Hey again, all three people interested in HMS. I've created a revised tier list of HMS parts since the last one is a bit out of date, I'd like feedback on from anyone willing to contribute. Here is the list followed by explanations/justifications. I'm open to any and all feedback, preferably testing included in PM or in the post, or to be requested of me.
Attack
Samurai Upper (Right spin greatly preferred, Left spin acceptable)
Setups: CWD Defense Ring/CWD Free Defense Ring/Circle Wide + Grip Flat Core (UV)/Grip Flat Core/Metal Weight Core/Metal Flat Core
Circle Upper (Right spin greatly preferred, Left spin acceptable. Mold 2 preferred)
Setups: CWD Defense Ring/CWD Free Defense Ring/Circle Wide + Grip Flat Core (UV)/Grip Flat Core/Metal Weight Core/Metal Flat Core
Advance Attacker (Right spin and Left spin both work well)
Setups: CWD Defense Ring/CWD Free Defense Ring/Circle Wide + Grip Flat Core (UV)/Grip Flat Core/Metal Weight Core
Jiraiya Blade (Right spin and Left spin both work well)
Setups: CWD Free Defense Ring/CWD Defense Ring/Circle Heavy/Circle Wide + Grip Flat Core (UV)/Grip Flat Core
Metal Upper (Right spin greatly preferred)
Setups: CWD Free Defense Ring/CWD Defense Ring/Circle Wide/Circle Heavy + Grip Flat Core (UV)/Grip Flat Core
Defense
Samurai Upper (Left spin and Right spin are both acceptable, though Left typically isn’t as explosive)
Setups: CWD Reverse Defenser/CWD God Ring/CWD Defense Ring + Bearing Core 2 (Passive)
Circle Upper (Mold 2 preferred, Left spin and Right spin are both acceptable, though Left typically isn’t as explosive)
Setups: CWD Reverse Defenser/CWD God Ring/CWD Defense Ring + Bearing Core 2 (Passive)
Metal Ape (Left spin and right spin both acceptable)
Setups: CWD Reverse Defenser/CWD God Ring/CWD Defense Ring + Bearing Core 2
Survival
Circle Upper (both mold 1 and mold 2 are good)
Setups: Circle Wide/CWD Reverse Defenser/CWD God Ring + Bearing Core
Metal Ape
Setups: Circle Wide/CWD Reverse Defenser/CWD God Ring + Bearing Core
Wolf Crusher
Setups: Circle Wide/CWD Reverse Defenser/CWD God Ring + Bearing Core
Advance Survivor
Setups: Circle Wide/CWD Reverse Defenser/CWD God Ring + Bearing Core
Balance
Samurai Upper
Setups: CWD Defense Ring/CWD God Ring/CWD Reverse Defenser + Bearing Core 2 (Aggressive)
Circle Upper (Mold 2 preferred)
Setups: CWD Defense Ring/CWD God Ring/CWD Reverse Defenser + Bearing Core 2 (Aggressive)
Despite being on life support, I thought it would be best to have the most accurate Heavy Metal System Competitive Combination List possible thus far. The previous list wasn't inherently bad, just didn't take into consideration a lot of varying parts or customization options, or overestimated certain parts' capability. It was also a bit antiquated in general. HMS has been around so long yet its testing was not incredibly well-documented or preserved. Outside of early Beywiki articles, gathering concrete knowledge was mostly through word of mouth or general anecdotal "impressions" from people who had expensive or rare parts still. My experience hasn't invalidated those experiences, but expanded upon them for this list.
I believe this lack of interest outside of myself and a few others, in large part is due to the fact that Bearing Core and Circle/Samurai Upper are versatile enough to make other RC/AR options feel irrelevant and not worth looking into, resulting in the full potential of some parts going largely unnoticed.
