MDI Group B Preview: Teams and Casters
In last week’s MDI recap, Perplexed and Team Name advanced from Group A to claim the first 2 slots in the Global Finals. This weekend, Group B will take the stage and fight for their 2 tickets, but there are far more than 2 strong teams in the lineup!
Table of Contents
Group B Predictions
With the 3rd overall seed in the Time Trials, Complexity (formerly known as Hill Factory formerly known as Golden Guardians formerly known as Method NA) are the highest seeded team in the group, and have the longest track record of MDI success. After a disappointing Shadowlands Season 1 where they struggled to make it to Sunday in several Cup weekends, they have solidified a roster of four Complexity Limit raiders and team captain Jdotb. They are determined to show that they can compete with the likes of Echo and Perplexed in the other groups.
Just one place behind in the Time Trials positions, the 4th Seed are Ambition, who feature Nerf as their tank (formerly the tank of Complexity back when they were Method NA). After a strong performance in
With only two tickets available to the Global finals, the other six teams in the group are all looking to upset one or both of the higher seeded teams. The next team in the group is one that can certainly do just that, and indeed has done so as recently as the Spring season of the MDI. Obey Alliance is an Oceanic team that put up several strong finishes last season and though they only earned the 9th seed and have made several roster changes, they have time and again put forward their best runs during the tournament itself and are poised to capitalize on any sign of weakness from the other teams. Hot on their heels are Practice, who feature some top end raiders and picked up the 10th seed overall in the Time Trials (and are the fourth highest seed in this group).
The lower seeded four teams in the group are Baguette with Salo, The Goose Club, Cri Hard with a Vengeance, and 4 Danes 1 Swede, who range in overall Time Trials seeding from 15th to 22nd. These teams will face a steep uphill battle to take games against the higher seeded teams of Group B. To learn more about each of these teams, check out our Time Trials recap and the backstories of all the team names!
Here’s a look at the bracket for Group B:
The key takeaways are a likely early head-to-head between Ambition and Obey Alliance with the winner likely facing Complexity in the Upper finals. With two tickets available to the Global Finals, one will be awarded to the winner of the Upper Finals and then one will be given to the winner of the Lower Finals. It’s likely still important to then win the Finals to secure better seeding in the Global Finals, but the specifics on how that will work are not yet known.
If you watched the MDI Group A last weekend, you’ll notice that several dungeons have changed dramatically for this weekend:
Tyrannical and Fortified have flipped, and key levels have once again been reshuffled, though they continue to exist between levels 19 and 22 as they did for Group A. Halls of Atonement has the honor of being the dungeon that matches this week’s affixes, the brutal Fortified/Necrotic/Sanguine combo, though mercifully it’s only at the +19 key level. Watch out for Bolstering Mists throwing a wrench into pulls over the wall in the maze, and +22 Grievous Theater of Pain being a sizable challenge for all teams that end up there!
Meet the Talent - Group B
The Host:
Name: Daniel
Alias: Jackbcastin
Country: Texas
Class: Priest
Bio: They call me a Priest Main. Holy. Disc. Sometimes Mistweaver. but never Shadow. Because I obey the Wowhead guides of my people, the Priests, and punish those who do not. Because I do not forgive those Mages for taking my Power Infusion, or Fairies, or that safe spot in the front on Sludgefist. A thousand whispers of "PI me!" between us, will not be forgotten.
WoW Background: Started playing WoW in Firelands as a Rogue player but when one of my guildies sent me a mess of gems/enchants for my herbing Paladin to heal a Mogu'shan Vaults run in Mists I got hooked on healing. I've been maining Priest since Siege of Orgrimmar and started streaming on twitch as a hobby around that time too after being obsessed with watching Reckful/Venruki/Sodez/Talbadar stream their PvP games at their gaming house. As I was finishing my Finance degree, Blizzard asked if I wanted to take part in a new esports program in Fall of 2017 called the Mythic Dungeon Invitational. I bounced back and forth from DC to Ohio for a month during midterms, somehow passed them, and when I graduated in 2018 the program grew into the Mythic Dungeon International. I moved down to Texas, tried my hand at full time streaming, and picked up the Host role in 2019.
Now I stream, write guides for Wowhead, host the MDI, raid for W13 Soniqs Imperative and slam big keys as Holy/Disc Priest.
Alias: Jackbcastin
Country: Texas
Class: Priest
Bio: They call me a Priest Main. Holy. Disc. Sometimes Mistweaver. but never Shadow. Because I obey the Wowhead guides of my people, the Priests, and punish those who do not. Because I do not forgive those Mages for taking my Power Infusion, or Fairies, or that safe spot in the front on Sludgefist. A thousand whispers of "PI me!" between us, will not be forgotten.
