Mage in 3s

[PPN]

Hey,

some ppl will wonder about this thread cause obviously Frost Mage is free 2.2 k with just lol icelance. However, lately i did some games with my frost mage (i dont like it to much to Play frost mage, but i just gave it a try anyway for the Mount) and around 1700-1800 i start to struggle cause of all KFC comps. When i check the ladders, mages do well in 3s, even ist full of KFC. My comp was priest/mage/enh.

Compared to all other comps we Encountered it seemed like KFC strategy was "just tunnel the mage" what eventually worked out.

My enh m8 did always great dmg, but i fell quick behind cause of endless stuns, Interrupts and silence.

I know some Basic stuff what to do, like LOS burst, freeze zoo, cc warr when burst ground scatter trap and so on. But it feels like even when we do a lot right, the just tunnel-Interrupt and burst of them works out in the end.

What can i do as a mage to help my Team?

[djdfields]

Hey,

some ppl will wonder about this thread cause obviously Frost Mage is free 2.2 k with just lol icelance. However, lately i did some games with my frost mage (i dont like it to much to Play frost mage, but i just gave it a try anyway for the Mount) and around 1700-1800 i start to struggle cause of all KFC comps. When i check the ladders, mages do well in 3s, even ist full of KFC. My comp was priest/mage/enh.

Compared to all other comps we Encountered it seemed like KFC strategy was "just tunnel the mage" what eventually worked out.

My enh m8 did always great dmg, but i fell quick behind cause of endless stuns, Interrupts and silence.

I know some Basic stuff what to do, like LOS burst, freeze zoo, cc warr when burst ground scatter trap and so on. But it feels like even when we do a lot right, the just tunnel-Interrupt and burst of them works out in the end.

What can i do as a mage to help my Team?

The whole "all mages do is cast ice lance and gg" thing is far from truth. So far, every non-mage that I've heard say that has yet to surpass 1800. Once you get to a certain rating, mages have one of the highest skill caps in the game. I always pray for awful mages on my druid or monk because they are seriously one of the easiest classes to shut down if they don't know how to play properly.

Anyways, from my experience (mained a mage PvE and PvP since cata), the most important thing you can do is be a poly machine. Outside of CD's and procs, you don't really do much else (at least in 3v3). If poly isn't on DR on a non-kill target, then you're definitely doing something wrong (or they just have you locked very well which happens). Just like a Druid's, don't be afraid to poly to full DR ether; nothing makes people more angry than having to sit three polys back to back while watching their teammate take severe damage. Also, I've found that people will make pretty stupid decisions if this is done continually (i.e. trinketing a DR poly and leaving them open for a full deep/hard swap if needed), even at higher ratings.

When my friends and I face KFC teams, we basically try to put as much pressure on the warrior as possible while cross-CCing the healer and hunter which is quite a bit easier said than done. A lot of warriors now days run in mongo-style and force their healer to re-position his/herself based on this; this is where you take advantage. I usually toss a poly out and throw a ring down so that if he wants to heal his warrior buddy, he's going to have to waste *something* to do so, or the warrior is going to have to haul ass outta there because my orb procs (and my rogue buddy :P) are going to take him down pretty darn quickly. Right when he's out of that, he's got a CS coming his way; I usually blanket a druid because of how many instants they have, but anything else I'll for sure go for the lockout. I can usually do most of this while being trained as well minus the ring, which I can use to save my own ass if need be.

While all this is going on, your partner and healer have to be CCing JUST AS WELL on the hunter. Zoo isn't a very big issue anymore IMHO, but if you see that rapid fire go out, CC or get the hell behind a pillar or that hunter will spam 1 on you until you die/block/whatever. Make sure it's clear who your CC targets are beforehand, as you can't afford a wasted hex from your shaman.

In order to optimize, you should use any macro you can get your hands on. If you're wasting time switching from target to target, you're going to lose against even the brainless KFC comps. You should probably run with PoM too if you're getting trained, as I doubt any warrior is going to let you cast a poly or ring in his face, and you need to be landing those polys (alter time is amazing with PoM as well if you haven't tried it). Also, stay as close as possible to your teammates, as you're peels are much stronger than your shaman partner's.

Honestly, there is no easy way to explain how to mage against KFC, and all of the above is just personal experience and what has worked for me. Try watching Venruki and Jahmilli; they come up with some extremely creative ways to handle tough situations that have sparked many ideas for me that I have adopted (or at least am working at... not always easy) into my play-style.

Anyways, as with any comp, CC is key. You guys are an offensive comp, so try to play like one unless you are forced to turtle for a little. Force them to make stupid mistakes early and capitalize on them. Even if you do everything extremely well, they can still destroy you. Hopefully SOMETHING in here helps, though I'm not so sure it will. Just practice

Good luck!

[Drenan]

Find yourself a rdruid healz and rogue or lock and watch how much easier it gets.

[PPN]

Hey djdfields,

thx for the long answer. Guess i definatly need to poly more if its somehow possible with the warr on me.

I know i find myself sometimes so annoyed by poly/fear/cyclone spam that i feel tempted to press the trinket

But yeah, more CC in general is a good idea just because i can. I played lately a lot on my ele and it seems i got used to it that my cc is very limited. Need to adapt to spamable cc more.

[Anzen]

don't be afraid to poly to full DR ether; nothing makes people more angry than having to sit three polys back to back while watching their teammate take severe damage. Also, I've found that people will make pretty stupid decisions if this is done continually (i.e. trinketing a DR poly and leaving them open for a full deep/hard swap if needed), even at higher ratings.

On the mark with this, occasionally I'll meet a mage like this that literally continuously polymorphs us as much as DR allows. It is continuous the ENTIRE arena that it get's to a point where I get so pissed off at it that something like this happens:

"I think I can get a kill on druid, got trinkets, going to get a Hex on the mage. Okay done, this is good, can you fear off that? Okay going!!.. SHEEPED DISPEL DISPEL... FML SHEEPED AGAIN!!! TRINKETING... AND AGAIN FUCK THISSSSSSS... wait I'm being swapped on... I don't have trinket" *dies* RAGEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

The things I'd do for a spammable CC :'(

[Hegemonia]

lol one of the few great and informative threads. Thanks Djdfields for that post. I'm a nub mage so every little bit helps and you gave some great tips.

I was one of the people saying that mage is a free 2k this season so I rolled one. Jeez, the skill cap is kind of high once you pass 1750. Never got to 2k. I totally agree that the skills of the mage are best manifested when you have them trained - a good mage will retain damage output while kiting and will also take less damage while doing that.

I'm not one of them unfortunately. If I get focused I literally start screaming, do a bunch of retarded stuff and die like a crazy coked-up bitch.