Elathain’s Worldsraid: Part Two of A Narrative Depiction of the Worlds Top Cut

Hello-hello! Michael here. This article is part TWO of a series, I do a more in-depth intro there so if you missed part one please be sure to check out the following article: Elathain’s Worldsraid: Part One

With that, I’m getting right back into it!

TOP CUT

Day 3 of the Soulraid – a terrifying presence hangs in the air. Ghost souls are harvestable, but require special skill. The Thorns of the Briar Queen are no exception.

The battle began with Tammael stabbing at a ghost who appeared wayyyy to close to the Deepkin’s territory, but his harpoon simply passed through with no harm. A ghost charged into Elathain, and second one joined the fight – Elathin couldn’t strike back, knowing it would summon a third ghost, leading to his very early demise. Luckily, Furiann had already secured a decent position. Tammael did manage to land an harpoon into another ghost, so both sides were down one member.

“Let’s show them what High Tide means.” Tammael struck with Impossibly Quick speed, quickly dispatching a ghost, with his spear being enchanted to pass through the ghosts. A vengeful cackle emitted from Varclav, and he Coordinated his Deathblow into Duinclaw, killing the crab. “We have to Break their Prospects!” called Furiann. She charged onto some treasure in enemy lines, killing a straggler who was left behind. The Spinefin also tried to help – knowing that killing a ghost is Against All Odds, he charged into a Waystone hex to get himself into a position to delve the odd treasure. Unfortunately, he missed, and Varclav’s reprisal was not pretty to watch. Tammael killed one more spectral being and the Soulraid managed to Break any Prospects that the ghosts held.

“Let’s move, Tammael. The ghosts can’t catch up to us.” Furiann knew the strategy well by now – once enough souls are harvested, they can leave. The Queen herself charged into Tammael when the Tide Ebbed, but Tammael managed to gracefully evade the blow. Tammael evaded the rest of the ghosts by running onto an Aqua Ghyranis token, a source of great power for the Deepkin. At this point, neither of the remaining specters could reach any of the Idoneth, allowing them to safely extract the souls they gathered.

The Katophrane Curse did it’s work and the elves and ghosts were back alike – though the ghosts had more experience in that department.

“Let’s try a more decisive strike now, the ghosts will come to us – these are a particularly aggressive breed of Nighthaunt.” Elathain did not want to go down early again, he hated getting revived by the Curse. Luckily, Tammael had no intention of letting him die – rapid strikes from his harpoon swiftly killed not one but two specters. As Varclav appeared next to Elathain, he gathered the Aqua Ghyranis – but Elathain was not caught off guard. He charged into a Waystone to take cover for next round, also killing a ghost in the process. Furiann also took some early space, but missed onto a ghost staggered by the Flood Tide. However, not all was well – three of the Idoneth were already Tempered with by the Queen’s minions, meaning that a Trial was looming.

“We cannot Temper with Varclav or the Queen!” yelled Elathain, but his call wasn’t unheard by the Queen. The Queen prepared for a Coordinated Deathblow, but a nearby Chainrasp was the one who delivered it onto Furiann, showing the camaraderie between the Brothers-in-Arms. Tammael knew he had to kill the queen, or he would be next – so he struck into her, Twisting his Harpoon to secure a much-needed kill. “Oh my… Duinclaw, don’t get Tempered with!” Varclav, the Dark Horse in this battle, heard the call, and assisted in Duinclaw’s destruction. As Elathain fleed his territory, he managed to kill a ghost on the way and his Prideful Duellist showed. Enraged, the Ever-hanged responded by killing the Spinefin, the last guardian of the Soulraid’s territory.

To end the battle the Soulraid once again tried to run away. “Elathain, don’t get hit – it will incur a Trial. We cannot allow that to happen.” Despite the Landscape already being Torn, the Soulraid were careful not to let their victory slip away. The Ever Hanged charged early into Tammael and his blow connected, but Tammael and Elathain but retreated, preventing further blows onto either of them. Varclav slowly creeped up, like a stereotypical gheist, but he didn’t raise a fist against either of the elves. Elathain attempted to Lure Varclav into the Battle to Strip the Realm, but Varclav sidestepped back – there was once again Calm, Before the Storm that was the next battle.

