Blizzard stuns the WoW community with a surprise L’ura secret phase that caught Team Liquid off-guard.
Fans and players were in for a wild shock earlier this morning when Team Liquid’s elite WoW guild finally defeated the near-impossible L’ura in Phase 3 (Midnight Falls). The team celebrated their victory, believing they had secured the unofficial Race to World First, only for the triumph to be cut short as a secret phase activated, bringing the boss back to life.
Players were visibly–and audibly–stunned. A clip of raid leader Max "Maximum" Smith quickly circulated online, capturing his reaction immediately after the premature celebration as the secret phase began. “Wait! No!” he exclaimed, rendered speechless. In the background, another raider shouted, “This cannot be! (reading through an NPC’s dialogue) Secret phase! Nooooo!”
From a compilation shared by Team Liquid, several players were seen jumping from their seats and discarding their gaming gear in celebration. But as the realisation hit, they scrambled back into position. “You fight! You fight!”, one raider rallied the team. Just seconds later, the guild was wiped out, prolonging their campaign despite what had initially seemed like a solid victory.
Nonetheless, Team Liquid regrouped and quickly devised a new strategy, ultimately securing yet another Race to World First victory, concluding nearly three weeks of a grueling campaign. The team once again emerged triumphant over their European rivals, Echo, bringing this raid to a dramatic close.
World of Warcraft
Release Date: November 23, 2004
Platform: PC (Windows) and Mac
Developer: Blizzard Entertainment
How fans and viewers reacted
Viewers in Maximus’ Twitch chat were equally stunned. “SECRET MYTHIC PHASE WTF,” one user typed, while another expressed disbelief at the boss’ difficulty: “HOW CAN YOU KILL THIS WTF.” Some fans praised Blizzard for the entertaining twist, which had somehow escaped leaks throughout the past week and led to an explosive reveal.
The clip attracted over 200,000 views on Twitch alone within seven hours, with social media users hailing it as one of the best WoW moments in years.
