Rogue Legends: Interview with Mir
Mir, Mirlol, Mirzka.
For sure a name that remains in most people’s memory, be it from old WotLK or Cataclysm times on World of Warcraft, the old Arena Tournament (yes, the good old abyssal wow), or more recently during WoD, and even on TBC private servers such as Warmane and Endless.
It’s simple, Mir is what we call a beast when it comes to playing a rogue in arenas, a great competitor, addicted to being rank one wherever he goes. For this reason, he is for sure a legendary player that we had to interview in Rogue Life.
As a rogue myself, I know there’s a lot to learn from Mir, and having him around and supporting the community is really a blessing. During the TBC Classic Beta, he kindly accepted my interview. Here is the full recap of it. It’s longer than usual, so grab yourself a drink, and make sure to sit comfortably.
Sbkzor: Mir, first of all, could you please introduce yourself to our readers?
– What’s your name, how old are you, where do you live?
– How long have you been playing?
– The server on which you started / the class you played at first.
Mir: My name is Mir, I’m 28 years old and I live in Sweden.
I first started playing WoW in TBC and I was around 13-14 years old at the time I believe, and I’ve been playing WoW on and off since then, with some pretty long breaks here and there.
The first server I ever played on was Magtheridon and I played there because of IRL friends.
My first character was a gnome male warlock with a big beard. I made it to level 21 and quit the game with no plans of coming back, until a couple of months later when my IRL friend gave me one of his accounts which contained a lvl 61 human male rogue, and I was hooked immediately.
Sbkzor: Wow, that means that we almost missed our chance to see you playing! Considering your career, you made the right choice!
Before we talk about the hot topics, our readers love to know where the legendary nicknames are coming from. So I’m not going to make an exception: What was your first nickname ever on WoW? Did you instantly pick Mir? And where does it come from?
Mir: It’s quite a weird story. My account got permabanned for toxicity at the end of TBC due to flaming people after duels outside of Ironforge(shocker). And so, a couple of months later me and a friend of mine decided to level up new characters via the “Recruit a friend” tool.
The day before we created our characters, my friend had been to a party where he didn’t know anyone so he decided to pretend his name was Vladimir from Russia. We thought it was hilarious and for some reason we decided to split the name Vladimir into Vladi and Mir, and then add a “lol” at the end of both names. Vladilol, and Mirlol.
It’s cringe but we were like 15 or something.
Sbkzor: Yeah, I’m sure that a lot of the readers also did “childish” things in the game, so that’s not that bad!
So yeah, you were pretty young when you started to shine as a player in this game, especially on retail, but also in Arena Tournament. If we look to your past, how would you explain your success on this game?
What was your recipe to succeed as a PVP rogue player? Did you have some special mates or mentors, were you recording your own games to review them? In other words, how did you build your super skill?
Mir: I think my “success” in WoW started after I met Daanzka.
Daanzka and I met outside of Ironforge in season 6 of Wotlk on Ravencrest (which belonged to the Cyclone BG at the time).
I was the only rogue who was able to consistently beat him in duels, so he asked me to try some 2s with him.
We were doing really well in arena right away and after a few months we were rank 1 on the ladder. This was like mid-season or something.
Anyway, then I once again managed to get myself banned for flaming people (yes, again), and that’s when I started playing on AT’s TBC server, due to not having access to a retail account anymore.
Sbkzor: Oh, okay. I didn’t know that story. I was actually about to ask you how come you both played WotLK on such a high level and a private TBC server, but now, that makes sense.
Mir: Yeah, I was kind of “pushed” into playing the TBC private server at the time due to being banned on retail.
It was not my first choice by any means, just an alternative way of playing WoW at the time.
Nevertheless, I did enjoy it a lot regardless, but I preferred playing retail.
Sbkzor: And, have you always been playing on private servers ever since? Did you stick to TBC all this time?
Mir: Aside from playing on AT’s TBC server 12 years ago, I did not play any other TBC servers other than Warmane and Endless, where I played for about one year each.
There’s this misconception that I have been playing TBC servers for 10 years, but it’s just not true.
Sbkzor: Maybe also AT WotlK which was highly competitive, right? I think I remember seeing you in one of Hydra’s video showing clips from WotLK AT (maybe Hydra 10)
Mir: Yes, I played on AT’s Wotlk server from time to time back in like 2013 or something, not exactly sure.