Thanks to Daniel for the games! Lots of fun playing with you, you were a great sport and I hope we get to play again in the near future!

Next, the Soulraid were up against a foe they had fought with for ages – more Maggotkin of Nurgle, this time being the Wurmspat.

“Target one of them – kill the target and we win.” Elathain lived and died by the ‘kill one’ strategy. The battle started and the Soulraid swiftly started delving for treasures. Tammael struck into Sepsimus as he saw an opening, but in return Fecula killed the Spinefin. As Bile exploded, she became much stronger. Unfortunately, she had also Overrun the treasure held by the fish and thus the Landscape was way harder to tear. Still, the Homeland was Desolate – but the Wurmspat were Wrecking everything and Sepsimus did not show signs of death.

High tide struck and Sepsimus began, for he was an experienced Brawler. He stabbed at Furiann, who was now REALLY injured. “I’ll try to kill him – see you next life!” Furiann’s last words were uttered as she charged into Sepsimus, but unfortunately he was Disgustingly Resilient. To make matters worse, he drank a Healing Potion to bolster his Great Fortitude. “It’s no use – we can’t kill them. Focus on the treasures, Tammael.” Elathain managed to Break the Prospects of the Wurmspat and Tammael had harvested an Aqua Ghyranis but it didn’t seem like enough.

“For the Grandfather!” Sepsimus yelled as he charged into Tammael, with Visions of his Ruin. Elathain didn’t expect the lumbering warrior to move so fast. Luckily, there was no way any of the Wurmspat could reach him now. As he moved towards Sepsimus, Elathain felt his Growing Concerns – he couldn’t continue onward. He had to settle for a simple treasure, unable to Lure the Wurmspat to the Battle. Unfortunately for them, the Soulraid had lost the first battle.

The Katophrane Curse brought the Soulraid back and they got ready to strike again.

“Hide among the pillars, strike as one until we kill one of them – then we flee.” Elathain was convinced the plan would work. It had to – he still needed more souls. This time, it was Ghulgoch who struck first. He instantly tried to stab hammer Duinclaw, but missed. The Flood Tide left him Staggered and the Soulraid converged. Tammael did go down to a well timed charge, but not before inflicting heavy wounds to Ghulgoch. Sepsimus knew that the Grandfather enjoys rot, so he spread it to the Spinefin – killing it in a Bile explosion. Luckily, this distracted him from the Cover he was standing in – the Soulraid has sneakily left their Homeland Desolate and Tore the Landscape.

To begin the High Tide, Elathain harvested Ghlugoch’s soul, with his Talunsickle passing straight through the Maggotkin’s armor, and bringing Tammael back to life. Elathain got struck by Sepsimus, leaving him very vulnerable – “I will distract them – don’t deviate from the plan.” He charged away, throwing a Soulnet into Sepsimus and driving him out of reach. The Wings of War propelled Sepsimus into Elathain but he skillfully blocked the attack. Tammael knew he had to Get Stuck In, so he contributed a crucial charge into Fecula. As Fecula also charged Elathain and missed, the rest of the Soulraid were safe. Elathain sidestepped safely out of reach of more strikes as Furiann slunk to the shadows. With their Prospects Broken, the Wurmspat raised the White Flag, signalling the end of the second battle. It all came down to the third.

“I told you killing one of them would work. Do it again!” Elathain was hyped – the adrenaline from his solo performance last battle stuck with him yet. As the Curse brought everyone back, they got into position…

Fecula was chosen as the unlucky target now – an early strike from her left her Staggered by the Flood Tide. The ceiling crumbled and the Spinefin was Totally Collapsed by it, before managing to secure a crucial treasure. Despite this, Furiann charged – a Twist of the Knife left Fecula vulnerable to one attack from anyone. Elathain did the honors, charging onto a treasure to execute the leader of the Wurmspat. Despite being unable to Strip the Realm, the Soulraid were in great shape – the Homeland was Desolate, Fecula was dead, and the enemy had Spread very little Havoc.

“It’s only going to get worse for you!” High tide struck, and Tammael used a tactic called ‘intimidation’. “Next up is Ghulgoch!” Furiann swung into him first, and left him reeling, however a Healing Potion swiftly mended the Butcher’s wounds. Ghulgoch struck back, and Sepsimus joined the fray, leaving Duinclaw dead and inspiring his comrades. “Idoneth! Retreat!” Elathain’s cry was heard loud and clear – they scattered, with Elathain going north, Furiann west, and Tammael south – it was impossible to kill them all and the Wurmspat’s Prospects were Broken. But no White Flag was raised.

