1.0 Abstract
I just recently returned to reading the EJ forums after a month or so of being away, and I noticed that the most recent conversation related well to a thread I posted on my guild's forums about tanking Heroic Madness of Deathwing. I figured I would go ahead and post it here too.
I will be assuming that you are solo tanking the encounter, with a shadow priest to soak the second Impale on each platform, and that Dream will only be available on the first platform.


2.0 Mechanics
On each of the four initial platforms, you will be tanking the Mutated Corruption when it spawns. Your job will be to hold aggro, soak Impales, and direct the melee. In addition to tanking the Mutated Corruption, you will also be responsible for tanking the Regenerative Bloods when they spawn. After all of these mobs are dead, you will help burn down the Arm Tentacle or Wing Tentacle with the rest of the raid before moving to the next platform.

On the final platform, your job will be to tank the Elementium Terrors in the Time Zone until the Congealing Bloods spawn. Once the Congealing Blood's spawn point is revealed, you will drag the Elementium Terrors to that location and do everything you can to keep them on top of the Congealing Bloods as they move toward the boss. You and all of the DPS must do everything you can to take advantage of the Spellweaver Buff to kill everything as quickly as possible.


3.0 Cooldowns and Skill Choice
In this section I will explain which cooldowns I use on each platform and when, as well as some tips for using Death Strike effectively for mitigating the Mutated Corruption's Impale.

3.1 First Four Platforms
At the start of each platform (or before the encounter even begins) I like to cast Bone Shield on myself. This will last until the first Impale and will help to mitigate it. Using Bone Shield early will allow you to save an unholy rune for an extra Death Strike later.

Before the Mutated Corruption spawns on a platform, you will have 5 - 10 seconds to DPS the Arm Tentacle or Wing Tentacle. Take advantage of this time to generate as much runic power as possible. Heart Strike, Death Strike, and Horn of Winter are good choices here. Do not use Rune Stike or any other ability that will consume your runic power, or Outbreak. Watch your timers carefully, and be ready to run to the back of the platform in time for the Mutated Corruption spawn. You need to be the first person in melee range of it, or you risk losing a fellow raider.

Once the Mutated Corruption spawns, unload on it with as many Rune Stikes as possible. This will generate a very large amount of initial threat. Your second choice of skill usage here is Heart Strike. Once you have a decent threat lead, you can afford the (threatless) GCD to use Outbreak. Watch your health carefully, and if you feel you can get away without using Death Strike then do so. We want to save those runes for a little later, and taking some extra damage now will help to increase the value of those later Death Strikes.

About 10 seconds after the Mutated Corruption spawns, it will begin to cast the first Impale. Impale has a five second cast time, and during these five seconds is when you will build up all of the mitigation (minus Bone Shield) that you need to survive. Use all of the frost and unholy runes that you have been saving to crank out as many Death Strikes as you can. The Mutated Corruption will not melee you while it is casting Impale, so the entire Blood Shield you generate here will go towards mitigating the Impale. Just before the Impale finishes casting, use whatever cooldown you have set aside for this platform. I will go over these in the following subsections. If executed properly, you will not only survive the Impale, but you will survive with a large amount of health to spare. In fact, when all the stars align, it is even possible to have a little Blood Shield left over.

After you survive the Impale, you will have around 25 seconds until the next Impale. During this time, I like to use Dancing Rune Weapon. Avoidance based mitigation will not help with the Impale, so it's a wise choice to use them between the Impales. The exact timing of when to use Dancing Rune Weapon will depend on your Blood Shield and other cooldowns. For example, if you used Icebound Fortitude two seconds before the Impale hit you, then you will have 10 more seconds of 50% damage reduction afterwards. Overlapping Icebound Fortitude and Dancing Rune Weapon is overkill. Wait for your cooldowns to drop before using the next one at this point.

For the second Impale, you will be running out of melee range of the Mutated Corruption. If you and everyone else is outside of melee range, then the Mutated Corruption will cast Impale on the closest target, regardless of threat. This allows the raid to use a shadow priest to soak the second Impale with Dispersion. After the Impale hits the shadow priest, run back in and resume tanking the Mutated Corruption.