Regardless, since I have the majority of the parts, I decided to take a critical look at each to gauge their overall usability, and then decided how they stacked up against the already established "good" combos. Threads with some of the more important testing I did can be found in this sub-forum. This list will be a reflection of that, and highlight only the most consistent or worthwhile parts for each type. This isn't to say anything not on the list isn't worthwhile to buy or use, but they are certainly not as consistent to win with in a competitive environment compared to what you find below.
Compared to plastics, HMS is incredibly simple. The breakdown of types is the following: Attack, Defense, Survival, and Balance.
Attack will no longer feature an "Upper" section, as legitimate Upper Attack experienced in Plastics is not nearly as prevalent in a metal-on-metal battle. What is more commonly experienced when people describe "Upper Attack" in HMS, or MFB for that matter, is Up-Smash. Smash Attack in an upward direction, where one Beyblade sends the other out of the stadium in an upward trajectory. A minute detail, but much, much different than Upper Attack where a Beyblade would be taken up the ramp of the opponent's AR, and lifted up and over. It isn't impossible to have Upper Attack given the right ARs or right circumstances, but it isn't a legitimate sub-category of Attacker, with parts that exclusively (and consistently!) produce Upper Attack.
I've also changed the layout. Listing out all the possible parts individually implies that they can all be used interchangeably. Some parts perform noticeably worse in those vague setup options, so I've streamlined combo creation with ARs being the foundation, suitable WDs and RCs listed alongside it under “setups”. Order of appearance is directly related to optimality (First appearing WDs and RCs are best). Only the best are listed, certain things are deliberately left off because they simply aren't as good as the options already mentioned. This does not mean they are unusable, just suboptimal when considering every part released.
Attack Changes Justification:
- Samurai Upper and Circle Upper are Attack staples, they can simply tear through anything on a Grip Flat Core UV. The lesser speed of either Grip Flat Core (original), Metal Weight Core, or Metal Flat Core hardly makes a difference in its ability to pelt things outside of the stadium. Metal Flat Core is a legitimate choice if you want a decently aggressive pattern but have the potential to out-spin certain opponents too, though it is risky as ring-outs are not uncommon since you have less grip onto the stadium.
- When choosing between the two, the difference is not a grand canyon gap. Mold 2 Circle Upper has the same thickness of its metal ramps, but is 1-2g’s lighter than Samurai Upper. This gram or two difference is not terribly important in practice, but the extra plastic around Samurai Upper does give it a slight advantage as it is a smidge more aggressive. I would consider them near equals, with a slight edge towards Samurai if we have to split hairs.
- Advance Attacker shows similar levels of power and consistency to Samurai and Circle Upper, even against Attack's most difficult matchups. With said, it isn't ideal on a Metal Flat Core, as it relies on the grip of rubber-based RC's to get big hits off and show what it's made of.
- Jiraiya Blade and Metal Upper make the list because they perform marginally better against legitimate wall-style Defense types compared to literally every other HMS AR not listed already. Powerful alternatives that aren't quite as consistent, but deserve a spot. It should be noted that the Metal Weight Core and Metal Flat Cores are not listed for these two ARs as the loss in speed is a major blow to their KO power. It is highly recommended to stick to either of the Grip Flat Cores for best performance.
- Free Defense Ring is listed as the first option for the last 2 ARs (Jiraiya Blade and Metal Upper) because they turn the wall-styled Defense matchup on its head. Turning it from a complete losing matchup to actually fairly winnable. This is because the high-recoil of a Free Defense Ring can be that extra push needed when the contact they were making was almost exclusively AR-on-plastic. The former three ARs don’t have such a kryptonite, so I wouldn’t say the Free Defense Ring is as mandatory, but a welcome addition if you have it.
Defense Changes Justification:
- Samurai Upper and Circle Upper have both been kept here, yet also recategorized with certain stipulations later down on the list. Defense types are the style of Beyblade whose primary goal is to not be knocked out of the stadium. Given that Attackers are usually at a lower height thanks to their shorter and aggressive RC's, it is absolutely necessary for a defense type to rely on beefy CWDs to be the primary point of contact. Metal-on-metal contact is very risky, and should be avoided to give yourself the best chance of staying in play. With an aggressive Bearing Core 2 tip, these two ARs have the potential to be a completely different beast, bordering on Attack, but with longevity to OS opponents where Attackers would usually falter. So, Samurai Upper and Circle Upper can still be defense oriented Beyblades with a passive RC, but this wholly depends on the state of your Bearing Core 2.
