Two Bosses Enter: Anub'Arak pounds Dred, Eregos faces Skadi
by Lisa Poisso 
Jan 7th 2010 at 4:00PM
Last week's battle was all about size. In the end, being tougher trumped being larger, as Anub'Arak Pounded King Dred with 64% of the spectator vote. We'll get a view of the beat-down after the break -- plus we'll set up the vote for this week's battle between Ley-Guardian Eregos and Skadi the Ruthless.
Alert fans will note a different schedule on their weekly Thunderdome tickets. Starting this week, you'll find the past week's roundup and the next week's fight and vote in a single post. Be sure to follow the jump if you'd like to debate and vote on the upcoming battle between Eregos and Skadi. Then starting next week, we'll be hosting the Two Bosses Thunderdome on Wednesdays (moved up from Thursdays).
Join us after the break for last week's wrap-up plus next week's battle: Ley-Guardian Eregos (The Oculus) versus Skadi the Ruthless (Utgarde Pinnacle). Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls ... Dyin' time's here.
Anub'Arak Pounds King Dred
Spectators roared their approval for Anub'Arak last week, with the former Nerubian royal bringing in 64.5% of the votes against King Dred's 31.9%. (Only 3.5% thought the match would end in a tie or other scenario.) The battle ultimately boiled down to physical size -- but the question is, how much did it matter?
Cuwi: Are people seriously arguing that Dred would win because he's too big to be Pounded? The rules specifically state that their abilities work on each other.
SR: For your information, Tyrannosaurus Rex (or all large bipedal dinosaurs, for that matter) had a HUGE flaw to their design: They were easily thrown off-balance, and when they fell, it was their end. The thing is, herbivores with clubs on their tails AIMED at their legs, so that they would break under all that WEIGHT that the BIPEDAL holds on their BODY. How easy is it to knock over an upside-down wine bottle? Quite easy. You can even see it with horses ... How many of them survive in nature if they fell over and broke their leg?
With that said, Anub can literally SMASH INTO Dred's legs with all his weight ... And I dunno about you, but he looks damn heavy with his size, his natural armor AND additional armor that he wears. When Dred falls, he's gonna get eaten alive or simply impaled to death, as geveldion said. And what's to stop Anub'Arak from doing that?
Outofideas: I think a lot of people are seriously overestimating the size difference between the two combatants. King Dred may be a tower of teeth and claws, but Anub'Arak still dwarfs us lowly bipeds. When he rears up for Pound, I wouldn't be surprised if Anub could carve up Dred's stomach like a birthday cake. Add in the Spider Lord's intelligence, combat prowess and the pound-for-pound equality of all his adds vs. Dred's, and the true king brings home mighty new corpse for his lord to reanimate.
Ley-Guardian Eregos vs. Skadi the Ruthless
- The Two Bosses Thunderdome is considered neutral territory, where both combatants are able to access their usual encounter mechanics and abilities. If you can't imagine it inside the Thunderdome, imagine it someplace else – but you must include all of each bosses' abilities and mechanics.
- All of the competitors' abilities, including crowd control and other effects to which bosses are usually immune, work on their opponents (with apologies to considerations of lore on this count).
- Assume that the opponents share similar levels, health pools and comparative overall damage output.
- Don't get caught up in gameplay mechanics and what actual players might do in each encounter.
- Don't neglect style, story and scale.
In Corner One: Ley-Guardian Eregos (The Oculus)Simpletons! You cannot comprehend the forces you have set in motion. The ley line conduit will not be disrupted! Your defeat shall be absolute!
Ley-Guardian Eregos, the great Blue Dragon boss, flies at the pinnacle of The Oculus. Players normally battle him astride drake mounts with various abilities.
Inside the Two Bosses Thunderdome, there will be no player drake mechanic. Judge the battle on the basis of the abilities of Eregos and Skadi themselves. Eregos may engage in battle in the air and/or on the ground -- your choice; neither is mandatory -- without the player drake mechanic. Consider Eregos' minions capable of handling the harpooning of Skadi's drake mount.
