Race to World First: Castle Nathria

Interestingly, some guilds (including Complexity Limit) are doing 4x M0 dungeons for a weekly quest before entering the raid on Mythic. This weekly quest rewards each player with a Heroic item level piece of loot from Castle Nathria.

Other guilds, namely BDGG and Lazarus Imperative opted to go straight into the raid, both having downed the first boss, Shriekwing.

Securing the third boss kill is proving to be a challenge compared to a lot of previous 3rd bosses. Limit is inching closer on Sun King and Imperative making good progress at about 15% on Hungering Devourer. 

As Limit prepares to come back from a 45 minute break, BDGG inches closer to killing Sun King with a best a 2% wipe. Lazarus is making steady progress on Lady Inerva Darkvein at about 50%. The US guilds really showed up today with their Wheaties and A game, which makes this race so much run to watch. 

Limit pushing progression forward at 4/10 with Imperative and BDGG close to follow is certainly bringing the heat. A few more hours for US to keep gaining a lead before the EU comes out swinging. So far, we have about 13 US guilds with at least 2 Mythic bosses killed and 20 with at least 1 kill. Now is the time to grab a power nap, some tacos, a coffee and have a stretch while you can. 

Looks like Complexity Limit is doing some off stream The Council of Blood pulls in for practice while BDGG has packed it in for the US night as well. 

Multiple EU guilds have now entered the raid, whereas others (e.g. Method) have opted to secure their free piece of Heroic loot from the weekly quest first before heading in to Castle Nathria.

We have a few recorded EU kills already, with Casual Raiders claiming EU 1st on Mythic Shriekwing! We know Echo have also secured their Shriekwing kill and are awaiting news of others.

Echo have dismantled Huntsman Altimor in quick time, killing the boss on their first pull! We do not yet know which boss they will go for third, but it will be interesting to see how fast the EU guilds progress through these early bosses in comparison to other regions.

The EU guilds are mixing it up slightly further with Pieces and Aversion opting to earn Conquest through Arenas before entering the raid.

Pieces and Method have now entered Mythic Castle Nathria and are working on taking down Shriekwing.

Pieces and Method have both defeated Shriekwing, killing the boss almost at the exact same time.

Both guilds move onto Huntsman, it will be interesting to see which guild breaks ahead.

Ahead of the EU pack, Echo are preparing to do their second pull, with their first attempt seeing the boss get down to around 60% health.

The guilds Endeavør, Exorsus and Bloom have downed Shriekwing, rounding out the top 5 EU kills on the first boss of Mythic Castle Nathria.

Exorsus, Method and Pieces have all defeated Mythic Huntsman Altimor, locking in EU second, third and fourth respectively.

Method and Pieces are still neck and neck, with Pieces killing the boss moments after Method.

Pieces have broken ahead, defeating Hungering Destroyer, claiming EU second.

Taking note of some other EU guilds; Aversion have entered the raid and have downed Shriekwing, Method and Exorsus continue to work on Hungering Destroyer.

The current EU leaders, Echo, are making good progress on Artificer Xy'mox, with their latest pull seeing the boss at 28%.

After a series of breaks, with some guilds opting to finish up their Conquest caps and Torghast runs, we have a number of the top EU guilds back in the raid.

Echo is working on the Sun King, Pieces are pulling the Artificer, and Exorsus have claimed the EU 3rd kill on Hungering Destroyer. Both Method and Aversion are hot on their heels, working their way through the Hungering Destroyer with 10% and 60% pulls respectively.

Aversion claim their third kill with the EU 5th on Hungering Destroyer! Downing the boss after only 11 pulls. They will now advance to join Pieces, Exorsus and Method on Artificer Xy'mox.

BDGG has decided to skip Lady Inerva Darkvein for now and instead focus Artificer Xy'Mox. Meanwhile, Method wiped on Artificer at 0.24%! For the mathematically challenged like me, that about only 60k hp left on the boss. I see a kill in the immediate future, what about you?

Aversion scoops up World 5th kill for Artificer Xy'Mox putting them at 4/10 kill for Mythic Castle Nathria. 38 wipes for this feat moves them to World Rank 6th! 

While the US and EU is taking a much needed rest in terms of Mythic raid activity, Korean guild AFK R grabs a KR 1st Shriekwing and Hunstman take down. 

Watching Limit go hard in the paint on Sludgefist and I can say one thing: this boss has chained my heart. Ok, I admit that was terrible. However, even with the double Chain Slam hotfix deployed, he refuses to budge. This fight is not melee friendly, comes complete falling rocks of death and chains for your comfort. This is definitely going to be a blocker for many guilds. 

Limit finally called it around 21 wipes with their best pull at 51.7%. With little to no percent progression each pull combined with the late US hour, calling it was a good idea. 

Lazarus Imperative at 41% and Blood Legion at 34% best attempts for Artificer, though they are looking pretty tired. 

Good morning EU fans! The top EU guilds are underway already this morning. Echo have begun pulling Sludgefist again for WeakAura and positioning testing, but have already improved on their best with a 53% pull! Meanwhile Method are working on Lady Inerva Darkvein and record their new best pull as well at 30%.

We have more EU guilds in the raid, so we will likely start to see some movements in the ranking before the morning is over.

