Like jumbo shrimp, 12-ounce pound cakes and preliminary finals, being a warlock in a PvP battleground can sometimes seem oxymoronic. After all, with paper-thin armor and a tendency for every 7331 player with dad's credit card to buy a Death Knight, a warlock doesn't stand much of a chance of surviving a BG largely unscathed. But there is hope: here are 10 tips I've dug up as a moderately successful level 60s PvPer:

1. Trick out your gear and consumable items for PvP. Just because something has buffed item stats (intelligence, spellpower, etc.) doesn't mean that it can turn you into a brick wall. Sometimes you need to consider the metagame. Three great items I've picked up for PvP are Fel Blossoms (a quick damage shield for 15 seconds, often crucial for shielding you till help arrives or your Death's Embrace finishes off a weakened attacker), Insignia of the Horde (5-minute cooldown, remove all control- and movement-affecting statuses), and Terrokar Tablet of VIm (1:30 cooldown, add 84 spellpower).

2. Use high-damage, high-recovery talents. Secondary talents that reduce the cooldown on your Fear may be nice, but when the goal is to remove a super-aggro opponent for good from your part of the battlefield, you need to compound every damage-dealing or defense-building advantage you can get your hands on. For a discussion of the talents I currently use in PvP (and actually everything else), check out http://hubpages.com/hub/WoW-The-Perpetual-Life-Machine.

3. Walk backwards. Huh? Yes, there are some players that get nothing less than monumental jollies from walking a circle around you while they attack, mainly to make themselves hard to target and confuse you. When you walk backwards though, you'll still be locked on to them, and with a quick Fear or Death Coil you can send them running while you hit them with your arsenal. With an Affliction specialization, I have been able to Drain Life despite circling, use Death Coil to Drain a fleeing attacker, and throw on enough damage over time to at least force a draw.

4. Soulstone smartly. Soulstone use is tricky in a BG, because people can rip your insignia off before you resurrect, so I don't use them on the starting set of buffs. Once I'm in deep enough terrain to do tactical damage, then I use a stone for a quick surprise. Despite the risk of getting your insignia ripped, sometimes it's good to wait a few seconds in case your team can mop the area up. Then you can use quick heals and mana boosts to get back into business, and possibly finish off a wounded and unsuspecting attacker.

5. Buff to the max before heading in. Food, scrolls, other players, potions: it's all fair game. Get it all in and don't forget to re-buff after a few deaths, as time permits.

6. Walk, don't ride, into danger zones. The time you save not having to dismount and reorient can save lives. Stay behind some protection and have the enemy come to you.

7. Use every possible advantage no matter how trivial-seeming. Curse of Tongues is a fairly narrow, weak-seeming curse you can put on your opponent. However, when your whole team is getting buried by a spell-lobbing paladin, slowing down spell times, especially healing, by 25% is a great idea. Use Curse of Weakness to reduce attack power and armor and keep your bacon out of the fire for that much longer. Never underestimate the value of a taunt. If an enemy is peeling off the formation to attack you, sometimes it's good to take one for the team. Just target and type /taunt. The effect is often humorous and it works a surprising percentage of the time.

8. Step into a leader role if there is no Battleground channel communication. If your group is faltering like panicked ants because no one is directing offensives and movements, here's your 50% chance to play hero. Hey, why not?

9. Check the map often for friendly troop positions before you decide where to head out. It's possible to over-attack, under-attack, over-defend and under-defend objectives, so unless your leader is sending you, try to balance the flow of the battle by allocating yourself where you think you're most needed.

10. Cull the weak. Whenever an enemy goes below 30% life, I drop what I'm doing against other enemies and focus on wiping that player's life bar to zero. It might be nice to beat on the toughest opponent, but cutting out his support will make it that much easier for other players.