Finally got my Stunted Direhorn.

[Jchertudi86]

I started PVP pet battling in late January I think, solely to get this pet. I knew what PVP pet battling would be like... so even though I had been pet battling actively since the start of MoP, I had avoided PVP all that time. It was just as I expected! Full of BS teams and cheap strategies. There were streaks in which I fought "normal" teams and had some fun. This is not to say I stomped all over them, but merely had good and surprisingly balanced matches.

But I persevered because I knew the other Direhorn models weren't cool enough. The Stunted Direhorn has by far the coolest model of the three and, obviously, the best breed. I just wouldn't be satisfied with anything else. So I kept putting up with the pvp scene...

Now that I have it, I'm done with PVP pet battling. Overall it was a frustrating experience. It made pet battling tedious and annoying and I'm excited that I can just get back to enjoying the PVE side again. I can use more of my pets now since I don't have to worry about constantly countering the Mechanical Pandaren Dragonling...

One final note: I was on a winning streak my last 10 wins. The first five I won all in a row. For my last five, I thought I would cycle through the four teams I had used throughout the first 240 wins that had a good win rate. They all won too! So for the final win I thought I should go out with a bang and just use a theme team: Anubisath Idol, Onyxian Whelpling and my favorite, Lil' KT. Took me 5 losses (actually a few were ties) in a row before I got that final win. Whatever... it was totally worth it to go out on a win like that, rather than just using the same old team one more time.

[Skavenged]

LOL!! "BS teams and Cheap strategies". This honestly gave me a chuckle. There is actually more parity in PvP now than there has ever been. The whole point is to build a synergetic team that works well together. Just imagine if you had tried back when FotM teams were everywhere. The whole point to PvP is to think three moves ahead, know what your opponent is going to do, and counter it before it happens. But anyway... Thanks for the chuckle

Just out of curiosity, what is a "normal" team, and what were the "BS" teams you faced?

[Jchertudi86]

Just out of curiosity, what is a "normal" team, and what were the "BS" teams you faced?

Examples of BS teams would be: triple MPD, MPD/Fossilized Hatchling/Weebom, clonedance teams (although these are slightly less offensive), undead goat/weebom/MPD, sunflower/zao/whatever teams, Fiendish Imp/Warbot/whatever teams... you know the ones I'm talking about.

Basically, BS teams are teams people use regularly only because they know they require very specific counters and thus will probably stomp most opponents easily. They aren't necessarily fun (AOE teams could be run by a bot they're so repetitive), they just have a high chance of success.

I started running Blossoming Ancient, Corefire Imp and Hyjal Wisp to counter all the MPD and AOE teams and it had the highest chance of winning. Even though I ran this team, I didn't enjoy playing it much and felt forced into using it by the fact that it was all I had to counter the cheapo teams running rampant in the meta. That's what was frustrating: I have just over 100 pets that are level 25, and I used fewer than 15 for 95% of my wins.

A "normal" team would be a team that someone put together of pets they like and wanted to use with SOME degree of synergy (such as: one can change the weather, and another has an ability boosted by that effect), but mostly picked based on the fact they like those pets (because of appearance or a certain move, whatever). I ran into a number of these and had some good challenges, especially if I myself was running a "normal" team at the time (which became less frequent as time went on).

People enjoy winning and enjoy coming up with super strong teams with very few counters. I am not trying to take that away from them. They are as free to PVP as I am. But for me, it wasn't fun feeling like if I wanted to win, I had to run only a handful of pets because they were the only ones with any chance of winning. So I'll drop out of the queue now that I have my Direhorn and you can continue to face off against each other.

[Tekulve2012]

So...funny..but in this case you are both right (in my opinion)

There are what many view as 'bs' teams...because little thought is put into their creativity and usage

At the same time..the game is designed to result in a winner and a loser..if entering a match..we should presume each player's goal is the victory...so fielding competitive pets is logical and expected

For me, another goal is learning and experiencing variety in pvp play..I have around 2.1k pvp wins now and still lots to learn. This past week I learned that the mountain panda is a great pvp pet..it hurts mechs (1atk) and also undead with a rooting/weather move to boot!

Grats on your 250 pet pvp wins...I encourage you(and anyone who loves battlepets) to keep playing/trying pet pvp...its well balanced considering all the pets in the game and the variety of mechanics and math involved

Tekulve

[Kel]

I struggle with PvP myself. I think I have like 10 wins, so my Direhorn is a LONG ways away. And it's tough for me to find the desire to go after it. I tend to agree that there are more frustrating teams out there that require that you run a specific team to either counter that one or mirror it and hope for better rolls than there are teams you might actually have fun playing or playing against. My 10 wins took me something like 30 matches to achieve. So the desire to go back in for another round of beatings has been somewhat fleeting. But then on the other hand, I have all these pets that just kick the crap out of the PvE scene. Outside of that, they just sort of sit there not really doing anything.

What to do, what to do. . .

[Tekulve2012]

If someone wanted decent success in pet PvP nowadays I'd suggest a trio like this :
Fiendish imp(s/s)-burn/immolation/nether gate
You normally start with this one -you can 'gate' to start or burn and immolate if facing a mechanical opponent

Fragment of anger.--Seethe/spirit fire beam/soulrush
This pet has strong aoe, good vs mechs with seethe,and a possible stun move... it is tanky and powerful
Use the beam first usually to maximize aoe dmg

Many would suggest a Mech pandaren dragonling or the Anubisath idol as a 3rd...They are both very solid..

I love the s/s jademist dancer-steam vent/rain dance/acid rain...it will smash the nasty teroclaw hatchling and can go toe to toe with many pets..its immune to weather effects and self heals a bit

There are lots of great pets..but if I were advising someone of 3 pets to run with and get used to in PvP I'd suggest these 3
Good battling to all

[Kel]

...

I love the s/s jademist dancer-steam vent/rain dance/acid rain...it will smash the nasty teroclaw hatchling and can go toe to toe with many pets..its immune to weather effects and self heals a bit

...

My Dancer is P/S. Do I bother getting the S/S, or just go with it?

[Axarien]

My Dancer is P/S. Do I bother getting the S/S, or just go with it?

In my very limited experience, get the S/S. Going first is a huge advantage and will make or break some strategies.

[Tekulve2012]

It is essential to have the s/s breed ...you out speed the mech pand dragonling and you'll have lots of power when you buff with raindance...it devastates Lil Ragnaros , the singing sunflower and the blossoming ancient too btw

No single pet works miracles in pet PvP...but this one is terrific for sure...just beware of surge(crabs and crocs) and blood in the water if bleeding(some bears and crocs)..they will nuke you

[Iskren]

...

I love the s/s jademist dancer-steam vent/rain dance/acid rain...it will smash the nasty teroclaw hatchling and can go toe to toe with many pets..its immune to weather effects and self heals a bit

...

My Dancer is P/S. Do I bother getting the S/S, or just go with it?

yes S/S is a lot better
Dancer is amazing pet and can deal with a whole enemy team if played right.
Its probably one of the only good answers i have for pandaren mech dragon. Its ruines crow starts..it hit so hard when weather is up and crit buff is up that can chain kill 2-3 pets if they are like 600-700 sih hp. There are very few good counters that are popular and even those lll hit some of mmy other 2 pets !

[Dakaf]

Ever since pets have been out, I've been aiming for the stunted direhorn. I have yet to have the patience to get it done though. I'm like half way there, but I'll get it some day!

Congrats to you and everyone else for sticking with it and getting it done!