When things just go right

Raid night, last night. I signed up to go, but didn't actually expect a place.
In fact, i didn't get a place, but someone didn't turn up so I got called up as the 2nd tank.

I have to say that I was a little nervous after my last attempt at Ulduar. But yesterday was a totally different kettle-of-fish.

Leviathan - 1 Shotted
Razorscale - 1 Shotted
Ignis - 1 Shotted
XT - 1 Shotted
Iron Council - 2 Shotted  (1st Wipe was only due to unlucky zone drops)
Kologarn - 1 Shotted
Auriaya - 1 Shotted

7 Bosses downed, with very little fuss. Even though there were bosses that some of us had never seen before, everything just seemed to work.
I think part of that is down to Vind. He's a great Raid Leader, and he's always got his eye on what everyone else is doing in the raid, as well as what he needs to do.

Just to prove that experience helps just as much, if not more than, gear. Alot of the bosses in Ulduar have similar traits to bosses in previous raids. So if you've been ther and done that, and reach a new boss. The raid leader can just say "This is like...." and you'll have a pretty good idea what to expect.

Leviathan was alot like that for me. The description wasn't sinking in, but as soon as someone mentioned 'Big bad wolf' from the Kara days, it all clicked in to place.
And with Ignis, having never tanked him before, the description 'Kite him like Grobbulus' was enough for me to understand the basics of the encounter.

Alot of the early boss encounters in Ulduar seem to be pretty straight-forward. At least from the tanking point of view. but having said that, the first time I went, I was very panicky, but this time was much more controlled.

The only slight moment of madness was during Razorscale when my mouse went haywire and started spinning my screen around, leaving me dis-oriented in the middle of the fight. But the fights themselves all felt very controlled.

On both my runs, so far, Vind has been in control of most of the adds, while I take the bosses. This suits me fine, since I get to learn the encounters. But add control is a much messier role for a tank, and I'm sure the encounters would feel different if I was in that position.

As a tank I'm finding it a little more frustrating that I can't speak during the raids. Sometimes it would just be so simple to shout out something I've spotted, like yelling at a caster standing in a void-zone, or at a healer to 'keep me up' before I have to pop my LoH.

But it's just not going to be possible. I play in my living room, with my laptop on my knees. And I'm pretty sure Mrs Smythy (to be) wouldn't be impressed if I started yelling "Flowersz, HEAL ME!" while she's watching 'Peter Andre: The Next Chapter'.
I already get dis-approving looks for not talking to her, much, during raids.

I like the layout of Ulduar too, with teleports to the various areas. Kara had this with the Library, but you had to clear half the place before you could reach that. With Ulduar, you can jump to wherever you want to be, as long as you've progressed enough. And it means that on wipes, there's no long run back. Fly Up - Run In - Teleport, and you can be back in the action within about 60 seconds.

The extended raid lockouts are a great idea too. Giving you a second week to continue clearing the place makes alot of sense. Especially for the non-hardocre guilds like ours.

So, fingers crossed, the Munquis will soon master Ulduar and then it'll be on to bigger and better things.