*Warning: this is an extremely long OP: Feel free to skip past some explanations I put in mainly for newer users.
How exactly would you define such a complicated term? Anti-Meta can be a very ambiguous term, however let us start out by breaking down the term.
So as you can see, an Anti-Meta combination is one that is designed to defeat a large portion of the Metagame, which is the competitive scene in a certain area.
For instance: tourneys in a particular state may have a very high concentration of attack types Beyblades, whereas the Metagame in another state or area might be heavily concentrated on spin-equalizing Dragooon Synchroms.
Since every area has a different Metagame, it is very hard to define Anti-Meta, because it changes from one location to the next. In this thread, I'd like to set out a tone for what I consider Anti-Meta: a type of Beyblade that does well in the overall competitive scene. This is usually best represented by the most commonly used combinations in the Top Tier list and the Winning Combinations thread.
Top Tier List (I listed the non-advanced forum version since it is updated more frequently)
Winning Combinations Thread
So if you are not familiar with the types of common combinations that are supposedly seen in the overall Metagame, I'd advise you to glance over them so that you would be in the proper mindset when I refer to this combination as Anti-Meta.
This combination was designed, as stated above to take out a large portion of the Metagame, hence Anti-Meta. It features very low recoil, considerable amount of smash, speed, and fantastic center of gravity for taking hits.
Face: I am not using a MF-H because this combo has such a great ability to take hits and such low recoil, that a MF-H will only slow the combination down. I suppose MF-H could be used to tame the speed if some users have trouble controlling it at first.
Escolpio: As you can probably tell, this combo is at a very low height. Escolpio serves as a form of Clear Wheel attack against taller Beyblades that might otherwise be harder to reach. I have tried Crown which has amazingly excellent synergy with Death in Attack Mode, but it was just not obtrusive enough. I have found Susanoo, Chimera, and Dragonis to be very close to Escolpio's smash.
Death (Attack Mode): This is the crux of the combo; the main reason this thing does so well in the overall Metagame. By taking a look at the Winning Combinations Thread and the Top Tier List, you can easily see that the Meta is leaning toward:
Please let me know if I forgot anything; I'm a bit drowsy while typing this. Synchroms are very unique in that they basically knocked Duo out of the competitive scene for Defense.
This is fantastic because common Synchrom defense setups, unlike Duo, are for the most part, wider than BD145 and have a fairly large gap between BD145 and the Metal. This allows the spikes on the top of Death's Metal Wheel to make contact and do major damage. Death is also known for have relatively low recoil, and being able to resist/do really well against Spin-Equalizers.
90:This is a really unique height for Death. It is low enough to optimize spike contact and get under SP230, but high enough to lessen pure disk contact. Not only does this track serve specific benefits, but also general benefits because it is low. Being that the majority of Beyblades in the overall Metagame are 130+ height, the spikes will continue to make contact providing excellent smash. Coupled with the sheer speed, extremely low center of gravity, and relatively low recoil of Death, this thing is extremely hard to KO by other current attackers. Think of it as Scythe 90RS or Wing 85RS. Only it moves.....very quickly...
RF: When choosing the tip, it was pretty obvious to me that I needed a Flat Rubber Tip for fast movement and obviously to KO things....I chose RF because it had the most stamina out of the other Rubber Flated Tips, giving it a higher chance of OSing an Attacker if Death did not achieve the KO, and IMO is generally easier to successfully deep bank with.
Basically you need to deep bank when battling Right Spin Synchrom Defense Customs to maximize spike contact. Use a wider launch when VSing Left Spin Dragooon Combinations; the speed coupled with the spikes should be able to push them out.
Death Escolpio 90RF vs Killerken Gargole BD145RB
Death: 14/20 (13 KO, 1 OS)
Killerken: 6/20 (All OS)
Death Win Rate: 70%
Deep banking is the most important thing when getting this combo to KO. Try a few test battles to get the hang of it first.
