The element of surprise is a key factor to winning.  If you can surprise your opponent and run something they are not prepared for, you increase your odds of winning.  When preparing what team I want to play at weekly battlegrounds, surprise plays a large factor.

I’m constantly looking for new and creative ways in which to fight my opponents.  The more creative and odd my team formations are, the better I do in tournaments.  Being prepared to fight as many different types of teams as possible is always good too.  However, it is usually quite hard to prepare for everything.  Usually.

In order to win consistently, we need a team that can not only handle the map and the scenario, but will also bring a surprise to each of our opponents.  While it may be quite easy to defeat the typical Vashj team that we’ve grown so accustomed to, what will your opponent do when facing a Rexxar team?  Laugh?  If so, we’ve got them right where we want them…

Rexxas is quite a frustrating piece to master.  He typically doesn’t live long and it’s quite hard to get him outputting the kind of damage that other epic pieces do.  Let’s look at how to make him useful:

He should always bring Misha into battle, so you are always going to be left with just one action bar card to bring along.  He’ll still need a good variety to choose from, but Misha should always be taking one of the spots.  Misha is here to be a distraction.  You’ll want to use this massive pet to force your opponent to make decisions: attack Rexxar or attack Misha.  For every attack they use on Misha, that’s less damage Rexxar is facing.  And for every attack they use on Rexxar, that’s more attacks Misha will get in as a result. 

Viper Sting, depending on your area, is a guaranteed action bar card as well.  Viper Sting works great to restrict the number of times that Jaina brings a Water Elemental to battle.  It also reduces the number of times Goblin Shredders drop Fog of Wars on the battlefield.  It serves a lot of different purposes, but if your opponents aren’t abusing Jaina and the likes, it won’t have as great of an effect for you. 

Besides action bar cards, Rexxar will need additional ways in which to survive the field of battle.  Aleyah Dawnborn instantly becomes his right-hand-(wo)man.  You won’t need a Bulwark here, as her Blessing of Sacrifice is more than enough to guarantee that Rexxar stays on the board longer.  Her paladin class will bring you a strong heal with Flash of Light, and she’ll also be able to give Rexxar a second blessing with Blessing of Kings.  Against a team of casters, this makes Rexxar a resist of two and helps him reduce the amount of damage intake.  Aleyah can also Flash herself to remove damage she takes over the course of the game.

We’re two-thirds of the way done with our team, but we still don’t have much aggression going on.  Rexxar attacks twice, but only every three ticks.  This means we’re going to need some serious aggression to make this team a force worth playing.  For this, we’ll bring along Amalar Ironhoof.  He is the reigning champ of damage output. 

Amalar comes to battle filled with Beserker Rage.  This ability will output an additional damage any time that Amalar deals damage.  Unfortunately this Rage also has a negative impact, making him take an additional damage whenever damage is dealt to him.  It helps to think of him as a suicidal bomber.  He’s going to charge into your opponents and do as much damage as he can before he gets taken out.  Something which usually happens quickly.

In order to pack as much punch as possible, you’ll want to bring along Mortal Strike as one of his action bar cards.  Mortal Strike, when played by Amalar, will output two damage to target character, as well as giving them a debuff which prohibits that character from being healed.  If Amalar doesn’t finish off a character, Rexxar’s double attack will.

Amalar will also want to bring along Sunder Armor.  This action bar card makes it easier to get damage through to your opponents, as well as breaking Bulwarks with ease.  It can also be used to take out Lady Vashj’s boots, helping her to roll crits less often.

By now you’ve noticed that each character is only bringing two action bar cards to your games.  We need three.  And this is where our teams’ versatility comes into play.  If we include the Felsteel Boomstick with our action bar cards, the first thing you should note is that it can be played on any hunter and any warrior.  Since Rexxar is a hunter and Amalar a warrior, we’re bringing a weapon that two-thirds of our team can use. 

Facing a triple Mortimer the Maligned team?  Start the Boomstick on Amalar to give his Berserker Rage a range of four.  Facing Lady Vashj?  Start the Boomstick on Rexxar and let your epics go toe-to-toe.  Rexxar’s new range of four should keep Vashj busy, and don’t forget that if Rexxar destroys something with the Boomstick, he still benefits from his Champion of the Horde ability.  He also benefits from it when using the Boomstick as well.

Our eighth action bar card is the almighty Sulfuras, Hand of Ragnaros.  Again, notice that the Sulfuras can be used on both a paladin and a warrior.  This means that, like the Boomstick, you’ll have a weapon that two-thirds of your team can use.

If you give the Sulfuras to Amalar, you’ll change his main attack from a 3tic 6dice to a 4tic 8dice.  His Berserker Rage is a perfect match for an 8dice attack.  And since Aleyah is great at sticking near Rexxar for her Blessing of Sacrifice, the Sulfuras is great at outputting one damage back any time Aleyah takes attack damage.  It also increases her attack dramatically.

The ninth, and final, action bard card should be Healing Potion.  This card can run on any of your three characters, and gives you more healing options available depending on what team your opponent throws at you. 

The surprise factor of this team is quite strong, as most people laugh at the sight of Rexxar coming at them.  He’s not known to be a beefy, aggressive epic and here is your best chance to change all of that.  The versatility of the team will factor in greatly with the surprise, as you will find yourself prepared for all kinds of dangerous formations you may face.  This team has an answer for just about everything out there, with warlocks being its worst matchup. 

The ability to equip your characters in multiple ways will give you a great advantage.  It is not something that most teams can do, but here Rexxar does it with style.

~Pojo