WSVG Toronto Recap Part 2

Alrite, last time I left off just after we had won a 3-2 match against the long name'd with the drain setup. As soon as we won that game we were all pretty happy, we were guaranteed at least top 8 even if we lost the rest of our games.

The main stage game at this point was Pandemic vs MoB Turtle Force (or whatever MoB team Zecks plays on) and we were told that the loser of that game was dropping down to our bracket and would be our next match. Pandemic crushed them as they did every other team and we were off to set up for our match against Turtle Force. Knowing we had used only one lineup the whole tournament, I was pretty sure they'd pick something that countered us pretty bad. Instead, they picked something that's a pretty even matchup I'd say, they went with a triple dps shadowpriest/warlock/mage team. Between poly, two CSs and silence they could really shut me down if I was in LoS.

The first game we didn't really see it coming and the damage stacked up quick. We weren't prepared to run like beaners and by the time we got into it, it was too late. The shadowburn/swd/fireblast burst was too much after a silence. The second game we knew what we wanted to do and we got a favorable map in Nagrand but a few slight mistakes cost us the game. Myself and Hamchook got split up on separate poles and he ended up getting caught in the open for a little too long. The damage that team can put out is pretty serious so even the smallest opening will leave someone dead.

So here we were again, in yet another 0-2 hole. The difference this time was that we knew we could beat this if we played well, it was mistakes that lost us the two games. So we queued in for game #3. It came down to really good LoS work on our part, it was all about avoiding the mage and the warlock for me. Fearward was a huge help as a fear into a poly would end the match, so I put that on myself anytime I could. The game plan was simple, we knew they were going after Hamchook, he was pretty much the only viable target. Iceblock would clear all debuffs and render Fugie immune for at least a little bit and if they went for me their shadowpriest would get lit up really quick. Fugie would do his best to spam sheep between the warlock and mage as myself and Chook focused on surviving and putting whatever damage/stings we could on the shadowpriest. It was mainly instant spam with a flash heal when I knew they couldn't CS. I think I only got poly'd once or twice during the final 3 games, Fugie did a great job of shutting their mage down and we did pretty well to stay away. Two well played games on our part later, we had another 2-2 tie, going into a game 5.

Controversy surrounding MoB, round 2. We start the game off pretty well, Hamchook is sitting topped off as they're making a run for him. All of a sudden, he stops in the middle of one of the ramps on my screen and I'm like wtf? Then I hear him and like 20 people behind me start saying "crashed!" So I look over and see the WoW error screen on his comp. In the meantime, Godfather and the MoB crew on the other side are going nuts. "WHAAAT WHAAAT KILL EM! YEAAA WHAT NOW!" while they're completely oblivious to us yelling at them saying he crashed. It seems as if they thought he pulled the plug or something, which is pretty laughable when we had a huge crowd behind us, some of which were even pretty reputable:

Noktyn from #battlegroup9 irc:

[Pandemic-NoktyN] i was behind hamchook
[Pandemic-NoktyN] when the disconnect happened
[Pandemic-NoktyN] he got dc'd
[Pandemic-NoktyN] and died
[Pandemic-NoktyN] like
[Pandemic-NoktyN] 10 seconds
[Pandemic-NoktyN] after he dc'd
[Pandemic-NoktyN] he was dc'd a long time
[Pandemic-NoktyN] they were made about that too
[Pandemic-NoktyN] i think they think he plug pulled
[Pandemic-NoktyN] he definately error'd out

A WSVG admin walked over, saw the error screen, then told us to queue up again and replay the match. Game 5 went just like the two before it, we did a good job LoSing and eventually, their shadowpriest went OOM and died. With that, we pulled off our 3rd 0-2 comeback of the day and eliminated MoB Turtle Force and locked a top 4 spot.

Shortly after, we were told that we'd be playing against MoB Turtle Beach, winner gets to play against EG for a shot at Pandemic in the grand finals. We really had no clue what they were gonna run going into the match so we were ready for anything. They chose a druid/mage/warrior lineup which is pretty weak against us, the mage is a class we can drain and do serious damage to while they have no defensive dispels for polys, novas and fears. We took the first game with relative ease. They were locked in with the same composition for the second game, which came down to the line. I got poly'd and cycloned under the bridge while Hamchook got stuck on top with the warrior and mage tearing him a new one. As my poly broke I yelled for him to jump. All I saw was him jumping towards the edge with hamstring on and sitting at 2% with deterrence up dodging executes. On one of his little hops before he got off the bridge, a shield connected and the warrior got poly'd at that exact second. Chook jumped down with a shield and 2% life, and the mage in hot pursuit spamming icelances. I can only imagine how frustrating it must have been to see absorbed over and over. His CS was still on CD so ZG trinket + flash spam as the MS debuff wore off quickly took Chook out of the danger zone. A few seconds later their mage dropped and we found ourselves up 2-0.

For game 3, they switched their makeup to Warrior/Pally/Resto Shaman, which is something that when played well gives us a decent amount of trouble. The game started up with their warrior charging Hamchook's pet and starting to beat on it. As I healed, Hamchook quickly dismissed it (quickly being a 5 second cast) and their warrior switched his focus to me. As the match drew out, Chook brought the pet out again and the mana drain continued. Eventually, we had their shaman fully dry and their pally hurting on mana as well and we managed to drop the shaman. My mana was pretty low at the time, but Fugie did a great job of controlling the warrior so we were able to sneak out with a win and a 3-0 series.

That was it for the day, we had at least top 3 guaranteed (or did we? :P) with a good chance of getting to play Pandemic on stage the next day.