WoW: Flamecleave

Around Mists of Pandaria, Shadowplay was our main Arena composition. Eventually, we wanted to try a different playstyle. I had a Goblin Warlock (Goblocke), Andrew had a Tauren Shaman (Mobarr), and Jeff had leveled a Blood Elf Mage (Jetoke). The other arena composition we had some success with was Flamecleave:

• Fire Mage
• Destruction Warlock
• Restoration Shaman

Mages & Warlocks were the dominants casters in PvP. They had access to reliable crowd-control spells Polymorph and Fear, which were on separate diminishing returns. Thus, the duo could keep an enemy locked in CC almost indefinitely if they properly cycled their spells. 

The typical Mage-Warlock-Shaman (MLS) composition was Frost Mage and Affliction Warlock. These specs were favored because their damage was very reliable. This was necessary in high-level play, where each exchange of cooldowns was highly calculated. Unlike Shadowplay, an Affliction Warlock in this composition could not freely spread their DoTs on the entire team. This is because the Mage's most powerful tool, Polymorph, wiped all DoTs and actually healed them back to full life. This effectively reduced the Warlock's damage by 33%, and relegated them more into a Fear-bot for the Mage. I feel it's a bit anti-synergistic, but I suppose the Warlock's job would be to soften up their kill target and bit, while the Mage carried the majority of the burst. 

In this composition, Andrew had returned to his original role as the Restoration Shaman from the TBC days. Jeff wanted to be unique by specializing in Fire rather than Frost. Both specs were PvP-viable, but Fire's burst damage was more difficult to coordinate. Since we were straying from the norm, I also went Destruction to commit into this pyromaniac composition: Flamecleave.

Fire and Flames

Like how Shadowplay had two Shadow-magic casters, Flamecleave had two Fire-magic casters. The official description of Destruction Warlocks even state they're closer related to Fire Mages than the other Shadow-based specializations.

Lore-wise, Fire Mages favored disciplined control of the element, as visualized by shaped fireballs. Destruction Warlocks preferred more dangerous combine their flames with chaotic Fel-magic, which was visualized as unwieldy and violent blasts. Ironically, the gameplay mechanics were completely opposite. Fire rotation depended on random critical strikes, while Destruction had a predictable and consistent rotations. Also interesting: Restoration Shamans channeled the Water elements to heal their allies, a direct contrast to the destructive, fire casters.

While Goblins and Blood Elves are disparate in looks, they were both portrayed as reckless and power-hungry. Goblins are portrayed as comically chaotic and suicidal, while Blood Elves are more tragic and vengeful. Despite their different backgrounds, they have shared interests in burning things to ash.

Strategy

The Flamecleave strategy was the complete opposite to Shadowplay. Instead of constant, spread pressure through damage over time spells, all damage was stored and unloaded to kill a full-life target within a 5-second window. Any damage within the neutral phase was negligible, since all resources were preserved for the next burst phase.

Burst

Because of the great coordination required, matches would be really short or long. We would typically start the matches by unloading all cooldowns and procs for our strongest burst:

• Mage spams Scorch to get "Heating Up" procs for instant Pyroblasts
• Warlock sets up Havoc on two non-kill targets
• Mage uses Deep Freeze to on kill target
• Warlock uses Havoc/Mortal Coil to disable non-kill targets 
• Mage/Warlock unloads all damage (Pyroblasts/Chaos Bolt) into kill target

At lower ranks, this coordination would be enough to wipe out a player in seconds. However, at the higher ranks, the enemy team would be aware of the resources being spent and react with defensive cooldowns. After the initial gambit, it would be the struggle to setup the next burst phase as soon as possible.

Often times, it'd be impossible to setup these ideal burst situations. A lot of time was spent waiting for the other DPS to get their resources prepared, which resulted in lost opportunities. This waiting was costly since it allowed for their defensive cooldowns to refresh, while our defensive resources were diminishing. Melee compositions were especially brutal, since they had sustained pressure and could constantly prevent attempted bursts. 

Conclusion

Rewatching our replays made me remember the fun and stress involved. Compared to the Healer role, the DPS role required more aggression and initiative to make plays. Getting focused as a caster can be very stressful, since it diverts more attention towards survival. This is when the 2nd DPS has to take charge, since they're free (both mentally and in-game) to orchestrate the kill setups.

The fire-themed composition was fun for the novelty. Fire and Destruction were considered gimmick specs back in Mists due to the setup and difficulty required. When things worked out, it was very satisfying due to the high level of coordination required. As it happens, Fire is the meta specialization for Mages in Shadowlands PvP.