Death Student Walks into Arena....

Heya, readers;

As usual, I return after a lengthy hiatus, with an excuse, of course, but you don't need to hear it. I've been known to dabble a bit in PvP, never really rising above Sergeant (I've always been more of the "in the trenches" type of guy :) ). I've fought plenty of matches, obviously, not as many as KBB, or Cass Dragonheart; and I did take a break, but I've picked it up again.

Of course, a constant feature of the Arena is the expatriate population of Trolls, the very un-lovable inhabitants of what is now becoming the focus of my activity on Blaze. Trolls are the bane of the Arena; driving off older players frustrated by their inane prattling, while younger players are upset by the insults they fling about so carelessly. Right now, I'm at a point in life where I'm too old for any of their "LOL  NOOB YO" taunts to get under my skin, so PvP becomes more of an amusement as I watch trolls bend over backwards to insult you.

I've come to enjoy the near misses; during several tough bouts, I've survived Efreets and Leviathans to come out at less than 100 health, placed shields and debuffs that have saved lives.... (my own).  And, I may or may not enjoy the angry outburst from the opposition whenever a heal or a shield stops an all-out offensive in its tracks... you know you're doing something right when your opponent is so dismayed by a move he bursts into hysterics about the total "noobishness" of your move.

Now, as I can't really shovel out PvP observations en masse-, that would be boring, and if I wanted to be boring, I'd take a job as a Chem teacher (har har, kidding. Some Chem teachers just take twenty minutes to define "spontaneous reaction", while others don't. Mine did.) So, I'll try to relate each tidbit with how I learned it; a description of the PvP match. Knowing how much you guys like hearing about Blaze Stormthief getting knocked around the Arena, I'm hoping you guys will enjoy this series... :)

I'll start the paragraphs off with a bang; or rather, a burn. Or the lack of it. I've drawn quite a few Fire wizards recently, and the fact that my dry cleaners isn't yelling at me about the burns in my robes is cause for concern. It seems that the go-to spell for you Pyros is Efreet, a direct damage spell that applies the largest debuff in the game upon impact-- great for PvP. And as much as I like don't like seeing that Genie, it's become far to easy to spot the pending arrival of the lamp; the Pyro lays down a trap, usually Feint, after the standard Blade set-up. By the time said Fire wizard has finished the prep for the big guy, I've already countered, with a Volcanic Shield, or a Tower Shield, or a Virulent Plague; the possibilities are many. Which is why no one traps in PvP; Feint has disappeared from my set-up, and I just use it as a sign a big direct-damage spell is coming, and shield up. It's amazing that Fire wizards are the ones whining about shields, the School of Fire is the School with the second largest immunity to shields; DoTs spells cut right through them. And Fire is not short on the DoTs: Scald, Link, and Dragon all lay out the Damage over Time very well; but most Fire wizards seem to weigh too much on the hit from Efreet. In fact, I think I've used more DoT spells than the Fire students I've faced in the arena.... Which may be why I'm getting used to seeing pyromancers with their heads wobbling.

During a recent bout, I fought a Storm wizard who seemed to attack each turn; straight out of the timer, he hurled Insane Bolt at me.  Said Bolt was followed by a Wild Bolt, and while I Sacrificed, he began the prep for a Leviathan. I spent most of the time alternating between shielding and healing, waiting for the cards needed for a big Bone Dragon to show themselves when, suddenly, the end-of-match display popped up, displaying a victory for me... as much as I liked the Rank Up, and the deposit of Arena Tickets, I wondered why. After tracking down my opponent, who stood with his head wobbling for no apparent reason at the other side of the duel ring, I asked why, and apparently, he'd run out of cards. Knowing the volatility of most Storm spells, it kinda made sense; a short deck would allow a Storm wizard to get the cards they need. But really, Storm wizards can rely lay out the damage; and it's sad that a Storm wizard ended up losing because he ran out of cards.... So, long deck, anyone?

Stormthief out