WoW Background: Started playing WoW in Firelands as a Rogue player but when one of my guildies sent me a mess of gems/enchants for my herbing Paladin to heal a Mogu'shan Vaults run in Mists I got hooked on healing. I've been maining Priest since Siege of Orgrimmar and started streaming on twitch as a hobby around that time too after being obsessed with watching Reckful/Venruki/Sodez/Talbadar stream their PvP games at their gaming house. As I was finishing my Finance degree, Blizzard asked if I wanted to take part in a new esports program in Fall of 2017 called the Mythic Dungeon Invitational. I bounced back and forth from DC to Ohio for a month during midterms, somehow passed them, and when I graduated in 2018 the program grew into the Mythic Dungeon International. I moved down to Texas, tried my hand at full time streaming, and picked up the Host role in 2019.
Now I stream, write guides for Wowhead, host the MDI, raid for W13 Soniqs Imperative and slam big keys as Holy/Disc Priest.
The Casters:
Name: Caroline
Alias: Naguura
Country: Italy
Class: Druid
Bio: Naguura. God Gamer. Started playing because I was an impressionable young child and transitioned into a goofy older child and kept playing. I am a full-time streamer, caster and content creator for WoW as well as one of the top 5 coolest people in my remote village in the alps that plays WoW. Multiple world first and former MDI competitor...but my biggest achievement so far was finding the transmog tab all by myself for the first time in 2020. FUN FACT: One time I tried to use Oreo filling as a substitute for milk in a recipe.
WoW Background: I've been playing WoW since vanilla, started out playing Holy Paladin, then switched to Resto Druid and Moonkin. I have been focusing on High end PvE content the whole time and participated in the World First Race for multiple years up until Legion. I got World Firsts with Method and Serenity in MoP, Warlords of Draenor and early Legion. Then started playing high M+ and participated in the very first MDI.
I'm now focusing a lot on stream content, but I'm still doing high M+ regularly and trying to get Hall of Fame with my 2 day raiding guild. I've been casting the MDI since season 2!
Alias: Naguura
Country: Italy
Class: Druid
Bio: Naguura. God Gamer. Started playing because I was an impressionable young child and transitioned into a goofy older child and kept playing. I am a full-time streamer, caster and content creator for WoW as well as one of the top 5 coolest people in my remote village in the alps that plays WoW. Multiple world first and former MDI competitor...but my biggest achievement so far was finding the transmog tab all by myself for the first time in 2020. FUN FACT: One time I tried to use Oreo filling as a substitute for milk in a recipe.
WoW Background: I've been playing WoW since vanilla, started out playing Holy Paladin, then switched to Resto Druid and Moonkin. I have been focusing on High end PvE content the whole time and participated in the World First Race for multiple years up until Legion. I got World Firsts with Method and Serenity in MoP, Warlords of Draenor and early Legion. Then started playing high M+ and participated in the very first MDI.
I'm now focusing a lot on stream content, but I'm still doing high M+ regularly and trying to get Hall of Fame with my 2 day raiding guild. I've been casting the MDI since season 2!
Name: Alex
Alias: Xyronic
Country: USA
Class: Warlock/Mage
Bio: Xyronic is a world first raider playing in the guild Complexity Limit. He has been a high-end gamer in the World of Warcraft scene for the past 8 years, competing in previous seasons of MDI before taking on the mantle of broadcast analyst for the show.
Alias: Xyronic
Country: USA
Class: Warlock/Mage
Bio: Xyronic is a world first raider playing in the guild Complexity Limit. He has been a high-end gamer in the World of Warcraft scene for the past 8 years, competing in previous seasons of MDI before taking on the mantle of broadcast analyst for the show.
Name: Tristan Killeen
Alias: Dratnos
Country: USA
Class: Warrior
Bio: Dratnos is a returning MDI caster who has also been found casting Race to World First (RWF) events and creating content on YouTube and Twitch. He also writes the Raider.IO Weekly Route articles and raids with Hall of Fame guild <poptart corndoG>.
Alias: Dratnos
Country: USA
Class: Warrior
Bio: Dratnos is a returning MDI caster who has also been found casting Race to World First (RWF) events and creating content on YouTube and Twitch. He also writes the Raider.IO Weekly Route articles and raids with Hall of Fame guild <poptart corndoG>.
Name: Peyton Tettleton
Alias: Tettles
Country: USA
Class: Druid
Bio: Peyton Tettleton, known professionally as Tettles, is a Missouri based rapper, Balance Druid player, and part-time swami. Tettles is among the best Balance Druid players of all time, with worldwide critical acclaim. He also has an ongoing rivalry with Dratnos in which he always gets the upper hand.
WoW Background: I started playing World of Warcraft in Warlords of Draenor. Very early on into me starting to play the game with friends I really began to enjoy raiding. Throughout BRF and HFC I climbed the ladder until I was raiding at a World 200 level. After Legion came out I fell in love with M+. I was around pushing score whenever people used Wowprogress as the only scoring metric. I remember whenever Raider.io came out and basically everybody started using them. I participated in one of the Legion MDIs and began casting the MDI and RWF events in BFA. I really enjoy the friend aspect to World of Warcraft, and believe everything is better done in a group.
