Race to World First Day 4: Four guilds fighting Ky’veza, and our first raid nerf

Three more guilds have downed Ovi’nax to join Team Liquid in struggling with Nexus-Princess Ky’veza as the Race to World First for Nerub’ar Palace continues. This encounter is almost the polar opposite of the Ovi’nax fight, which was all about keeping control of massive numbers of adds: Ky’veza is a single-target fight with a whole lot of mechanics to dodge. Oh, and if players go below 10% health? She’ll execute them and it’s game over.

This means we’re seeing wildly different raid comps for the encounter. Gone are the Blood Death Knights, Frost Death Knights, and Fury Warriors. Guilds working on this encounter are bringing in the single-target heavy hitters, and most seem to be stacking Mages for this fight.

The fight is a tough DPS check, but it’s also about execution. Ky’veza deals massive damage and there’s no room for error: you position everything perfectly and you dodge every ability or you die.

These raiders have plenty of experience dodging, but Ky’veza is still a lot. Here are the highlights from Mythic Nerub’ar Palace on day 4.

The first nerfs have come in. Yesterday I said it was too early for nerfs, but I was wrong. Blizzard cut Ky’veza’s health by 6% and reduced Queensbane damage by 10%. These are relatively small changes, but when we’re talking about a boss with 8 billion health, 6% is significant. No one killed Ky’veza after these nerfs, but these nerfs may mean it’s possible to kill Ky’veza this week, without the gear from another reset.

Team Liquid maintains its lead, with Ky’veza at 21% after 146 pulls. The team will be starting its raid day soon, and I expect the team will finish off Ky’veza before the raid day ends.

Echo is a close second place, with 30% after 93 pulls. However, Echo is approaching the end of its raid day, demonstrating the typical dichotomy between NA and EU guilds on this fight. Liquid pulls ahead while Echo sleeps, then Echo catches up while Liquid sleeps, and repeat. Can they close the distance before the day is over?

Method is holding at third, with 50% after 42 pulls. Neither Liquid nor Echo have an insurmountable lead over Method, but the guild has only been keeping pace so far — which I would say is a solid performance considering that a number of raiders caught Covid this week.

火鍋英雄 (Huoguo Hero) has pulled ahead of its Chinese rivals, now sitting in fourth place with 70% on Ky’veza after just 18 pulls. End Myth, the Chinese guild that jumped into an early lead, has fallen to fifth place with 10% left on Ovi’nax with a crazy 253 pulls. That’s some dedication.

The state of the race

Current Nerub-ar Palace rankings

1. Team Liquid (5/8), with 21% on Ky’veza after 146 pulls
2. Echo (5/8), with 30% on Ky’veza after 93 pulls
3. Method (5/8) with 50% on Ky’veza after 42 pulls
4. 火鍋英雄 (Huoguo Hero) with 70% on Ky’veza after 18 pulls
5. End Myth (4/8) with 10% on Ovi’nax after 253 pulls

Bosses killed: Ulgrax, Bloodbound Horror, Sikran, Rasha’nan, Ovi’nax

Want to watch along with us? Here are the streams to follow to watch the Race to World First live. Or check our written coverage of day 1, day 2, and day 3, or jump ahead to day 5, day 6, day 7, day 8, day 9, day 10, day 11, day 12, and day 13.