Shutdown Mesmer

A Shutdown Mesmer is a Mesmer who focuses on stopping (shutting down) enemy spell-casters. They use a combination of energy draining skills (like Chaos Storm and Energy Burn), interruption skills (like Cry of Frustration and Power Drain), self-damage spells (like Backfire and Guilt) and skill-denial skills (like Signet of Humility and Arcane Thievery) to completely prevent an enemy spell-caster from casting any spells. They can even use Blackout to literally shut down an enemy's skill bar!

A Shutdown Mesmer is a spell-caster's worst nightmare. Their favorite prey are usually Elementalists because they are the opponent's highest damage dealers and most fragile members. Still, they can also severely disrupt a Monk or a Necromancer.

For example, an Elementalist running around the battlefied casting spells and zapping enemies with his wand can be taken out instantly by a shutdown mesmer with a shrewd eye. If he observes the Elementalist has a combo of skills he like to employ, the mesmer would wait until that combo is started, then invoke Backfire and Empathy. the Elementalist will self-destruct in less than a few seconds by simply casting his own combo.

Another example, cast Backfire on an enemy Mesmer and watch as he Fast Casts himself to an early grave.

Another particularly effective combo is Backfire and Wastrel's Worry. If they cast a spell, they take massive damage and if they don't then repeated castings of Wastrel's Worry will more than make up for it.

Note: It's important for a Shutdown Mesmer to learn the ways of other spell-casting professions. For example, if a Mesmer sees a Glyph of Energy being cast by an Elementalist, he should prepare his interruption skills for the next spell, because that glyph is most often used in preparation for a big important spell.