September 21, 2014

What I’ve Been Training For
Why yes, I do know it’s Sunday. I forgot to pick up the quest earlier this week plus I have a decent amount of time to battle today, so documenting my weekly quest seems like the thing to do. It generally takes me about fourteen battles so I better get started.

Battle 1: Unfortunate Yeti
Stunted Yeti, Fel Flame, Scourged Whelpling
vs. Fluxfire Feline, Onyxian Whelpling, Azure Whelpling

092114CI was living dangerously with my first battle by running a mediocre team. Luckily the queue gave me an even more mediocre team to battle. The battle started off as the Fel Flame versus the FFF (that’s like 5 f’s!) which was a horrible match-up for the mech. Rather than swap out of the strong damage from Conflagrate the mech cat ate it and died fast. There was no way two dragons were going to come back against a Punching humanoid.
Players defeated in pet battle: 1/10
Record: 1-0

Battle 2: Jaguero Souvenir
Fiendish Imp, Baby Ape, Ominous Flame
vs. Dread Hatchling, Nordrassil Wisp, Nordrassil Wisp

092114BIt’s so painful when you do the right thing by bringing in your elemental for the Nocturnal Strike… then get hit anyways. After that my Ominous Flame still was able to take out the bird thanks to a couple of Spiritfire Bolts hitting. I was able to beat the two wisps after that because this player is incredibly predictable. At one point I thought it was a bot but I’m not sure. At any rate I beat this team most of the time.
Players defeated in pet battle: 2/10
Record: 2-0

Battle 3: Acorn Berserkers
Grizzly Squirrel, Infected Squirrel, Rabid Nut Varmint 5000
vs. Frigid Frostling, Kun-Lai Runt, Lil’ Bling

092114AMy opponent let me keep the match-ups that I wanted. Grizzly Squirrel versus elemental, Infected Squirrel versus KLR then RNV 5000 versus Lil’ Bling. I missed a few times thanks to Slippery Ice so it ended up being a close battle, but I still managed to win due to the good match-ups.
Players defeated in pet battle: 3/10
Record: 3-0

Battle 4: A Bloody Dream
Darkmoon Rabbit, Snarly, Infected Bear Cub
vs. Curious Wolvar Pup, Toothy, Electrified Razortooth

092114IThis one was bloody! The difference was going to be when the OP trap went off. After casting Dodge and Bleed with my DMR against Toothy I swapped to Snarly. Snarly survived, then the wolvar laid down a trap which went off immediately, killing Snarly. That was great for me. Later the Electrified Razortooth took a bleeding Maul; you would think this person would know better. This is already taking a long time.
Players defeated in pet battle: 4/10
Record: 4-0

Battle 5: X-Visitors
Yu’la, Spirit Crab, Ravager Hatchling
vs. Alpine Foxling, Gilnean Raven, Kun-Lai Runt

092114FSometimes I’m just not sure what people are thinking. Yu’la had 49 hp left, the buffed fox was faster, it would only take a Bite to finish off my dragon then Howl my next pet. No, my opponent decided to Howl Yu’la, who got off an extra Jadefire Lightning. After the Bite killed Yu’la the fox no longer had Howl available, plus the Gilnean Raven had taken unnecessary strong AoE damage. This was more of a case of my opponent letting me win that me earning it. I think I’ve figured it out: everyone on my meta except me is a bot, I’m actually horrible at pet battling.
Players defeated in pet battle: 5/10
Record: 5-0

Battle 6: Bring Out The Rock
Fiendish Imp, Scourged Whelpling, Pebble
vs. Death Adder Hatchling, Unborn Val’kyr, Mini-Thor

Guess what? I haven’t missed at all tonight (apart from Slippery Ice). Now that I needed everything to count I missed twice. I hate to cry “misses” because I lost, but I’m extremely annoyed at the timing of the misses. I may have lost anyways but the misses made it certain. The first real competition of the night and I lose. Lame.
Players defeated in pet battle: 5/10
Record: 5-1

Battle 7: A New Hope
Fiendish Imp, Warbot, Sen’Jin Fetish
vs. Gilnean Raven, Scourged Whelpling, Enchanted Lantern