Aversion have opted to do Heroic splits, having just killed Sire Denathrius.

Pieces continue to work on The Council of Blood, with 29 pulls for this fight their best attempt is 2/3 dead and 90% health on Niklaus.

We've also seen another new best from Echo on Sludgefist, with a 38.9% wipe, currently with 27 wipes. Comments were being made regarding making space for more Warlocks in the raid setup for this fight, reducing the number of melee DPS to do so.

Pieces are dancing for their lives, continuing to make great movement on The Council of Blood progress. Their new best is 2/3 dead, wiping on Niklaus at 17% health.

They have voiced being overrun during the fight, and that they will be potentially looking to bring in more boomkins to help handle this better. Increasing to two Boomkins in the raid and have picked up a few BOE items (with sockets) from the Auction House.

A few more tactics are being discussed before they continue.

So far today, we haven't seen any bosses falling for the EU guilds, but we are seeing steady progress from each guild on their respective bosses they're working on, with quite a few very close attempts.

• Echo with 18.6% on Sludgefist
• Pieces best on The Council of Blood of 2/3 dead and the final boss at 1%
• Exorsus with an 8.7% wipe on Artificer Xy'mox
• Method's best of 6% on Lady Inerva Darkvein

It also seemingly looks like Aversion is one of the only guilds to be utilising their Heroic splits, with the rest opting to hold onto them.

And ANOTHER Artificer Xy'mox kill secured by an EU guild, this time by our Alliance representatives Exorsus! EU 6th, World 9th. They too move to 4/10 and will join the other guilds progressing the Sun King.

Plenty of progression being made across the board by the EU guilds. Whilst Echo are well in to their Sludgefist progression now, Pieces are looking to get theirs kickstarted soon. Meanwhile elsewhere both Method and Aversion are working their way through Lady Inerva Darkvein, with best pulls of 6.1% and 2.4% respectively! Exorsus are also actively pursuing their kill on Sun King's Salvation, with the Shade healed over 40% in their best attempt. 

We are still waiting for Complexity Limit and BDGG and the rest of the NA guilds to get underway again today.

A very, very heartbreaking 0.2% wipe from Method on Lady Inerva Darkvein. The kill has got to be coming soon surely?!

It seems Method may well be considering doing some Heroic Split runs. Speaking of which, if any of you readers are able to trade loot from Heroic Sire Denathrius this reset (Mythic Week), you can apply for your chance to be invited to one of Method's Split runs. If you attend and trade a weapon token to one of our raiders, you will receive 1 million gold on any EU server of your choice!

As the US guilds start to wake up and enter the raid again, namely Complexity Limit, the current leaders in the Race to World First Castle Nathria the pressure is on again. Complexity Limit have started to pull Sludgefist again, looking to regain their lead with a full day of raiding ahead of them.

Their current competitors on Sludgefist are still Echo and Pieces. Echo, having had the most pulls on the boss so far, with their best attempt being 17% and Pieces with fewer pulls on the boss, reaching 62% on their best attempt.

Meanwhile, it appears Method and Aversion are neck and neck, both having multiple sub 10% wipes on Lady Inerva Darkvein.

As Method intensely focuses down Council heading into the EU evening, with current best of 16 pulls at  0% Frieda | 73.4% Niklaus | 0% Stavros, Upper Sire competition is heating up!

Upper Spire progression sees Echo is really ticking down Sludgefist with 11.4% for best pull. On their tail, Limit so closing in on 16.3% with 57 attempts so far and Pieces holding steady at 43% for best attempt.  Echo, Limit and Pieces fighting for 8/10 kill count begs the question - who is it gonna be?

Chinese guild Skyline grabs seat 8 at the World top 10 table. Tagging along for the ride, Exorsus rises to 9th place showing the world that when we say Global RWF,  we mean it! 

Echo and BDGG are breaking on Sludgefist to knock out some heroic splits. The splits should help give a boost considering once the boss is under 16%, hps pressure crushes pretty quickly. Limit is still chipping away at 71 pulls with a best attempt at 14% so far. 

For Council, Method refuses to let up, with 2/3 of the council bosses killed. Niklaus is inching at 53.9% with 30+ pulls, trying to get their footing with the adds. 

Aversion sees Skyline's 6/10 and answers their call, killing Lady Inerva to keep a stronghold on their World 7th spot. 

Exorsus may have showed up late to the party, but they brought the boom! Lady Inerva finds death at their hands putting Exorsus 6/10 and World 8th. Lazarus Imperative still working Lady down with a  best try 5.1%.

Limit is absolutely refusing to say die. They are now on pull 133 and have finally pushed past their 6% barrier to 2.1%. If I did not know any better I would say these guys are insane. Ok yeah, they are still probably insane. However, much respect to their resolve to see Sludgefist dead tonight. 

After 159 wipes with no end in sight, Limit has shut down for the night to get some sleep. Given Sludgefists difficulty, I don't suspect we will see an easy kill from EU when they wake up. Truth be told, Pieces and Echo do have the skills to pay the bills. So it is anyone's game.

The early bird catches the worm, or so the saying goes. At least, Method are hoping so as they are currently the only top EU guild already back in Mythic Castle Nathria, with pulls on the Council of Blood underway!

