Spriest pvp question

[Noujou]

I'm running Spriest/UH DK/R Shaman this season

so i'm wondering if i should run crit or mastery.

i know crit is better if your going for the kill because mastery can be unreliable but since this is a dot heavy cleave, would mastery actually be better in this case?

[Venaliter]

I'm running Spriest/UH DK/R Shaman this season

so i'm wondering if i should run crit or mastery.

i know crit is better if your going for the kill because mastery can be unreliable but since this is a dot heavy cleave, would mastery actually be better in this case?

No, simply because your main damaging spells will be mind blast, Fiend, and Death, and they don't work with Mastery. Also, DoTs can be dispelled, and frequently are.

[stickyjam]

crit all the way..

dots can crit too you know, mastery procs are similar except they give you another chance to proc DI/FDCL. thats its. where as crit highly affects your burst.

[Yvaelle]

I recommend mastery to people who are having severe mana problems (despite good VT uptime), this is usually the result of their comp - if they are required to frequently defensive (mass) dispel.

Unholy DK's have a LOT of CC breaks though, as do Shamans (though theirs are often more proactive, but they still have a Lot of them) - so you shouldn't need to defensive dispel very often, and that should mean your mana isn't struggling: crit will work best for you.

Unholy DK's have:
Icebound Fortitude - stun break + immunity
Antimagic Shell - spell immunity
Lichborne - fear + charm + sleep break + immunity
Trinket - everything break
(Optional) Desecated Ground - everything break + immunity
Mind Freeze - poly / cyclone / repentance / etc
Strangulate - all the above plus instants
Gnaw - cast interrupt + instants
Death's Advance - snare immunity

So CC'ing a good DK is very very hard.

Meanwhile Resto Shamans have:
Trinket
Tremor Totem - fear break + immunity
Windwalk - root+snare break + immunity
Grounding Totem - casted (or predicted) CC stop
Wind Shear - casted CC stop
Capacitor Totem - predicted CC stop

So good Resto Shamans are also some of the hardest healers to control.

Now, that doesn't mean you should never defensive dispel - but if your teammates are making good use of all the above, then it's going to be nowhere near as common as most spriest comps need it (which is where mastery, for bonus VT ticks and mana-free procs) begins to shine. You should still dispel your teammates sometimes though, which is how you will turn a relative strength of Unholy DKs and Resto Shamans (CC resistance), into a distinct strength (by combining it with spriest support). Watch out for frost mages mostly, but also stuns on your resto shaman when they have earth shield on you or the dk - all of those are times you should still be mass dispelling your teammates.

In some comps, spriests need to practically mass dispel on cooldown - which is ludicrously expensive - but those comps usually involve high-maintenance teammates who have all the burst they need by themselves: if only they can be stay on target / free-cast. Frost mages, arms warriors and affliction locks - Shatterplay / God Comp / Executeplay / Shadowplay / RPS - all make mastery look more appealing, particularly for beginners where mana management and CC are a bigger risk.