I recently wrote, as an aside, of the power of a team of Priests in WSG Life Gripping (yeah OK, Leap of Faith) a flag carrier across midfield in a long chain.
My last post was about peeling FTW, and many of the contents of this post are peels of one sort of another.
I was inspired by another use of Leap of Faith over the weekend which got me considering all those utility tools we have and their use in the WSG and Twin Peaks Battlegrounds
Catching the Carrier: Gripping FTW!
Lot’s of classes have snares, stuns and CCs (which I will get to), but just like snakes and ladders you want the Enemy Flag Carrier (efc) closer to your base – further from theirs.
Whether you pull back or blow back, they are precious yards that the efc has to regain. At times this is will just slow their forward momentum, at others snatch victory from a certain flag cap defeat.
The one thing to consider (as I was made acutely aware in TP the other day… In ALL CAPS), is you need to pick your time. Death Gripping or blowing an efc from your death dealing team mates may give the efc the break they need (Like cycloning an enemy on 10% health when everyone’s cooldowns are blown and the kill window is lost – not cool!).
Death Gripping FTW!
One step forward, two steps back. A Death Grip can do this to an efc, especially if properly timed with a follow up Chains of Ice or other snares, stuns and CC. The efc will blow his trinket early and be left at the mercy of your flag chasers.
You could also pull the efc sideways across the field into the waiting arms of your flag running group – away from the support of his group. Of course if his support group has a priest it could become a game of flag-carrier-tennis.
Gripping the last chance
You can smell the sense of frustration in a flag carrier as they reach the podium for a cap, only to be yanked back to the doorway.
That last second tackle is worth 1000 midfield.
Blowback FTW!
A Druid’s Typhoon or an Elemental Shaman’s Thunderstorm are the reverse of Death Grip. Instead of pulling the opponent to you for the kill, they push back.
Midfield you can use this to push them back down the field, or back to your teammates that the efc is in the process of escaping from.
Blowing off a capping attempt
For the ultimate in flag carrier shock, inducing a near heart attack, have your Druid or shaman waiting on the flag capping spot to blow the efc away from a certain flag cap, buying previous moments, especially if waiting for a recently dropped enemy flag.
Blowing is good, stopping is better!
Remember Grip & Lock, Blow and Lock.
Once you have moved that efc into a more advantageous position, you don’t want them racing off.
That’s where more standard CC comes in to play. Stuns, sheep, frogs, ice traps, freezing traps, chains of ice, roots.
You got ‘em, Use ‘em!
I’m not where you think I am!
I’ve shown you how to hinder, so now here’s a bit about helping, yourself (if you are a Mage or Warrior flag carrier) or others (if you are a Priest).
Don’t blink or you’ll miss me.
Blink is a bread and butter Mage ability. Telling a Mage to blink while carrying the flag is tantamount to telling them how to suck eggs.
Still, lest it be forgotten, Blink will get you across the BG and sometimes the best direction is not forward.
No I’m not suggesting you blink backwards, that’s a recipe for a home goal. However the advantage of blink is that you disappear and reappear. The average flag carrier is expected to go in one direction – to the home base.
So sometimes, it’s worth going sideways. You will get “behind” a chasing midfield pack, confusing those focused chasers who will either carry on, or turn in the expected direction initially.
Likewise if you are blinking sideways into the loving, supportive group of your midfield pack, you become harder to target, closer to potential heals and worst case, closer to someone else that can pick up the flag if you fall.
You may even find yourself shooting out the other end of your team’s pack, leaving them to crash headlong into the chasing pack, allowing them to utilize the full force of their stuns, CC and snares to give you a precious lead on the opposition.
Leaping to Victory!
Warriors have two awesome tools at their disposal: Intervene and Heroic Leap.
Intervene is a reverse Leap of Faith. Rather than being pulled to a Priest, you launch yourself at a team mate. It’s a great way to leap frog the midfield and all it takes is for a team mate to be offside, between you and the capping point.