Meanwhile Echo look to be setting up for Heroic Split runs as they aim to boost their raid DPS. This is of course in an attempt to secure a world first Sludgefist kill and to take the lead in the race for the first time, after Limit came excruciatingly close to a kill last night, but ultimately came up just (0.9%!) short.

Echo is preparing to return to pulling Sludgefist. With a best of 11.4%, they are eager to get going and have started summoning raiders to get ahead of the two other guilds currently on the same boss.

Pieces started up at 10am CET and went straight to Sludgefist. They currently stand at 103 pulls with a best of 26%, so they have some catching up with both Echo and Limit, but are definitely one to watch.

Practice have defeated Lady Inerva Darkvein and move onto The Council of Blood.

Pieces with a new best pull on Sludgefist, wiping at just over 25%. Their team comms would suggest they are highly confident the boss is killable today - but will we see a world first Sludgefist kill today? And if so, from who? ...

Complexity Limit are surely favourites with multiple single-digit wipes, but these EU teams still surely have a few more hours of trying before Max and the team come back online.

Aversion come so so close to their kill on Council of Blood! Wiping with just 686k HP left on Castellan Niklaus, roughly 7.65% of his HP. That means the boss is very much in kill range for them and could go down any pull now. 

Pieces with ANOTHER great pull on Sludgefist, this time wiping on just 9%! Considering they still have not done their full complement of Heroic Splits, they are looking really good right now.

The decision on whether or not to go and do those Splits now is crucial. Typically guilds delay them for as long as possible to get as much information on the raid as possible, preferably on the final boss to discover which classes are going to be best to stack, and thus funnel gear to in the Split runs. However, with Sludgefist seeming like such a wall due to very very tight DPS checks, it's likely Pieces will opt to do them as Echo, Limit and Method have done.

Aversion continue to edge closer to a kill, with just 3.3% left on the boss, we could expect a kill on any pull. They appear to be taking a short break to regroup, then we should expect to see them pushing hard for the kill to secure the world 5th kill of The Council of Blood.

Currently we have the following guilds on Sludgefist: Limit, Pieces, Echo and Method. Best of these 4 guilds is Limit with a 0.9% wipe, followed by Pieces with 9%, Echo with 11.4% and finally Method who have yet to pull the boss.

The following guilds fighting to take world 5th for The Council of Blood are Aversion, Exorsus, Practice and Skyline.

Pieces is back from their break, currently the EU guild with the best pull of 9% on Sludgefist, so it will be interesting to see if they close the gap before Complexity Limit start their raiding day.

Method are working on their HC splits now after finishing some PvP, Torghast and M+ keys.

Over in the Pieces camp, they seem more hyped than ever after doing HC splits, checking over tactics and they are determined to get Sludgefist down tonight, "before dinner!!", they claim. No dead Sludgefist - no dinner.

Aversion, now at 46 pulls on The Council of Blood, still with a best at 1.1% have returned from a break to do a couple of high keys M+, ready to finish the job.

Exorsus have also recently returned from a break, and they look ready to get the party started once again.

Another 3 Chinese guilds have entered the top 20: Chao Jie (17th), JinLing (19th) and Alpha (20th).

Honestly is representing for OC guilds, remaining among the top 20 (18th).

Speaking of Sludgefist being next, Complexity Limit are awake and entering the raid as we speak! With their best attempt of 0.9%, will should see the Mythic Sludgefist World First claimed today.

Echo is back in full take down Sludgefist mode, looking to beat their best pull of 11.4%. They need to catch up to Limit, who is hard at work trying to break the Stone Legion Generals.

BDGG have defeated The Council of Blood achieving the World 8th kill and US/OC 2nd kill. They move forward to Sludgefist with 7/10 Mythic progress.

As we settle in for what could be a long weekend of raiding competition, Club Camel joins the Lady Inerva kill club, pushing them 6/10. 

BDGG and Limit have called it a night to get some beauty sleep for tomorrow's progress. BDGG passed their 48% wall and ended with a 24.1% attempt on Sludgefist.

Limit seems to be stuck in phase 2 with their best pull moving from 83% to 81%. They always do better on the morning following a long day of attempts, so I am sure they will hit phase 3 tomorrow. Lazarus Imperative is working hard on Council as Echo and Pieces prepare start their raid day.

Echo with a new best on Sludgefist, wiping at just 2.61%! They lost a DPS at around 20% which surely would have made a big difference. It is very much in kill range now!

Whilst Echo start to familiarise themselves with Stone Legion Generals, the other EU guilds have been coming online. Method were in the Maw early this morning and have now continued with their Heroic Splits as they gear up to tackle Sludgefist.

Pieces have opted not to go in to Splits yet and are continuing with their Sludgefist pulls. They are the only EU guild on Sludgefist not to have gone to Heroic Splits yet - a brave choice that it is definitely a gamble, but one that could pay off in the long run if they are able to focus their Splits around classes that are preferred on Sire Denathrius rather than Sludgefist.

Meanwhile Exorsus continue to seek their kill on the Council of Blood and we are anticipating Aversion will start up again soon.

EU guilds are still pushing forward. Echo is working on Stone Legion Generals.

Over in the Sludgefist camp:

• Pieces has decided to pause on Sludgefist and run HC splits on Sire Denathrius to squeeze on that small DPS that they miss to kill the boss.
• Aversion are at 35 pulls with a best of 42.6%
• Method are still early in their Sludgefist with 6 pulls and a best of 71% health.

