Complexity Limit defeat Denathrius, claim WoW Shadowlands World First raid victory

Complexity Limit have clinched back-to-back World of Warcraft Race to World First titles, defeating Sire Denathrius and clearing the Castle Nathria raid nine days after it first went live across North American servers.

The race through Castle Nathria was Limit’s to lose from the start — helped on by a controversial sixteen-hour head-start for North American guilds — but they held firm to edge European race rivals Echo more than a week after the huge World of Warcraft Shadowlands raid first opened.

Along the way, Method clinched six World First boss kills, including Sludgefist, Stone Legion Generals, and final boss Denathrius himself. The North American champs looked to have come unstuck in the final stages of the race, as they clocked up a whopping 292 pulls against the penultimate boss.

The lengthy fight let Echo step back into contention, but Limit finished the job with 143 pulls against Denathrius on December 23. The victory, Limit’s second of 2020, still currently stands as the only full Castle Nathria clear, as of publication.

Limit guild grandmaster Arthur ‘Maxmium’ Smith admitted the World of Warcraft win was a feeling “like nothing else,” for several reasons.

The main one, however, is a cloud that had hung over the guild since their shock Ny’alotha victory over Method back in February. Back then, the Complexity-led guild introduced a ’21st man,’ with Maximum leading from the sidelines.

When Limit won, defeated guilds pointed to that ‘new meta’ as the key.

“We put in so much work [for this raid], because there was that whole narrative last raid [Ny’alotha] that the 21st man thing had helped so much. I think a lot of other guilds used that to ‘cope’… that felt really disrespectful to the players,” Max said after the Shadowlands raid race win.

“Others suggested we’d “out meta’d” them to win back in February, but then they copied us this raid and we’re still here winning.

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“That, I think, was good for our players to really, really know they own at this game, and it’s not a gimmick we’re beating other guilds. The other reason, maybe the best one, is we saved Christmas!” he added with a laugh.

“It was looking a little bit dim there, for a bit… but we pulled through!”

Relive the thrilling conclusion to the Shadowlands race here:

At the time of Limit’s race-winning Denathrius victory, only Echo was also on the final boss. Method (EU), Pieces (EU), BDGG (EU), FatSharkYes (EU), Skyline (CN), and Jitianhong (CN) were battling the raid’s eighth boss, Stone Legion Generals.

This Dec. 23 clear marks the second consecutive Race to World First victory for Complexity Limit. Prior to their back-to-back triumphs, Method dominated the WoW pro scene. Read our in-depth interview with founder Scott McMillan here.

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