Onward!

With Ulduar on the horizon, my guild has been steadily clearing Naxx 25, Malygos and is working on Sarth+2D. I ask myself - Are we ready for the challenges of the near future?

Naxx 25, Carefully

Naxx 25 is on farm, however group balance and dynamics must still be considered when heading in to kill Kel'Thuzad. We have struggled a bit on this last boss so the Naxx 25 clears are still not easy or done very gracefully. This is a concern for the complex fights in Ulduar because if the mobs hit harder, and the raid takes even more damage then we may run into a roadblock. Even so, many people are acquiring the finishing touches on their gear and getting some much needed practice to improve their game.

Malygos

I have decided to discontinue running 10 man Malygos runs mostly because Malygos 25 is now on farm. Malygos 25 seems much easier than Kel'Thuzad on Naxx 25 now, I think it's because Kel is unpredictable whereas Malygos is a fight of memorization and pattern recognition.

This is the most fun fight for me to tank by far, and I get a real rush every time we defeat this boss!

For tactics, we're using a strategy loosely based on Ciderhelm's 6 min Malygos video. Tankspot has been a phenomenal resource for me as a Raid Leader to view tactics, get ideas for 10 man strategy and step up advanced tactics. On Phase 3, we use a 6 healer rotation like they use in this video, which was the missing component from our previous Malygos attempts.

Sarth

We took a hiatus from official Sarth runs to focus on Malygos but now that Malygos is on farm, Sarth and Malygos are done in the same night. Last night, we had some solid attempts on Sarth+2D. We wiped a lot for various reasons, but we got better at the encounter each time. Fatigue started to set in and we just did Sarth+1D, but I won't be surprised to see a Sarth+2D kill very soon considering our rate of improvement.

Ulduar, Here we come

Ulduar is soon, and I wonder if we are ready. A large part of the guild has mostly Best In Slot gear (including myself), and a lot of people have been raiding consistently even though they don't need the gear. Others have been signing up less for raids and taking a break. Hopefully they will be motivated to participate when Ulduar raids are up on the guild calendar. I have mixed feelings about our preparedness for the upcoming challenges, but as always, the Thugs will stand strong and give it our best shot!