All of the responsibility for properly timing this movement falls on the tank. It is your job to call out when you are leaving melee range. You must give all of the melee ample time to get out of range before you. If you leave melee range before another player, then that player will get hit and most likely die. Once you and everyone else are out of melee range, make sure you are farther way from the Mutated Corruption than the shadow priest. Watch the Mutated Corruption's cast bar closely!!! Once it starts casting Impale you can run back in and resume tanking. If it casts Impale Aspect, then you need to continue waiting outside of melee range, and behind the shadow priest. Be patient and be careful with this mechanic. If you screw it up then it's a wipe, and a waste of everyone's time. Be vocal with the melee over vent / mumble.

Sometime between the second Impale going off, and the Mutated Corruption dying (this will vary based on the raid's DPS) the Regenerative Bloods will spawn. You can see where they will spawn in advance by looking for little red circles on the ground. Drop your Death and Decay on top of their spawn location to help ensure that they aggro you. Having a hunter use Misdirection on them is also very helpful.

Once you have aggro on the Regenerative Bloods, make sure they are positioned as close as possible to the Mutated Corruption so the raid can take advantage of the Spellweaver Buff. Make sure to use Pestilence to spread your Frost Fever debuff to all of the Regenerative Bloods. This will go a long way to mitigating their damage by slowing the rate that they stack Degenerative Bite on you. I like to use Vampiric Blood here to stay alive. Keep an eye on your health, and when it feels shaky, then use Anti-Magic Shell.

Once the Mutated Corruption and Regenerative Bloods are dead, help kill the last Corrupting Parasite (just DPS it) and then move on to the Arm Tentacle or Wing Tentacle. I like to use Vampiric Blood again when it is off cooldown to help the healers with the AoE damage. Just watch your raid frames and use your best judgement as to when to use it.

3.1.1 First Platform Cooldowns
Use Dream a second or two before the Impale hits you. The reason I like to wait until the last second to use it is because you can actually soak an additional melee strike with it after the Impale. Every little bit of mitigation helps here.

3.1.2 Second Platform Cooldowns
Use Icebound Fortitude. As with Dream, you will be using it at the last second.

3.1.3 Third Platform Cooldowns
This platform is a little tricky. Unlike the other three platforms, we will be using Dancing Rune Weapon before the Impale, so that we can turn that avoidance into mitigation by channeling Army of the Dead while the Impale goes off. To pull this off, we will need 60 runic power and 1 of each rune, which will impact our initial threat. It also takes several GCDs to get all of the skills off in the right order, which can eat into the number of Death Strikes we can get off.

To make things go smoothly, I like to cast Dancing Rune Weapon several seconds before the Impale begins casting. It will last long enough to serve it's purpose, and using it early gives us one more GCD to use at crunch time. Once the Impale begins casting, Death Strike as much as you can, and then use Empower Rune Weapon to get all of your runes back. You want to be channeling Army of the Dead when the Impale goes off, so watch the timer closely. Channeling Army of the Dead only lasts 4 seconds. Also, remember that you do not have to finish channeling. Once the Impale hits you, you can stop channeling and Death Strike or use Death Pact (which works on the army ghouls).

External cooldowns, such as Pain Suppression are good here as well. Just be sure to call for them in a timely manner. Your healer needs enough time to cast the spell among their other responsibilities.

3.1.4 Fourth Platform Cooldowns
Use Icebound Fortitude again! The only special thing about the fourth platform is that the Elementium Bolt will land. This means that you will be stacking with the raid when you run out for the Impale. I like to use Vampiric Blood here to help out with the huge AoE burst. This means you will not have it later when the Regenerative Bloods spawn, so you will have to be on your toes with Anti-Magic Shell. It is wise to store up runic power here for Lichborne as well.

3.2 The Final Platform
This platform is not as structured as the rest of the fight. In terms of mitigation, you will have to watch your stacks of Tetanus to decide when exactly to use your cooldowns. Movement and positioning is paramount here. If you don't stack the Elementium Terrors on top of the Congealing Bloods, then they will take too long to die, which means you will die. You should be standing in the Time Zone as long as possible, but remember your priorities.

As for actual cooldowns, Dream should be used whenever it is available. If you are unlucky and you get targeted with Shrapnel, then use Dream. Don't try to figure out if you can take it straight up. You've worked 12 long minutes to get here. Don't fuck around.

You can use all of your 1-minute or less cooldowns on both sets of Elementium Terrors. Get Bone Shield up ahead of time. Use Vampiric Blood once you've taken a fair amount of damage. Try to save Anti-Magic Shell until you have moved out of the Time Zone. Anti-Magic Shell can be used to completely drop all of your stacks of Tetanus if timed properly. Icebound Fortitude may not be available until the second set of Elementium Terrors, but external cooldowns such as Pain Suppression should be good to go. Call for them when you want them. Keep Frost Fever up on both Elementium Terrors at all times (or as close as possible). Death Strike your ass off. Save runic power for Lichborne if it is off cooldown.


