I'm sorry, but it's a fact: Monsters don’t have access to Master Tactician or Moonkin Form. Crits for Monsters come just a little more slowly than for the Alliance or the Horde. But look at all those combo-tastic Monster effects! Lucky for us, the Monsters do have access to the utterly amazing Blindlight Murloc.

Sound like a bad joke? It isn’t.

Before I lose all of my World of Warcraft Minis street cred, let me explain. Hear me out here.

“Mrrggrmrrllgg . . . *burp*”

—Blindlight Murloc

That means we'll be starting with a Mage, and with Arcane Flux. With Flux, Monsters come close to the advantages offered by Master Tactician and Moonkin Form, in terms of scoring crits. We can't guarantee a crit with Flux, but we can certainly increase our chances. Today, we'll be creating a toolbox of characters and abilities to handle specific situations.

True, Blindlight Murloc isn’t the only Monster Mage. There are three epic Mages, with an 8 honor Razani and a 7 honor Wavecaller completing the trio. I feel that Blindlight is optimal because he is cheaper and has an important crit for the current metagame.

 

“I am a Talon Lord, not a chicken.”

—Sethekk Talon Lord

The Talon Lord might not be a chicken, but he can lay eggs. He’s also a Taunting Warrior. For only 5 honor, this Talon Lord has some real bite. Check out his tick-up crit—it is exactly what Warriors want with their current set of Action Bar cards.

 

“Release me.”

—Sarmoth

Sarmoth has a unique crit, offering an effect that's quite similar to the powerful Mocking Blow for Warriors. Coupled with a solid body, interesting Demon Action Bar cards, and Taunt, this blue bubble has a lot going for him.

Here's the list:

Blindlight Murloc

—Arcane Flux

—Polymorph

—Counterspell

Sethekk Talon Lord

—Intercept

—Charge

—Deep Thunder

—Sunder Armor

Sarmoth

—Demon’s Last Stand

—Dark Portal

OK, so why in the world would I combine these three characters into a party? Their crits, of course! They offer a toolbox of answers. But first, everything starts with Arcane Flux.

 

“Please, please, please . . .”

—Morganis Blackvein

Each character can benefit from Arcane Flux in a different way.

If the enemy has Action Bar cards that you need to exhaust, like equipment, then you can Arcane Flux the Blindlight Murloc. Wall-Velen builds can be pretty rampant in certain metagames, and Blindlight Murloc has a crit that lets you deal with them, provided you can force them to choose the equipment. With 12 dice—13 if you snag a hill—chances are pretty good that Savin or Graccus will be down a piece of equipment following a couple swings from the Murloc. And when the counterattack comes, you have Counterspell to keep you alive and scoring Victory Points.

If the enemy has a character that you need to tick up as much as possible, you Arcane Flux the Talon Lord. He can charge in and possibly tick them up 2! He can then Intercept them right away, ticking them up a third time. If you combo this with a Polymorph from the Murloc, you’ve already gotten them 6 ticks up—pretty solid, if the enemy is relying on a single character for their DPS. But the Talon Lord shines when he gets his hands on a 1 armor enemy. When Talon Lord equips both Deep Thunder and Sunder Armor, he has a solid chance of ticking the enemy up 2 every time he attacks.

Tangent #1—You can Sunder Armor the Bulwark, allowing your Arcane Fluxed Murloc access to Graccus and exhausting his Hand of Ragnaros.

Tangent #2—Instead of Sarmoth, a variation on this build includes the other Arakkoa, Shienor Sorcerer. In that party, you'll switch Deep Thunder for Drakefist Hammer. When you crit in this situation, you tick yourself down 2, and the enemy up 1. Basically, you’ve locked the enemy down, and will now kill them unless they have a way to break your lock.

Let’s talk about Sarmoth for a moment. If the enemy has a lovely Paladin or is otherwise trying to farm your Murloc, then you can Arcane Flux Sarmoth. His crit forces the enemy to attack him, buying you time to maneuver. There are lots of characters in this game that hate having to attack the wrong target. Most Rogues, Warriors, and Paladins aren’t going to be happy about it, but they're not alone. Warlocks, Mages, Priests, and Shamans also don’t want to get ticked up to throw attacks at the biggest guy on your team—especially when the Talon Lord has only a single point of resist.

Between the Murloc’s Polymorph, the Talon Lord’s tick-up attack, and Sarmoth forcing enemies to attack the wrong guys, your opponent isn’t going to like you very much.

This party is only 16 honor, so you'll want to try and focus the battle around the VPs, as they will be key to winning the game. The goal is to net 4 VPs over the game, so that you only need three kills.

Sarmoth always has the option of Demon’s Last Stand, which can earn you the “W” real fast in a small honor build. His Dark Portal allows you to set up nicely and come right back into the heart of the battle. A lot of the game will be fought around the middle of the map, and positioning carefully with your two Taunters will help to keep the Blindlight Murloc alive and ensure that he can continue Arcane Fluxing his friends.

Until next time . . . keep scoring crits!