In Two Bosses Enter, WoW Insider's series of fantasy death matches, the bosses of World of Warcraft face off in the squared circle. Your vote determines who wins and claims the season title.

Round 3 of the Crazy Eights kicks off this week, pitting the goliath Forgemaster Throngus against the cutest couple of Crusaders you've ever seen!



In last week's matchup, Eregos and Erudax went head-to-head in the new and improved Two Bosses Enter arena -- an arena with a roof.



Follow along for the details of this week's matchup, as well as discussion on last week's match.

The rules of the ring

• The WoW Insider Ring is considered neutral territory, where both combatants are able to access their usual encounter mechanics and abilities. If you can't visualize it inside the squared circle, visualize it someplace else -- but you must take into consideration all of each bosses' abilities and mechanics.
• Assume that each opponent is intelligent and capable of strategic thinking.
• 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 point).
• 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. Everything is a factor; seeking balance is your goal as a spectator and judge.

In Corner One: Forgemaster Throngus

Throngus slice you up!

Last time we saw the Forgemaster in action, he was fighting fire with fire in a deathmatch with Karsh Steelbender. The competition was stiff, but Throngus's diverse toolkit ended up giving him the win. Will his ability to swap roles and strengths at will be enough to topple the tank/healer duo of the Scarlet Crusade?

The Forgemaster's toolkit includes:

• Disorienting Roar
• Impaling Slam
• Mighty Stomp
• Pick Weapon
• Burning Flames when wielding his swords
• Encumbered when wielding his mace
• Personal Phalanx when wielding his shield

If you've never encountered the Forgemaster first-hand, you really should learn more about him.

In Corner Two: Whitemane and Mograine

Whitemane: Arise, my champion!
Mograine: At your side, my lady.

Whitemane and Mograine have been a fan favorite pair so far. In their opening match, wherein the were revealed as one of this season's wild cards, they demolished Augh and Lockmaw. Readers have been predicted this season's grand finale will be a showdown between Ozruk and this team.

Before that, however, they need to beat Forgemaster Throngus. Can they pull it off?

Mograine's toolkit includes:

• Crusader Strike
• Divine Shield
• Hammer of Justice
• Lay on Hands
• Retribution Aura

And Whitemane's repertoire:

• Deep Sleep
• Dominate Mind
• Heal
• Holy Smite
• Power Word: Shield
• Scarlet Resurrection

As stated in this duo's previous appearance, if you haven't seen these two in action before, you really need to take a trip to the Scarlet Monastery on a level-appropriate character.

Last Week's Winner: Eregos

In response to Eregos's utter dominance of the Two Bosses Enter arena since his introduction in the Wrath series of this tournament, readers demanded that he have has ability to fly revoked. It's not a very exciting tournament if one contender just flies out of range and shoots ice breath, is it?

No, it isn't. The squared-circle became a capped cage for last week's matchup, preventing Eregos from simply flying away and sweeping the tournament. It did help Erudax's chances, the vote was tighter than any round Eregos has ever been in previously, but the Ley-Guardian managed to pull out the win anyway.

Reader Mortenebra is one of the many who stood by Eregos despite the new restrictions placed on him:

Ley-Guardian Eregos could smell the stench of corrupted magic at work in the cavernous halls of Grim Batol. It made him queasy. Drakes of Alexstrasza's red dragonflight gave chase to dark-lit Twilight drakes, overhead. He wondered if some of those red drakes were the same ones who assisted adventurers when they executed Malygos. It made no difference. He didn't come for them. No, Eregos was after a much bigger, formidable opponent.

He lumbered into the room and snorted at the corpulent insectoid who stood before him at opposite side: Erudax, Duke of Below. His claws brushed into the large, broken manacles on the floor but gave them no second thought. It would have amused him to know that this was the very room Alexstrasza was held captive in, forced to lay eggs to be subverted and twisted. Erudax flexed an armored claw. "The darkest days are still ahead," he roared.

"You brash interloper!" Eregos cried. "I will ground you!"