092114GI ran A New Hope hoping I would get some revenge on the valk and adder but got this team instead. It’s sort of hard not to rage when you miss six times during a single battle. Seriously, six times. Only one of those was because of Flash, the rest were only due to Darkness. It happens. The funny thing is that I almost won.
Players defeated in pet battle: 5/10
Record: 5-2

Battle 8: Party Party Party
Tiny Twister, Lil’ Bling, Macabre marionette
vs. Flamerng Moth, Ashwing Moth, Sea Gull

Both moths were uncommon quality. My opponent fled after the first one died. It brings me no pleasure to bully new players after a few frustrating losses.
Players defeated in pet battle: 6/10
Record: 6-2

Battle 9: Kleeman’s Krushers
Tiny Twister, Lil’ Bling, Sen’Jin Fetish
vs. Lil’ Ragnaros, Scourged Whelpling, Gilnean Raven

092114KThe Tiny Twister beat Lil’ Ragnaros thanks to the trap going off on the first round again. It happened for the second time tonight. In the new branch of mathematics called forum statistics that means that it always happens. I shouldn’t judge, I once made an irrational post about a stealth increase in dodge chance. I must have been hopped up on goofballs. In reality I had been battling too much and my mind was sort of warped. To make matters worse, some innocent forum goer pointed out that my mind was probably warped from playing too much and I got mad at the implication. Fail times two. Goofballs and fails aside, it was good to get a win against some top pets.
Players defeated in pet battle: 7/10
Record: 7-2

Battle 10: Beige Bandits
Qiraji Guardling, Living Sandling, Direhorn Runt
vs. Fiendish Imp, Warbot, Zandalari Anklerender

092114MThis time my opponent was on the crappy end of rng. Their three Sandstorm misses (one was Nether Gate) compared to my one miss meant that my Qiraji Guardling was 126 hp away from soloing the entire opposing team. I can’t wait until misses are less common in WoD.
Players defeated in pet battle: 8/10
Record: 8-2

Battle 11: Darkshore Deathsquad
Squirrel, Darkshore Cub, Shimmershell Snail
vs. Mechanical Pandaren Dragonling, Frosty, Lunar Lantern

092114NI don’t see many MPDs anymore, which is a good thing. My Squirrel easily took it down in this battle with Woodchipper, Crouch then Stampede. After the MPD died and the Lantern was doing weak damage against my shielded Squirrel my opponent fled.
Players defeated in pet battle: 9/10
Record: 9-2

Battle 12: Trihard Shield
Fiendish Imp, Warbot, Stunted Direhorn
vs. Mechanical Pandaren Dragonling, Frosty, Lunar Lantern

I’m speechless. I pulled out this team for an easy finish. The Nether Gate missed, which allowed my opponent to outlast the Minefield. Just look back at how many of these battles were determined by misses. I haven’t been battling much lately so my desensitization of misses has diminished. Once again, I can’t wait until misses from normal attacks are gone. Warbots are 0-3 tonight. Shame.
Players defeated in pet battle: 9/10
Record: 9-3

Battle 13: Blight Bastards
Fiendish Imp, Sen’Jin Fetish, Blighted Squirrel
vs. Mechanical Pandaren Dragonling, Frosty, Lunar Lantern

This time I didn’t miss my forced swap so the battle went according to plan. My opponent missed at the end but by that time I was so far ahead that it didn’t matter.
Objective Complete.
Players defeated in pet battle: 10/10
Record: 10-3

092114P

10 Responses to September 21, 2014

  1. Vek says:

    While testing the Scalded Basilisk a couple of days ago it missed with Bite 5 times in six straight tries. That was only due to darkness and then sandstorm. And I guess that wont change in WoD.

    • Noel says:

      I was under the impression that missing is gone for moves, you simply do less damage when you “miss” and extra when you really “hit”. Of course the sandstorm shield might block your glancing blow.

      • Noel says:

        Sorry I meant to say “in WoD” . Can’t wait for misses to be rare as well.

        • Vek says:

          I might be mistaken of course, not being up to date or just mis-informed. I was under the impression that Sandstorm/Darkness still had -10% hit modifier. But it wouldn’t be the first time I was mistaken.

