Two Bosses Enter: Kel'Thuzad vs. Archimonde

Two bosses will enter... but only one will leave in WoW Insider's fantasy deathmatch series. We're pitting two of Azeroth's raid bosses against one another in a battle that your votes get to decide -- until in the end we're left with a single boss as the ultimate champion. Be sure to check out our brackets for a full round-up of our ongoing fight schedule!) This week we present Kel'Thuzad, the ominous Archlich of the Plaguelands, and Archimonde the Defiler, the greatest and most ruthless of the Eradar. Who will win no one knows -- because ultimately, it's for you to decide. So read on and voice your opinion!


The Lich Lord Kel'Thuzad rules over the Plaguelands from the floating citadel of Naxxramas. While in his citadel, the fight begins with the raid taking out several adds, we're just considering the bosses themselves, so we'll start by talking about what would normally be considered phase 2 of this encounter, when you first get to fight Kel'Thuzad himself. We're ignoring Kel'Thuzad's insta-kill abilities, presuming Archimonde would be immune to them (after all, it would be a very boring fight if he weren't). That said, Kel'Thuzad would primarily attack with frost and shadow damage spells:

Frostbolt: Kel'Thuzad can cast both single and multi-target frostbolts

Chains of Kel'Thuzad: mind control on up to four targets, greatly increasing their abilities (since Archimonde summons no adds, this shouldn't come into play during this fight)

Shadow Fissure: creates a fissure in the ground, causing massive shadow damage to anyone entering it

Kel'Thuzad also has access to the following attacks, but remember, we're assuming that insta-kill abilities will not harm Archimonde (whether their other effects would apply, I leave you to decide):

Frost Blast: immobalizes and does damage equal to 100% of the target's health (heal pls!)

Mana Detonation: causes mana users to explode, dealing damage to all of those around them

When he reaches 40% health, Kel'Thuzad will summon five Guardians of Icecrown to aid him. They have high health and do melee damage only. However, they have access to the self-cast skill Blood Tap, which gives them +15% to all damage and stacks up to 99 times. Would these Guardians be Archimonde's demise? You'll have to decide!


Archimonde does very respectable melee damage as well as incredibly high shadow damage. His special abilities include:

Fear: a 5-6 second AoE fear, cast approximately every 40 seconds

Air Burst: which does some damage and tosses the target high into the air

Grip of the Legion: a very high shadow-damage DoT

Doomfire: a trail of fire that does damage to anyone who's in its path (painful for feared targets)

Soul Charge: whenever anyone dies, Archimonde gains a "soul charge" which has various effects depending on the class of the deceased player. All involve AoE damage and anther AoE attack (silence, mana burn, or increased damage taken).

Archimonde has an incredibly high damage potential -- though I have a feeling Kel'thuzad might be resistant to some of these shadow attacks.

Who wins and who loses in this epic battle? It's nearly time for you to to tell us, but before that, a reminder: we're considering these two bosses with approximately equal health and approximately equal damage output capabilities. We aren't making this into a math equation of who's got more health than who, so when you cast your vote, cast it on fighting style, not highest level.