I was talking game balance with a friend (don’t worry, none of use ended at the hospital), and we went to talk about the competitive metagame : we wondered what’s the current competitive metagame.
Is it still Skyhammer, two Sawbonez, Bushwhacker et Fragger ? Or is there some mercs that are becoming more and more used (Probably Vassili and Sparks) ?
Well, I would say the most favoured are:
Medic - Sawbonez.
Tech - Bushwhacker (sometimes Proxy)
Assault - Fragger (sometimes Skyhammer)
These three are considered very strong and most viable for competitive play. Although, I am no expert… someone may disagree x-x
Pretty much what Faraleth said. There will always be personal preference and map based mercs. Fletcher may be a good choice for some instead of Bush or proxy. Fragger is usually king though when it comes to assault although I have seen nader get some love in the past. Sawbonez is pretty much uncontested though, you can use him aggressive and defensive and is the perfect medic to follow your fragger around.
I’m surprised that there was no Sparks played though. The REVIVR seems like a very powerful tool in comp, she feels like an excellent complement to Sawbonez.
She was banned briefly due to the rev gun being able to destroy the EV incredibly fast. Alot of the comp guys said they would use her once she was fixed but I still haven’t seen her in rotations. It does indeed add something different to the medic role in comp.
And now a question a bit more for myself : how much is Fletcher played ? And how is he considered ?
Same questions for Nader.
[quote=“Faraleth;72122”]Well, I would say the most favoured are:
Medic - Sawbonez.
Tech - Bushwhacker (sometimes Proxy)
Assault - Fragger (sometimes Skyhammer)
These three are considered very strong and most viable for competitive play. Although, I am no expert… someone may disagree x-x[/quote]
Perhaps sometime soon it will include Fletcher.
@Eox
You got to look at practicality. Fletcher is good in tight situations with his stickies and shotguns/Blishlok so ideally Terminal would be his strongest map. He can be used effectivly at attacking but lacks the defensive abilities of Bushwhacker (Turret too stronk). Same with nader, she is more agile than fragger and is ideal for attacking, fragger is highly defensive but a GOOD medic will make the fragger a monster for attacking. Its all down to current situation really and what you feel would be most affective as team leader. In pubs or comp ill usually set up with Fragger, skyhammer and sawbonez/Bushwhacker, I play the defensive role well so these merc complement that. Now if I was going to be aggressive then I would swap fragger out for nader and Bushwhacker out for Fletcher, Skyhammer is almost a given because his all round play is strong.
2 sawbonez
1 skyhammer
1 bushwhacker
1 fragger.
So current meta is
2 medics
1 fire support
1 engineer
1 merc focused on killing
I like to think that once the stickies disappearing is truly 100% fixed Fletcher will reign supreme on attack-side opposed to Bush.
^ This
Dirty Cups, before it was put on hiatus, changed their rules to a highlander rule(There can only be one!), so no dupe sawbones anymore. This means that both Sparks and Aura have been seen a bit more, but Sparks seems to be the bigger gamechanger imho.
Once we get Phoenix released he may grab that slot because of his higher base health(expected).
Fragger and Sawbonez is included in pretty much every lineup. However, other characters that are used are based somewhat on map, where you are at on the map and the players playing.
Vassili is used by teams who have a really good/consistent sniper. They typically switch to a second engineer role, Nader or fire support depending on what I listed above.
Bushwhacker is pretty much used exclusively simply due to him having great offensive and defensive abilities and the turret is basically a 6th player when used correctly. He beats out proxy due to higher HP and the turret is a lot better than mines plus he has a better gun. He beats out Fletcher because stickies can be wonky right now and they don’t have much range making the turret better overall in many situations plus Fletcher has worse guns.
Nader is used quite a bit for very specific situations (taking out the generator on bridge, covering the plant on the second part of trainyard etc.). She is pretty effective in quite a few areas and sometimes takes the place of a fire support since you don’t always need full ammo.
Skyhammer is used quite a bit due to his solid weapon choices, ammo and his air strike is essential for some maps (EV). He’s used a lot even on maps where his airstrike is little more than a crappy grenade because he’s just solid and you don’t run into ammo situations with him around.
So, the characters that get used the most are Fragger and Sawbonez (in all teams) and Vassili, Bushwhacker, Nader and Skyhammer based on need.
