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Matt’s Notebook: Notes from the Frontline

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Now that we’re officially entering summer, all eyes are on the upcoming raid. Over in Death Jesters, we spent part of our raid night diving into PTR testing and previewing boss mechanics for the new tier. If you missed it, check out the full preview post here.

  • Last Call had a heartbreaking 1.3% wipe on Gallywix last night due to a missed interrupt (on a VIP, no less). I’ll take full ownership of that one. Originally, I was assigned to interrupt the edge add and it was working fine. But we decided to try having a Warlock pet handle it instead to align with our range DPS ad assignments. In hindsight, that swap was unnecessary. I’m floating left side anyway and saving Ascendance for that group. Should’ve just kept things simple.
  • I’ve been wrestling with whether I’m micromanaging too much or not giving players the freedom to make their own judgment calls. We tend to thrive on heavily scripted fights (Sprocketmonger comes to mind), but really stumble when a boss demands individual decision-making and fast adaptation (like Stix, or now Gallywix). Watching players get knocked out of soaks or misstep simple mechanics is rough. It’s not just performance disappointment, but it’s realizing that not everyone has years of CE raiding reps under their belt, and this might be their first time at this level.
  • Honestly, I might be more frustrated with myself than anything else. Am I communicating the plan clearly enough? Am I making the strategic vision obvious to the team? Smart players don’t always need to be told what to do every second, but they do need to understand why. If we get that right, they can often figure out the how on their own. Right now, it takes us about 20 pulls to bake a mechanic in. I’d love to bring that number closer to 10. For comparison, DJs usually lock things in under 5.
  • Offseason planning is on hold until we clear Gallywix. I want a clear view of where we stand before evaluating roster changes and free agent targets. That said, we’ll likely backload raid nights to farm later bosses and get people their mounts and achievements, with earlier boss cleanup afterward. We’ve already got a few strong recruits waiting in the wings, especially from teams that couldn’t finish out the season or players looking to move up.
  • Last but not least, another raid-wide buff drops today, and we’re seeing an upgrade to the D.I.S.C. belt. That extra push might just be the edge we need to skip the fourth set of adds and finally bring down Gallywix once and for all.

Manaforge Omega Raid Preview: First Look at the First 7 Bosses (PTR Testing)

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Spoilers ahead on the new raid.

Patch 11.2 is almost here, and I got a chance to jump into the Manaforge raid on Normal difficulty during PTR testing this weekend with my new guild, Death Testers. We previewed 7 of the 8 bosses (Dimensius was not available for testing), and I’ve compiled my thoughts, early impressions, and videos for each. Use this as a scouting report as you prepare your raid team or just want a peek at what’s ahead.

1. Plexus Sentinel

Thoughts & Impressions:

  • Introductory level boss. We start off in a confined room without a lot of space to work with, and the raid will need to progress from chamber to chamber.
  • There are circles (with red player arrows above) that need to be taken to the outside. These drop a puddle that seemingly eventually despawns. I expect these to stay longer or even permanently in harder difficulties. Important: Don’t drop them by the entry wall.
  • Big group soak mechanic: Eradicating Salvo, we just grouped under the boss for it.
  • About 60 seconds in, Protocol: Purge starts with a knockback. Dodge giant bubbles and rotating lines before reaching a slowly moving wall that you’ll need to use your Reshii Wraps through using the Extra Action Button (seems to be an 8-yard blink, 8s cooldown).
  • Phase ends after blowing up the shield, then rinse and repeat.

2. Loom’ithar

Thoughts & Impressions:

  • Big fuzzy spider vibes.
  • Kill an add to break through a shrinking wall early in the fight. Place a marker or designate a spider right away.
  • Lots of dodging with circles and movement-heavy mechanics.
  • Frontal cone needs to be soaked, and you may need to split players into two groups.
  • At 30%, Loom’ithar becomes mobile. Movement and positioning become critical from here on based on how much of the room has been covered.

