June 12, 2015

Seeking A Third
H/H Ghastly Kid (Hoof/Infected bite, Consume Magic, Haunt)
S/S Forest Sproutling (Lash, Refuge, Sons of the Root)

I’m somewhat lucky since there’s not a lot of Murkalot/Graves action in my meta. There are, however, a ton of MPD/Graves teams. They’re pretty damn hard to beat. I’ve been trying to come up with new ways to face these teams and this seems to be a halfway successful attempt. I went back to using Refuge to help mitigate AoE damage. I’ve found that it’s better to use Refuge with one critter than two, because having two leaves you extremely vulnerable to beast attacks. So obviously my third pet is going to be a critter. Sons and Lash are both great against MPDs.

I really hate having to resort to the Haunt and stall tactic that I dislike so much. Desperate times, desperate measures. I’ve beaten a few Graves teams with this combo (and a critter of course), but I’ve also lost a few. A pretty big problem with Haunt is that even split AoEs count as attacking two pets rather than three when the kid is haunting.

I don’t think these teams are destined for greatness, I’m just throwing them out there, perhaps someone can hone them finer.

Pet 1: H/S Stone Armadillo (Scratch, Roar, Infected Claw)
I was just screwing around with this first team, hence the armadillo. I faced Graves, MPD and a level 24 in its first battle and won. Yeah, that’s right, people are using the Graves/MPD combo to level their pets in the PvP queue. No really, the meta is fine. After I won I realized this combo might have some potential.

Battle 1: Long Shot
vs. Kun-Lai Runt, Nexus Whelpling, Lesser Voidcaller
As you can see by the name I didn’t really think this team would work. Like I mentioned above, I’m not a big fan of Haunt and stall and that’s exactly what I have to do. The kid cast Haunt on the Lesser Voidcaller then the elemental went under. If there’s nothing for the pet getting stalled on to do while the sproutling is under then it’s taking 280 damage without contributing anything useful. I was able to go under twice, Refuge provided a free swap, it was an easy win. Worth using a lame tactic? I don’t know.

Pet 2: H/H Imperial Silkworm (Chomp, Moth Balls, Moth Dust)
Moth Balls takes down a decoy and with luck will even slow the evil MPD.

Battle 2: Long Silk
vs. Anubisath Idol, Hyacinth Mccaw, Pandaren Air Spirit
For this team I used Infected Claw for a strong attack against humanoids and it paid off with a victory. I would have never gotten past the idol and sandstorm otherwise. I got lucky with Moth Balls hitting a lot and a Moth Dust crit and it was still a very close battle. Thirty-five rounds, yuck. It wasn’t all my fault, the sandstorm and the heal prolonged the battle on top of my lameness.

Pet 3: S/S Grizzly Squirrel (Scratch, Crouch, Nut Barrage)
This isn’t an optimal breed for this team because I don’t really like running two 325 speed pets. If I wanted this team to be better I would pick up a P/S, P/B or S/B. No wait, an H/P Alpine Chipmunk! Anyways, Nut Barrage will take down a decoy and do some strong critter damage.

Battle 3: Long Mail Dropper
vs. Kun-Lai Runt, Alpine Foxling, Puddle Terror
The plan went out without a hitch. I was really hoping to face Graves or an MPD to see how I fare, smashing teams like this wasn’t my intention. My opponent could have done better, they played like I was playing last night! Who lets their KLR take a Haunt on round one?  The highlight was blocking the Dive. That doesn’t sound too exciting.

Pet 4: H/S Mountain Cottontail (Flurry, Dodge, Borrow)
I finally decided to give up my S/S Arctic Hare. I really wanted to try the H/P Grasslands Cottontail, but I just couldn’t leave my rabbit slower than an MPD. All I’m really getting out of this H/S Mountain Cottontail is some more health. Hey, it’s progress!

Battle 4: Long Cotton
vs. Emerald Whelpling, Anubisath idol, Pandaren Water Spirit
Thirty-six rounds. It was ugly taking out the idol at the end of the battle. I don’t like the rabbit on this team, there’s just not enough offense.

Pet 5: P/B Mr. Wiggles (Infected Bite, Crouch, Headbutt)
I first ran this team with Uncanny Luck, now the damage from Headbutt seems more necessary. I can use Hoof on the kid now since I have an anti-humanoid attack. This is another pet that I wish I had a better breed of. How much do the RAF pets work out to? $40. I know people have enlightened me before but I’ve never been able to pull the trigger, maybe it’s time to fork over the cash.

Battle 5: Long Pork
vs. Stunted Direhorn, Enchanted Broom, Blue Clockwork Rocket Bot
Refuge was great against Primal Cry. Words… coming… slowly. I better shut it down for tonight. I went undefeated but didn’t get a chance to fight the team I was after. These teams are no great solution to the Graves/MPD dilemma, but you might be able to sneak in a few wins. There were a few more critters I didn’t get to, here they are: