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Two Bosses Enter: High Priestess Azil vs. Foe Reaper 5000

Mathew McCurley
Updated ·6 min read

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.

Last week's matchup between Zanzil and Beauty was, unfortunately, not as nail-bitingly close as the Jan'alai and Corborus matchup, but it still had some major turn-out for this mismatched pair. In the end, Zanzil took the win based on the voting, but Beauty and her litter of core hound pups were definitely the fan favorite. Votes, however, are the winner's currency.

The first round of fighting is over and it's time for the next round of matches to begin. The first matchup after the initial bouts is a strange matchup indeed, even stranger than the original two that brought us these two winning contestants. This week, High Priestess Azil, Twilight Hammer priestess extraordinaire, faces off against the mechanical menace Foe Reaper 5000.

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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: High Priestess Azil

The world will be reborn in flames!

There is no one in the game whose voice annoys Mike Sacco more than High Priestess Azil. In fact, if you are coming to BlizzCon this year and hit our reader meetup, you should let Sacco know that the world will be reborn in flames, and that your powers were bestowed upon you by DEATH. WING. Azil is a powerhouse, easily crushing her first opponent in the tournament, Cookie, with ease. Even though her opponent is fearsome, I wouldn't count out this Twilight priestess.

Azil's arsenal includes ...

Never heard of High Priestess Azil before? Perhaps you should read more about her.

In Corner Two: Foe Reaper 5000

Foe Reaper 5000 online. All systems nominal.

After defeating Commander Springvale in a decisive victory, Foe Reaper 5000 advances into the next round with all the clanking and whirring his mechanical body can muster. This time around, the Foe Reaper 5000 faces a much different opponent from his last victory, a completely different type of foe ... reaper ... haw haw.

The Foe Reaper's arsenal includes ...

Foe Reaper 5000 causes pain and lots of it. Can he press on in the tournament?

Last Week's Winner: Zanzil

Zanzil took it home with the final vote count, putting down the massive core hound Beauty and her core hound pups. It was a hard-fought match, especially in the comments, where many commenters had very different understandings and interpretations of the fight. Some people thought that Beauty and her pups possessed the instinctual intelligence to use Zanzil's cauldrons appropriately based on his abilities. Personally, I was not so inclined.

Here's how my truncated version of the fight went:

  • Beauty and Zanzil enter the arena.

  • Zanzil uses his Graveyard Gas, sending Beauty and her pack into a panic.

  • Beauty runs around in a panic, knocking over Zanzil's cauldrons, spilling their contents to the floor.

  • With no way to combat his abilities, Beauty and her pups easily succumb to Zanzil and his zombie horde.

  • Zanzil collects his loot.

Let's see what you guys thought about this matchup.

elili said what everyone was thinking, short and sweet:

graveyard gas kills runty, game over

I don't know in this case if Beauty's enrage helps her that much. Zanzil has some beefy berserkers he can raise to put in front of himself and Beauty, and his Zanzil Fire is a nasty attack.

I'm a fan of Katherine's tale, as Runty not only gets to live, but becomes the most littlest, most ferocious boss ever.

Oh, Zanzil, Zanzil, how will you get yourself out of this mess?

Runty stays safely out of the arena during the fight, and comes running in when he hears Beauty's death rattle. He sniffs at her corpse, and curls up next to her with great fiery tears forming in his eyes. He was the runt of the litter, and everyone knew it, but he was safe while his mother was around to put the fear into people who threatened him. Now he would have to make his own way in the world, with noone to protect him from marauding adventurers blinded by their own greed.

Zanzil is packing up his cauldrons when he hears a whine. "What's this? Oh Zanzil, zanzil, you've forgotten about one of the pups! Don't worry, little Runty, Zanzil's got big plans for this one!" He reaches into his bag of tricks and carefully lobs a vial at Beauty. "Rise up! Zanzil's elixir gives you life!" As Beauty rises as a zombie, Zanzil straps his cauldrons to her back, and Runty starts peeing himself with joy. The puddle of fire burns a dent into the arena floor - let's see the magic brooms clean that one up! "Come along, little Runty," calls Zanzil, as he leads Beauty to the arena entrance. "You and Zanzil are going to be best of friends. You and your mother will make sure nobody laughs at Zanzil again."

There's a new corehound boss in Zul'Gurub. Zanzil, Beauty, and Runty (he's trying his hardest! He's almost ferocious!) are the new bane of cross-server pugs.

Finally, I agree with MattKrotzer:

I voted for Zanzil on the strength of the voice acting alone. I didn't want the fight to end!

It really does!

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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.