Downbeat

So as I'd thought, we wiped 10 times and called it - our best try was about 62%. Haven't been this depressed about the game in a long time.

Still. Lock it down. Learn. Reflect

What did I do wrong?

Some of the wipes were my fault. It was incredibly hard positioning the boss so that I was in range of the healers, so the sparks would pass over the raid, and so the boss was tangental to the inner circle. I just can't seem to do that and dps at the same time, so all the dpsers were threat capped. The boss got sparked on all of the first four attempts, and that was my fault I think.

I don't know how to fix this. Perhaps it is practice - I reworked my buttons for this fight, changed everything to make it so I could strafe better, so that I could strafe with one hand and dps with another, I changed my UI so I could see the sparks better. Maybe if I use this new setup more and more it will be better.

But. BUT. I have tanked this boss before and, frankly, it was easy. I don't know why it's hard now. We cruised through P1 every time. When I successfully tanked the boss I didn't bother strafing - I just backed away to give the DK room to deathgrip the spark. I didn't have a DK tonight so fine it was harder, but DPS was criminally slow to hit the sparks and a couple of times I saw them pass over the raid and hit Maly with no DPS at all on them.

Three times tonight I got nuked down by an unsparked Malygos. With 2 Naxx25 geared holy paladins healing me. That is not good enough.

Maybe (gasp) this time it isn't my fault.

So a brutal assessment - we had an awful group setup for the boss, which put more pressure on me and more pressure on the DPS group. I struggled initially, but positioning was good later and I think I coped ok. DPS performance was not good enough I think. Healing was just not good enough either. I'm not flattering myself - I know I am still a novice tank. I don't want to give the impression that I think I am better than the people I raid with (a common tanking trait) because I know I have loads to learn, and my performance issues (which I do have) are masked by easy content (heroics and Naxx) which I overgear. Malygos is not an easy fight, and it tests me to the limit and perhaps finds me wanting. I will get better, because failing is not fun, it is not why I play the game, and it is not how I live my life.

What action to take? I need to practice more and get better. I've been rusty since I came back from my hand injury (it is still not fixed), and I need to stop playing my alts and concentrate on the main. I also need to take a hard look at the people I raid with, which scares the hell out of me to be honest.

But for now, I need a fucking drink, and I need a break.