Monday, October 25, 2010

The Exciting Conclusion to the Most Annoying Ability in WoW Tournament!

Hello friends! It has been an exhilarating journey over the past few weeks examining all of the most annoying abilities in the World of Warcraft. I have covered every class in the game and decided the most annoying ability for each class.

With the release of Cataclysm looming, and new talents and abilities already live, it's time to wrap up this tournament. Apologies in advance for the length of this post, I'm going to grind out the entire final bracket and declare a winner!

Retrospect

To recap, the preliminary rounds featured some fierce competition for the right to be named the most annoying ability for each class. Death Grip edged out Chains of Ice to represent the Death Knight class. Typhoon blew away the competition and swirled into the final bracket as the Druid's most annoying ability. Scatter Shot hit the mark and earned the right to represent Hunters. Fear battled its way past Shadowfury to claim the title of most annoying Warlock ability. Ice Block easily slid into the final round for the Mage class. Divine Shield was favored by the Light in the Paladin bracket and advanced easily. Mind Control dominated the Priest bracket in a surprising outcome. Sap easily earned the spot for the Rogue class. Thunderstorm lit up the Shaman bracket, earning a spot in the final round. And lastly, Bladestorm demolished the competition to earn the chance to represent the Warrior class.

Mortal... Conflict! (Round One!)

The final bracket for the most annoying ability in WoW has some truly unique match-ups.

First, the DK ability Death Grip versus the Warlock ability Fear. We can all remember a time when we have been feared into a wall and gotten stuck, or were hovering innocently and out of nowhere a DK rips you to the ground. While Fear's place in this tournament is well-deserved, it ran into a difficult first round draw against Death Grip. Death Grip proves the more annoying ability and advances to round two.

The Shaman ability Thunderstorm squares off against the defensive cornerstone of the Mage class, Ice Block. Ice Block is a truly annoying ability when used in the right situation, but being blown off of the world by Thunderstorm is just too annoying to pass up in this first round, so Thunderstorm advances.

Thanks to lucky draws (and a desire to have a clean looking bracket), the Warrior ability Bladestorm and the Priest ability Mind Control advance to the Third round with byes.

Next, the Hunter ability Scattershot, while an annoying ability when dazed repeatedly on the battlefield, is easily defeated in the first round by Typhoon, the Druid knock-back attack. (If by now you haven't noticed... I hate Typhoon and Thunderstorm!)

In the last match of the first round, the perennially annoying ability Sap faces off against possibly the most polarizing ability in the game, Divine Shield. While Sap deserves honorable mention for the level of annoyance it provides, it drew a tough first round opponent, and unfortunately will not advance. Divine Shield advances!

Mortal... Conflict! (Round Two!)

The second round pits Death Grip against Thunderstorm. While hopefully by now my hatred of Thunderstorm is palpable... I cannot in good conscience allow Death Grip to fall this early in the tournament, it is simply too annoying. Death Grip advances to round three!

In a similar match-up, Divine Shield faces off against Typhoon. While Typhoon is a truly annoying ability, the hatred of Divine Shield by the majority of the gaming community is too much to deny. Divine Shield advances to round three!

Mortal... Conflict! (Round Three!)

The third round pits Death Grip against Bladestorm. While Bladestorm is an annoying ability, hated by the scores of players caught in its path... Death Grip easily advances to the final round based on the level of annoyance it offers.

The second match in the third round is between Mind Control and Divine Shield. Mind Control can be a very annoying ability, however it is very situational, and can be difficult to cast... So Divine Shield bubble hearths past it and into the final round.

Mortal... Conflict! (FINAL ROUND!)

And so it comes to this. After weeks of narrowing down all of the abilities in the game, we have two remaining vying for the title of the most annoying ability in WoW, Divine Shield and Death Grip.

This is honestly a difficult decision to make. Arguments can be made for both abilities, but in the end only one can be declared a winner. In this case I'm forced to go against my better judgements, and ultimately against the Light. In the most recent patch this ability received a huge nerf, so clearly the annoyance of the ability was too much. For its role as a life saver in the most one-sided scenarios, an escape method against overwhelming odds, and its place as one of the longest running jokes in one... Divine Shield overcomes Death Grip to be named The Most Annoying Ability in the World of Warcraft!


Thanks to anyone who followed this tournament from the beginning. I apologize for rushing the format, but as I stated with the expansion looming, the time was right to wrap things up.

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Paladin-Bias

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