      • Larkspur says:

        No, hit debuffs will still cause misses. There just won’t be any base chance to miss on anything but the 50% attacks.

  2. Vek says:

    Just ran a bunch of battles featuring a 357 speed bunny. It’s still a very good pet. Just haven’t been using it much since the reign of the Direhorns, were said bunny was just fodder. Though in about 10 games I didn’t run into any DAH it still outplayed a lot of other pets. It is definitely a tough pet to get to grips with if you don’t have the tools.

    Of course it was up to it’s partners to truly handle the Idols and Crawdads I ran into. But thats where my Kovok find it’s prey. Also Black Claw plus Flurry is not bad at taking down tough opponents.

    • Noel says:

      I’ve just about always got a bunny on my team to take out undead; love the bunny cause he can go toe to toe against a lot of nasties! In your opinion is there a better undead killer? (Aquatics perhaps)

      • Vek says:

        Rabbits are quite good at handling undead, and with both Dodge and Burrow they can be very annoying to get to grips with for any opposing pet. The one thing that truly balances them is their 227 Power. Flurry hits for 123(more on undead of course).

        There are quite a few “undead-killers” out there, but they all have different pros and cons. The bunnies are the super avoiders. Then you have many aquatics that take weak damage from undead attacks and most often can heal as well.

        I will list a couple of pets I like to use for killing undead:
        Swamp Croaker. This frog comes with Bubble wich can be even more useful than Dodge/Burrow since you can save it for when you switch back in. It also has a nice choice of attacks.

        H/P Toad. This “regular” frog is the only frog with this particular breed. It has 260 speed wich usually is faster than undead while still having 273 Power(strong for a frog) and a very solid 1627 Health.

        Marmots. I quite like this little critters. They come with the strongest one-hit critter ability, Chomp. Sometimes Flurry does not cut it and Chomp is a better option, like when facing a Spirit Crab. Chomp will easily hit for 500+ and crit for about 800. Sadly it is a bit prone to missing, 85% hit. Marmots also comes with Crouch for alot of extra durability and Burrow for avoidance.

        Gu’Chi Swarmling can kill a Fossilized Hatchling in two turns with Chew + Swarm.

        Gulp Forglet can also be fun with Swarm + Mudslide, but I would not bet to much on it.

        Well you have heard this before, Vengeful Porcupette. This is one of my main go-to Undead killers. Both Powerball and Flank are critter attacks, and you only need one Powerball to be faster(well except Mr Bigglesworth). Spirit Spikes is pretty decent protection for two turns, and can nullify haunt and help to protect from Curse of Doom. Also when beast racial is up a triple-hit Flank does insane damage to any undead. Had a 74 Health Vengeful Porcupette take out a full Health Stitched Pup in two turns. That is something a Bunny can’t do.

        Another beast pet I love to use against undead is the P/P Fjord Worg Pup. 325 Power and 260 speed(plus optional speed buff if need). This worgs Flurry can with luck will a full Health Valkyr in two turns. Then you can use Crouch on their undead turn and be ready for the next pet. The difference between 325 Power Flurry and 227 Power flurry is quite huge, especially when beast racial kicks in for another +25% damage.

        That said the different pets have different roles. There are things that a Bunny can do that any of the other pets can’t.

        This is why I have been experimenting a bit with the Grassland Cottontail. The S/S Cottontail maxes out at 325 speed, so it will die to DAH, but it has a decent 260 Power. But I have also been playing around with the H/P Cottontail. Most powerful Bunny with 289 Power and 260 speed, this makes it very good at killing slow undead but it wont be able to touch the 357 speed Bunny in alot of other areas.

        • Noel says:

          Really helpful! (I too love the vengeful porcupette). I generally avoid any <100% hit move because they "always" miss when you need them lol.

          Going to try out a bunch of these tonight…eek Tuesday my work will be cut out for me!

        • Discodoggy says:

          I like the Shrine Fly as an anti-undead. Reading this made me do today’s daily battle with it: 9/24/14. As with all fliers it can be fragile.

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