- Metal Ape's small size and good weight make it an incredible choice for Defense, as getting direct contact with it while using either CWDs listed is incredibly difficult for most Attackers. While for Samurai Upper, Circle Upper and Advance Attacker "Defense" is an abstract concept, for anything else Metal Ape + the two first CWDs on BC2 make for a nearly immovable object most of the time. This AR is the absolute best for this type of Defense combo.
- CWD Defense Ring remains included, but it is a suboptimal choice when every HMS part is on the table, as it lacks the diameter or thickness to repel Smash Attacker's force effectively compared to more hard to come by CWDs. CWDs Reverse Defenser and CWD God Ring single-handedly make it so any Attack AR not on this list cannot do their job well, if at all. Defense Ring is not bad by any means, but it does give other less powerful Attack ARs a foot in the door they otherwise would not have.
Survival Changes Justification:
- Circle Upper in either mold is more than capable of beating other Survival types on KO power alone, while also consistently out-spinning the other types provided it is able to stay in the stadium. A staple due to its great shape and weight distribution, there is no doubt it is highly competitive on Bearing Core. Circle Upper is marginally preferred over Samurai Upper because of its more reserved plastic component, there are less protrusions, as well as being a gram or two lighter on average. Technically this makes it wiser to use in a Survival setup. Personally I wouldn’t consider Samurai Upper disqualified from use since it should perform similarly to Circle Upper, meaning it is still very good in relation to everything else.
- Metal Ape is capable of going toe-to-toe with every decent Survival AR on this list, and while it was long forgotten and relegated to the Island of Lost Compacts, it deserves a spot among these other Survival ARs.
- Wolf Crusher and Advance Survivor have long been staples in Survival for good reason, they don't have busy designs that could destabilize easily or get in the way of LAD, as well as good weight distribution giving them great survivability.
- Advance Survivor suffers from crippling recoil that should be worked around by incorporating opposite spin and making sure the AR's protrusions are aligned in a way where contact is made with the soft edge instead of the sharp edge on the other side. It may also be wise to weak launch when certain of the opposite spin and clinch a win via equalizing.
- CWDs like Free Survivor are largely outclassed by God Ring and Reverse Defenser. The purpose of tagging on extra weight is to add to a Survival Beyblade's ability to stay in the stadium, and those two simply do it better without being a hindrance on spin-time, LAD or procession in any major way.
Balance Addition Justification:
- Easily the biggest change here, previously these combos were considered exclusively Defense types as they wouldn't be KO'd very easily. While they can be hard to budge, there is nuance regarding the state of Bearing Core 2 that determines which end of the spectrum this combo truly belongs in. With a properly worn Bearing Core 2 it is easy to get an aggressive pattern going, and with these two ARs, it makes for a very versatile combo. The reason this is important is because this aggressive movement allows for these two combos to: 1. Counteract the momentum Attackers have at the start of the match with their own, making them even harder to KO 2. Provide enough movement to compliment their already aggressive ARs to generate KOs on the other three types reliably on their own, 3. The combo’s aggressiveness does not significantly detract from Bearing Core 2's innate survivability, meaning big wall hits can turn into out-spins quite easily on lighter combos, if not outright KOs.
- These two combos have the potential to out-spin all other types as well as KO all other types, on top of already being a challenge for Attackers to KO in retaliation. This behaviour goes well beyond the scope of what it means to be a "Defense" type Beyblade, and because of this, they have been added to the Balance category as it fits them much better if you have an aggressive Bearing Core 2. If you wanted a one-stop-shop Beyblade that can potentially win against anything else in the HMS series (that doesn't rely on Grip Flat Core/UV), this is it.