3. Soulbinder Naazindhri

Thoughts & Impressions:

  • Adds are locked in prisons, and you’ll need to aim beams to break them out. If the prisoners are not broken out in time, then the ads will eventually break out on their own. Encounter seems to be about ad management and deciding which ones to break out to defeat over the course of the fight.
  • Edge-of-platform fight: easy to get knocked off. No guard rails
  • Remember Kyveza lines? They’re back, but these orbs move slower.
  • You cannot use the prisons as cover, so plan knockbacks accordingly.

4. Forgeweaver Araz

Thoughts & Impressions:

  • More adds! You’ll be splitting your raid for soak mechanics that spawn enemies.
  • Collector Pylons emit orbs, and dodging becomes important here.
  • Random players spawn adds that should be spawned under the boss to cleave.
  • At 50%, we switch to a new phase focused on the pylons, before reverting again.
  • At 25%, a giant black hole pulls the raid while damage ramps up heavily. Use a Warlock gate near the back of the room to help stabilize movement or as an emergency to port back to the front and buy time.

5. The Soul Hunters (Optional Boss)

Thoughts & Impressions:

  • Fight against 3 Demon Hunters (cool design twist!)
  • You can skip this one, oddly enough.
  • DPS them evenly, or you’ll fall behind.
  • Each has its own toolkit and expect lots of individual responsibility.
  • Magic debuffs remove puddles, and dispelling the debuff jumps the effect to a nearby player. The afflicted player just needs to walk into a puddle to remove it.

6. Fractillus

Thoughts & Impressions:

  • Tetris-meets-WoW. Favorite fight of the test.
  • Arena is split into six zones. Players spawn walls by running to their zone.
  • Shortly after, another group breaks those walls by standing in front of them. We gave tanks their own zone.
  • The challenge is managing space. Poor wall coordination means it’s game over.
  • Fast, punchy encounter with lots of movement and communication required.

7. Nexus-King Salhadaar

Thoughts & Impressions:

  • Multi-phase fight, includes mounted phase with a dragon.
  • Reminiscent of Sarkareth—players start with debuffs and must cleanse them through mechanics.
  • Wraps are critical for jumping to side platforms to kill adds, then porting back.
  • Once the mount gets low, Salhadaar sacrifices it and gains HP back based on the mount’s remaining health.
  • Final phase: Meteor mechanics pull the raid toward them (again, Kyveza-style). You’ll need equal positioning to survive.

All in all, this looks like a fun raid to close out The War Within. Did end up playing Shadow and changed up specs a few times (you’ll notice I completely forgot about Void Form somewhere and I had to scramble to find it in my spellbook to rebind it — oops!)

Chasing Cutting Edge: Is One More Recruit Worth It?

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It’s the final stretch of the raid tier. Your team is deep into Mythic progression (maybe even on the last couple of bosses), and suddenly, applications start coming in again.

New trials. Fresh blood. Players looking to make that late-tier leap.

And now you’re faced with a familiar dilemma:
Do we add new players this late in the season, knowing they may not see much play time?
Or do we stick with the current roster, even if a new recruit might help us push through that last hurdle?

In pro sports, this is known as the playoff push, a time when GMs and leaders have to balance fairness, performance, and long-term vision with acquisitions of players.

The Core Question: Can They Help Now?

At this point in the tier, there’s really only one thing that matters: Direct impact.

Can this recruit help us now?

  • Are they geared and experienced enough to immediately contribute to boss kills?
  • Are they better than someone currently on the roster?
  • Will they raise the team’s overall performance and consistency?

If yes, they may be worth displacing someone, even this late.
If not, then it’s probably not fair to either them or the team to bring them in just to warm the bench.

Loyalty vs. Progression

It’s a delicate thing to consider subbing out someone who’s been with you all tier, just to make room for a new trial. You risk hurting morale, creating resentment, and damaging team trust.

But here’s the uncomfortable truth:

Sometimes, that’s the price of progression.

