Something changed when we hit the hard modes. We capitalized quickly on the Hodir HM change while other guilds were still content to farm Yogg, and grabbed a US#24th kill on our first Hard Mode. Tasting blood, we pushed onto Thorim, nabbing a US#75th kill in an unexpected and unprecedented Thursday raid night, something we'd have never been able to put together in past instances. Bouncing back from a nasty attrition bump at the beginning of the Summer, we recruited and pushed down 4 hard modes in 4 days, catching anywhere from top US#50-150 kills on Heartbreaker and Orbiturary prenerfs, then Steelbreaker last and Vezax Hard. Grabbing the server first reins, we pushed on, eager for our Drakes, and made solid progression each week, culminating in finishing off Freya, Yogg, and Mim to received the US#55th Heroic Glory of the Ulduar Raider.
It seems fitting that we'd "end" the instance of Ulduar with another jump in progression, and we did so tonight. Last week, we should have had Algalon 25. Wiping with 300k left on his health bar after losing 3 DPS for 50% of the fight, we saw our US#22 kill go out the window in the flash of a Cosmic Smash. We came back in this week determined to avoid witnessing such a heartbreak again; and though it was close, we focused and were able to play at the level we knew we could. And thus, we were rewarded:
WoL
The jumps we made in progression have been monumental and are in no small part thanks to the skilled and dedicated core we've kept since Sunwell, as well as the awesome new recruits who've assimilated into our home and improved our overall performance levels to what it is today. Each and everyone of you all are to thank for our feats. Without you guys, we wouldn't have made that jump from server 4th, US#250ish, to server 1st, US#40 that we have over these past 3 months.
Congratulations to everyone, and thank you for your dedication again. Yogg 0 and another Server First! title awaits, and then 3.2 beyond. If we do as well as we've done in Ulduar, we have some exciting times ahead of us. Here's to it.