However, it would be on quite brief occasions as I was playing a lot of retail at the time.
Sbkzor: I don’t remember seeing you in Cataclysm videos, and, as far as I know, there’s no Mir video on 4.3.4.
Did you play on this expansion (and the next ones)? Did you like it? Were you still playing the ladder?
Mir: I played a lot of Cataclysm and achieved rank 1 on Cyclone every season. I had a blast playing Cataclysm and I participated in a few online tournaments where I ended up 1st place twice and 2nd place once.
After Cataclysm I moved on to MoP and ended up being the only rogue in EU to achieve rank 1 in the first season. I started getting tired of WoW in the 2nd season of MoP after holding both rank 1 and rank 2 on the hardest BG in EU.
I remember feeling as if WoW had run its course at the time and like I might as well move on to something new.
That’s when I quit WoW and started playing a lot of League of Legends instead.
I made a brief comeback in WoD for a couple of months, where I was the highest-rated rogue in the world during the first season(until I quit), peaking at 3100 rating.
I skipped Legion completely and made another short appearance in BFA where I peaked at 3360 rating in the first season, and then I once again decided to quit.
As far as retail WoW goes I think I’m done. To me, BFA was proof that Blizzard has completely lost the plot at this point.
Sbkzor: Actually, what’s your favorite expansion?
Mir: If we’re talking retail, then probably Wotlk. Not just because of the game, but also because of the people I met and all the great moments I had playing WoW with them.
As a game I’d put TBC and Wotlk as quite equal.
I did also enjoy Cataclysm a lot as previously mentioned, but not as much as TBC and Wotlk.
Sbkzor: Okay! Thanks for sharing. Which rogue players have been influential to your playstyle if any?
Mir: I used to watch plenty of different rogue videos back in TBC and Wotlk, but I’d say the rogue that influenced me the most would be Neilyo.
Sbkzor: All right! Neil was really influential and motivating for a lot of rogues, including myself, I can relate. Thanks for sharing with us all these stories dude! But now, let’s move to our hot topic, you know, The Burning Crusade and the Beta. Loads of people are hyped by the announcement of Classic TBC during the BlizzConline.
You received a beta key and started testing it on stream recently. How do you feel about this beta so far?
Mir: So far the beta seems very clunky and wonky. There are a lot of weird interactions and plenty of bugs.
It’s very early into the beta though so it doesn’t say much.
Check our Beta reports for rogues
Sbkzor: What are the most annoying bugs you’ve noticed so far?
Mir: Shadowstep and its inconsistency. You end up in a different place every time you shadowstep, regardless of whether your opponent is standing still or not.
On top of that, your character sometimes ends up facing a completely different direction after shadowstepping, rather than facing your opponent.
Vanish also seems to load you into stealth very slowly compared to stealth, making it hard to quickly get a vanish cheap shot/sap off before your enemy has the chance to react.
And the mechanic from Classic still remains where your stealth/vanish breaks upon spamming cheap shot/sap on an enemy that enters stealth or vanish.
As well as a lot of other weird interactions where you’re unable to use an ability such as Blind on a rogue who uses vanish, because it says “Invalid Target”. Thus making vanish blind impossible.
Super weird stuff, but hopefully it will get fixed.
Sbkzor: Yeah I definitely hope so as well.
…And Is there some particular thing that you’d like to see changed for TBC?
Mir: As much as I want to see Blizzard fix vanish for TBC, I have a hard time seeing it happen, because vanish has been the same way throughout entire Classic, and it’s such a complex ability.
I don’t think Blizzard really understands how it works and why it’s different from the old “Blizzlike” vanish.
So this new broken vanish might just be something we’ll have to deal with, we’ll see.
Sbkzor: I see…, and what about the #Changes? Are you expecting any new features or adjustments for TBC? For example arena123 what do you think about this feature?
Mir: There are a couple of new features that come with the new client, such as overlapping nameplates, and built in features such as focus frame, and being able to adjust the position of frames, etc.
There’s plenty of small quality of life changes like that, as well as better graphics. The game definitely looks smoother and graphics look sharper.
I think the introduction of arena123 is great, especially for retail players as I know that it’s something that people have used and grown accustomed to for a long time.
