2v2 Arena Composition Tier List / Guide for Cataclysm Classic

Last updated on Jul 30, 2024 at 19:00 by Seksixeny

This guide will focus on rankings for the Arena, where 2v2, 3v3 and 5v5 matches occur. Doing well increases your team's rating, and the higher you go, the more points will be gained upon the weekly reset. These points can then be used to buy arena gear, which mirrors PvE gear in item level, but with some item budget allocated to Resilience and PvP-oriented set bonuses.

We will be listing and ranking some of the best arena compositions for the 2v2 arena bracket in this guide. These compositions rely on having a synergistic combination of abilities that can put pressure on opponents and deflect incoming aggression successfully, and we will be offering a brief explanation on each.

Feel free to also consult the 3v3 bracket and 5v5 bracket tier lists, as well as our PvP DPS and PvP Healer rankings in order to learn more about the advantages and disadvantages of each class and specialization when individually assessed.

TABLE OF CONTENTS OF THIS PAGE

Introduction

In this guide, we will be presenting the compositions that form "the meta" of Cataclysm's Arena in the 2v2 bracket.

The meta changes over time, but it will naturally change less and more slowly in a game as well understood as Cataclysm Classic. We will also be getting the final talent balance of Cataclysm right away, and thus most of the changes will come from having better gear for classes that scale well as we progress in tiers. To give a practical example, Casters will not have immediate access to their Dragonwrath, Tarecgosa's Rest legendary right away, making them much weaker in the first phase than they will be by the end of Firelands.

While most compositions have a favored healer, alternative healers can often be employed to some degree of success, especially as healers are significantly more versatile and capable with Cataclysm talents and spells. Also, note that within each tier the compositions are not listed in order of power.

Cataclysm 2v2 Arena Tier List

2v2 is generally considered an unbalanced bracket, where only a few classes and compositions rule at the top, but even then there are good compositions for almost all classes and specializations, and a lot of diversity at the top!

Restoration Shaman are particularly notable for bringing great instant cast healing, crowd control and disruption in a single package, making them very strong with any other class, even when not explicitly listed below.

2.1.

Best Cataclysm Arena Compositions for 2v2

The best 2v2 team compositions have both strong defensive and offensive capabilities, and generally are composed of classes whose crowd control (CC) does not share diminishing returns (DRs), facilitating setups. These teams also tend to have very few bad matchups or counters.

This list will be adjusted over time as teams match against each other in Cataclysm Classic.

Composition	Strengths	Weaknesses
Retribution Paladin Unholy Death Knight	High damage and constant pressure with Death Grip, Necrotic Strike, and Chains of Ice, as well as double heavy burst damage cooldowns; Great utility with Retribution off-healing, Cleanse, Hand of Freedom, and Hand of Protection.	Double melee allows for enemy kiting, as the main gap closer is Death Grip which has a relatively long cooldown.
Rogue Marksmanship Hunter	Huge burst damage potential with Shadow Dance and Hunter short cooldown shots; Excellent mobility from Disengage, Rogue cooldowns, and Master's Call; Widow Venom and Wound Poison ensure enemy team has always their heals weakened. Excellent double lockdown with Scatter Shot into Freezing Trap, Blind and Rogue stuns;	Low self-sustain capabilities; Limited offensive dispel from Tranquilizing Shot lowers pressure potential against some compositions.
Rogue Discipline Priest	Priest brings high offensive and defensive abilities, including the ability to remove most crowd control from the Rogue and themselves; Being able to remove many slows, damage-over-time effects, and Faerie Fire can often allow the Rogue to re-stealth many times during a match, especially if not focused.	The low survivability of Priest makes them a good target to train for most compositions, requiring heavy peeling from the Rogue.
Feral Druid Discipline Priest	Strong crowd control chains with Predatory Strikes instant Cyclones into Psychic Scream; Feral has great mobility, damage, and Infected Wounds's powerful slow, as well as Curse and Poison dispel; Priest can contribute damage during CC chains and can remove diseases and friendly or enemy magic debuffs, perfectly complementing the Feral Druid kit.	Feral damage requires ramp time and Cat Form, making this composition have to pick between damage or defense against heavy Physical compositions; Damage requires melee uptime, which can be disrupted by enemy CC and certain classes with high mobility.
Unholy Death Knight Holy Paladin Alternative healers: Restoration Shaman	High damage and constant pressure with Death Grip, Necrotic Strike, and Chains of Ice; Good mobility through Cleanse and Hand of Freedom.	Difficult to keep healer alive when focused as Death Knight's peel is limited; Very limited crowd control.
Retribution Paladin Marksmanship Hunter	Excellent survivability with off-healing, Sacred Shield, Divine Shield, and Hand of Protection; Excellent mobility from Disengage, Hand of Freedom, and Master's Call; Widow Venom plus Retribution Paladin burst for high pressure. Excellent CC chains with Scatter Shot into Freezing Trap and Hammer of Justice into Repentance;	Limited healing and self-sustain capabilities; Limited offensive dispel from Tranquilizing Shot lowers pressure potential against some compositions.
Warlock Restoration Shaman	Multiple interrupts and Fear and Hex do not share diminishing returns; High spread pressure through Affliction dots and dispel protection from Unstable Affliction; Dispels and disruption from both Warlock and Shaman.	Lack of mobility; Weak against Warrior comps; Low burst damage.
Marksmanship Hunter Discipline Priest	Very long CC chain with Scatter Shot into Freezing Trap and Psychic Scream into Mind Control; Good survivability and peeling capabilities as well as a Mortal Strike effect with Widow Venom.	Can be difficult to fend off double DPS pressure, especially if Hunter can be disarmed, which prevents the use of Deterrence; Overall damage output is not huge, relying on the long CC chain to land kills.
Retribution Paladin Enhancement Shaman	Can remove anything but Curses with Cleanse and Purge; Great utility with double off-healing, totems, Hand of Freedom, and Hand of Protection; Incredible offensive potential with Windfury Totem and other melee buffs, as well as Purge.	Vulnerable to Mortal Strike comps as much of the defensive power comes from limited off-healing; Double melee allows for enemy kiting, as both classes lack reliable gap closers and slows.
Mage Rogue	Great burst damage on opener; Multiple interrupts and CC options.	Low healing and personal survivability; No spread damage or way to deal with Divine Shield.