Alias: Tettles
Country: USA
Class: Druid
Bio: Peyton Tettleton, known professionally as Tettles, is a Missouri based rapper, Balance Druid player, and part-time swami. Tettles is among the best Balance Druid players of all time, with worldwide critical acclaim. He also has an ongoing rivalry with Dratnos in which he always gets the upper hand.
WoW Background: I started playing World of Warcraft in Warlords of Draenor. Very early on into me starting to play the game with friends I really began to enjoy raiding. Throughout BRF and HFC I climbed the ladder until I was raiding at a World 200 level. After Legion came out I fell in love with M+. I was around pushing score whenever people used Wowprogress as the only scoring metric. I remember whenever Raider.io came out and basically everybody started using them. I participated in one of the Legion MDIs and began casting the MDI and RWF events in BFA. I really enjoy the friend aspect to World of Warcraft, and believe everything is better done in a group.
The Group B Guest Caster:
Name: Eliza
Alias: Kali (Kalieyn)
Country: Australia (living in the UK)
Class: Shaman/Priest
Bio: Hey my name is Kali, I'm a multiclass healer in Pieces. I am from Australia, however currently residing in the UK living my best life playing World of Warcraft. I'm new to the competitive raiding scene, MDI, and casting so this is a great learning experience. I've never been one to want to be in the spotlight, however recent opportunities have inspired me to go out of my comfort zone and motivate others like me. I'm super nervous to be casting my first event, but I'm excited for a new challenge!
WoW Background: I've been playing WoW since the end of WoD, and started my raiding experience as a holy priest in normal Nighthold! Playing DPS for the majority of legion, I moved back to healer as a resto druid in Antorus as my guild needed it, and haven't stopped since. Playing only mistweaver monk, I began to play other healers during Ny'alotha and now I play all healers. I played on NA servers originally and moved to EU servers at the start of this expansion. Before I was introduced to WoW, my gaming experience was limited to playing the Wii and Pokemon...
I have only recently started to become involved in the esports community, and I started streaming in June this year, shortly after joining Pieces where I currently raid. After competing in the RWF and having an interview with Naguura and Meeix, I am slowly introducing myself into this community and I am looking forward to meeting new people and experiencing new things. Casting for the MDI is very exciting to me, however I am very nervous! Not only am I casting but I will be competing in the MDI with other guildies, however we are not taking it too seriously and doing it for a bit of fun.
Alias: Kali (Kalieyn)
Country: Australia (living in the UK)
Class: Shaman/Priest
Bio: Hey my name is Kali, I'm a multiclass healer in Pieces. I am from Australia, however currently residing in the UK living my best life playing World of Warcraft. I'm new to the competitive raiding scene, MDI, and casting so this is a great learning experience. I've never been one to want to be in the spotlight, however recent opportunities have inspired me to go out of my comfort zone and motivate others like me. I'm super nervous to be casting my first event, but I'm excited for a new challenge!
WoW Background: I've been playing WoW since the end of WoD, and started my raiding experience as a holy priest in normal Nighthold! Playing DPS for the majority of legion, I moved back to healer as a resto druid in Antorus as my guild needed it, and haven't stopped since. Playing only mistweaver monk, I began to play other healers during Ny'alotha and now I play all healers. I played on NA servers originally and moved to EU servers at the start of this expansion. Before I was introduced to WoW, my gaming experience was limited to playing the Wii and Pokemon...
I have only recently started to become involved in the esports community, and I started streaming in June this year, shortly after joining Pieces where I currently raid. After competing in the RWF and having an interview with Naguura and Meeix, I am slowly introducing myself into this community and I am looking forward to meeting new people and experiencing new things. Casting for the MDI is very exciting to me, however I am very nervous! Not only am I casting but I will be competing in the MDI with other guildies, however we are not taking it too seriously and doing it for a bit of fun.
Want to learn more about Kali? Check out her recent Community Spotlight interview here!
Closing Thoughts
With a promising lineup of teams and an array of talent entering this weekend’s MDI Group B of Shadowlands Season 2, be sure to check it out the broadcast LIVE, starting today, Friday September 10th at 10:00 AM PDT. For more info on the prize pool, format, and various language streams, click here.
Links
- NEW: Set up Raider.IO Stream Widgets
- Set up Raider.IO Discord Alerts
- Download the Raider.IO Client
- Follow Raider.IO on Twitter
- Support Raider.IO on Patreon
About the Authors
Dratnos hosts the The Titanforge WoW Podcast. He’s also an Officer in the World 36th guild poptart corndoG, and a commentator for events such as the MDI and the Race to World First! He streams on Twitch, where he likes to review his friends’ logs.
VitaminP (VP) is the Lead Editor & Assistant Producer of Raider.IO, and is pursuing a Masters of Business Administration. Although VP is currently focused on IRL, she specializes in tanking classes and loves competitive Mythic+. She is a Discord Partner and partnered Twitch streamer, but mostly you can find her editing, doing homework, cooking, playing with her dogs, and catching Pokémon.
