Icecrown Citadel, 10-player, 3rd May 2010, 20:30ST

This was our first planned guild run. Since it was a Monday, we felt we had a good chance of pugging in a few random unsaved alts and getting a run together, even if we couldn't really call it a Guild Run. Logging on about fifteen minutes before the listed start, we were delighted to see that Sapphrina the Incredible Officer had recruited about half the server. Invites went out to all the guildies who had gear that could be described as plausible, and any mates I could round up. The Mighty Morticus joined both the raid and the guild, and Bradstrut signed on for this run too. I grabbed an awesome Pally tank in Dalaran, and the DPS dribbled in from LFG - a hunter, a rogue and a warrior.

Into ICC about ten minutes after the listed time, and buffs before trash. I would like the record to show that I had set both the raid difficulty and loot policy before going in, which is a feat unlikely to be repeated. We ground trash happily, and settled very fast into an effective team. The Pug Tank and I established a good rapport, and I started screwing up right on schedule. When tabbing between targets, particularly with a new partner in violence, I keep a close eye on Omen to catch runaways before they eat the DPS. The mental thread goes 'Other tank top fine, other tank top fine, brown bar must be me, fine, brown bar WHOOPS I'm not the only warrior, tabtabtab click miss taunt Oh I'm so sorry'. Knee deep in dead DPS warriors. Oh well.

Had a bit of excitement on the Huge Big Skeleton things - ended up chain-pulling three of them with trash still up. Manageable. Healers didn't quite run out of mana, but we woke them up. I then screwed up again. Best quote "Now I remember why it's utterly critical you don't just charge in". Skill maybe greater than gear, but gear helps cover up hideous errors. Then on to Lord Marrowgar. One new guildie (Reid) was on his first ICC run. No worries. I explain things, Sapph corrects me, and we're fine. Stormed in, smashed the boss, charged around a bit, stood in the ice fire stuff, held aggro, four bonestorms, down he goes like a good little Undead Monstrosity Spawned from the Very Jaws of Hades. Loot. All needed. Happy happy.

Clean trash pulls before Deathwhisper as she burbled on about our obvious deficiencies viz. flesh etc. "I'll annoy them, you trap them", we tanks agree. Smooth as. Paladins do have a purpose, after all. On the big spider thingies, I ask the pug tank to hold them, in an effort to share the fun bits. Poor chap gets Dark Reckoning three times straight. He didn't win a roll all night, either.

On Deathwhisper, we had some fun. New healer hadn't seen it: "Stand in the middle. Stay out of green stuff. Heal like hell". And so we pulled. It was going swimmingly until the half-wit raid leader completely mistimed the call for heroism at the end of the shield, and we got a wave of adds with the boss. Apologies. Some smart recovery tanking, and a complete disregard for the healer's sanity and down she went with a good four seconds left on the clock. Easy. Again, all loot was claimed.

The Gunships went remarkably well. I don't think I screwed up once. One piece of loot is rolled out for vendor. No hat for the Shaman Healer (again). You will note the complete lack of wipes so far, despite my best efforts. By this point, it was about 22:30, and we had people with beds to go to. Wusses. I was not entirely sanguine about our chances against Deathbringer Saurfang, but figured it was worth a punt. Quote of the evening: (Vent) "You stand there and taunt the Blood Beast." "Sure." (Frantic pst) "How do I taunt? How do I do that?" Hey ho. "Oi! Morticus! Over here, Taunt Tennis, as per". "Sure." There is much to be said for asking new players to stretch. There is more to be said at the end of an evening for getting the old lags back in the groove.

We pull. We wait 40 seconds for the Incredible Floating Dwarf Trick. We bash. Raid Warnings are sent. Taunts happen. Blood Beasts spawn, and are managed many, many times. The Mark falls on (of course) one of our tank healers. Beacon ftw. We bash more. Blood beasts are taunted and biffed. I screw up a taunt (Go me!). More biffage, and down goes the boss. New Raider gets both achievements. I fall off my chair in astonishment. Then hand out the Phat Lootz again. In a little over two hours, we've cleared the Lower Spire with six guildies and four pugs on our first raid. Delighted.

Key Facts

  • Most Screwups: Vehement (Natch) - About 7
  • Top DPS: How would I know? I'm a tank.
  • Best Heals: The ones who kept me alive.
  • Loot: 8 pieces, 7 equipped

Thank you all for raiding, and see you on Wednesday!

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