Disclaimer: There's a long story, skip down to the bottom to read the question.
Okay, with the new patch rolling in, I've tried both the arms and the fury specs. Thought Titan's Grip was neat but unsatisfying as a new skill and thought Blade Storm was really cool in how it does so much damage in so little time. So I've just been chilling, doing random stuff, and doing Hallow's Eve achievments when my Ret pally cousin wanted to do arenas for 1800 rating for the weapon. And we both realized that Ret paladins are incredibly overpowered for short term encounters. So I thought, hmm... maybe his burst damage and my bladestorm can actually help us win arena matches. So far we only got as high as 1700. But that night, after my cousin logged off, I thought it was impossible for a ret paladin/warrior team to get 1800 so I asked trade channel what the optimal partner for a ret paladin would be in 2v2. And for some odd reason, almost everyone answered, PROT warriors. Now, I sat there doubtful, thinking to myself "wtf?". I constantly thought that trade chat people were just being stupid and misleading so I talked to the one of the guys who suggested me the idea and decided to see for myself how prot has changed. So I switched to Prot and I instantly fell in love with it. The increased damage, and the survivalability just killed me right there. I found myself completing the "Iron Man" Achievment without any effort in WSG and other things that I couldn't have even dreamed of like 4 vs 1 situations where I actually came out alive. So then I thought to myself, "hmm, this might actually work."
But with very little experience with "prot pvp" I have many questions.
What gear should I wear? s4/3 PvP set? T6 Fury set? T4/5 Tanking set?
What weapon should I use? S2 axe or the Siphon from Supremus?
What shield should I use? Bulwark of the Amani Empire or S2 shield?
What should be my role in a Ret/Prot team?
What are some core talents that make Prot Warriors viable for PvP?
What are prot warriors' strengths and weaknesses?
What classes should I watch out for?
Thank you in advance, and much appreciated :)