The Faceless lieutenant hurled himself at the blue drake, claws extended, only to stumble back under the relentless onslaught of Eregos' arcane barrage. He watched for the drake to pause, mustering his arcane might for another assault. At that moment, Erudax landed an Enfeebling Blow on the dragon, pushing him across the room and weakening his physical defenses. "You think you know true magic, dragon?" Erudax sneered. "I will show you real POWER! The shadow's hunger cannot be sated!"

Every shadow in the room seemed to come to life, congealing and convening together. Eregos shook his scaly head to clear his vision, only to see everything shrouded in darkness. Everything, except one small circle centered around Erudax. The Ley-Guardian clawed his way through the shadow gale for the safety within the eye of the storm. He pushed off with his powerful hind legs and gave a flap of his leathery wings for momentum. "Such insolence... Such arrogance... Must be... Punished!" Eregos yelled with a deafening roar erupting from his throat.

His front claws found their way around Erudax's head, sinking into the Duke's tough, rubbery skin. Erudax flailed his massive claws about blindly. Desperate, he cried out, "Come, suffering... Enter chaos!" Eregos heard a sinister, sibilant hiss behind him. He dared a look behind him and saw two Faceless minions trundling through the threshold. His grip on Erudax did not let up. Cut off the head, he knew, and the beast would die. Kill the leader, and his minions will falter.

That was a mistake.

The first twilight firebolt hit him on the back. Then another on his wing. Then another, and another and another. Erudax crushed Eregos' claws between his vise-like pincers, tossing the dragon from him. The Guardian's heavy body rolled along the floor, seemingly defeated. The Faceless One soaked up the healing powers from his assistants, believing himself victorious. He glanced with surprise as the blue dragon heaved himself from the floor and began to shimmer. In the blink of an eye, Eregos shifted out of existence-- untouchable and invincible.

Erudax screamed something in his unintelligible tongue. The Faceless minions and Twilight Hatchlings all focused their assault on the injured dragon but to no avail. Planar anomalies, with their beautiful but deadly light, emerged from the air around the assailants and unleashed their lethal magic. Their bodies evaporated into the air without a cry. The air shimmered again as Eregos reemerged into the physical plane. A dangerous light shone in the dragon's eyes as they bore into the Faceless Duke.

The Duke blasted the dragon with binding shadows, hoping it would buy him some time to think of a new plan. It did not matter. Eregos opened his enormous maw and let out a screeching call. Blue whelps flew straight into Erudax with Arcane Bolts at full power, overwhelming the Faceless One. The Ley-Guardian shook off the lingering shadows and fired another arcane barrage into Erudax. He felt the primal, draconic rage fill him and empower his magic. Within mere minutes, Erudax, Duke of Below, was no more.

Eregos collapsed onto the floor, exhausted. His whelps were chasing down the remaining twilight hatchlings who weren't vaporized in the planar anomalies' magic. He suddenly realized that the hatchlings were born, twisted and malicious, from red dragon eggs. Alexstrasza's eggs. As much as he disliked the Dragonqueen and her choice to execute his lord, no dragon should ever be tortured and corrupted at the hands of such despicable creatures as the Twilight Hammer and the Faceless Ones. Not even the progeny of Alexstrasza.

Eregos nodded to his whelps and, together, they engulfed the room in arcane fire. He turned to go, leaving the sound of cracking stones and dragon eggs behind him.

The battle begins!

Remember, Two Bosses Enter matchups are all about substance and style, not gameplay, mechanics, and numbers. 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 mechanics nitpicking!

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Set aside the world order -- let the WoW Insider Ring determine who's the champion! Your votes determine the outcome in WoW Insider's series of fantasy deathmatches, Two Bosses Enter, One Boss Leaves.

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Tags: boss-fights, eregos, erudax, featured, forgemaster-throngus, ley-guardian-eregos, mograine, one-boss-leaves, ozruk, scarlet-crusade, throngus, two-bosses-enter, whitemane, whitemane-and-mograine, wow-boss, wow-boss-battle, wow-boss-fights, wow-boss-tournament, wow-bosses, wow-tournament

Filed under: Two Bosses Enter