http://www.tankspot.com/forums/blogs/tenraiel/ en Mon, 23 Nov 2009 02:14:47 GMT vBulletin 60 http://www.tankspot.com/forums/images/misc/rss.jpg http://www.tankspot.com/forums/blogs/tenraiel/ http://www.tankspot.com/forums/blogs/tenraiel/1954-how-suck-earn-mt-spot.html Mon, 09 Feb 2009 16:37:59 GMT I'm reflecting back upon joining my guild, and I find the road to becoming their MT amazing. I didn't start my warrior until Dec 2007. I was raiding as a holy priest, which I loved, but decided that I wanted to control my groups more - that good tanks were just too hard to find. I was 70 by March and xfered to the server where my roommate had an AF toon. Tankspot taught me how to be awesome. Long and short of it is that I came to be looking for a more progressed guild than the one I was stuck in and started apping in July to our guilds that were in t6 content. In my t4 guild, I was able to come across a guild that was 4/5, 0/9 that needed tanks ... bad. I had a reputation for having extremely high threat and being a fast puller. I get in and was gear sponge ... my priority NEVER caught up! They had a pally tank and a feral, both of whom had been there forever.

First, I have a quick spurt though, we have a feral curse. We do not have druid tanks. We've gone through 7 between July and November. They just won't stay ... stupid droods -_-

Anyways, as the new guy, I expected to be benched ... and I was alot at first. But they gave me a chance. The pally and I (the only tanks left) started sharing boss responsibilities, he receiving the harder bosses due to gear level. By the time I was fairly geared, I was the goto tank for just about all encounters - having lead us to 4/4, 6/9, and finishing Kael/Vashj before 3.0. Raiding 2 hours, 3 nights a week. (Sadly & Proudly, we were the #5 horde guild ... slow server) Not because the pally was worse (he is the best pally I've played with), but because the whole guild had gotten behind me, assumed a mindset that I was the one they wanted out front. So fun. This is where I've begun to enjoy the story.

Wrath comes out, I burn to 80. On our way to our first Sarth kill, my graphics card dies and I get stuck in non-WoW world until the end of January. I came back, and this time we have no shortage of tanks and I am again significantly undergeared. Before long, I am AGAIN referred to as our MT. The hiatus gave me time to reflect. ... I am not the most skilled tank on the server. I am not the most geared. I have not been around forever. I am not perfectly aware of what's happening to our raid. I am not impervious to standing in fire. I am not putting out the most threat. ... Why do I still have a great reputation on my server, and why does my guild still elevate me? I pull fast. I pull very fast. I make decisions ... I lead. I am not the raid leader, but apart from him I singularly have the most influence.

This is great supporting evidence to the case that being MT is much less about class / gear / tenure than most people assume, and is instead very much correlated to who is prepared, ready, competent and willing to lead.

How did you earn your MT spot? ]]> Tenraiel http://www.tankspot.com/forums/blogs/tenraiel/1954-how-suck-earn-mt-spot.html