- Arcane Barrage
- Arcane Volley
- Enraged Assault
- Planar Anomalies
- Planar Shift
- Whelps Two to three spawn at a time; heavy DPS can push Eregos into a Planar Shift before he has a chance to summon
In Corner Two: Skadi the Ruthless (Utgarde Pinnacle) What mongrels dare intrude here? Look alive, my brothers! A feast for the one that brings me their heads!
Skadi the Ruthless, an Undead Frost Vrykul who resides in Utgarde Pinnacle, is named after the northern goddess of winter and the hunt in Norse mythology. Upon engaging in battle, he flies up above the terrace on his Protodrake, to strafe foes below as they push through waves of his Frost Vrykul. Opponents pick up harpoons to shoot the drake, eventually killing it and forcing Skadi to the ground and into hand-to-hand battle.
Remember that inside the Two Bosses Thunderdome, you should consider Skadi's minions to have the same comparative output as Eregos' minions. Don't forget that we are considering Eregos' minions to be capable of handling the harpooning of Skadi's mount.
Read more about Skadi the Ruthless's battle tactics, and review comments from players who've faced him.
Inside the Thunderdome
Two Boss matchups are about substance and style, not game play and mechanics. Don't base your strategies on player tactics, which opponent has been easiest or most difficult for you personally, or the difficulty of each opponent relative to instance progression. Vote for the spirit of the battle as set forth above. Set aside differences in opponents' health pools, game level and actual damage output. Absolutely no game-mechanic nitpicking!
Before you cast your vote, join the debate in the comments. Who wins, and why? Style points go to spectators who use the comments to sway other readers to their point of view!
| Ley-Guardian Eregos wins (Skadi dies) | |
|---|---|
| Skadi the Ruthless wins (Eregos dies) | |
| Tie (something else happens) |
ORIGINAL WRATH FIVE-MAN SEASON: QUARTER FINALS
MATCH 1
Anub'Arak (Azjol-Nerub) -- WINNER!
vs.
King Dred (Drak'tharon Keep)
MATCH 2
Skadi the Ruthless (Utgarde Pinnacle) (seeded at 63.8%)
vs.
Ley-Guardian Eregos (The Oculus) (seeded at 50.7%)
MATCH 3
Xevozz (Violet Hold) (seeded at 62.1%)
vs.
Loken (Halls of Lightning) (seeded at 58.1%)
MATCH 4
King Ymiron (Utgarde Pinnacle) (seeded at 60.3%)
vs.
Krik'thir the Gatewatcher (Azjol-Nerub) (seeded at 58.6%)
Who rocks Wrath's five-man world? Add your own narrative on what would happen when these mighty opponents meet up inside the Two Bosses Thunderdome. Anything's possible in the semi-finals of Two Bosses Enter, One Boss Leaves: The Original Wrath Five-Man Season. Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Features, Lore, Two Bosses Enter
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 4)
Sargenus Jan 7th 2010 4:08PM
Eregos wins, no doubt about. Why?
He can fly, and easily take down the Wyrm in no time. When Skadi reaches the ground, al he has to do is stay up in the sky. That way, he'll only take damage from the spear. If he gets low on health due to all the adds? Planar shift. As it's going to be a very cramped area, all the orbs will most likely stack, exploding and pretty much destroying all of the adds, and taking a chunk out of Skadi. Eregos can then Enrage, and just pelt Skadi with a ton of Barrages. And don't forget Eregos has whelps that ALSO fly. So unless Skadi targets them with his spear...
Sargenus Jan 7th 2010 4:09PM
If he gets low on health due to all the ranged adds*
Editing system pl0x.
Marolas Jan 8th 2010 2:55AM
"Consider Eregos' minions capable of handling the harpooning of Skadi's drake mount."
...I'm struggling to imagine tiny blue dragon whelps armed with harpoon guns.
Netherscourge Jan 7th 2010 4:09PM
Ergos would win by default because as soon as Skadi portals into Occulus, he'll portal back out like everyone else does.
yayaa Jan 7th 2010 4:21PM
hahahaha.
Nazgûl Jan 7th 2010 7:59PM
No, Skadi needs a new drake because we killed his. He'll stick around for the chance at the random drop from the bag.
