June 11, 2015

Five Wins Or Bust
As promised I will mix in some POTM teams.

Battle 1: Crouching Fox Diving Terror
Alpine Foxling, Puddle Terror, Imperial Moth
vs. Unborn Val’kyr, Molten Corgi, Sister Of Temptation
One of the best things about the POTM is that I get a chance to use teams and pets that aren’t normally on my radar. This was the perfect example, the pet being the Puddle Terror. I’ve used it before, but never with a speed boost. A stun on a 361 speed pet is awful handy. I really wanter to come up from underground with some strong damage to the corgi but I never got the chance. This was a fun battle with a lot of swaps, my speed thanks to Dazzling Dance made me come out ahead. The fun battle was somewhat diminished by my opponent going afk after it was clear that I had won. I’ll assume the best and pretend that a pizza had arrived.
Record: 1-0

Battle 2: Dazzling Deep Disco Dance Dance Dominion (or DDDDDD)
Arctic Fox Kit, Nightshade Sproutling, Hydraling
vs. Flamering Moth, Blue Clockwork Rocket Bot, Droplet Of Y’Shaarj
This is why I put moths on the top tier. When they stun you it’s really hard to come back from the advantage that they gain. That’s exactly what happened here. Once again there was a lot of swapping in this battle after Hydraling took out the DoY. I actually thought that it was going to be an easy win. I did my best to keep the Hydraling away from the moth, but in the end it came down moth versus aquatic. I still had the win in my hand thanks to Shell Armor, but another sleep snatched it away from me. I think there will be a lot of losses this time around courtesy of Graves, so I doubt that a single loss will be enough to knock a team out of contention.
Record: 1-1

Battle 3: Drunk Dancing
Alpine Foxling , Wolpertinger, Death Talon Whelpguard
vs. Ore Eater, Teroclaw Hatchling, Ghastly Kid
I really chocked on this one. I’m not saying that I had any chance of winning at all, but I at least should have tried harder. I made a few bad moves out of lack of concentration. Even though I recieved the spanking of all spankings, there was one bright spot when the Wolpertinger’s Horn Attack interrupted the Ghastly Kid, giving it Resilience. The very next round the kid used Consume Magic to erase Resilience, which meant it could be interrupted again. It didn’t happen, but it still gave me a chuckle. I promise to try harder even against insurmountable odds.
Record: 1-2

Battle 4: Rich Girls
Nightshade Sproutling, Bone Serpent, Junglebeak
vs. Ore Eater, Teroclaw Hatchling, Ghastly Kid
I instantly requeued with revenge on my mind and I got what I wanted. It is quite gratifying to ram a Nocturnal Strike right through that OP Shell Armor. Darkness gimps the Teroclaw Hatchling’s healing quite nicely.
Record: 2-2

Battle 5: Fox em!
Alpine Foxling, Infected Squirrel, Hydraling
vs. Graves, Mechancial Pandaren Dragonling, Mr. Bigglesworth
It’s going to be a long month. I was 17 hp short of a victory. The squirrel did great damage to the undead pets, it was able to take down the decoy, but there was just too much back line damage. I find the meta very depressing lately. Power creep has made it so that the tenets that I have built this blog upon may no longer be true. I have always maintained that a well built team with synergy can be successful. It really doesn’t seem true anymore. Without a top-tier pet on your team it seems difficult, often impossible, to win against the top pets. Perhaps I’ll just make the pet of the month a top tier pet every month. How fun is that?
Record: 2-3

Battle 6: Frosty Cold Rats
Nightshade Sproutling, Bone Serpent, Frostfur Rat
vs. Bone Serpent, Ore Eater, Trunks
I knew the Ore Eater was going to be problematic at the end of the battle so I made sure to keep my Bone Serpent alive. I had half a rat and half a serpent to take on the humanoid with. I started with the rat for a Call Darkness and Crouch, then swapped to my Bone Serpent on the turn before the shield expired. Now the Ore Eater was all set up to get boned.
Record: 3-3

Battle 7: Tychus Fever
Graves, Alpine Hare, Trunks
vs. Fel Flame, Zandalari Toenibbler, Dark Phoenix Hatchling
My opponent had absolutely no chance, I must be really good at this game! My unfortunate opponent was probably looking for an interesting and competitive mini game, instead they had to face me, drooling on my keyboard and chanting “Me Graves win! Me Graves win!” Sorry, I’m bitter tonight. This was the first Graves team that I made, replacing my FoA and trying to relive the glory of Macarena Prohibited. It just doesn’t have the same feel to it as my once super team did. Seriously, that wasn’t a fun victory. Now watch, I’ll go back to a normal team and run into three top-tier pets.
Record: 4-3

Battle 8: Foxie Trouppe
Fledgling Buzzard, Harbinger Of Flame, Fjord Worg Pup
vs. Fiendish Imp, Bonkers, Chi-Chi
I love that buzzard, it was the superstar of the lost cause. It did a lot of Thrash damage before expiring, and Lift-Off saw Bonkers flail wildly into nothing as his CD was wasted. Unfortunately, I couldn’t get the Harbinger Of Flame to make a meaningful contribution and the P/P breed of worg was still slower than the imp and of course the flying Chi-Chi.
Record: 4-4

Battle 9: Ginsu Brothers
Alpine Foxling, Trunks, Fragment Of Anger
vs. Fossilized Hatchling, Anubisath Idol, Rabbit
I’ve played this player many times before and I can usually beat them easily. This time they used the rabbit extremely effectively to give the Ginsu Brothers their first loss, making them 30-1. Well played!
Record: 4-5

Battle 10: My Snail Weighs A Ton
Forstwolf Ghostpup, Alpine Hare, Shimmershell Snail
vs. Graves, Mechanical Pandaren Dragonling, Alterac Brew Pup
If I didn’t have that snail holding me back I may have been able to get the job done. I’ve been experimenting with the ABP again to combat the AoE, it worked out well enough for this team. It does have two of the best around at the moment, and when used in combination can be brutal. I know there are a lot of people on the US forums who are swearing by this combo. Speaking of the forums, I find it really interesting to see how the attitudes about OP pets have changed over the years. When a pet like Graves came out in the past there were usually deep discussions about whether or not it was balanced and how it effects the meta. Now the theme seems to be “what’s the easiest way I can steamroll people using Graves?” Interesting.
Record: 4-6

Battle 11: Frosty Cold Rats
Nightshade Sproutling, Bone Serpent, Frostfur Rat
vs. Infested Bear Cub, Corefire Imp, Seagull
Well, I finally made it. I consider this one of my most fail nights in the history of this site. I persevered to get the fifth win, but only two of the five wins were against quality teams. I must have spent too much time eating paste and spamming the FoA.
Record: 5-6