Pro-tips for New Death knights

1. Bind focus macros for the following abilities: (use /cast [@focus] spellname)
◦ Death Grip
◦ Mindfreeze
◦ Gnaw
◦ Strangulate
◦ Chains of Ice

Use comfortable binds for these and get used to them because your roll is utility in most comps.

2. Bind a focus Dark Command to your main attack(s). This will keep any healers in combat, assuming they are in range/LOS, without using and runes or runic power. It's also very helpful to bind /startattack to as many abilities as you can for easy targeting and switches. The /petdefensive is used because when Huddling your pet, it's sometimes more effective to have him leap towards you (See tip #24), and it's better to use a /petfollow in said macro.

Code:

/startattack /cast scourge strike /cast [@focus] dark command /cast !rune strike /petdefensive 

3. If you really want to get the most use out of your Dark Command, then you're either going to have to avoid using the Scourge Strike macro in certain times, or just straight up not bind Focus Dark Command in the macro. If you don't have dispels or your dispeler is CC'd, you can taunt a Water Elemental, Gargoyle, or pretty much any form of pet to break a CC such as a Polymorph, anticipated Blind, etc.

4. When a rogue opens up on you with a Cheap Shot, use your Gnaw with 1 second left on the Cheap Shot so you're able to Chains of Ice for runic power -> Icebound Fortitude to avoid being Kidney Shot.

5. If your partner calls out that they've been Scattered, the hunter is most likely going to lay a trap. Have your pet leap to your partner and Stay in order to counter this.

Code:

/cast [@partnersname] Leap /petstay 

6. Here is macro, thanks to Proditor, that allows you to control your not-so-well-designed Gargoyle, while keeping your ghoul on whichever target you want. I'm not sure if there's currently an easier way to do this, but this is the only method I've found that actually works. It's going to change your focus, but it's definitely worth it. This will summon the gargoyle, and if you wish to change its target, simply use the macro again on whatever target you desire:

Code:

/cast summon gargoyle /focus pettarget /petfollow /petattack /petattack [@focus] 

This also works, but changes both your gargoyles & ghouls target to whoever you are targeting:

Code:

/petfollow /petattack 

7. To avoid being sapped, you are able to send your pet in to attack the rogues partner from any distance. Your partner can heal you, but they will still be vulnerable to sap, so technically you're not in combat. You need to spam pet attack on any visable target and rush in on foot to do this. Pretty useful against RMP and RLS.

8. Get comfortable with controlling your ghoul - it's underrated. Personally, I have Alt+Scroll up set to /petattack [@focus], while having Alt+Scroll down set to /petfollow me. This is great for keeping shamans in combat who are using water-shield. You're easily able to toggle your pet on and off the shaman without giving him too much mana.

9. Use a Chains of Ice macro for Shadowfiend if you have any binds available. Very helpful! (I'm going to be downvoted by every priest for this)

Code:

/cast [@Shadowfiend, harm, exists, nodead] chains of ice 

10. Lichborne can be used for many things other than just breaking fear. Lichborne also prevents:
◦ Seduce (Will also break this effect on use)
◦ Sap
◦ Polymorph
◦ Hex
◦ Any form of fear (Will also break this effect on use)
◦ Mind Control (Will also break this effect on use)

11. Use a macro to Lichborne-heal yourself along with the Glyph of Death's Embrace (This refunds 20 runic power when using death coil to heal). This is assuming you don't have a problem with filling your inventory with corpse dust instead of using the Glyph of Raise Dead).

Code:

/cast !lichborne; /cast [@player] Death Coil 

*Note: Lichborne can be used at any time during a crowd control effect. This is great for preventing back to back polymorphs which overlap and do not allow any time between each other. An example of this would be using Lichborne to prevent Warstomp -> Hexs

12. Death & Decay is amazing for interupting healers who are LOS and drinking. You can be in the middle of Nagrand Arena and interupt a healer drinking almost anywheres on the map.

13. While Chains of Ice is effected by Cloak of Shadows, Plague Strike is not. When a rogue uses this ability it's best to reapply Plague Strike right away. And despite being subject to Grounding Totem, Death Grip is considered a physical ability and is not affected by Cloak of Shadows.

14. I mentioned using a focus Death Grip macro in the first tip. I cannot stress enough how huge this is for interupts. Don't just use it to close gaps.

15. If you're running with a warrior, Chains of Ice -> Death Grip another target into range of the Bladestorm for more pressure.

16. When a warrior is Bladestorming one of your team-mates, Death Grip it off them. Also, you will be criticized for doing this but when in Dalaran, Blade's Edge, and Ring of Valor, you're able to Death Grip the warrior off a pillar or ledge during the Bladestorm, but you have to watch for a Grounding Totem. Any good warrior will cancel the Bladestorm and Spell Reflect if he see's you jump off the ledge.

17. Remember to cancel Lichborne if you see a priest casting Shackle or a pally using Turn Evil on you (/cancelaura Lichborne works).

