Sapphiron Tactics

"Once a noble blue dragon within the mountains of Northrend, Sapphiron was slain by Arthas during his campaign through the frozen north. Resurrected to serve him, Sapphiron guards Kel'Thuzad's lair eternally, awaiting those who would dare trespass upon his master." - Commander Eligor Dawnbringer

Sapphiron is a large undead Frost Wyrm that guards the inner sanctum of Naxxramas, where Kel'thuzad awaits. Any Raid that is able to slay Sapphiron will recieve a Key to the focusing Iris, allowing entrance to the Eye of Eternity and Malygos.

ABILITIES
PHASE 1: GROUND PHASE
This phase is where your raid will be dealing the most damage to Sapphiron.

Frost Aura - The aura will hit everybody for 1,200 (25 Player: 1,600) Frost damage every 2 seconds.
This Aura means that damage will be going throughout the entire fight constantly. Frost Resistance will help reduce the damage caused by this.

Cleave - Sapphiron will Cleave up to 10 targets in front of him, hitting them for 100% of his normal attack +50.
As it is with every other boss that can cleave, only the Tank should be hit by Cleave, so no DPS can be in front of Sapphiron.

Tail Sweep - Sapphiron will Tail Sweep players behind him, hitting them for 1,500 to 2,500 (25 Player: 2,188 to 2,812) damage, and knocking them back.
The Tail sweep Sapphiron has also forces DPS to avoid being behind him. To remedy the Cleave and Tail sweep, all DPS and healers should be on Sapphiron's sides, attacking him between his legs.

Life Drain - Sapphiron will apply a Life Drain curse on 2 (25 Player: 5) random players every 24 seconds. The curse drains 2,188 to 2,812 (25 Player: 4,500 to 5,500) health as Shadow damage and heals Sapphiron for 4,376 to 5,624 (25 Player: 9,000 to 11,000) every 3 seconds, for 12 seconds.
Life Drain is a serious problem if left unattended, as it will constantly heal Sapphiron while causing even more damage to your raid. Anyone who can Decurse in your raid should IMMEDIATELY remove these curses. Shadow resistance will reduce the damage taken by this ability.

Summon Blizzard - Will summon Chill, which is larger and denser version of Mage's Blizzard. Chill will drift around in Sapphiron's room, slowing movement speed of the affected targets by 50% and inflicting 3,500 to 4,500 (25 Player: 5,550 to 6,450) Frost damage every 2 seconds.
Chills are obnoxiously big, and will deal a massive amount of damage when stacked with the rest of the DoTs during the fight. There will be a lot of Chills up during the fight, so it becomes a problem. Anyone who is able to move out of a chill, should, however there are situations where staying in Chill is better than moving.
1) THE TANK: The Tank should NEVER be moving out of position during phase 1, as it would endanger the entire raid. Even if there's a chill over them, the Tank will not move out of it.
2) MELEE DPS: Melee DPS will have to make a choice on whether to move out of chills or not, as it will lower their DPS but put less strain on the healers. More often than not it is good to try and get out of the Chill while staying in Melee range, but not in range of the Cleave and Tail swipe.
3) PHASE 2: During Phase 2, there will be a point where you have to hide from Sapphiron. If a Chill comes over you during this part, you will HAVE to take it, as moving out of it would result in death until phase 2 ends.

Frost Resistance - Sapphiron has a very high frost resistance, reducing damage done by Frost-based attacks by a large portion.
Frost spells deal less damage to Sapphiron, so it is usually better to be dealing with other elements until the Frost Wyrm is killed. Keep in mind, however, that while Sapphiron takes reduced damage, he is NOT immune to frost.

Change Phase: Air - As long as his health is above 10%, Sapphiron will fly to the air every 45 seconds, entering Phase 2.
If Sapphiron hits 10% health, he will no longer leave Phase 1, but at all other times you have 45 seconds in Phase 1 before he flies into the air.

Berserk - After 15 minutes Sapphiron will Berserk, increasing attack speed by 150% and damage done by 500%, wiping the raid
15 minutes to kill Sapphiron.

PHASE 2: AIR PHASE
In this phase, Sapphiron will fly up into the air and then proceed to terrify Raiders with his Frost Breath ability.

Icebolt - While in the air, Sapphiron will hit 2 (25 Player: 3) people with an Ice Bolt, which will trap them in a prison of ice for the duration of the Phase, and will hit nearby players for 2,625 to 3,375 (25 Player: 6,300 to 7,700) Frost damage. Players imprisoned by Ice Bolt will not take damage from Frost Breath, and will protect players behind them as well.
Players hit by Icebolt will turn into Ice blocks. Ice blocks will block line of sight, which is important for healers to know. Anyone hit by Icebolt will also be immune to Sapphiron's Frost Breath until they're freed.

Frost Breath - Right after he shoots the second Ice Bolt, Sapphiron will emote "Sapphiron takes in a deep breath". 7 seconds after that an ice bomb will hit the middle of the room and hit everybody in line of sight for 112,500 to 187,500 Frost damage
Frost Breath will be a small bomb of Ice slowly dropping to the center of Sapphiron's lair. He does this immediately after he finishes Icebolting, and this will kill anyone caught in it. There is no way to survive it except to become invincible by a paladin shield or Mage Ice block. However, if you hide behind an Ice blocked ally, the Ice bomb will not hit you, and you'll survive unscathed. There should be nothing that is more priority than hiding behind an Ice blocked ally during this phase.

Change Phase: Land - After Frost Breath goes off, Sapphiron will land and re-enter Phase 1.
Immediately after the Ice bomb explodes, people caught in an Ice block will be freed, and Phase 1 will begin again.


STRATEGY

Frost Resistance and Shadow Resistance will help to mitigate the damage during the fight for those raids who are having trouble defeating the Frost Wyrm.

The first thing to know, is that the Tank will never be moving during the first phase. Sapphiron will always be in the middle of the ring where he starts, and the Tank will have him facing the entrance. The Tank will not move for chills or any other reason except for Phase 2. You do not need an Offtank for this fight.

As you move in, The tank will go straight in while everyone else skirts around the edges to one side of Sapphiron. When the tannk has aggro, Melee DPS should go in and be positioned between Sapphiron's legs to avoid the Cleave and Tail swipe.

Anyone who is able to remove curses should be watching for the Life drain ability on their allies. Remove it as soon as you can.

Healers and Ranged should be moving out of Chills as soon as they come near, and healers should only eat them if there is someone who desperately needs a heal. Melee DPS should try to mitigate the damage they take from Chills.

As Sapphiron changes to Phase 2, everyone should apply as many DoTs as they can, because Sapphiron will still be taking damage from them in the air. If you can predict when he will enter Phase 2, announce it a few seconds early and call for DoTs to be re-applied.

When Sapphiron enters phase 2, everyone should group up away from the middle and heal up or recover. When the players selected for Ice blocks are hit, all players should hide behind them. Grouping up allows for faster hiding. Everyone should keep healing and recovering while waiting for Phase 1 to start again.

When Phase 1 begins again, The Tank needs to have Sapphiron back in his original position, and if Sapphiron does move, the raid will need to adjust their positioning appropriately.

Good luck.