PvP openers: then vs. now

[shoegazing]

Reposting this because this is the Rogue forum, not the playing a Rogue in PvE environments and casual unrated PvP only forum

Today we're going to be looking at some openers vs. mages for past iterations of rogue vs. with the current design. This is just 0.01% of what Rogue PvP gameplay is all about but I hope to use it as a microcosm for how the class as a whole has been drastically dumbed down in Legion. Now with that statement of purpose out of the way, let's get into some examples.

CS --> Gouge this was one of the more prevalent openers. the goal is to immediately gouge on your first free global after pressing the stun, gouging the anticipated blink so that he's sitting in gouge at the other side of the arena or dueling area, essentially wasting the gap opening potential of the blink as it gives you time to catch up to him. high risk / high reward opener that could be countered by a savvy mage holding their blink for a global to see what the rogue does.

Sap --> Turning Garrote to delay the Sap break until the first bleed tick this opener had a few goals. one of them was to save stun DRs until after blink is forced, allowing a full kidney after blink which has a great chance of forcing the first ice block. the delayed sap break was important because it gave you time to apply crippling poison with shiv before the mage simply used pet nova and ran away from you scot free while you are on gcd. this opener could lead into a few different variations, depending on whether the mage trinkets immediately to gain tempo or tries to sit the opener.

Garrote --> Shiv Paralytic the goal of this MoP era opener was again to give you the opportunity to get some damage in without stunning before blink. this was not a super common or well known opener but it certainly had its uses and was rewarding for the rogues who understood the right situations to pull it out.

Sap Mage --> Cheap Pet --> Garrote Mage another garrote opener, this one was used to deny the mage the opportunity to counter your garrote with his pet nova.

Overlap Garrote and Stun A super aggressive opener, this one was used to create pressure right away by denying the possibility of the mage blinking out of your stun. best used when the enemy healer is already in CC so you know you can force trinket or iceblock in the opener.

Sap --> Premed --> Turning Cheap w/o breaking Sap --> Restealth & wait DRs this opener was rather situational, depending on the enemy mage not having a pet summoned. the goal was to bank 4 combo points before restealthing and waiting out DRs to get a stronger opener the 2nd time around. in certain situations this could even be pulled off in the presence of a water elemental by landing a quick focus kick on waterbolt (if the pet isn't set to passive and starts casting on you immediately) before the mage reacts with pet nova. this opener also baits a common mistake from the mage, which is to trinket the sap to prevent the restealth. the mage thinks he has got you by the balls because you gained no pressure from your opener, but you simply vanish out and wait your vanish CD (which was a smaller CD than his trinket in recent versions of the game) before transitioning into an aggressive burst into overlapped stun/garrote opener that he has no possibility of trinketing.

The Legion Opener -- just press cheap shot, the exact same thing you would do while opening on any other class this is the only option left in our pruned, dumbed down arsenal. no sneaky rogue tricks, no flashy micro, no subtle plays to made. just press cheap shot.

Ok, I think I have made my point here. Legion Rogue, particularly subtlety spec, is extremely dumbed down and poorly designed for PvP. The examples presented here are just a microcosm of the whole picture, the wholesale butchery of this once amazingly fun and unique class. This is a shame considering great legacy of Rogue PvP through the years. Certainly the Neilyos, Reckfuls, and Pikaboos of the world as rolling in their graves at this level of dumbed down class butchery. Long gone are the days of the high skill cap, fast paced glass cannon that was an absolutely iconic spec of WoW PvP for over a decade. The Legion version was clearly designed for players with mental deficiencies, as Blizzard wouldn't want to overwhelm some wide eyed noobie or fotm reroller with too many tactical choices, now would they? Nope, this is 2017 after all, better to keep it as dumbed down as possible! Let's remember Holinka's immortal words when he was interviewed about ability pruning and the rogue class: "FINALLY, I'm so relieved that I live out my fantasy of being this dexterous character without having to actually have that manual dexterity!"

[ymirsson]

Maybe they just wanted to adapt the class to your abilities?