Attack
Samurai Upper (Right spin greatly preferred, Left spin acceptable)
Setups: CWD Defense Ring/CWD Free Defense Ring/Circle Wide + Grip Flat Core (UV)/Grip Flat Core/Metal Weight Core/Metal Flat Core
Circle Upper (Right spin greatly preferred, Left spin acceptable. Mold 2 preferred)
Setups: CWD Defense Ring/CWD Free Defense Ring/Circle Wide + Grip Flat Core (UV)/Grip Flat Core/Metal Weight Core/Metal Flat Core
Advance Attacker (Right spin and Left spin both work well)
Setups: CWD Defense Ring/CWD Free Defense Ring/Circle Wide + Grip Flat Core (UV)/Grip Flat Core/Metal Weight Core
Jiraiya Blade (Right spin and Left spin both work well)
Setups: CWD Free Defense Ring/CWD Defense Ring/Circle Heavy/Circle Wide + Grip Flat Core (UV)/Grip Flat Core
Metal Upper (Right spin greatly preferred)
Setups: CWD Free Defense Ring/CWD Defense Ring/Circle Wide/Circle Heavy + Grip Flat Core (UV)/Grip Flat Core
Defense
Samurai Upper (Left spin and Right spin are both acceptable, though Left typically isn’t as explosive)
Setups: CWD Reverse Defenser/CWD God Ring/CWD Defense Ring + Bearing Core 2 (Passive)
Circle Upper (Mold 2 preferred, Left spin and Right spin are both acceptable, though Left typically isn’t as explosive)
Setups: CWD Reverse Defenser/CWD God Ring/CWD Defense Ring + Bearing Core 2 (Passive)
Metal Ape (Left spin and right spin both acceptable)
Setups: CWD Reverse Defenser/CWD God Ring/CWD Defense Ring + Bearing Core 2
Survival
Circle Upper (both mold 1 and mold 2 are good)
Setups: Circle Wide/CWD Reverse Defenser/CWD God Ring + Bearing Core
Metal Ape
Setups: Circle Wide/CWD Reverse Defenser/CWD God Ring + Bearing Core
Wolf Crusher
Setups: Circle Wide/CWD Reverse Defenser/CWD God Ring + Bearing Core
Advance Survivor
Setups: Circle Wide/CWD Reverse Defenser/CWD God Ring + Bearing Core
Balance
Samurai Upper
Setups: CWD Defense Ring/CWD God Ring/CWD Reverse Defenser + Bearing Core 2 (Aggressive)
Circle Upper (Mold 2 preferred)
Setups: CWD Defense Ring/CWD God Ring/CWD Reverse Defenser + Bearing Core 2 (Aggressive)
Despite being on life support, I thought it would be best to have the most accurate Heavy Metal System Competitive Combination List possible thus far. The previous list wasn't inherently bad, just didn't take into consideration a lot of varying parts or customization options, or overestimated certain parts' capability. It was also a bit antiquated in general. HMS has been around so long yet its testing was not incredibly well-documented or preserved. Outside of early Beywiki articles, gathering concrete knowledge was mostly through word of mouth or general anecdotal "impressions" from people who had expensive or rare parts still. My experience hasn't invalidated those experiences, but expanded upon them for this list.
I believe this lack of interest outside of myself and a few others, in large part is due to the fact that Bearing Core and Circle/Samurai Upper are versatile enough to make other RC/AR options feel irrelevant and not worth looking into, resulting in the full potential of some parts going largely unnoticed.
Regardless, since I have the majority of the parts, I decided to take a critical look at each to gauge their overall usability, and then decided how they stacked up against the already established "good" combos. Threads with some of the more important testing I did can be found in this sub-forum. This list will be a reflection of that, and highlight only the most consistent or worthwhile parts for each type. This isn't to say anything not on the list isn't worthwhile to buy or use, but they are certainly not as consistent to win with in a competitive environment compared to what you find below.