With Limit and Echo both at the Generals, we now have 8 guilds locked into Sludgefist progression. The top 10 guilds currently consists of 2 US teams, 6 EU teams and 2 Asian teams all looking to snag a World 3rd kill on the giant.

Right now Pieces have racked up the most pulls on the encounter, and have now finally resigned to Heroic Splits to find the extra throughput they need to secure the kill. Method opted to spend most of yesterday and this morning completing Heroic Splits of their own, which has allowed Aversion to overtake them slightly in terms of number of pulls and lowest percentage. Method have 34 pulls on Sludgefist with a best of 44%, whereas Aversion have over 60 pulls with a best of 40%.

In Asia the day is drawing to a close, whereas in the US it is just starting. Whilst we're unsure if Skyline or Jitianhong will be able to down the giant before going to sleep, it is possible BDGG can do it today upon waking up.

Swedish guild Practice have now also killed the Council of Blood, claiming World 11th and EU 7th, joining the myriad of other teams working through the wall that is Mythic Sludgefist!

Lazarus Imperative send the council packing, moving them up to 7/10 after 68 pulls. With so many hours left in the US raid day, they are in excellent position to work Sludgefist to catch up with Limit, Echo and Pieces. 

US guilds are getting some alone time with these Mythic bosses while EU is fast asleep, dreaming of sugar plum WF fairies. Club Camel brings their kill count to 7/10 moving from Council to Sludgefist while Elicit pops up to say hello downing Lady Inerva, bringing them to 5/10. 

Limit is working over the Stone Legion Generals with 217 pulls so far and a best attempt wall 49.7% when they ended for the night. 

BDGG is dancing with the Sludgefist devil, hitting a best attempt of 8.5% with 135 wipes. 

These US contenders have a few more hours before our EU compadres come out swinging at 8/10. 

As we settle in to what is Day 6 of the Race to World First Castle Nathria, things are becoming very tense at the top. Complexity Limit, Echo and Pieces are all working on the Stone Legion Generals, a fight that is widely reported to have numerous bugs and issues that is causing the top guilds much frustration. Complexity Limit thus far have pulled the boss 217 times with a best attempt of 49.4% in to Phase 2. Echo's best on the other hand is 49.8%/48.6% during 2nd intermission after a total of 117 pulls. Lastly Pieces, who have only pulled the boss 21 times, have a best of 61% on Phase 1.

Elsewhere in Europe, Method, Aversion, FatSharkYes, Exorsus and Practice are working very hard to break through the wall that is Mythic Sludgefist. Aversion is slightly ahead with 126 pulls with a best of 17.7%, followed closely by Method who sit at 111 pulls with a best of 21.4%.

Of the Asian guilds Skyline (6th) and Jitianhong (9th) are among the top 10 in the worlds, whilst Alpha (16th) is climbing steadily. Both Skyline and Jitianhong, together with nine other guilds, are hoping to get that world 4th kill on Sludgefist.

Meanwhile over in the Oceanic region, Honestly are leading the race having defeated the Sun King encounter, taking World 30th, US/OC 10th.

Skyline have recorded a new best pull on Sludgefist at 14%. Meanwhile Method and Aversion are both well over the 150+ pull mark now, with either yet to bring the giant below the 10% mark.

Over on Stone Legion Generals we have a new recorded best attempt from Pieces, reaching 50% (& 100%) and the first intermission after 55 pulls. Echo are now sitting at 131 pulls, with 49.8% & 48.6% still their recorded best.

Checking in with Lazarus Imperative who is now at about 25.5% of 99 pulls on Sludgefist. So close, yet still far in raid years. It would be really cool if both these guilds can kill him tonight to add a little spice to this Mythic Castle Nathria WF race. 

Looking at the scoreboard this morning, Limit getting WF on the Stone Legion Generals has been the only major change at the top of the scoreboard. Now at 9/10 bosses defeated they are ready for some serious Sire Denathrious progress when the US raiding starts up again today. So far they have had 1 pull on him, resulting in a wipe at 86%.

Overall, we now have 19 guilds trying to grab that world 4th kill on Sludgefist; 11 EU guilds, 3 US guilds, and 5 Asian guilds. Although the guilds are likely getting tired of hammering away on Sludgefist, we are seeing some great progression and it's an exciting day for all of these guilds trying to secure their position in the race and their ranking on Sludgefist.

Then we have Echo and Pieces on Stone Legion General. Echo, only moments ago made huge progress making far into phase 3 on their 175th pull, with a new best of 19.6 / 23.1 %!! Pieces do not have as many pulls on Stone Legion Generals as Echo, but they certainly feel the pressure.

Pieces have also just started up for the day, heading straight to Stone Legion Generals.

Method have seen their new lowest pull of 5.4% on Sludgefist. With the raid looking healthly there, it seems they now need to turn their attention to hitting that point at a lower % if they are to get a kill before the AoE damage from the wall charge wipes them (as seen with the kills from Complexity Limit, Echo and Pieces). Discussion in the raid quickly turned then to composition, with them potentially looking to swap some of the DPS classes to get the boss low enough for that tight kill window. With some players weighing up the DPS increase of changing to Troll for Berserking.