As the tide ebbed, the Wurmspat got ready for one last assault. Despite being unable to chase down all three, one of the Maggotkin managed to kill Furiann. Luckily, Tammael and Elathain were on opposite ends of the battlefield. They walked away from the Fields of Blood in victory.

Thanks to Grzegorz for the games! It was great spending time with you at the event and a shame we had to eliminate each other not in the finals (as you said, clearly a ruse to cut our chances at winning) but it was amazing seeing you again, looking forward to meeting you in another tourney somewhere soon!

“Rumor has it our next raid target is also a Troggoth?” Furiann was confused, but Elathain cleared stuff up.

“It’s the Katophrane Curse again, yes – our next target is Mollog.”

“Screw Nagash.”

The Flood Tide descended, and Elathain quickly analyzed that Mollog’s strategy was a lot more Reckless – he wasn’t as into Unity as before.

“You know the drill – kill the troll.” They waited for Mollog to charge, and charge he did. But first, a bunch of is minions came flying in. Tammael managed to secure a Hostile Takeover off of the minions and crucially the Soulraid were set up for a Tearing of the Landscape. Unfortunately, Mollog still had stuff to do. He charged and swung at Furiann, who very skillfully evaded his blow which seemed very unlikely. Some coordinated attacks from her and Tammael managed to make the troll all riled up before High Tide, which was an achievement. Mollog’s Recklessness even led to a very early Stripping of the Realm.

As High Tide descended the Soulraid started to break down the troll. Two quick strikes from Furiann and Tammael led to his death, but not before Furiann got punished quite brutally. Luckily, Tammael always Struck True. With the troll dead the goal was now NOT to get bitten to death by the minions. Elathain charged deep behind enemy lines and managed to bring the Spinefin with him, which let them Break the Prospects of Mollog.

As Ebb Tide struck so did the Spiteshroom, killing Tammael. “We’ve been through worse…” Elathain was the last one left, with nothing but the Spinefin to keep him company. He thought he was safe at the back of the Troll’s territory. He was wrong! The Bat Squig rematerialized, like an Illusory Fighter, right in wrong of him. It chomped on the Soulrender, but he expertly defended the attack. “Pitiful creature, your illusions are nothing!” As he spoke, he Cannily Rematerialised in the far end of the battlefield. The Bat Squig seemed ready to chase down the Spinefin though, which would have been horrible. “Come with me – we will leave this wretched place.” Elathain strode away, and the Spinefin scuttled along, going out of range of the Bat Squig and making sure the Arena was not Mortised. Victory was in the Soulraid’s hands.

The following images are taken from the Mortal Realms stream of my game as I forgot to take pictures – check them out here! They are some great guys who I also happened to meet at Worlds – great seeing you there btw and amazing streams!

The Katophrane Curse did it’s magic and unfortunately Mollog was back – but so were the Idoneth.

“What is this rock doing here?” Tammael started the battle a little farther back than usual, and took a couple of well aimed stabs into the Stalagsquig. The Spiteshroom started with a puff of gas into Duinclaw, and unfortunately the gas penetrated his carapace. “Group up, guys.” Elathain knew that attacking them while they were united was much harder. The Squigs kept on coming and getting Staggered by the Flood Tide, and Tammael kept striking them back. When Mollog came, he knew what to do – charging behind him and striking him in the flank, Tammael made sure that Furiann had support in her battle. Mollog slowly lumbered away. “I have an opening!” Furiann charged into the undefended Spiteshroom, striking him and stealing his treasure. Thus, the troll’s Prospects seemed Broken.

As the High Tide began, Elathain noticed a miracle – Mollog’s wounds rapidly closed up, and the previous strikes from Tammael made no difference. Mollog was healthy again, from his own powers and the Aqua Ghyranis.

