching Wolf Hidden Elephant… if I had picked Ethereal. :)

  18. Liwei says:

    Can’t help but notice the amount of dancing in team names this time around.

  19. testcommenter says:

    Test comment. -edited

  20. Discodoggy says:

    Finally found a WordPress comment editor that works. The downside is that you only have 5 mins to edit. Acceptable? :)

    Edit: was able to change it to 60 mins

    • Liwei says:

      Hooray for editorials!

      Oh and Disco, I’ve decided to decline taking a reward for this month’s win. I don’t have an active WoW sub at the moment, it doesn’t feel right to take your money for something that won’t get used. I am in this purely for fun :)

      • gsv says:

        Perhaps could be donated to Pet Adoption Agency? Just an idea…

        …and LOVE the edit capability. :)

        … in fact I just did another to get my “fix” :)
        (pun intended… yes I need help)

        • Sibel from Kazzak says:

          Or to the runner up? Someone new might enjoy it a lot. I didn’t actually check who it was, hopefully not that guy that already won twice before 😛

          Especially since the pet adoption agency is USA biased.

    • Sibel from Kazzak says:

      5 minutes is probably pushing it, but 60 minutes should probably let us fix most grievances; At least the ones of the kind where we just realized we wanted to add a little something :)

      Not being able to edit too much does allow for some other interesting things, like gsv’s POTM #6 entry’s name, which used to be a dancing name, but is now changed because dancing names were strangely popular this POTM 😛

      It’s funny to see :)

      Edit test (4): Might as well check whether you used a secure version :) I can’t get any html/script things to run so it seems fine, but I’m not any pro hacker or anything :)

  21. Sternish says:

    This page is pretty busy so I hope I’m posting this in the right place…anyway, this is my entry for the June POTM team –

    Maracas Fracas
    P/B Alpine Foxling (Flurry, Howl, Dazzling Dance)
    P/P Son of Animus (Metal Fist, Touch of the Animus, Interrupting Jolt)
    H/P Macabre Marionette (Macabre Maraca, Death and Decay, Bone Barrage)

    Just a team I’ve been playing around with. I’ve had more success with it than I thought I would. I never take Interrupting Jolt on the SoA, but with Dazzling Dance going on its a pretty fun and unexpected move. Hope it works for ya!

    • Josh says:

      With a 325 speed SoA I would have thought Batter could be a better pick than Metal Fist. In my Dance/Animus team the heals are insane when this all comes together.

  22. Wamp says:

    Here comes my team:

    Foxie trouppe
    P/P Pjord Worg Pup (Flurry, Howl, Dazzling Dance)
    P/P Hardbringer of Flame (Burn, Magma Wave, Conflagrate)
    H/P Fledgling Buzzard (Trash, Adrenaline Rush, Lift Off)

    This is a bit competitive than my last teams. I wanna win again!!! :)

  23. Zero says:

    Team name: Maraka-Fox

    S/S Alpine Foxling (Flurry, Crouch, Leap)
    H/H Creepy Crate (Creepy Chomp, Death Grip, Bone Storm)
    H/P Macabre Marionette (Macabre Maraca, Death and Decay, Dead Man’s Party)

    The fox being a “SS”, I play it as a sweeper, then you got two more ways to deal with decoys, Dead Man’s Party and Bone Storm, and Death Grip to mess with murkalot teams, swapping their buffed pet out, I usually open with the crate, bone Storm->Death Grip to mess teams, and again shattered defenses are you best friend. Good Luck.

    I’m sorry but, I’m not as good with the english.

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