Heroic Leap will launch you across the battleground
Leap of Faith does a similar thing to intervene, of course you do need a priest in the correct position.
Some of the best play I have seen by priests is with them staying ahead of the play, ahead of the friendly flag carrier.
This has a couple of advantages.
- most likely the chasing pack is behind the FC, so if the priest is in front they aren’t within reach of the smart healer-targeting players and they are always in range of the racing FC, that may break away from the enemy pack.
- if the FC is struggling to break away from the hungry wolf pack snapping on their heels, the Priest can Leap of Faith them clear of the ravenous pack.
Fast Forward FTW!
Those final agonizing seconds, as the FC enters their flag room, probably with wolves still on their heels, possibly with a potential efc moments away from frustrating a cap by holding your flag.
Best case, a fight will ensue that will extend that flag cap by seconds, worst case the efc will get away and you are an entire health bar (more if he is receiving heals) from the next cap opportunity, while both the clock and possibly your FC’s health bar tick down lost opportunities.
So what if you could fast forward those last excruciating seconds, reducing the likelihood of FC death or Flag theft. Would you take it?
Yeah of course you would.
Once again, Mages, Warriors and Priests are in the best position to facilitate this.
Just Blink and they will miss it!
Uneven ground is the bane of any blinking Mage, thankfully flagrooms have nice flat paving stones.
Blink when you see the color of your flag and you are heading for a quick cap. Blinking then will cause LoS issue for your chasers and blink can be a wonderful thing for dragging snares. Sure you have chains of ice around your ankles, but your ankles are no longer at the flag room door, they are at the flag podium!
(Strange aside. Gnomeadeaden, the DK, has been getting some mixed results with Death Grip. Sometimes when I DG a Blinking Mage, they successfully Blink, but they drag me with them. They are still distant and I find myself standing in the place they just left. Same thing happened with a Boomkin. Sure I ended up nose to beak, but I was pulled to them…)
Warriors, intervene to a team mate on the winners podium, or Heroic Leap themselves to victory.
Priests, be the one on the victory podium! That way flag runner class is irrelevant. If they have the flag, Leap of Faith them to the win.
This is what a Priest did to me the other day. There was a moment of panic I had just rounded the corner of our flag room in Twin Peaks. I saw someone standing one our podium. My heart sank, then burst through my throat as I was gripped towards this podium sitter.
As my flag carrying life flashed before my eyes, I recounted the previous moments.
- There was a friendly Priest.
- He went ahead of me to scout out the flag room.
- The guy on the podium had a green target bar.
- There were no red bars in the room.
- CAPPING!
I was still momentarily dazed (IRL) after the cap. It was completely unexpected, yet incredibly good use of Leap of Faith… thus I write about it now.
Intervenes, Heroic Leaps and Leap of Faith all have enough range to ensure a quick cap the second the podium comes in sight.
If seconds are precious, then these are the jewels of the utility spells in WSG and Twin Peaks.
Gnomer and Out!
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http://gnomeaggedon.net/2011/06/28/gripping-and-leaping-to-a-bg-win/
Do you know if you can grip a flag carrier up to a different elevation? I imagine a Priest waiting to grip an ally FC up to the upper level of a Warsong Gulch base would be a ridiculously powerful way of evading all the pursuers (which makes me think that it probably doesn’t work.)
In any case, Life/Death Grips – and any instant movement spells – are so, so powerful in Flag matches. Love them.
Yes you can. It’s a common tactic.
Hide on roof with flag and a priest.
When overwhelmed, jump down, persuers follow, priest lifegrips you back up for relaxing heals and prep for the next wave.
Alternatively, grab flag and get life gripped back to mid level for quick start to getaway.
Locks do a similar thing by setting teleport to mid level (or roof) for getaway/enemy avoidance.
Yeah, using your Circle to avoid melee by getting them to jump to a lower elevation is a pretty common tactic. Some places it works great (WSG roof), others it is good but not great (EotS node defense, many graveyards).
Great post!