Other Cataclysm Arena Compositions for 2v2

While the teams listed above are, arguably, the best ones in the current meta, there are plenty of other strong options as well, which we will list below. If your desired composition is not on this list, it is likely because it lags further behind the current state of the meta.

This list, as all others in this page will be adjusted over time, as teams match against each other in Cataclysm Classic.

Composition	Strengths	Weaknesses
Arms Warrior Restoration Shaman	Incredible offensive potential; Excellent at pinning targets.	Vulnerable to root effects and curses; Limited crowd control.
Arms Warrior Holy Paladin	High damage alongside Mortal Strike for extra pressure; Good mobility through Intercept, Cleanse, and Hand of Freedom; Double Plate increases survivability against Physical damage comps.	Paladin healing is vulnerable to interrupts and offensive dispels; Limited crowd control.
Frost Mage Shadow Priest	Strong crowd control chains with Polymorph into Psychic Scream and double silences with Counterspell and Silence; Decent survivability if Mage escape tools and Ice Block are used well, as Shadow can rely on Dispersion; Very high burst damage windows during Deep Freeze.	Low healing and survivability if caught off-guard; Damage output is vulnerable to silences and line-of-sight.
Frost Mage Discipline Priest	Strong crowd control chains with Polymorph into Psychic Scream and double silences with Counterspell and Silence; Decent survivability if Mage escape tools and Ice Block are used well, as Shadow can rely on Dispersion; Very high burst damage windows during Deep Freeze.	Low healing and survivability if caught off-guard; Damage output is vulnerable to silences and line-of-sight.
Rogue Shadow Priest	Strong crowd control chains with Sap into Psychic Horror into Psychic Scream into Silence alongside Rogue stun lock combos; Very high burst damage windows during Rogue stun locks.	Low healing and survivability if caught off-guard; No way to remove poisons or curses can be troublesome against certain compositions.
Rogue Balance Druid	Double stealth ensures strong openers, and both classes have a lot of crowd control abilities to capitalize on a strong start; Balance Druid and Rogue have insane burst damage capabilities, allowing their opener to easily translate into a quick win.	Cyclone and Blind share DR in Cataclysm, making prolonged CC setups much harder to execute; No offensive or defensive dispels, lowering the survivability against classes such as Frost Mage.
Arms Warrior Restoration Druid	Great durability; Easy to drink for Restoration Druid.	Low overall damage; Warrior CC vulnerability can leave Restoration Druid exposed for extended periods.
Warlock Rogue	Strong damage all around; Multiple interrupts and CC options.	Weak healing and survivability capabilities; Limited dispel from Devour Magic.
Rogue Restoration Druid	Double stealth ensures a favorable opener; High mobility and multiple CC options from both classes.	Restoration Druid options for damage dealing in Cataclysm are non-existent and Feral Charge is too low on the tree to be taken; No offensive or defensive dispels, lowering the survivability of the Rogue especially.
Warlock Restoration Druid	Strong burst damage with Chaos Bolt; Strong crowd control with Seduction + Fear and Cyclone.	Limited dispel from Devour Magic; Warlock and their pet are obvious targets with low mobility and survivability.

Conclusion

No matter what class or specialization you play, there is always a strong team composition you can utilize. Every team has a weakness and it is important to know them. Teams and their weaknesses can change frequently throughout a season. If there is a team comp that is missing, please let us know in the comments so we can add it to the list.

Feel free to check out our 3v3 and 5v5 arena tier list / comp guides as well if you are interested in those brackets:

3v3 Arena Tier List 5v5 Arena Tier List

Changelog

30 Jun. 2024: Reviewed for Phase 2.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

This guide has been written by Seksi, original vanilla player and multi-class player, currently playing on Gehennas Horde. You can find him on the Classic Warrior, Mage and Shaman Discords, as well as the Icy Veins Discord.

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