Washicka Jan 7th 2010 4:10PM
They both lose Kael'thas comes back.... again.... this time with one orb. He one shots both with his emo goodness.
Josin Jan 7th 2010 4:18PM
Isn't Eregos kind of a big deal in the blue dragonflight? Can't he pretty much just make Skadi's ride dump his big blue bearded behind off a cliff?
Woif Jan 7th 2010 5:30PM
He is somewhat, but the proto-drakes are not part of any flight really. They are a old version of the dragons made by the titans. So they don't follow the flights at all.
Pyromelter Jan 7th 2010 4:19PM
Skadi wins. Why? Because after riding a drake all that time, he knows how to use them.
Tidus4eva Jan 8th 2010 3:55AM
Except that Eregos has been a Blue Dragon for his entire life (Which could be several decades/centuries, granted, he's also a Guardian, so that could hint to a very old Dragon.)
Cheezfry Jan 8th 2010 9:14AM
Wrong, Eregos wins because Skadi gets lost in Occ and starves to death.
cygnus Jan 8th 2010 3:20PM
@Tidus4eva
Eregos much likely is little under 10,000 years old. If he's alive ment that he didn't engage deathing before the sundering, where most of the full grown blue dragons were killed except for Malygos. So he was either too young or given another position during that event. Yet he is 2nd in command of the blue dragon flight, even above Cyanigosa leader of the Dalaran invasion, as he is given the job of protecting the Nexus, a job so important that his failure will bring Malygos plan to fail.
cygnus Jan 8th 2010 3:23PM
EDIT: **...didn't engage Deathwing...**
Kinka Jan 7th 2010 4:21PM
I'm a huge fan of Skadi...he's ruthless (......go figure), intelligent, and in possession of colossal Brute Strength. As much as I'd love to give it to him though, Eregos has too much going for him. Eregos is cunning. Blue Dragons are the quintessential scholars of the Dragon World; one of Malygos secretive right hands would doubtless be no exception to the rule. Eregos is powerful. Blue Dragons are the lords of magic on Azeroth; they are not just some simple conjurers. Eregos is strong. Not only is he as big as you'd expect an elder wyrm to be, he's also just as strong physically. Eregos is a full grown dragon. Blue dragons are dragons, and since Eregos is a dragon, he is once again no exception to the rule and is in fact a dragon with dragon style powers.
Skadi might scratch him a few times, but Eregos would refuse to play his game. Whatever Skadi tried to think up, Eregos would easily think up a counter. When mind games are out, because of the elder dragon's size and power, Skadi would be unable to use his brute strength to his advantage.
If Skadi were smart, he'd do what the rest of the Mongrels who dare intrude there do when they zone into the Occulis and zone right back out. He's just outclassed.
NeedsOfTheMany Jan 7th 2010 4:22PM
Well this is flawed, since Eregos is a vehicle fight, and the damage is doubled or even tripled during vehicle fights, hence, Erego's first shift and Skadi drops.
lisapoisso Jan 7th 2010 4:33PM
Except that we removed the vehicle element and their relative damage is assumed to be roughly equal. Read up!
Deathknighty Jan 7th 2010 4:47PM
@Lisa Poisso/
I've never been completely sure about this: in Two Bosses Enter, can things like drake-riding be incorporated into your ideas on who wins? For instance, (I know you're not meant to pay attention to health pools in game, but still...) the health pools of Skadi+his drake and Eregos, are if I remember, remarkably similar.
So basically, can this still be done with drakes, I mean, seeing as Skadi already has a drake and uses it to fight, he might as well fight on it in this too (and the drake is actually almost as tough as Eregos himself).
What do the rules say about that? :P
Deathknighty Jan 7th 2010 4:55PM
Also, if the bosses already share very similar health pools/damage output, can you refer to them without being downrated out of existence?
lisapoisso Jan 7th 2010 6:56PM
@deathknighty
You may rationalize your view of the battle however you like. The whole contest works better if we all follow certain common principles, but if you can come up with a rationale that makes sense and captures the imaginations of other readers, you might just sway the vote!
As for the downrating ... That I cannot help you with. May the anti-click-spamming force be with you.