They are now splitting into Mythic+ to target some DPS gear.

Taking a look at the two EU guilds working on Stone Legion Generals; we have seen another new best in Echo's camp, with 183 pulls they got 17.7% / 18.3% - Phase 3! Over in the Pieces' camp, there has also been some progress, with 121 pulls and the best of 50% Kaal / 81% Grashaal - 1st intermission!

Aversion are back in the raid, starting their day of progress with more pulls on Sludgefist. With their best pull of 9.9% and a wipe just now of very similar health, we should see some interesting progress today.

Echo come close again to a kill on the Stone Legion Generals, wiping with General Kaal on 18% and Grashaal on 19%.

Pieces have also recorded a new best, with Kaal at 50% and Grashaal now down to 72%.

Echo come so so SO close to a kill on the Stone Legion Generals, wiping with Kaal on 6.3% and Grashaal even lower at on 3.8%.

Elsewhere we have sub-30% wipes on Sludgefist by both Aversion and Exorsus. Method are still farming additional DPS gear from Mythic + before heading back in to Castle Nathria to tackle the giant themselves.

We have a Korean 1st kill on The Council of Blood, as Right have defeated the encounter, claiming KR 1st, Asia 6th and World 24th.

It looks like Echo have taken their streams offline as they look to make early progress through the Sire Denathrius encounter. Meanwhile Pieces are still working their way through the Stone Legion Generals, with discussions between the raiders seemingly focused on learning how Echo were able to overcome the parts of the fight they are most struggling with currently.

Method are still farming M+ in an attempt to gear up their DPS players to make the final push on Sludgefist. Aversion have been actively progressing the encounter today, having recently secured a new best pull at 9.6%. Exorsus are also making steady progress, with several pulls under the 30% mark. 

Method is taking a 30 minute refuel break for food, then they will resume reading Sludgefist his last rights. They will be back to it at 5:30PM GMT/9:30AM PST.

While we wait, Bookmark has the intermission entertainment covered: https://www.twitch.tv/sco

Method is hard focused on killing Sludgefist before the day is over, with a new best attempt of 3.5% with 235 pulls and counting. Head on over to the stream and give them some energy in chat: https://www.twitch.tv/sco

As the US day comes to an end, let's have a quick recap.

Vesper, xD and Midwinter joins the #Sludgefistorbust ranks, killing Council and bringing their kill count to 7/10.

It is US reset day, which does put US at a slight advantage for potential gear to help give a little boost. Limit and Echo are the obvious and most likely Sire Denathrius WF kill candidates however, let's be real - it's anyone's game at this point. We have seen some seemingly impossible feats this first raid tier of Shadowlands, so join me in throwing out the rule book, textbook and well all the books.

Pieces, BDGG and FatSharkYes have much Stone Legion Generals work to handle today before they can begin the Sire Denathrius dance. Meanwhile many other guilds still need to break through the wall that is Sludgefist, including Method who are starting out today after a best attempt of 2.5% shortly before stopping yesterday.

I know things earlier were getting a little spicy, sometimes that is needed to keep the blood pumping. In the fun, teasing that some turn into toxic though, it's important to remember we have a job to do as a community. Yes, I am talking to you! Every one of us RWF enthusiasts have one of these two jobs to do - either kill Mythic bosses or support those who are. Each of these jobs comes with its own ups and downs, ultimately both jobs end with the same achievement. Sharing a passion for World of Warcraft, helping it continue to thrive. 

Will the next Sludgefist kill come from Asia? Whilst we wait for the EU guilds to come online, we are seeing Sludgefist actively being pulled by Skyline, Alpha, Chao Jie and JinLing. 

Following Method's kill on Sludgefist, there are now over 25+ guilds vying for the World 7th kill, reinvigorated by news that Method have downed the giant. Whether it will be one of the EU or Asian guilds, we are expecting more teams to secure their kill and move on to Stone Legion Generals today. From EU Exorsus and Aversion look most likely, with best pulls of 1% and 1.7% respectively, meaning a kill could come any pull now. Over in Asia, we believe Skyline have the best recorded pull at 6%, followed by Alpha who have a best of 16%.

Meanwhile over on Stone Legion Generals we have both Pieces and FatSharkYes continuing to make progress. Pieces currently sit at 185 pulls with a best of 50% Kaal/68% Grashaal. Method have opted to head to the Maw to complete their dailies ahead of starting their progress on the encounter after lunch.

We do not currently know how Echo are progressing on Sire Denathrius, however they have announced on Twitter that they intend to stream at 16:00 CET.

With today being reset day in NA, both Complexity Limit and BDGG are likely to be heading in to their Mythic re-clears very soon as they look to gear up and tackle Sire Denathrius and Stone Legion Generals respectively.

The race for World 7th Sludgefist is really heating up! Skyline have recently wiped on 3%, whilst Jitianhong have wiped on 4%.

With Aversion and Exorsus also having recorded sub-2% pulls, the next kill on the giant should be coming any minute!

Method's Stone Legion Generals early progress is underway now, whilst Pieces also continue to pull the boss.

