It's Halloween, So It Must Be Vashj

On November 4th, 2007, at about 7:30 pm server time, twenty-five seasoned raiders assembled outside of Serpentshrine Cavern, like drain flies congregating above Danrax’s sink. There was excitement in the air - the previous record of 2% convinced us that a kill was not only possible, but likely - that the epics we dreamed of with glazed eyes and dribbling saliva were within reach.

And so, for a short time at least, we wiped the rivers of drool from our chins, used our eyes for spotting elementals, ears for listening to striders, and noses - surprisingly - for breathing. Even the severely handicapped stopped rolling their faces across the keyboard, instead fervently banging the general location of their win buttons with the sides of their heads, eyes glued to the screen, emitting guttural noises vaguely resembling the words "pfft I’m so RIGGED".



While some of the other encounters up to now forgave (and even WELCOMED) mouthbreathers and floor-moppers like Dan’s drain welcomes small dark fuzzy insects, Lady Vashj is a fight that requires the utmost concentration and coordination on the part of every member of the raid. And what is more, we repeated the kill the following week. Even drain flies can get lucky and accidentally lodge themselves in Dan’s trachea, leading to death and possible epics - but twice? Even the most fortunate of sewer insects would be hard-pressed to duplicate such a thing.

So it seems like we have found a winning formula:

2 Tanks + 7 Healers + 16 DPS - mouthbreathers + "Team Rigged" + nose-breathing + only 3 people dead in phase 3 + 1 battle res = Dead Bosses.

I have seen the math, and it’s sound.



Many of our colleagues in the field of end-game progression are genuinely surprised by this. Reckless Ambition paused in the middle of an epic Blackwing Lair, Instinct’s silence grew more profound, Synergos postponed their Internet War and Recurring Nightmare almost let another boss despawn. The collective response was "wow, that’s surprising".



And to those that ask how it happened, and what we can possibly do to ensure that we continue to succeed, the answer is simple - don’t be like this guy here:



Ahead lies patch 2.3, Zul’Aman, and Season 3. Only Kael’thas Sunstrider is left before we set foot into Hyjal.

Which I hear looks something like this:



Join me next time - for it is said that in the year 2038 the ravens will leave the Tower of London and all hell will break loose upon England.