A lot of players might not have felt too excited about TBC arena knowing that they wouldn’t be able to use arena123, so I’m glad they introduced it to the game.
As for myself, I’ll also be adding a couple of new macros that will allow for some new plays, such as having shadowstep cheap shot arena123 vs enemy rogues.
Sbkzor: For the moment you released 3 big TBC movies, which are already masterpieces, praised by the whole TBC community, but more largely the WoW community because of your aura on the game is legendary.
I was there when you streamed during the beta day1 and you confirmed that you’d be full time streaming. Am I correct ?
Mir: Yes, my plan is to keep on streaming and to do so full-time.
Sbkzor: And do you have plans for Classic TBC ? like… One video per season?
Mir: One video per season sounds ideal, it depends how long the seasons will be. Maybe I can even make two videos per season, or perhaps more frequent videos showcasing stand-alone games and such. We’ll see!
Sbkzor: …What about Mir 4?
Mir: I probably have enough clips to make Mir 4 right now but I’d like a couple more.
We’ll see what I decide to do.
Sbkzor: Any chance to get an exclusive preview for the community? 🙏🥺
Mir: Might be difficult as I am not the editor of my movies, but maybe!
Sbkzor: You’re holding most of (if not all) rank 1 title of the major pservers for a few years (eg. Warmane 2017-2018, Endless 3 servers). You also won the two 3v3 tournaments hosted by Endless in 2020, as RMP, then RLP.
Would you say that competition is the only thing that drives you in this game? Are you so addicted to being first, that you cannot let it go?
Mir: Pretty much, I used to play this game for different reasons but I don’t enjoy WoW for those same reasons anymore and I’m mostly just addicted to competing and winning.
I’ve tried to get into new games but nothing else really catches my interest anymore.
Sbkzor: Yeah, it seems hard to enjoy another game, especially open-world or MMO, once you’re addicted to WoW. There’s always something missing…
Let’s talk about this winner mentality, Doesn’t it push you too hard sometimes?
That is likely to make you a lot more exigent, towards your partners, and towards yourself, no?
…Or, as opposed to this statement, you’re finally, so used to playing that you achieved all your goals and you finally just have fun while being, at the same time, the current best active rogue?
Mir: It can definitely have a negative impact on both myself and the people that I play with, but if I didn’t have this competitive drive then I wouldn’t be as good I suppose.
I’ve tried to change my mindset regarding this and just enjoy the game for what it is, but I always tend to tip over and fall into the same direction regardless.
Now I don’t try to change it anymore, I just do what I feel I’m supposed to do and currently that is trying to be the best at TBC rogue.
Sbkzor: Ultimately… What is your goal on The Burning Crusade? What do you look for when playing? What makes you stick to the game?
Mir: My goal is to be better than everyone else always, and to be the best that I can be.
Sbkzor: Okay! At Silent Shadows, we’ll make sure to follow your path to reach this goal!
When looking at your past, do you have regrets or would you redo it exactly the same way?
Mir: I have many regrets about WoW and not taking the opportunity to do things such as compete in Blizzcon back in MOP/WOD when I felt I was really ahead of every other rogue in the game.
Although back then I had plenty of other things going for me outside of the game and WoW just wasn’t much of a priority for me, especially as my opinion on WoW was that it had run its course and I was done with it.
I also regret not taking the opportunity as a streamer and content creator back in WoD as my stream was doing pretty well at the time.
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Sbkzor: I noticed that you were receiving multiple times the same questions on your stream and I figured that we could pack some of them in this interview.
Which professions do you plan to pick for phase 1, and for endgame? Can you elaborate the reasoning behind these choices?
Mir: Blacksmithing for the Dragonmaw mace, and Jewelcrafting for the trinket in season 1.
The reason I’m going for the mace is because I don’t wanna have to rely on Spiteblade dropping during the first few weeks, and I wanna be able to invest my arena points into set pieces in order to as quickly as possible acquire the 4 set bonus.
I’m going Jewelcrafting for the trinket because it provides me with slightly stronger stealth, and I consider openers in season 1 to very often be what decides the game. So even though the trinket is a bit worse than the Bloodlust Brooch trinket in terms of raw damage output, I think it’s worth it.