Over in Oceania, Ethical recorded the OC 2nd, US/OC 9th, kill on the Council of Blood and will now join the myriad of guilds attempting to take down Sludgefist. Will be a tall order for them to chase down OC leaders Honestly, but anything can happen between now and Sire Denathrius going down. 

As we move later in to Day 8 of the race, we have multiple guilds edging closer and closer to downing Sludgefist. There are multiple Chinese guilds within kill-range, in addition to Aversion and Exorsus who are neck-and-neck to claim the next EU kill on the giant. There are at least five guilds that we know of that have recorded at least one sub-10% wipe from across these regions, and all will be hoping to get this boss down before the day is out.

Pieces, FatSharkYes and Method are all working their way through Stone Legion Generals, trying hard to move to 9/10 before their weekly reset tomorrow morning, when they will all likely re-clear for additional gear.

Echo are due to be going live any minute and fans are eagerly anticipating seeing where they have gotten up to with their Sire Denathrius progress.

Over in NA the guilds will slowly start to come online, including Complexity Limit and BDGG who will have the chance to start their re-clears today, potentially followed by Heroic Splits.

Echo have now announced that they will not be streaming any of their Sire Denathrius progress today. Instead fans will have to wait until EU reset tomorrow morning, when they apparently will turn their streams back on again for their Mythic re-clear. It is unknown whether or not they will then keep their streams on or turn them off again once they reach Sire Denathrius for a second time.

Elsewhere both Pieces and Method are still live-streaming their Stone Legion Generals progress. Pieces are up to 209 pulls with a best of 50% Kaal/62% Grashaal, whereas Method have thus far mustered 30 pulls with a best of 48.6% Kaal/100% Grashaal.

Echo has Scripe and Rogerbrown on the stream to give some additional context on why they were not streaming Sire so far.

Echo says they are ahead, and jested at unleashing a secret Feral Druid strat. Their game plan is Mythic + runs, PvP for conquest, the Maw and Torghast to prepare before tomorrow's reset. Extra sleep will round out their end of day as they are starting slightly earlier tomorrow, around 7:00AM GMT/8:00AM CET/11:00PM PST or right after reset.

Echo's current plan is to reclear the raid tomorrow. They have confirmed they will be streaming everything, including Sire Denathrius.

US reset is well underway and Limit are working on a reclear, having just killed Huntsman. It will be interesting to see how quickly they return to Sire Denathrius and the impact gear will have to how quickly a few previous boss walls can be defeated this time around.

When the Mythic race continues into a weekly reset, reclearing in hopes of additional gear can mean the difference in pushing through a difficult phase or finally killing a boss after many close wipes. Full reclears also help tighten the team skill set for a particular tough boss or blocker. For bosses like Sludgefist and Council, where all the crit stars align, resulting in a kill after much struggle before the win, reinforcement by way of reclear only help these raiders as a whole.

With many EU guilds packing it in to get ahead start for tomorrow's reset, the US made the most of their day so far. Limit did a full Mythic re-clear up to Sire. With quick precision and no real struggle for bosses like Sludgefist and Stone Legion Generals. Their efforts were rewarded with a nice little ilvl bump, priming them to get back to the anima stealing diva Denathrius. Here is a quick overview of where some of our top 10 stand with the Upper Spire bosses for Castle Nathria.

Sire Denathrius -  9/10

• Limit - Best Attempt: 29.3% | Pulls: 82
• Echo - Best attempt and pull count are unknown however, they stated this morning they are making good progress. 

Stone Legion Generals - 8/10

• Pieces - Best Attempt: 50.9% | Pulls: 229
• BDGG - Best Attempt: 74.7% | Pulls: 65
• FatSharkYes - Best Attempt: 55%  | Pulls: 69
• Method - Best Attempt: 74.3% | Pulls: 78
• Skyline - Best Attempt: 74.4% | Pulls: 44

Sludgefist - 7/10

• Aversion - Best Attempt: 1.75%  | Pulls: 524
• Lazarus Imperative - Best Attempt: 19.1% | Pulls: 133
• Exorsus - Best Attempt: 1% | Pulls: Exact count unknown

As I type this, Echo and Method are both reclearing the Mythic raid. Echo have so far spent around 30 minutes and are preparing to pull Hungering Destroyer, Method have more recently entered and have pulled Shriekwing.

Aversion, Exorsus and Pieces are outside of the raid preparing, finishing up some M+ and PVP before starting their reclear.

Exorsus have already entered the raid and are moving on to Huntsman Altimor.

Echo are working on Artificer Xy'Mox.

Method have just defeated Hungering Destroyer, moving onto Lady Inerva Darkvein next. With a new addition to the team (Cruelladk), they are taking a little time before each boss to run through tactics.

Aversion and Pieces are both still finishing preparations outside of the raid (M+, Torghast and Arena).

JinLing, ChaoJie and Alpha are still working on Sludgefist, with Alpha having achieved a new best of 5%. Skyline continue progressing on the Stone Legion Generals.

Pieces is ready to enter Castle Nathria and have started their re-clear. It will be interesting to see how their reclear pull counts compare to the current EU guilds in the raid so far. They have started to engage Shriekwing already.

Echo is going for Sun King next after defeating Artificer Xy'mox on their 8th pull.

Method have defeated Lady Inerva Darkvein and move to Artificer Xy'mox.