18. When you see a mage pop his Mirror Images, lay a Death & Decay over them because they have next to no health.

19. Remember that both your Death Grip and Mindfreeze can be grounded. You can use an addon to show an alert or the "Grounding Totem" buff (I use Elkano's Buff Bars). If you need to use either of these abilities and there is a Grounding Totem down, just cast a quick Chains of Ice to get rid of the totem.

20. Your opponents will probably kill your ghoul if they are training you, or planning a quick switch for a kill on you while your Summon Ghoul is on cooldown. Keep in mind that you're able to also Death Pact your Gargoyle.

21. In order to better utilize your Ghoul, you can use a mouseover petattack macro. This macro will cause your ghoul to attack your mouseover, and if there is no mouseover, then it will attack your current target. It is great for stomping totems without switching your current target.

Code:

/petattack [target=mouseover,exists][exists] 

22. Take note that Anti-Magic Shell not only prevents magic spells from being applied, but also poisons. Another great use for Anti-Magic Shell is preventing Nature's Grasp or traps.

23. Gargoyle is affected by Unholy Presence, however Blood Presence does not provide any bonus. By using your Gargoyle in Unholy Presence, it will gain extra haste allowing 3 more casts. However, it can be killed early or shackled so it's generally not worth the rune to switch - but good to know if you're already in the stance. Also, if you're going to Bloodlust/Heroism, do it before you summon your gargoyle or it will not receive the benefit.

24. If your pet is being targeted by a melee, it's usually helpful to have your pet Leap towards you. Rather than just using the Leap trick to help your partner from being trapped, you can also prevent yourself from being the victim of a trap. /petfollow is optional, but more effective because you'll able to run behind a pillar with your pet to LOS any range damage.

Code:

/cast [@player] Leap /petpassive /petfollow 

25. If your diseases are about to fall off and the target death knight uses Anti-Magic Shell, you are still able to refresh them via the Glyph of Disease by using Pestilence.

26. If you notice that the priest is low on mana, has not Hymn of Hope'd, and is running LOS he is most likely going to first check to see if there's a Ghoul he has to Shackle, and then he will Hymn. Pulling your Ghoul off the priest just temporarily can juke him into using it when you are perfectly aware and can easily have your pet switch back to him for the Gnaw.

27. It never hurts to carry an extra weapon engraved with Swordshattering. Using this will reduce the duration of those disarms that feel like they will never end. A rogues rotation usually starts with a Cheap Shot -> Kidney Shot -> Dismantle with 1 second left. If you're able to pull off tip #4, the rogue will probably go right into a dismantle. This is where equiping your Swordshattering weapon comes in handy.

28. Recently double healer/DK has become fairly popular. Because you're no warrior with an MS, you need to be in control and allow your priest to get in those Mana Burns. When you and your priest are ready, Chains of Ice -> Death Grip the opposing healer (or Mana Burn target) into LOS of your priest, usually the middle of the map is the best position. If you're running with a padadin as well, have him pop Aura Mastery so that you can get in as many Mana Burns as possible. Using a Hammer of Justice on the burn target into a Gnaw is usually a good idea. It's not uncommon to get half of a mana bar within the first 15 seconds of the match.

29. It's best to start a match in Frost Presence. Having to switch to switch back to Blood Presence is only going to consume a blood rune, whereas if you start in Blood Presence and are bursted right out of the gate, you are forced to use a frost rune hurting your damage and survivability.

30. This next tip is especially helpful in 5v5 where an extra 5% damage can make the difference between a kill or not, assuming you're lucky enough to make the cut on a 5v5 team. Clutch Death Grips are very important in 5s, and one of the best places to do this is in Dalaran Sewers. You want to grip the kill target down to the lower area, using the wall to LOS it's healers. At each corner in Dalaran Sewers, there is a Shadowsight that spawns after 90 seconds. You are able to grip a player into this Shadow Sight, and it will increase the targets damage taken by 5% for the next 15 seconds. Just think of it as gripping Power Sparks for your team.

31. [2v2] The following can be performed by any class, but I will explain how a Death Knight would do so. Druids will often try and open with a Cyclone right out of Prowl. Cyclone is a 1.5 second cast, not including haste, so you will have a hard time targeting the Druid in time to interupt the opening Cyclone. Here is a macro to instantly Death Grip the druid, assuming he is the 2nd to appear in a 2v2 match. You have to use this at your own discretion. If you're going to use it, you best spam it while going heads up versus the druids partner.

Code:

/cast [@arena2] Death Grip 

32. Another great 2-in-1 pet macro that allows you to use the same bind to corpse explode as you do to summon your ghoul:

Code:

/cast [nopet] raise dead; [@pet] corpse explosion 

33. Sick of using Death and Decay only to have it not work due an invalid area? You can't really spam it because it will toggle on and off. This macro will prevent it from toggling so you can spam the macro and click in your desired area simultaneously:

Code:

/cast !Death and Decay 

34. If you press Huddle more than once, then it will cancel the cast. By adding an exclamation mark before the spell name, it will not cast a spell if it's already active.

Code:

/cast !Huddle 

35. Presence dance. (If you play in unholy presence, just switch that with Blood Presence).

Code:

/cast Blood Presence /cast Frost Presence 

And the most important..
Don't Rage! Whining in vent will most definitely affect your gameplay.