Lets talk a little rotation

A fundamental part of tanking is being able to build threat quickly. Having the lead in threat at all times is your job above all else, because as soon at that boss looks away from you they can and will one-shot whoever was unlucky enough to be in second place on the list.

So lets get down to the nitty-gritty. According to the main tanking sites on the web like maintankadin and tankspot the "969" is the best rotation to use for optimal threat production and I absolutely agree. First lets check out a little info on the "969" rotation from the maintankadin 101 guide:

To get the most from your abilities you need to get a good rotation, one that doesn’t leave a lot of room waiting for cooldowns etc.
The most common rotation is called the 96969 rotation. The numbers stand for the time the ability cools down in the rotation. For this rotation you’ll need to put 1 point in improved judgement. Consecrate is only an 8 sec cd, but you cant squeeze the rotation any tighter than this.
You choose what order you want to do the rotation.
The 9 sec cooldown abilities are Holy shield, Judgement and Consecrate.
The 6 sec cooldown abilities are Hammer of the righteous and Shield of Righteousness.
Note: At 70 you won't have Shield of Righteousness. You can practice this rotation by exchanging Shield of Righteousness with SoR and SoV every other 6sec cd.
This way you well get both the SoV dot and the extra damage from SoR per hit. (aka. Seal Twisting.)

00.0 - 9 sec One.
01.5 - 6 sec A.
03.0 - 9 sec Two.
04.5 - 6 sec B.
06.0 - 9 sec Three.
07.5 - 6 sec A.
09.0 - 9 sec One.
10.5 - 6 sec B.
12.0 - 9 sec Two.
13.5 - 6 sec A.
15.0 - 9 sec Three.
16.5 - 6 sec B.

After that it starts over again.
This rotation will not waste a single global cooldown. And then you just work in holy wrath, exorcism and avenger’s shield when needed, don’t worry about interrupting the rotation too much.

Amazingly written, all the info is perfect and should be followed by any up and coming tank and hardcore raiders alike. What isn't explained is in what order to use your rotation. So lets tackle that first. I differ my rotation depending on the pull, for instance your rotation will change depending if your pulling 3-4 mobs or just a boss. The one constant is the "pre-pull," for every pull you will always put up Divine Plea as it is great way to regain mana and some people also like to throw a Sacred Shield on themselves, me not so much, maybe on bosses but not on trash. Now for the "pull" itself you will always use Avenger's Shield conversely you can use Exorcism on an undead or demon boss as it will always crit 100% of the time. Now lets check how the rotation will change depending on the pull.

For a 3+ mob pack:
After the "pre-pull" and the "pull" wait for the mobs to come to you, when they are just about 5 yards or so away, use this rotation:
Consecration, Holy Shield, Hammer of the Righteous, Judgement, Shield of Righteousness
Now if there is alot of mobs say 4 or more, keep an eye out on who your Shield hits, the ones who haven't got hit yet will be running at normal speed so you can see who it didn't hit. Target one of those guys and start the rotation so the ones that didn't get hit with the Shield will for surely get hit with the Hammer. The second time around you can skip Consecration if your mana looks low, it shouldn't be.

For a boss or just a single mob pull:
The rotation differs a little. For the most part you will charge at the boss and not let it walk too much unless you have to position him or her, so after the "pre-pull" and the "pull:"
Judgement, Shield of Righteousness, Holy Shield, Hammer of the Righteous, Consecration
The real difference here is that this rotation uses your highest threat producing abilities against single mobs first. Consecration and Hammer of the Righteous are better suited on multiple targets and don't produce as much threat as a quick Judge then Shield slam.

Thats all for today guys! Leave a comment with your thoughts on the rotation I use or if your rotation differs from mine share it and we can discuss it.