Alpha, ChaoJie and JinLing continue on Sludgefist. They appear to have very high pull counts on Sludgefist respectively based on the rate at which they reset after a wipe! And we know these three guilds have done HC splits, M+ and PVP.

Method have temporarily halted their Mythic reclear to head in to Heroic Sire Denathrius splits for (hopefully) some weapon token trading.

Despite some earlier wipes, both Aversion and Pieces have caught up to Exorsus on their Mythic re-clears, with all three now on the Artificer having recently downed Lady Inerva Darkvein.

Echo meanwhile are working on their Council of Blood re-kill, with a few wipes so far.   

The EU Mythic re-clears continue. Exorsus, Aversion and Pieces are all currently on the Sun King, although Pieces are technically one boss behind as they opted not to kill Artificer Xy'mox beforehand, whereas the others did.

Echo are ahead of the pack, having downed the Council and are now preparing to pull Sludgefist again on their re-clear through the raid.

Method are completing their Heroic Splits before presumably heading back in to the Mythic raid themselves.

Over in Asia, whilst Skyline and Jitianhong work on their Stone Legion Generals progress, there are a number of guilds looking to join them soon. Alpha have recorded a new best on Sludgefist of 1.7%, whereas Chao Jie got him as low as 3.4%! We know Jin Ling are edging closer to a kill also, with a previous best from yesterday of 4%.

The Mythic re-clears continue for our EU guilds. Echo are in the lead, having worked their way back to Stone Legion Generals as they attempt to reach Denathrius again.

Pieces, Exorsus, Aversion and practice are all working on their Council of Blood re-kills. We do not currently know how FatSharkYes are doing with their re-clear.

Over in NA, Complexity Limit are back online now and progressing Sire Denathrius. Will it be long before we have a winner in this race? With Christmas just around the corner, it will be interesting to see if Sire Denathrius goes down by the end of tomorrow.

As news of Complexity Limit's 4.7% wipe on Sire Denathrius has reached the Echo camp, they have opted to abandon their Split runs and head straight back in to Mythic to start pulling the boss themselves. The Race for World First is incredibly tight at the top now, as we all eagerly await to see who will ultimately triumph.

Complexity Limit just hit a new best on Mythic Sire Denathrius at 4.72%! Perhaps the Race to World First will be over today?!

Echo's best pull on Sire Denathrius currently sits at 25.9%, quite some way off the 4.7% recorded by Complexity Limit earlier, but not so far behind that you can count them out of a first-place finish yet.

Elsewhere Method have finished up their Heroic Splits and will now look to resume their own Mythic re-clear, starting with Artificer Xy'mox.

Pieces are working on their Sludgefist re-kill, whereas Exorsus have literally just downed The Council of Blood and will soon move on to the giant themselves.

Aversion have opted in to doing their Heroic splits now, whereas Practice have siphoned off in to groups to cap their Conquest through some PvP.

Limit pauses for a fast lunch break. With a 1.9% wipe, a Sire Denathrius kill in their sights and Echo hot on their trail, time is of the essence. 

While Limit and Echo continue a no holds barred battle for Sir Denathrius domination, BDGG moves to Sludgefist for their Mythic reclear, eager to return to gaining ground on Stone Legion Generals that saw a best attempt of 74.7% previously. 

Just when I think it is safe to take a quick shower, the universe laughs and Echo pushes Sire to 4.4%. 

Another look at progress and reclearing we have some movement:

• Ji Tianhong have re-killed Sludgefist and move back onto progressing Stone Legion Generals.
• Exorsus are still in the raid, working on Stone Legion Generals.
• Alpha are still working on re-killing The Council of Blood.
• Skyline continue with their HC splits.
• Jinling are doing Mythic+

Echo is giving it everything they got with a 4.25% pull while Limit is close to victory with pretty consistent 1% wipes. 

Aversion snipes Sludgefist after 331 attempts while Echo decides it's time for some Heroic splits. 

Echo are all online and are starting the day with HC Sire Denathrius splits to acquire more weapons for their main team.

Other than Echo, we don't see many of the other frequent names, although that is to be expected as many EU guilds will be offline for some, most or all of today.

Checking in with the guilds that had their weekly reset today, we can see the top guilds are actively preparing to push their own progress further.

Jinling are ready to pull Mythic Artificer Xy'mox and Chao Jie are pulling Hungering Destroyer. Alpha seem to be taking a break after a few pulls on Mythic Artificer Xy'mox. Skyline and Ji Tianhong were last seen doing HC splits.

Echo have entered Mythic Castle Nathria once again and start their next sprint of pulls on Sire Denathrius.

After doing HC splits, they were discussing raid setup, a few adjustments of classes/specs being in the raid and reassignment of cooldown usage, dps target assignment and interrupt orders.

Based on their low close pulls yesterday on the boss, it's very likely we could see a kill for them today!

Echo are incredibly close to a kill now, wiping at 2%, with confidence flowing, they have their sights set on a kill!

We are getting close to a World second kill of Sire Denathrius Mythic. Echo have had two increasingly low wipes of 0.7% and just now 0.1%.

With a quick look at the guilds reclearing, Alpha and Ji Tianhong are working on their re-kill of The Council of Blood. Choe Jie are just clearing the trash before The Council of Blood now and will join the others on the boss very soon.

The EU are back into the raid.

