Two Bosses Enter: Beauty vs. Zanzil
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.
Wow. Wow. Last week's Two Bosses Enter matchup was incredibly close. At one point, both competitors were tied, with votes ticking up each side until the final day. When the poll finally closed, Jan'alai took the victory by only three apparently four votes. Four votes. Now, I don't know what this tells me. People must hate each of these bosses equally. Suffice it to say, this was an awesome matchup that went down to the wire. More excitement like that, please!
This week's matchup features two bosses that hearken back to the days of vanilla World of Warcraft -- the great corehound Beauty and her adorable litter face off against cauldron master Zanzil's voodoo trickery. Whose cuisine will reign supreme?
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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: Beauty
Don't kill Runty. Don't kill Runty. Stop killing Runty. Everyone run back.
Beauty the corehound guards her litter of pups with the ferocity and determination only a mother could display. Runty, the quintessential runt of the litter, stands in the back of the room, the most protected offspring of the great corehound. Beauty's children and her own fire attacks and fears make her a worthy opponent for any band of adventurers or voodoo master.
Beauty brings to the table:
Two of Beauty's three children, Buster, Lucky, and Spot, join the fight, drooling lava all over the arena and firing off their Little Big Flame Breath.
Beauty charges far-away targets with Berserker Charge.
Flamebreak causes fire damage and a knockback.
If Runty dies, Beauty goes into an enrage.
In Corner Two: Zanzil
Don't worry, Zanzil won't leave you dead for long ...
Zanzil the Outcast was once, well, outcast from Zul'Gurub and lived on the coast of Stranglethorn. During the new Cataclysm content, Zanzil is brought back into the fold by Jin'do and given a new home in the reclaimed Zul'Gurub to work on his cauldron magic. His potions are fearsome, and his voodoo magic is deadly.
Zanzil's abilities include:
Zanzil's Graveyard Gas requires a drink from the green cauldron.
Zanzil's Resurrection Elixir (blue) will call forth a resurrected Zanzili Berserker, which can be frozen after a drink from the blue cauldron.
Zanzil's Resurrection Elixir (red) will raise a cadre of Zanzili Zombies who swarm Zanzil's enemies, which can be AOEed down after a drink from the red cauldron.
Read all about Zanzil's backstory and history on Wowpedia.
Last Week's Winner: Jan'alai
This was a close match, ladies and gentlemen. Jan'alai's fiery disposition eventually won out against the great gyreworm Corborus for a second Troll victory in this tournament. I had pegged Jan'alai as the winner from the get-go, but the fight was closer than anyone could have expected. With the final tally, Jan'alai eked out a win by four votes.
Since it was so close, let's examine your comments from both perspectives.
The Dewd gave this one to Corborus:
This is a close one but I have to give it to Corborus. He (it?) can submerge to avoid fire and the crystal barrage seems a perfect foil for the hatchers and the eggs. Jan'alai is no idiot so he should be able to avoid standing in the wrong place (unlike some pugs I've seen).
I think this one goes to the final round, whatever that is, and we find out that Corobus' two sets of adds have slightly outdone Jan'alai's adds and after the judges vote, Corobus squeaks through.
Honestly, this is a GREAT matchup and could almost be a draw so whoever at WoW Insider paired them together.... EXCELLENT job.
I like the way you think, The Dewd. Corborus' adds also explode, doing a good deal of damage, so I would think that Jan'alai's hatchlings wouldn't stand a chance. On the other hand, I agree with reader Theresa:
Honestly I have to give this to Jan'alai. The crystal adds Corborus spawns on heroic would pose little thread against a boss with such powerful fire aoe, the 10k shadow AOE is nothing. and the burrow phase really is very avoidable.
Jan'alai's fire bombs go everywhere, and adds can't explode if they are already dead. Not to mention that Corborus' size works against him in this fight, in my mind -- too much gyreworm getting hit by too much stuff.
As for who put the matchup together, give all of your kudos to Alex.
Finally, Ilmyrn's recount of the fight in favor of Jan'alai best sums up this encounter, in my mind:
This is a great matchup... if you're Jan'alai.
How is this even in debate? First up, Flamebreath will do heavy damage to Corborus, plus easily kill the crystal adds.
Even if the crystals kill the hatchers, that's just delaying the inevitable, especially if they don't hatch, Jan will hatch them all simultaneously himself, and as any tank can tell you, all the dragonhawks at once is FAR more dangerous than a few at a time. If all the hawks release together, that's game, set, and match right there.
Burrowing will probably hurt Jan at least the first time, but he's a smart guy and will quickly learn to move out of it. His hatchers may not be so quick on the uptake, and probably wouldn't survive one hit from it, but again, them dying could be just the edge Jan'alai needs. If the dragonhawks are out, it's anyone's guess whether or not they'll get caught in it.
Corborus' aoe doesn't even bear mentioning. Not really an issue for Jan'alai, though it could and probably would put a severe hurting on his dragonhawks, maybe killing them. Not before they've burned him to a crisp though.
The clincher, however, is Fire Bomb. Corborus is just too large. No matter how he twisted and turned, he'd be hit by probably four or five, if not more, bombs.
Jan'alai will be hurting when it's over, but he'll survive to fight another day. As for Corborus? Like any rock, put him under enough pressure and he crumbles.
Great job in the comments, and thank you for all the votes that made this one of the closest matches ever on Two Bosses Enter. Stay tuned for more matchups, and vote for this week's winner.
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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!
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.