Aura or Sparks get used when the 1 merc only rule is in effect (otherwise it’s two sawbonez) but I think Phoenix will end up being medic #2 when he hits mostly due to HP + Kek…not sure if the self-revive will make a huge difference. Kira gets a bit of play these days on maps where her beam can be super useful since it has such a low CD and people have learned the best spots to beam quickly. So she’s somewhat in there just like Fletcher is used on some parts of a map due to his stickies.
Phantom, Rhino, RedEye, Proxy, and Arty aren’t typically played as much. Not saying they are bad and some players can and will play them. They just tend to get outshined in the current meta due to the other classes being slightly better options.
I do think Phoenix and Thunder will shake the meta up quite a bit though. Well, I think Phoenix will just end up being medic #2 at all times but Thunder might actually make people decide. I don’t believe Turtle will have a huge impact but that’s assuming his barricade is just a small physical shield and would only be, theoretically, useful at covering a defuser from a long range sniper shot from the stairs on the last objective of Underground.
I can go into depth with a bit more of this if anybody wants/cares. Specifically why some classes aren’t used and why aura/proxy/sparks are just bad choices at the higher end of the competitive spectrum.
On the medic’s side, all current three might have their uses. Aura’s healing station is still a strong asset as long as your team mates know where it is and thus work as a rally beacon sometimes. Sparks is indeed incredible at reviving from afar, but it is very hard to use correctly if you have tough enemies.
For engineers, for the few pugs and interesting matchmaking games we did with AIE, we used to have a bushwacker on def and a proxy on attack. With good map awareness proxy has in my opinion still a good edge if you know when to sneak through defenders. Mines are also are a strong annoyance against experienced players during bomb protection. Fletcher is imo very good in close range fights, but you really have to rely on your dodging skills to drop enough stickies and detonate them, not to mention the main weapon/ability balance you need to maintain.
For now, without Stoker available, Skyhammer is by far the best all-rounder support from my point of view. Kira still has some room to fit into where she is probably more efficient than skyhammer (trainyard), while arty always sounded to me like a meh choice (even though I like him on public games).
She was banned briefly due to the rev gun being able to destroy the EV incredibly fast. Alot of the comp guys said they would use her once she was fixed but I still haven’t seen her in rotations. It does indeed add something different to the medic role in comp.
[/quote]
A lot of comp teams use sparks especially if you’re only using one medic for part of the map.
@Amerika what team scrims not using the one merc rule?
I prefer to use Fletcher for engineer too if it’s a close range map, especially on Trainyard and Terminal. I like using Nader when there’s a lot of corridors or hallways to spam nades at and to run faster than Fragger. I usually always have a Recon, mostly Vassili just in case I need to take out campers or deployables at range when the other team locks down the place too good.
She was banned briefly due to the rev gun being able to destroy the EV incredibly fast. Alot of the comp guys said they would use her once she was fixed but I still haven’t seen her in rotations. It does indeed add something different to the medic role in comp.
[/quote]
A lot of comp teams use sparks especially if you’re only using one medic for part of the map.
@Amerika what team scrims not using the one merc rule?
[/quote]
It’s not been used multiple times in the past and some cups/tournaments have not used it. It’s definitely more common now than it was not very long ago. There have been “one assault only” tournaments and scrimming around that too. Where you can have two Sawbonez or double up on Bushwhacker in certain situations but you can’t have two Fragger’s (or Naders…not that anybody did that). That was the first rule in place actually in regards to merc limitations and now that more mercs have been released the one merc rule has become more common.
And I am not sure how to answer your question. My whole answer was based around having the one merc rule in place outside of where I specifically cited where Sawbonez would be used twice.
Cybergamer merc rules are…
2 medics (dupes allowed)
1 fire support
Any merc that is not a fire support or a medic (no dupes)
[quote=“Fap Fap Master;72525”]Cybergamer merc rules are…
2 medics (dupes allowed)
1 fire support
Any merc that is not a fire support or a medic (no dupes)[/quote]
You mean one Assault? Fire Support = Skyhammer, Arty and Kira. EVERYONE limits games to one Fragger and has for a long time due to the effectiveness of grenades in competitive matches.
The new korean meta that sweeping the nation is everyone agreeing to play 1 Merc. Thus far, i’ve seen All Sparks and All Rhino both end the game on round 1.