Compared to plastics, HMS is incredibly simple. The breakdown of types is the following: Attack, Defense, Survival, and Balance.
Attack will no longer feature an "Upper" section, as legitimate Upper Attack experienced in Plastics is not nearly as prevalent in a metal-on-metal battle. What is more commonly experienced when people describe "Upper Attack" in HMS, or MFB for that matter, is Up-Smash. Smash Attack in an upward direction, where one Beyblade sends the other out of the stadium in an upward trajectory. A minute detail, but much, much different than Upper Attack where a Beyblade would be taken up the ramp of the opponent's AR, and lifted up and over. It isn't impossible to have Upper Attack given the right ARs or right circumstances, but it isn't a legitimate sub-category of Attacker, with parts that exclusively (and consistently!) produce Upper Attack.
I've also changed the layout. Listing out all the possible parts individually implies that they can all be used interchangeably. Some parts perform noticeably worse in those vague setup options, so I've streamlined combo creation with ARs being the foundation, suitable WDs and RCs listed alongside it under “setups”. Order of appearance is directly related to optimality (First appearing WDs and RCs are best). Only the best are listed, certain things are deliberately left off because they simply aren't as good as the options already mentioned. This does not mean they are unusable, just suboptimal when considering every part released.
Attack Changes Justification:
- Samurai Upper and Circle Upper are Attack staples, they can simply tear through anything on a Grip Flat Core UV. The lesser speed of either Grip Flat Core (original), Metal Weight Core, or Metal Flat Core hardly makes a difference in its ability to pelt things outside of the stadium. Metal Flat Core is a legitimate choice if you want a decently aggressive pattern but have the potential to out-spin certain opponents too, though it is risky as ring-outs are not uncommon since you have less grip onto the stadium.
- When choosing between the two, the difference is not a grand canyon gap. Mold 2 Circle Upper has the same thickness of its metal ramps, but is 1-2g’s lighter than Samurai Upper. This gram or two difference is not terribly important in practice, but the extra plastic around Samurai Upper does give it a slight advantage as it is a smidge more aggressive. I would consider them near equals, with a slight edge towards Samurai if we have to split hairs.
- Advance Attacker shows similar levels of power and consistency to Samurai and Circle Upper, even against Attack's most difficult matchups. With said, it isn't ideal on a Metal Flat Core, as it relies on the grip of rubber-based RC's to get big hits off and show what it's made of.
- Jiraiya Blade and Metal Upper make the list because they perform marginally better against legitimate wall-style Defense types compared to literally every other HMS AR not listed already. Powerful alternatives that aren't quite as consistent, but deserve a spot. It should be noted that the Metal Weight Core and Metal Flat Cores are not listed for these two ARs as the loss in speed is a major blow to their KO power. It is highly recommended to stick to either of the Grip Flat Cores for best performance.
- Free Defense Ring is listed as the first option for the last 2 ARs (Jiraiya Blade and Metal Upper) because they turn the wall-styled Defense matchup on its head. Turning it from a complete losing matchup to actually fairly winnable. This is because the high-recoil of a Free Defense Ring can be that extra push needed when the contact they were making was almost exclusively AR-on-plastic. The former three ARs don’t have such a kryptonite, so I wouldn’t say the Free Defense Ring is as mandatory, but a welcome addition if you have it.
Defense Changes Justification:
- Samurai Upper and Circle Upper have both been kept here, yet also recategorized with certain stipulations later down on the list. Defense types are the style of Beyblade whose primary goal is to not be knocked out of the stadium. Given that Attackers are usually at a lower height thanks to their shorter and aggressive RC's, it is absolutely necessary for a defense type to rely on beefy CWDs to be the primary point of contact. Metal-on-metal contact is very risky, and should be avoided to give yourself the best chance of staying in play. With an aggressive Bearing Core 2 tip, these two ARs have the potential to be a completely different beast, bordering on Attack, but with longevity to OS opponents where Attackers would usually falter. So, Samurai Upper and Circle Upper can still be defense oriented Beyblades with a passive RC, but this wholly depends on the state of your Bearing Core 2.
