It used to be that MW had the mobility in the capture the flag maps, versus pres evokers having the tankiness/immunitys to slow and cc. Now its essentally if one team has a pres evoker, and the other doesn’t the games totally over unless its a 100% slaughterfest for the other team. Having only 1 viable fc turns it into such an RNGfest
Our team had a pres evoker and a feral druid and the other team had a disc priest and elemental shaman.
It still came down to pretty much a dead even match, with a single flag capture with 1 minute remaining to score a victory for us.
You might think “oh you had both a pres evoker AND a feral druid and couldn’t cap a flag until 1 minute remaining you must suck!” but in reality both teams were just playing very well.
And what I left out is that the other team also had a death knight who did a really good job pulling people back.
So yeah, my point is having a class who is good at being a FC gives you an advantage… At running flags. It doesn’t mean you’re going to win. In fact both teams came very close to capping the flag multiple times but just couldn’t manage it. The debuff got up to 14 stacks when I last checked it and probably got up to closer to 18 before we were able to reset it because both teams kept having to grab the other team’s flags to prevent a capture.
It was a great game and I had to play my little kitty behind off like crazy to help the team pull out a victory.
This attitude of “oh well they have a (insert flavor of the month spec) so we lose” is probably a good reason why you lose more of those matches than you should. If you give up before the gates even open of course you’re not going to play as well.
This whole post looks like a decent reason to just delete CTF entirely out of blitz.
MW is still by far the strongest FC at base, due to teleport.
Nothing is super tanky at high stacks, which happens quickly in Blitz. The evasive play enabled by teleport in stuns can’t be matched in terms of damage mitigation. The enemy team’s offense effectively has to split to potentially land a kill.
Preservation is the best at crossing the field now, for sure. (Well, maybe Outlaw can rival it?) But that’s just one facet of FCing. At base they’re generally more vulnerable than MW. Even if their team is positioned to enable Verdant Z-axising, they have only one 3min CD for stuns. (And running Dream Flight means their defensibility is further weakened, sacrificing either instant Flames or Stasis.)
Moreover, field-crossing potential is generally a bit overrated by low MMR players. Experienced teams at 2500+ are intercepting the FC and forcing them to blow CDs and waste mobility well before they reach flag. It’s not uncommon for a wheelchair class like discipline to have to FC, and their initial tankiness more than allowing them to cross field unless there’s a DK.
Remember back in the day when tanks were tanks and healers were healers?
“Back in the day” do you mean around 18 years ago?
I remember prot pally accidentally turning into an AWC healer until it was completely neutered. wonder if it has something to do with blizz making almost no effort to balance them until they become a problem and have to eat a ‘takes 600% more damage nerf’
Warcraft Farms remembers.
ive seen like 90% less mistweavers in these low mmr blitz games. crazy how that works lol
But this was always the case if a team had a mw and the other didnt
I always said mw and pres are issuea not just mw
I completely disagree, its one step to fixing the blitz issues. MW FC was completely intolerable and I would take pres evokers everyday of the week over previous MW
Having only two viable flag carring specs was never the goal. It just happened and should have been corrected. Now that there is only one maybe bring that one in line with the rest of us.
It’s nice being a mage on offense because if you follow the MW with alter time and apply pressure, you’re going to be able to follow him back up.
Then you can do it again with displace.
There is not only one viable FC. That’s hilariously hyperbolic.
MW is still viable, first of all. They’re less good at field crossing, but they’re still the best at surviving at base, rather than being the best at both. Seen them FCing over 2500 post-patch still.
Feral is very strong as well. Fast at getting across field, shifts snares, tanky bear form, can Z-axis jump to allies in base, as well as typhoon/vortex enemies.
And those are just the meta FCs. Plenty of other things can FC serviceably. WW, DH, Outlaw all have incredible mobility. Warlocks & WW can port at base like MW. Discipline & Shadow are incredibly tanky. Shamans can Burrow with flag. These are all more lopsided in one way or the other, but I’ve seen it happen, even at high rating.
What’s more important than who is FCing is which team is harassing the FC every waking moment. Neither pre-nerf MW nor Preservation should be able to cross the field unhindered if they’re being intercepted and forced to blow defensive & mobility CDs before even reaching the flag, which any competent team will prioritize. A good team is going to make the intended EFC’s life so miserable, someone else might have to pickup and bring it to them.
Guess it’s time to nerf Hover.
Just remove CTF maps from Blitz problem solved.
Give rogue Burst of Speed
I was gonna give this a heart until you said the that pre-nerf MW was fine, it wasnt. Is it possible to CC a MW enough in mid field if there team wasn’t there to peel you off of them? Yes. An uninhibited MW torpedoing and rolling across the map in 25 seconds, faster than someone ingnored by the enemy team can cross while mounted was unacceptable. With teliport and ring of peace MW can still be the meta FC, but not the god of god teir for crossing middle now that it has been fixed. Specs immune to CC and damage because you cant be in range/los of them but 1/10th of the time you are trying to is bad enough in a building. Having that also be the case for the whole map was too much. Can other specs carry? Yes. But Feral has a reasonable chance of dying when you stun them in cat form. Outlaw while durable enough as a dps, doesnt have healer level durability. The combination of mobility, CC immunity, durability some healers have make them meta and most dps and tanks the worst choice of FC. Anyone can carry, but only one spec is teliporting with the flag and blocking path access with Ring of Peace. At least mage ice wall is destroyed in a couple hits. You brought up warlocks in a flag carry conversation. Anyone can use a lock gate, and warlock port is strong, but once you reach the lock they can die. They dont even have healer durability or MW mobility.
I didn’t say or imply that at all though? I said they were the best at everything pre-nerf (crossing mid and surviving at base), which is to say obviously OP.