Raids Fail When Leaders Don’t Explain the Why

We had been deep in the trenches on Gallywix before we finally defeated him, and let me tell you, this boss is no joke. As with most late-tier Mythic fights, we hit that phase of progression where execution hinges on precision, coordination, and everyone knowing exactly what they’re doing. Sounds familiar, right?

What’s been interesting this time around is how much work has gone into our Raid Plan. I’m up to nearly 20 slides now. And yeah, I can already hear some of you groaning. But every revision, every screenshot, every zone marker has a purpose. Or at least I thought it did.

Let me walk you through a key moment that perfectly illustrates something raid leaders (myself included) often get wrong.

The Warlock Gate Wipefest

There’s a point in the Gallywix encounter where we drop a Warlock gate from the back of the room to the center. That’s nothing unusual on the surface, right? This one occurs right before the third coil needs to get neutralized (or using the third bomb).

However, this specific gate serves a layered purpose. It’s timed around canister soaks, or the healer soaks, specifically. The expectation is that the healers will gate into the center to meet up with DPS who are already soaking their assigned canisters, so they can get help fulfilling their mechanic. Sounds simple.

Before this, our healers were stacking with tanks. This change required them to re-learn their movement entirely.

So what happened?

  • Some players took the gate too early.
  • Others too late.
  • A few sidestepped into beams they weren’t supposed to bait.
  • The rest just stood around trying to figure out where they were even supposed to go.

For hours.

The Missing Link: The Why

I gave the callouts. I gave the slide. I even drew the lines. What I didn’t do? Explain the why.

Once I actually walked the team through the reasoning behind the gate timing and placement — how it allowed for quicker healing support, why baiting mattered in that moment, and what the positional advantages were — things just clicked. Execution became consistently cleaner. The team died less. We made real progress.

It hit me: as raid leaders, we assume that giving instructions is enough.

But if your team doesn’t understand why they’re doing something, it’s never going to land with the precision it needs. You’ll get compliance, not necessarily the buy-in. And there’s a difference.

Overexplaining vs. Clarity

I hesitated to explain too much because I didn’t want to overload people with information. I thought, “They’re smart. They’ll figure it out.” But I’ve learned the hard way that clarity supercedes brevity when it comes to raid strategy.

Some things are intuitive to me because I’ve spent hours in logs, watching replays, tweaking plans, and seeing it in action in DJs. That’s not true for the average raider. If I don’t walk them through the mental model I’m using, how can I expect them to follow it perfectly?

Ownership Starts at the Top

This ties in perfectly with a concept from Extreme Ownership by Jocko Willink and Leif Babin. There’s a chapter where the leadership team makes an unpopular call, and the people under them get frustrated — all because no one stops to ask, “Why are we doing it this way?”

If I tolerate confusion or silence, that’s on me. If I don’t create space for questions or curiosity, I’m building a raid culture where people are afraid to raise their hand and say, “I don’t get it.”

And to be clear, there are no bad players, only bad coaches. That includes me. I want to be better.

Next Steps for Us

We’re going to start encouraging more midweek questions in Discord. If someone doesn’t understand something, they should never feel like the only time to ask is in the middle of a pull. That’s already too late. Alas, sometimes it doesn’t always happen though because they don’t know what to ask until they’re actually there.

This happened again yesterday night during our Mug’zee reclear. We had a Holy Paladin in who missed out on progression kill the first time. He did not stack with the group on the second rocket soak and unfortunately he got selected for the third rocket (with the four Gaol set) and it led to him being unsure what to do or where to place it.

Normally, we have five designated players soak the first rocket, then avoid the second rocket. Anyone who gets hit by the rocket receives a debuff so that they won’t be targeted again. By the time the third rocket comes around, the first five players who took the first rocket are now eligible targets for the third one, and it allows us to add consistency to where that third rocket should be positioned, and immunities can be used.

I’m also looking at bringing in a few more CE-level veterans during the offseason — people with leadership chops who can help reinforce strategy across multiple roles and add another layer of mentorship to the team. People who raid week days and are looking for something to do towards the end of the week are also encouraged, so check us out and come apply!

Final Thoughts

Raid leadership isn’t about barking orders. It’s about helping your team buy in, understand the vision, and execute with confidence. Don’t assume they know why you’re doing what you’re doing. Spell it out. Walk it through. And most of all, listen when they tell you they’re confused — even if they don’t say it directly.

Because once they understand the “why,” you’ll be amazed how much faster the “what” falls into place.

It’s Not What You Preach, It’s What You Tolerate

We had a raider recently who didn’t even realize we’ve been using raid plans the entire season.

Slide numbers were being called out, cooldown assignments had been posted, and key positioning diagrams had been up for every major encounter. Yet somehow, this person (who had been with us for multiple weeks) acted like it was brand new information.

Look, mistakes happen. Miscommunication happens. But this wasn’t a one-off moment of confusion. It was part of a larger pattern.

And it reminded me of a concept from the book Extreme Ownership by Jocko Willink and Leif Babin: the “tortured genius.”

The Problem with “Tortured Geniuses”

This isn’t about someone dealing with mental health challenges or emotional instability. In the context of leadership, a “tortured genius” is the person who’s talented but toxic.

  • They never accept responsibility.
  • They always have an excuse.
  • They point fingers the moment something goes wrong.
  • They’re too good to follow instructions, but never at fault when things break down.
  • And they assume their DPS or logs are enough to justify any lack of accountability.