- Metal Ape's small size and good weight make it an incredible choice for Defense, as getting direct contact with it while using either CWDs listed is incredibly difficult for most Attackers. While for Samurai Upper, Circle Upper and Advance Attacker "Defense" is an abstract concept, for anything else Metal Ape + the two first CWDs on BC2 make for a nearly immovable object most of the time. This AR is the absolute best for this type of Defense combo.
- CWD Defense Ring remains included, but it is a suboptimal choice when every HMS part is on the table, as it lacks the diameter or thickness to repel Smash Attacker's force effectively compared to more hard to come by CWDs. CWDs Reverse Defenser and CWD God Ring single-handedly make it so any Attack AR not on this list cannot do their job well, if at all. Defense Ring is not bad by any means, but it does give other less powerful Attack ARs a foot in the door they otherwise would not have.
Survival Changes Justification:
- Circle Upper in either mold is more than capable of beating other Survival types on KO power alone, while also consistently out-spinning the other types provided it is able to stay in the stadium. A staple due to its great shape and weight distribution, there is no doubt it is highly competitive on Bearing Core. Circle Upper is marginally preferred over Samurai Upper because of its more reserved plastic component, there are less protrusions, as well as being a gram or two lighter on average. Technically this makes it wiser to use in a Survival setup. Personally I wouldn’t consider Samurai Upper disqualified from use since it should perform similarly to Circle Upper, meaning it is still very good in relation to everything else.
- Metal Ape is capable of going toe-to-toe with every decent Survival AR on this list, and while it was long forgotten and relegated to the Island of Lost Compacts, it deserves a spot among these other Survival ARs.
- Wolf Crusher and Advance Survivor have long been staples in Survival for good reason, they don't have busy designs that could destabilize easily or get in the way of LAD, as well as good weight distribution giving them great survivability.
- Advance Survivor suffers from crippling recoil that should be worked around by incorporating opposite spin and making sure the AR's protrusions are aligned in a way where contact is made with the soft edge instead of the sharp edge on the other side. It may also be wise to weak launch when certain of the opposite spin and clinch a win via equalizing.
- CWDs like Free Survivor are largely outclassed by God Ring and Reverse Defenser. The purpose of tagging on extra weight is to add to a Survival Beyblade's ability to stay in the stadium, and those two simply do it better without being a hindrance on spin-time, LAD or procession in any major way.
Balance Addition Justification:
- Easily the biggest change here, previously these combos were considered exclusively Defense types as they wouldn't be KO'd very easily. While they can be hard to budge, there is nuance regarding the state of Bearing Core 2 that determines which end of the spectrum this combo truly belongs in. With a properly worn Bearing Core 2 it is easy to get an aggressive pattern going, and with these two ARs, it makes for a very versatile combo. The reason this is important is because this aggressive movement allows for these two combos to: 1. Counteract the momentum Attackers have at the start of the match with their own, making them even harder to KO 2. Provide enough movement to compliment their already aggressive ARs to generate KOs on the other three types reliably on their own, 3. The combo’s aggressiveness does not significantly detract from Bearing Core 2's innate survivability, meaning big wall hits can turn into out-spins quite easily on lighter combos, if not outright KOs.
- These two combos have the potential to out-spin all other types as well as KO all other types, on top of already being a challenge for Attackers to KO in retaliation. This behaviour goes well beyond the scope of what it means to be a "Defense" type Beyblade, and because of this, they have been added to the Balance category as it fits them much better if you have an aggressive Bearing Core 2. If you wanted a one-stop-shop Beyblade that can potentially win against anything else in the HMS series (that doesn't rely on Grip Flat Core/UV), this is it.
![[Image: uKF94LK.gif]](https://i.imgur.com/uKF94LK.gif)
![[Image: UwZsp7A.png]](https://i.imgur.com/UwZsp7A.png)
![[Image: OdngHMS.png]](https://i.imgur.com/OdngHMS.png)