As raid leaders, we have to make hard calls. If the goal is Cutting Edge, then every pull, every death, every percent matters. Loyalty is valuable, but so is performance.

You can balance both by being transparent and respectful in how you handle it.

Best Practices for Handling This Situation

1. Be Transparent with the Team

Let your raiders know the stakes. Make it clear that:

  • You’re evaluating every spot based on progression needs
  • No one is “benched forever,” but performance matters now more than ever
  • This is about the team goal, not personal slights

2. Have Honest Conversations One-on-One

If you need to sub someone out, talk to them directly. Avoid group calls or public shame.

  • Acknowledge their contributions so far
  • Be honest about why the change is needed
  • Offer paths for them to regain their spot (if relevant)

3. Set Clear Expectations with Recruits

Don’t oversell the opportunity. Be upfront:

  • “You may not get much play time this tier, but we’ll evaluate you for reclears and next tier.”
  • “You’ll be part of our community either way, but progression comes first right now.”

This helps filter out players just looking for quick kills or Cutting Edge tags.

Thinking Ahead: Building Trust for Future Tiers

These playoff-push moments are stressful, but they’re also when your team’s values and leadership culture show the most.

How you handle this situation tells your players:

  • Can they trust you to make fair decisions?
  • Do you prioritize the team over individuals?
  • Will you own your calls and communicate clearly?

Get it right, and you build long-term buy-in, even if someone has to sit out a few bosses.

Final Thoughts

Bringing in new talent during the final leg of a tier is a high-stakes move. But if the player can contribute now, and if you communicate well, it can be exactly what your team needs to close out strong.

Just remember:

  • Be fair
  • Be honest
  • Keep your eyes on the prize

With Cutting Edge, every decision counts.

Cutting Edge Isn’t a Bus Ride! You Have to Drive Too

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We’re Still Talking About Crests

Every raid leader knows this feeling: the team is progressing, you’re starting to get into the real meat of the tier, and you still have players wearing gear that should’ve been replaced two weeks ago.

In Last Call, we’ve run into this issue all season. Despite repeated reminders, despite planning raid nights around it, despite pinning resources, there have been some players still lagging behind on crest collection, gear upgrades, or renown. It’s a recurring pattern that’s become a real problem, and it’s time to talk about it.

The absolute truth is that Cutting Edge raiding isn’t just about being present. It’s about being prepared.

CE Requires More Than Just Raid Night Attendance

You can be a great raider mechanically. You can dodge swirlies and drop your soak perfectly every time. But if your gear is 12 item levels behind the rest of the raid and your trinkets have room to be upgraded, you’re holding the team back.

At the CE level, here’s what’s expected:

  • Farming crests every week to ensure your gear is fully upgraded
  • Running keys regularly to stay relevant and pick up key dungeon pieces
  • Capping renown for essential bonuses and power spikes
  • Managing consumables and enchants without having to be reminded
  • Investing time outside of raid to improve, even if it’s just an hour here or there

We’re not asking for perfection or no-lifing. We’re asking for effort.

We Don’t Have Time for Passengers

CE isn’t a sightseeing tour where you hop on, listen to the guide, and collect a souvenir achievement at the end.

It’s a rally race, and everyone in the car is helping steer, navigate, and keep things running. If even one person’s asleep at the wheel, the whole team crashes.

When a few raiders consistently under-prepare, it creates tension. The ones putting in the hours by capping their crests, running their keys, or even gearing by PvPing will start to notice. Eventually, they ask why they’re working overtime to compensate for someone else’s laziness.

That’s when morale takes a hit.

In CE progression, morale is everything. It sucks when you’re busting yourself grinding out keys, getting your rank 3 enchants, and ensuring your renown is at the top level while others have seemingly tapped out or can’t seem to get it done consistently.

Not Malicious, Just Misaligned

This isn’t about roasting people who can’t keep up. Some raiders just hate pugging. Others have limited free time. Some burn out quickly on WoW’s weekly checklist content.