4.0 Gearing
This section will go over some small gearing adjustments that you can make specifically for this fight. I am a firm believer in stacking mastery at all times, but that aside, there are still some glyph and trinket choices we can make.

4.1 Glyphs
For prime glyphs, the only survivability glyph is Glyph of Death Coil which will buff the heals you receive when using Lichborne. Since you will be making use of Lichborne, then you should be using this glyph. The other two glyphs are purely for threat, and I believe discussing them is outside the scope of this guide.

For major glyphs, i like Glyph of Bone Shield, Glyph of Anti-Magic Shell, and Glyph of Vampiric Blood. The speed increase from Glyph of Bone Shield is great for running to and from the Mutated Corruptions, as well as the Congealing Bloods. Glyph of Anti-Magic Shell will increase it's value for tanking the Regenerative Bloods as well as the Elementium Terrors, both of which do magic damage for long periods of time. Glyph of Vampiric Blood needs no explanation.

4.2 Trinkets
In a perfect world, I would be using the Soulshifter Vortex and the Indomitable Pride. However, since I don't have the Indomitable Pride, I tend to use the Spidersilk Spindle instead. If you feel like you want or need more magic damage mitigation for the Regenerative Bloods or the Elementium Terrors, then I would recommend the Mirror of Broken Images.


5.0 Miscellaneous Pointers
This section has been set aside to go over parts of the fight that don't fit in well with the overall scheme.

5.1 Fourth Platform Movement and Timing
Moving out of melee range for the second Impale on the fourth platform has a more restrictive timing requirement than that of the other platforms. If you run out of melee range too early, the Mutated Corruption will cast Impale Aspect, which will delay the casting of Impale. Normally, this is not a problem. However, on this platform, the Elementium Bolt needs to land within 6 seconds of the Impale going off if your shadow priest is going to survive them both with one Dispersion. You can call for melee to run out at the normal time, however you may need to lag behind a little to ensure that you leave melee range at the last possible second. To measure this, I like to stand all the way up by the Mutated Corruption, and run out when the Impale hits three seconds. This works for me, but your reaction times may be different. You may find that you need to move earlier or later than I do. You will have to figure this timing out for yourself as you go. I recommend that whatever you do, stand in the same spot on this platform on every pull to keep your timings as consistent as possible.

5.2 Extra Vampiric Blood
At the beginning of the fight, you will have 90 seconds until the first set of Regenerative Bloods spawn. This means that if you use Vampiric Blood within the first 30 seconds of the fight, it will come off of cooldown in time to be used at it's designated place. It's a small gain in a small damage portion of the fight, but it's free.


6.0 Conclusion
I know I have left a lot of details out concerning other aspects of the fight. I have tried to keep this as focused on tanking as possible to prevent information overload. It's a lot to take in once you get into the nitty gritty of every single skill you use. I hope someone finds this helpful!


7.0 Change Log
v1.0 - Initial Post

I really think lichborn is useless in DS. I only use it on 1 fight in FL. Baleroc and only before nerfs when he do more decimation strikes. Now he only do it 2 times. First soak with AMS second is easy to heal up with triple Death Strike and RT. I choose some damage talents:
-Higher dots uptime and damage done from unholy tree
-SoB and butchery for more RP
-Damage from attacks(don't remember this talent name but it is in blood tree)
You can check my talent build on armory.

Glyph of Vampiric Blood increase healing taken but in some fights like Spine, Ultraxion, Morchok, Madness, Haggara and Warmaster higher health helps better. I see only 2 fight to glyph that abillity is Warlord(dark phase) and Yor'sahj(purple ooze).

I only raid 10 man and don't know about 25 man raids. It's only my experience.

Ps.
Sorry for my bad english

How much heal one death coil when lichborn is up? I really don't know. I suppose for bigger heal I'll need sit on full runic power. How much it take gcd for get enough heal? Lichborn is on gcd? You can make only 3 death coils on 2 min cd. I always spam RS for regen runes and use DS. First regen rp and then pop up lb and use 3 death coils. Do you have enough time when boss hit hard to heal up?

I'll try to test LB spec on my next raid. I didn't know it heal for 40k :O