Two Bosses Enter: Lich King barely catches Eadric, moves on to Tyrannus
Two Bosses Enter ... but only One Boss Leaves, in WoW.com's series of fantasy death matches. Your votes, along with the decisions of our distinguished judges (representing WoW.com staff and readers), determine who makes it out alive. Grab a seat, and let's get ready to rumble!
The Lich King inside the Two Bosses Thunderdome? Isn't that an automatic faceroll to victory? Not for the Halls of Reflection version of Arthas. It took the reader vote to break a lock-up in the judges' panel and send Eadric the Pure packing. We'll find out how Eadric almost managed to get away -- but first, let's look at the next set of matches in the ICC-5/ToC season. Seeding for the quarter-finals has been determined by the reader vote.
Match 1: Scourgelord Tyrannus (77.4%) vs. Lich King (5-man, HoR version) (56.5%)
Match 2: ToC PvP champions (68.2%) vs. Devourer of Souls (55.5%)
Match 3: The Black Knight (61.7%) vs. Argent Confessor Paletress (58.8%)
Match 4: Reader vote to bring back any ICC-5/ToC season loser
Join us after the break for the judges' decisions in Lich King vs. Eadric the Pure, then cast your vote in the first match of the next round: Scourgelord Tyrannus versus the Lich King (5-man, HoR version). Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls ... Dyin' time's here.
In the stands: Victory -- The Lich King
Lich King (HoR 5-man) 56.5%
Eadric the Pure 40.3%
Tie 3.2%
Judge John "ZapperZ" Zakour: Victory -- Eadric the Pure
Eadric the Pure vs. the Lich King is like Ned Flanders vs. Mike Tyson. The first guy might be pure and buff, but the second dude is a fighting machine. This is a match with a guy who surrenders after you beat him against a guy who's a title character in the game. If this were a fight to the death, it would be LK in a walk-over. The only threat Eadric would be is if the Lich King got a nasty stitch in his side from laughing so hard at Eadric. But alas, it's not a fight to the death; it's a run-and-catch-me-if-you-can.
The Lich King is cold and cocky. He meanders. If Eadric is good at one thing, it is running away when things go bad. (Good Sir Robin has nothing on him.) It comes down to this: can Eadric avoid ghouls, abominations and witch doctors long enough? Eadric has Radiance, which may very well be the worst boss attack ever. It's an attack that you simply have to turn away from to defeat. It's lame -- but in this case, it's an advantage. The pursuing ghouls, abominations and witch doctors will either have to turn away from Radiance or take its damage. I'm not sure the ghouls or abominations would bother turning; I think the witch doctor would. (After all, they don't let dummies into witch doctor medical school.) Either way, Eadric would whittle them down or slow them down enough that he could keep a safe distance from them and a safer distance from the LK. Eadric could even toss in a Hammer of the Righteous now and then just to feel a bit macho.
I don't believe I am typing this ... But yes, Eadric delays the Lich King long enough so Eadric can live to run away yet another day.
Judge Sky Paladin: Victory -- Eadric the Pure
Eadric's got four abilities, and all of them are perfect for this encounter. He hits extremely hard, and Hammer of the Righteous will one-shot everything except abominations. He can Hammer of Justice abominations to buy himself six seconds of freedom. He can use Radiance to stun whole groups of undead (and he does this frequently). On top of it all, Vengeance greatly increases his critical hit chance.
I would expect him to clear this instance very quickly, without taking any real damage. The greatest threat would be the abominations' spew debuff ticking up; however, these are few in number, and Eadric is well equipped to burn them down very fast indeed. With two short-cooldown stuns (one of them, an AoE stun!) and a single-target super-nuke, this is completely one-sided.
Read Sky Paladin's tale of the battle in the comments of last week's deathmatch.
Judge Michael Gray: Victory -- The Lich King
Lich King. It must be Lich King.
Look, Eadric's awesome, and I totally want to support my facerolling retribution paladin brethren. But the reality is that if Arthas can walk up and one-shot Sylvanas, what chance can we possibly expect for someone like Eadric? In the melee-vs.-melee inevitability of this fight, the Lich King is just going to fishslap Eadric into the ground.
I keep playing over possibilities in my mind, trying to find someone to avoid that inevitable truth. But I guess that's why they call it an inevitable truth. Arthas will make his Jason Voorhees slow-walk impression right up to Eadric and boom. Dead Eadric.
Judge Matthew Rossi: Victory -- The Lich King
The LK doesn't even need to touch Eadric to obtain this victory. Eadric makes sounds like he's having an unfortunate party in his digestive tract and it's spilling out into his long johns. The Lich King is the Lich King.
I don't really feel like this fight goes very long. Eadric runs into an ice wall and gets swarmed by adds. The LK walks up and kills whoever Eadric is escorting. Illidan shows up and tells Eadric he was not prepared. Everyone wonders what the heck Illidan is even doing there.
In Corner One: Scourgelord Tyrannus
Alas, brave, brave adventurers, your meddling has reached its end. Do you hear the clatter of bone and steel coming up the tunnel behind you? That is the sound of your impending demise.
Scourgelord Tyrannus is a human death knight mounted upon his frostbrood wyrm, Rimefang. He is encountered in the Pit of Saron, the second wing of the Frozen Halls.
Rimefang:
Learn more about Tyrannus and Rimefang's tactics.
In Corner Two: The Lich King (Halls of Reflection version)
There is no escape!
Death's cold embrace awaits.
How long can you fight it?
It is vital to this Thunderdome match to note that this is the 5-man, Halls of Reflection version of Arthas. Scourgelord Tyrannus does not have to defeat the Lich King; he merely has to stay out of reach long enough to escape the Lich King's grasp at the end of the gauntlet.
Read about the Halls of Reflection encounter with the Lich King and hear comments from adventurers who've sought him out.
The Laws of the Thunderdome
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 visualize it inside the Thunderdome, 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.
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The Five-Man Bosses of Icecrown Citadel and Trial of the Champion
Match 1: Bronjahm vs. The Black Knight
Match 2: Devourer of Souls vs. Forgemaster Garfrost
Match 3: Krick and Ick vs. Scourgelord Tyrannus
Match 4: Falric vs. Argent Confessor Paletress
Match 5: Marwyn vs. ToC PvP champions
Match 6: Eadric the Pure vs. The Lich King
Match 1: Scourgelord Tyrannus (77.4%) vs. Lich King (5-man, HoR version) (56.5%)
Match 2: ToC PvP champions (68.2%) vs. Devourer of Souls (55.5%)
Match 3: The Black Knight (61.7%) vs. Argent Confessor Paletress (58.8%)
Match 4: Reader vote to bring back any ICC-5/ToC season loser
Set aside the world order -- let the Thunderdome determine who's the champion of Icecrown! Come back next week to find out who is the victor of the Icecrown/Trial of the Champions season of Two Bosses Enter, One Boss Leaves.