And you know what? That’s totally fine.

But if that’s where you’re at, then CE may not be the right goal for you right now. There’s no shame in that. Not everyone wants to spend their time grinding crests or min-maxing gear. That’s okay. There are other ways to enjoy the game:

  • Raid on a more casual team
  • Focus on Heroic progression
  • Sub in when available or needed

But if you are committing to a CE team, you’ve got to meet the standard. If others are putting in the work, you need to show up prepared to do the same.

What Leaders Can Do About It

If you’re leading a CE-focused team, here’s how to reinforce this without becoming a tyrant:

  • Set expectations early. Lay out what “prepared” looks like each week.
  • Track progress. It doesn’t have to be public, but keep an eye on crests, gear upgrades, and renown.
  • Have private conversations. If someone’s lagging behind, talk to them one-on-one first. Don’t call them out in front of the raid.
  • Be flexible, but firm. Life happens. One off week isn’t the end of the world. But repeated weeks of underperformance? That needs to be addressed.

And remember, the culture starts from the top. If leadership and core raiders are showing up geared, ready, and prepared, it sets the tone for everyone else.

Final Thoughts

Cutting Edge isn’t just about mechanical skill or showing up to raid night. It’s about doing the work. You can’t hit CE just coasting. And you certainly can’t expect to earn it if you’re not keeping up with the basic requirements the game asks of you.

If you’re someone who wants that CE title, then step up. Run your keys. Farm your crests. Keep pace with the rest of the team.

Because the bus isn’t taking passengers this time around.
If you want that achievement, you’ve got to help drive.

Matt’s Notebook: Mug’zee Cleared Edition

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It’s done. Mug’zee is dead. Last Call is on the last stretch.

I projected three weeks (six raid nights) to kill him, and we ended up clocking in at about seven. Not too far off. The recent nerfs helped a bit, and so did the addition of the new D.I.S.C. belt (very nice pickup for several of our raiders).

We did try a bold strategy pivot mid-prog, which ended up setting us back a little, but the learning was worth it. If you missed that story, I wrote about the whole decision-making process.

Now we’re onto Gallywix. After just two nights, we’re already getting into Phase 2. The trickiest part so far has been managing the third bomb overlap. We’ve managed to get it sorted out despite some of the initial confusion. I need to work on my Raid Plan diagramming skills, and I thought the clip I shared highlighted exactly how I wanted the team to do it. We still had healers not take the gate towards the inside soaks until I explicitly asked. I know the Raid Plan said one thing, and the clip said another. I’m learning that I need to be much more detailed. Putting a text box that says, “Take gate right before beam” wasn’t enough. We’re now working towards closing off the final quadrant of the room, and it genuinely feels like any pull could be the one.

Time to Rebuild the Bank

Death Jesters is officially in offseason mode, which means… It’s mount sale season.

Word is that our gold expenditures this tier hit about 7 million, so we’re looking to restock the coffers for next season. Mount buyers, get your gold ready. I tried to pitch it to our weekly coffee run as a generous donation to the Starving Pandaren foundation. All proceeds donated go to starving Pandas, and the donators would receive a mount as a thank you.

No one went for it.

PTR Testing This Weekend

The PTR has updated, and raid testing is around the corner. We’ll be jumping in this weekend to get a sneak peek at the new tier.

Even with scaled item levels, we’re hoping to:

  • Get a first look at boss mechanics and pacing
  • Spot potential early bottlenecks
  • Evaluate new trinkets, tier sets, and class changes

These PTR runs might not be super clean, but anything we can learn now is time saved later when progression begins in earnest.

Lastly, I’ve been playing Two Point Museum lately, and it’s been a fantastic cleanser between raid nights. No mechanics to dodge or mines to blow up.

My Steam backlog continues to grow unchecked. I’ve got FF7 Remake sitting untouched and Dragon Age practically yelling at me. One day.

Have a great vault!