“The troll is regenerating. We have to play sneaky…”

And sneaky they played. Elathain started by swinging into the Troggoth, reopening his wounds and pushing him off the Aqua Ghyranis. A retaliation from the Bat Squig was swiftly defended, but Elathain’s ploy worked – the troll retreated as if he was an Illusory Fighter. Furiann was closest to him, and was ordered to retreat. As she was doing so she managed to fatally wound the Bat Squig after faking out Mollog with her Great Strength. Mollog was stranded from his minions but alive. He charged into Duinclaw, bringing the Spiteshroom with him, and killed the crab. “The Crab’s Curse is upon him!” In order to not endanger the Idoneth, Elathain ordered the Spinefin to charge the Spiteshroom and he complied. Catching a wave to go faster, he bit at the toxic shroom who tried to dodge, but the sheer amount of fish made it impossible and brought the shroom down. Thus, the Spinefin got his first kill! Unfortunately his joy didn’t last long as he was swung at by Mollog, but his Wary Delving beforehand prevented the fishy doom. Despite looking Lost in the Depths, the Soulraid were winning.

As the tide ebbed Mollog squished the evasive Spinefin with a Critical Effort. Furiann tactically retreated out of the troll’s reach, making sure she can’t be hit. Mollog followed up with a charge but Furiann’s Phantasms made her unhittable – “Tammael, come and help!” Tammael charged into the troll, knocking him away from Furiann. She kept running away, and delving treasures. As she entered the troll’s territory, another Bat Squig emerged! He came closer to her, and she struck back – Getting Stuck In. Against the Odds, this managed to make the battle won – the Soulraid would keep raiding.

Thanks to Bartosz for the game! Bartosz told me it was one of his first tournaments, which is great to hear that he is performing so well despite being relatively new! Hope we play again sometime 🙂

Moving on to the final raid – it was once again against the Wurmspat. A more Reckless Wurmspat.

“We know the drill – kill one.” Flood Tide descended, and the Soulraid stood ready for battle. Fecula instantly charged, Getting Stuck In but missing, for the Chill Mist made it very hard to hit attacks. Tammael struck into Sepsimus and his harpoon connecte – “I wounded the big one.” Sepsimus, unfazed, charged into the Spinefin but the support from Elathain and Furiann made it impossible to hit. Again, Tammael struck – but Sepsimus was disgustingly resilient. Unfortunately, the third attack into Sepsimus missed. “A lucky save…” Tammel was annoyed, but the battle was still in their favor – that was until the Spinefin got brutally destroyed by Ghulgosh making a Headlong Charge in the flank. He grew stronger as the bile exploded. Fecula, amused at the bile, didn’t see Furiann sneak up behind her but her thick hide protected her from the strike. Luckily, the pure force of the attack pushed Fecula away and the Realm was Stripped.

As High Tide descended Tammael instantly struck into Sepsimus, and with the power of his Riptide Harpoon he managed to kill the ‘big guy’. Putting his Shields Up, Tammael stood ready – he would parry any attack. But Ghulgoch charged into Elathain instead, wounding the Soulrender. With a Keen Eye, Furiann once again charged into Fecula and managed to steal her Treasure but her Disgusting Resilience prevented much damage. Elathain Cannily teleported to deep in the Wurmspat’s territory.

“Can’t outrun me, elf.” Pushing Through, Ghulgoch chased down Elathain, and struck down the Ill-Fated Soulrender. Now stood just Duinclaw and Fecula, but Duinclaw was Impossibly Quick. A first strike from Fecula left Duinclaw flying back but unharmed. Duinclaw emitted the Siren’s Call, Luring Fecula to him, and quickly struck but missed.

“Desperate times, desperate measures. The Grandfather knows.” Fecula charged into Duinclaw, knowing that the crab was almost unhittable. Alas, the crab failed to block the sheer determination with which Fecula attacked – “The Massacre is! Unrelenting!” exclaimed the happy Fecula.

“This is bad, really bad. Furiann, what’s the plan?”

“We killed one already – everything is fine. Now stop whining and go get that treasure.”

Tammael complied, but Ghulgoch charged him for it. Furiann was also injured. “We have to reach the treasures but I can’t! Their bile is all over me!”

Tammael managed to accomplish a Hostile Takeover into Ghulgoch, separating the two so no more attacks from the Butcher happened. Unfortunately the Bile from the Wurmspat slowed the Idoneth down too much – “They have too much Bloody Momentum. Let’s run, Tammael.”