These players are a trap. They often look good on paper, and they might even be “top performers.” But they are absolutely corrosive to your team if left unchecked.

What You Tolerate Becomes the Standard

One of the most powerful lines in Extreme Ownership is this:

“It’s not what you preach, it’s what you tolerate.”

You can talk about standards all day. You can write raid plans, post cooldown assignments, link guides, and review logs. But none of it means a damn thing if your actions don’t match your words.

If you let someone show up unprepared, ignore instructions, dodge feedback, and stay in the raid team week after week, then that becomes your standard.

The rest of your team sees it. And whether they say something or not, they’re thinking:

Why should I bother putting in the effort if that guy doesn’t have to?

Red Flags: How to Spot the Behaviour Early

Sometimes you don’t realize what’s happening until the damage is done. Here’s what to look for before it gets to that point:

  • They aren’t in Discord for strategy discussions.
  • They never reference or acknowledge raid plans.
  • They need constant reminding of their assignments.
  • They respond to feedback with sarcasm, excuses, or silence.
  • They do well on meters, but that’s where their contribution ends.

If you’re seeing this, you’ve got a “tortured genius” on your hands. And it’s time to deal with it.

How to Handle It (Without Nuking Morale)

Start with a direct 1:1 conversation. Be clear, but not confrontational.

“We’ve noticed a consistent pattern of missed prep and dodged feedback. That’s not going to fly on this team.”

Lay out your expectations: reading plans, owning mistakes, showing up to strategy sessions, and staying engaged with the team. These aren’t optional, they’re the baseline.

If they want to improve, give them the tools. Offer a second chance. Track their behaviour over a week or two. But if nothing changes?

You already know what needs to happen.

Removing a high-output player who’s dragging down team culture is addition by subtraction. You don’t build a CE-calibre team by tolerating passengers with attitudes.

Culture Over Numbers

Cutting someone isn’t about drama or proving a point. It’s about setting the tone.

If you want your team to value preparation, ownership, and collaboration, you have to reinforce that with actions. That means cutting loose the ones who refuse to buy in (even if they can crush a target dummy).

Culture on a team can be fragile. If you let one person ignore the standard, that standard crumbles.

It’s not what you preach. It’s what you tolerate.

Ask yourself the hard question. What are you tolerating right now?

If You Aim for Nothing, You’ll Hit Nothing: Goal Setting for Raid Teams

“If you aim for nothing, you’ll hit nothing.”
Wise Auntie from Shang-Chi, probably not a raider, but definitely right.

One of the most important lessons I’ve learned as a raid leader is that without a clearly defined goal, your team will drift. People will show up, pull bosses, and maybe even have fun. Without direction, they won’t improve. They won’t grow. They won’t know what they’re working toward. One of our community teams, which has historically been an AotC team, is looking to advance upward into some Mythic progression. I applaud that, and it’s refreshing to hear that they’ve already laid out their goals to get started.

If your team isn’t aiming for anything, it’s going to hit… nothing.

Know What You’re Raiding For

There are all sorts of raid teams in World of Warcraft:

  • Social teams who raid casually for fun and vibes.
  • AOTC-focused teams who want to clear Heroic each tier.
  • Mid Mythic teams who want to push beyond Heroic and have the skill to do it, but don’t want to invest the effort to go beyond the first several Mythic bosses.
  • CE-pushing teams who plan their season with spreadsheets and sigh deeply when they see someone under cap on crests.

All of those are fine. What’s not fine is not knowing which one you are.

Your team’s culture, recruitment strategy, loot rules, bench policies, and expectations all stem from one thing: that team goal. If your goal is CE, you should build and operate like a CE team. If your goal is fun and friends, structure the team to reflect that. Teams aiming for playoffs will have different goals compared to teams vying for the Super Bowl.

Build Your Roster Around Your Goal

Your roster should match your ambition:

  • Want CE? Then you need reliable attendance, motivated players, and a clear process for holding people accountable.
  • Just looking to chill and clear Normal/Heroic? Then don’t burn out your team trying to copy Limit’s starts or min-max every comp detail.

Misalignment between your roster and your goal leads to frustration on both ends. Raiders feel like they’re pushing too hard (or not hard enough), and leadership gets stuck in an endless cycle of plugging holes instead of building something lasting.

Set Micro Goals Along the Way

Big goals can be scary. “Get CE” sounds great until you’re 120 wipes into a mid-tier boss, wondering if your sanity is still intact.

That’s where micro goals help per boss:

  • Improve Phase 2 positioning consistency
  • Increase overall raid survivability percentage (that would be the deaths tab in Warcraft Logs)
  • Reduce deaths to whatever boss mechanic over the next raid night
  • Pop Mug’zee mines with no deaths, and ensure all soaks are accounted for

These give your team something measurable to work toward each night, and they help keep morale up even when progression is slow.

Communicate It Constantly

Once your goals are set, talk about them. A lot. Drill the team relentlessly over the course of the raid night. Reiterate them during recruitment. Remind your team in Discord. Post them in your strategy doc. Goals lose power when they’re vague or hidden.

People can’t commit to something they don’t understand. If you make the goal visible and consistent, your team will start moving toward it (even if it’s slow at first).

Final Thoughts

Your raid team doesn’t need to be Liquid. Or Echo, for that matter. But you do need to know what you’re aiming for. A shared goal gives your team direction, unity, and purpose. These are the foundations of any successful group, whether you’re pushing CE or just trying to have a good time on raid nights.

Aim high. Aim clearly. Just don’t aim for nothing.

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

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?

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.