Once I have the 4 set bonus and the s1 pvp off hand, I might buy the s1 pvp main hand and drop Blacksmithing for Enchanting and get the ring enchants. That depends how good the Blacksmithing mace is compared to the s1 main hand.
Sbkzor: For the past years, you’ve been mostly playing Rogue/Druid in 2v2, or at least, achieving rank1 with it. Is it also your plan for Classic TBC? Are you going to have Mirok by your side in this adventure for the world’s highest rate maybe?
Mir: Yes, the main plan is to play Rogue Druid with Mirok in TBC throughout the entire expansion. But I also plan on playing a lot of Priest Rogue with Uzbeki. And I’m all for trying Rogue Mage, Rogue Lock, and whatever else.
Sbkzor: Okay, great to hear!
This means that you’ll be playing on 2 different rogues, maybe 3? How many rogues do you have?
Mir: I have two level 60 rogues right now, one undead and one human, but I might not use the human rogue in TBC at all, as I believe undead to be stronger.
As soon as they introduce the level 58 boost, I’ll immediately boost up another undead rogue.
I would like to have 3 rogues for TBC, but we’ll see if I have enough time.
Sbkzor: One can see you playing other combs such as Disc/Rogue (you hold some R1 too on Endless’ TR with Uzb), but also Warlock/Rogue, or even some Rogue/Mage, …but at the end of the day, what makes you come back to RD?
Mir: Rogue Druid is the most enjoyable comp for me because of the long list of options you have in comparison to other comps. A good Rogue Druid can beat anything, and the synergy that me and Mirok have built up over the years makes it feel really comfortable and fun to play.
Sbkzor: Is it the best team composition ever? Or is it just the most comfortable one for you?
Mir: Based off of private servers I’d say Rogue Druid is arguably the best comp in the game, yes. Along with Warlock Druid.
Sbkzor: Alright, thanks,
What about the 3v3 bracket?
On the current private server scene, you were dominating it by playing the most emblematic TBC team composition (aka RMP) but you also demonstrated that you were quite easily able to get to top ranks as RMD or RLP for example. Would you say that RMP is the best composition? And are you going to play that comb on Classic TBC?
Mir: I think RMP is one of, if not the best ladder comp in the game. But it does have quite a few counters.
RLP, RLD, as well as Shatter, and double healer hunter, are some pretty decent RMP counters.
I’m definitely going to be playing RMP on Classic TBC, but I might play Rogue Lock X just as much if not even more. We’ll see!
Sbkzor: Do you think Classic TBC arena has the potential to become an e-sport?
If so, would you be part of this? You’re kind of the most serious candidate to be a TBC champion.
Mir: I think TBC arena is an enjoyable spectator sport, but it’s a pretty small community these days sadly, so as an answer to your question: I don’t really know.
I would of course happily be a part of it if it were to happen though.
Sbkzor: Maybe we’ll see some tournaments hosted by streamers. I’m thinking about TipsOut (OTK) and other influencers who love working on such events for example. Finger crossed.
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Sbkzor: Is rogue your favorite class to play from the entire history of this game? Could you please share with our community how come you fell in love with it?
Mir: Rogue is definitely my favorite class and if I hadn’t tried it out to begin with, I wouldn’t be playing WoW today.
I used to love the concept of ganking and the feeling of dominating my opponent, and I don’t think there’s any other class that can make you feel that as much as rogue.
Sbkzor: What advice would you give to your younger self/ to all the rogue beginners wishing to become excellent as a rogue?
Mir: Find whatever works for you in order for you to improve, it doesn’t have to be what someone else does.
You can take advice from other people but you gotta recognize and find what works for yourself.
Sbkzor: Would you share with us one of the most memorable moments in your gaming career? Something that you cherish.
Mir: Must be when I first met Daanzka in season 6 I think 😀 Definitely the highlight of WoW for me was getting to know him and playing with him.
Sbkzor: You know that, here, on Silent Shadows, you are sincerely considered as a model of success, and this community is your community. You’ll always be home here, and we hope that one day, we’ll have a chance to get you to collaborate with us and maybe contribute to the website. For now, we have a profile page for you, with your Twitch player and your videos, but we hope to see you around !
I would like to conclude this interview by thanking you for offering your time, insights, and memories with us, Mir, it was extremely cool to have you on SilentShadows.
Mir: Thank you for having me!