I haven't tried a Backstab build, for the same reason I never played Mutilate for more than a week before PTR/Beta - because latency + positioning requirements = bad. The removal of positioning requirements and the deep synergy with Mutilate and the Assassination tree is why Mutilate is coming out as a powerful potential build. Backstab has very little synergy with other talents and it's positioning requirement and dependence on critical strikes make it lackluster in my eyes. Until I can test it, I can't say for sure.

Ok, I can definitely see the issue with latency and positional requirements, especially right now on beta. I'm just trying to think outside of the box. At 80, rogues will have roughly 40% crit (I assume) with talented 90% chance to crit ambush someone. Being able to do that twice with shadow dance sounds appealing to me.

With all the talents that are adding to ambush viability, I'm just interested to see how it all comes together. Yes there is still the issue of sustained dps of course, but it's interesting none the less.

Found a small video showing ambush/subt in pvp in the current build. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oiPqYOXXxcE For those interested it starts at about 2:55

Combat Daggers is dead. In the assassination tree, you need Pucturing Wounds, Leathality, and Ruthlessness. In subtlety you need Relentless Strikes and Opportunity.

Combat Daggers requires a bunch of extras in the other trees to get its damage, but because Blizzard split some essential things between two trees, and made relentless strikes 5 points, there is simply not enough points to allocate.

That's not to say that Blizzard couldn't bring it back in the future, but the way the current trees are laid out I can't see it happening in WotLK

He's not talking about combat daggers you rube, he's talking about shadow dance and ambush, I think it'll be a scary thing in pvp for sure (not to mention tricks of the trade + shadow dance + 5 ambushes in a row for pve! Not saying it's a viable pve spec but it'll be fun)

Think about it, the base damage got buffed, the crit got buffed, and it's now effected by lethality! You could even pick up glyph of ambush and increase the range. Even if you find it hard to get behind some people it won't matter because as soon as you do it'll be all over for them.

I'm an ambush dagger rogue right now (one of the few that exist I'm sure) and I'd have to say I'd love to see my spec vindicated come wotlk.