As usual, the Katophrane Curse brought everyone back.

“Haven’t I killed you before?” Ghulgoch clearly hadn’t gotten use to Nagash yet, as Elathain deduced based on his quote when Ghulgoch crashed into him. “Kill the Butcher.” Elathain’s calm command was listened to – by himself. He instantly struck back, inflicting heavy damage and pushing the Butcher away. He then Strode Commandingly, fleeing the combat scene – “I have to recuperate, fight on without me!”

Sepsimus noticed the weakness in the Soulraid – charging the fish, he instantly became more inspired when he saw the bile explode everwhere. A Soulnet flew from the shadows, striking into Ghlugoch who was mesmerised by the bile from the fish. “He’s one attack from death!” Fecula knew this, and rushed to Ghlugoch’s aid – a spew of bile flew into Furiann, inspiring the rest of the Wurmspat with the sight of wounds everywhere.

“This has to work…” Tammael knew that he had to remove Ghulgoch from the treasure he sidesteped on. A sloppy harpoon throw was guided by fate itself and managed to penetrate the Butcher’s vital organs – killing him instantly. Still, the Wurmspat looked like their Momentum was Bloody good.

Sepsimus struck first during High Tide, but missed into Elathain. Trying to Break the Prospects of the Wurmspat, Elathain charged into Fecula onto a treasure – Fecula knew this may very well be his last attack. Despite his Determined Effort, he missed. But Elathain had a trick up his sleeve – he teleported away, and instantly Cannily Sidestepped onto a treasure.

“Where did that blasted elf go?” As Fecula looked around, Duinclaw Eyed Sepsimus very Keenly – a crab claw to the brawler left him reeling, but Sepsimus swiftly drank a Healing Potion and his wounds closed.

Meanwhile, Fecula was looking to secure some treasure – she charged and spewed bile at Furiann that connected. A follow up charge from Sepsimus Pushing Through his pain killed Furiann.

Knowing he had to play it safe, Tammael simply moved onto a treasure that he knew another fighter can crab – he had the Siren’s Call ready to secure a Stripping of the Realm. As he was about to move to emit it, something came over him – his Attitude became very Reckless.

“Tammael! What happened?” But Tammael was tranced – he did not budge, and thus the Soulraid lost an important advantage, while still being in the lead.

Elathain stared directly at Sepsimus as he was charged – Sepsimus had a Keen Eye, and Elathain watched the blade approach him. There was nothing he could do – leaving Tammael and Duinclaw alone, and giving the Wurmspat a very Strong Start to Ebb Tide.

Tammael started Delving for Wealth, but he couldn’t really do much else, or the Massacre would be Unrelenting. Fecula capitalised on this, charging into Tammael with Critical Effort – as the attack connected, Tammael felt his Fate Branch in multiple directions. He staggered back, and hesitated for a second.

“You’ll pay for that.” Charging back onto the treasure, he swung his harpoon into Fecula – everything depended on this attack.

Unfortunately for the Soulraid, Fecula was disgustingly resilient – she just laughed in the face of the full force of the Riptide Harpoon.

She struck back, killing the last of the Idoneth.

With that, it was all up to Duinclaw. It was Arena Mortis and he could not do much – so all he did was scuttle to some treasure and hope for the best – Elathain and his Soulraid would get to keep their mantle of ‘Ill-Fated’ for now.

Thanks to Jarek for the game! It was insane playing in the finals – glad to have faced another player I see often! Shows a lot about how strong our meta is! 🙂

With that, the tournament ended. I came in second place but I was ranked first Austrian in the ENTIRE EVENT (mainly cause no one else showed up – I need some help peer pressuring them to do so next year! 🙂 )

Thanks to everyone for your continued support throughout the event! I loved meeting a bunch of cool new folks as well as some prominent Discord personalities! That’s always one of the best parts of such large events!

If we go back to content creation mode for a sec, I’d love to know your feedback on this article style – did you enjoy the story-esque narrative? Did it make sense what was going on? Do you prefer it over the default tournament review? Criticism is always appreciated and you can always find me on Discord where I love to chat! 🙂

And with that, massive thanks to everyone for reading! Great meeting everyone at Worlds 2025, and you can bet your last dollar that I will be back next year – and place even higher than this year 🙂 Hope to see you again soon!