We see Exorsus and Method back to progressing on Stone Legion Generals. With their kill shortly before this update, the guild, Банхаммер (Banhammer) have also joined the 9 other guilds working on the Generals, defeating Sludgefist World 12th, EU 7th.

Practice are also back into the raid, pulling The Council of Blood, looking to get back to progressing Sludgefist.

Alpha are also working on Stone Legion Generals, whilst Chao Jie are doing Heroic splits.

With no new major boss kills today, we can check-in on progression by some of the 10 guilds currently on Stone Legion Generals. Below is a breakdown of the best attempts from these guilds, showing how close a lot of them are to each other.

• Pieces - 50% Kaal and 47% Grashaal (an average of 48.5%)
• FatSharkYes - 50% Kaal and 49.8% Grashaal (an average of 49.9%)
• Method - 50% Kaal and 55.3% Grashaal (an average of 52.7%)
• Skyline - 50% Kaal and 61.6% Grashaal (an average of 55.8%)
• BDGG - 50% Kaal and 82.2% Grashaal (an average of 66.1%)
• Exorsus - 50% Kaal and 86.6% Grashaal (an average of 68.3%)

Method and Pieces are back online.

• Pieces currently have 346 pulls and a best of 48% Kaal and 48% Grashaal.
• Method have had 241 pulls and a best of 50% Kaal and 48.1% Grashaal.

Checking-in on some of the CN guilds; only Skyline is working actively on the Generals, Chao Jie is taking a food break and reviewing WoTLK kills, JinLing is doing Torghast runs and Alpha are in the maw.

Pieces are making some serious progress on Stone Legion Generals. Now at 350 pulls and new best of 30% Kaal and 33% Grashaal.

Alpha is also now back into the raid and putting more progress into Stone Legion Generals.

Pieces are working on their last Heroic splits before heading into their first progression on Mythic Sire Denathrius.

Today we have the battle to secure the top 10 ranking this tier. With BDGG killing SLG earlier today, there are now 5 guilds looking to down Sire Denathrius next.

JTH and Skyline are head-to-head in getting the Asia 1st kill and World 5th, as both guilds are on Sire Denathrius with JTH having a best attempt of 34% and Skyline with a best of 36% (57 pulls). Unlike all other guilds so far, Skyline have extended their lockout (possibly with JTH doing the same). They have taken a short break to head into Mythic+ and Torghast, but should both be back in the raid soon.

In the EU, Method have started early this morning with Sire Denathrius. After 38 pulls their best is 55.1%.

We have two CN guilds closing in on a Sire Denathrius kill! Jitianhong has their best pull at 0.4% and Skyline has their best at 1.2% (142 pulls). With pulls this low, we could see World 5th and 6th kills of the end boss today.

It currently looks that Method is the only other guild currently pulling Sire Denathrius, with a best of 36.8% and 75 pulls so far.

Taking a look at some CN guilds just behind the front of the pack, Chao Jie and Alpha are working on Stone Legion Generals.

Skyline and JTH both seem to be taking a break, before pushing to secure that World 5th ranking.

Jitianhong took a break from Mythic to do HC Sire Denathrius splits, now returning to Mythic, whilst Skyline continue to pull Mythic Sire Denathrius.

In the EU, we have Exorsus entering the raid, joining Method on Mythic Sire Denathrius. Today will be the start of progress for Exorsus, so it will be interesting to see how far they get!

Method's new best today has been 30.1%, and have had 84 pulls on the boss so far.

Exorsus hit a new best of 41.9% today and have called it for the night.

After Aversion killed Stone Legion Generals, they had one pull Sire, getting the boss to 91.2% before logging off and calling it a day.

Method look to be pushing forward for a last push before stopping for today, having had the boss at a lowest of 3.3%, they are close to a kill!

Method having multiple low health attempts on Sire Denathrius yesterday has them determined to secure the kill today. They are inside the raid, on their first pull wiping at 4% and at 10% on their second pull.

Chao Jie are also actively pulling Sire Denathrius, with a recent 53% wipe they are getting further into the fight. They currently appear to be taking a quick food break.

Taking a look at the guilds also on Sire Denathrius that are currently offline: Exorsus has a best of 41.9% and BDGG has a best of 32.3%.

Exorsus have loaded up their streams and are preparing to start pulling Mythic Sire Denathrius.

Method have hit their new best with a 0.8% wipe!

Method has another 0.4% wipe! They could kill this boss on any pull now.

Chao Jie look to have finished their break and will continue pulling Sire Denathrius shortly.

Method have also taken a quick break to reset themselves after now multiple less then 1% wipes.

Exorsus are pushing forward, achieving a new best of 22.4% on Mythic Sire Denathrius today.

Chao Jie have also made progress on Sire Denathrius, achieving a new best of of 53%.

Exorsus have just wiped on Sire Denathrius at 0.69%, so they are close to taking that World 8th ranking.

Alpha have killed Stone Legion Generals.

Chao Jie are now getting into Phase 3 of Sire Denathrius, with a new best of 24%.

It looks that there is a head-to-head, seen multiple times during this tier so far, between Alpha and Chao Jie.

Both with low best % attempts on Sire, Chao Jie with a best of 1% and Alpha slightly behind with a new best of 22% (just now).