Death Escolpio 90RF vs MF-H Flash Dragonis S130RF
Death: 17/20 (8 OS, 9 KO)
Flash: 3/20 (2 OS, 1 KO)
Death Win Rate: 85%
Death Escolpio 90RF vs Killerken Dragooon BD145RDF
Death: 19/20 (All KO)
Killerken: 1/20 (All OS)
Death Win Rate: 95%
18 Ties Redone (OMG!!!!)
Ok, after this test, I was done for the day. Basically Death tied just about every other match giving it plenty of time to KO. Idk how this happened since RDF has a ton of LAD, but I will have a video of this matchup coming up maybe tom.
I made this video in the very early Beta stage of this theory. Since then I have made some changes to the Beyblade, however they barely effect the combinations faced in this video. VSing Dragooon BD145RDF and SP230 Defense Custom to come!
Be smart with this combination!! This Anti-Meta custom is based of off an ideal definition of Metagame. If you know your Metagame has not yet been dominated by Dragoon and Synchrom Defense Combos and that Duo Defense is still the "in thing", then be wary of using this. Yes Duo 90CS and Duo BD145CS and possibly even Hell 230RS (lol), but that doesn't mean this Combination is bad. This combo is designed to be that surprise combo, the one no one expected and the one that can help make a match that much more fun and interesting to play. Also some of these parts such as the Clear Wheel and the track are not static. One person may do better with 100 over 90 or perhaps Susanoo over Escolpio. Don't be afraid to make some changes to the combo and post your results in the thread! We could always use more insight!
Thanks!
Anti-Meta?
How exactly would you define such a complicated term? Anti-Meta can be a very ambiguous term, however let us start out by breaking down the term.
[Anti] - [Meta] -----> Against - Metagame
So as you can see, an Anti-Meta combination is one that is designed to defeat a large portion of the Metagame, which is the competitive scene in a certain area.
For instance: tourneys in a particular state may have a very high concentration of attack types Beyblades, whereas the Metagame in another state or area might be heavily concentrated on spin-equalizing Dragooon Synchroms.
Since every area has a different Metagame, it is very hard to define Anti-Meta, because it changes from one location to the next. In this thread, I'd like to set out a tone for what I consider Anti-Meta: a type of Beyblade that does well in the overall competitive scene. This is usually best represented by the most commonly used combinations in the Top Tier list and the Winning Combinations thread.
Top Tier List (I listed the non-advanced forum version since it is updated more frequently)
Winning Combinations Thread
So if you are not familiar with the types of common combinations that are supposedly seen in the overall Metagame, I'd advise you to glance over them so that you would be in the proper mindset when I refer to this combination as Anti-Meta.
Death Escolpio 90RF
This combination was designed, as stated above to take out a large portion of the Metagame, hence Anti-Meta. It features very low recoil, considerable amount of smash, speed, and fantastic center of gravity for taking hits.
Face: I am not using a MF-H because this combo has such a great ability to take hits and such low recoil, that a MF-H will only slow the combination down. I suppose MF-H could be used to tame the speed if some users have trouble controlling it at first.
Escolpio: As you can probably tell, this combo is at a very low height. Escolpio serves as a form of Clear Wheel attack against taller Beyblades that might otherwise be harder to reach. I have tried Crown which has amazingly excellent synergy with Death in Attack Mode, but it was just not obtrusive enough. I have found Susanoo, Chimera, and Dragonis to be very close to Escolpio's smash.
Death (Attack Mode): This is the crux of the combo; the main reason this thing does so well in the overall Metagame. By taking a look at the Winning Combinations Thread and the Top Tier List, you can easily see that the Meta is leaning toward:
1. Right Spin Synchrom Defense, Stamina, and Attack
2. Left Spin Dragooon Defense, Attack, Balance, and pure Spin-Equalizers
3. Flash attack setups (RF based, MF)
4. Pure Stamina + Balance setups (Duo, Phantom etc.)
2. Left Spin Dragooon Defense, Attack, Balance, and pure Spin-Equalizers
3. Flash attack setups (RF based, MF)
4. Pure Stamina + Balance setups (Duo, Phantom etc.)
Please let me know if I forgot anything; I'm a bit drowsy while typing this. Synchroms are very unique in that they basically knocked Duo out of the competitive scene for Defense.
This is fantastic because common Synchrom defense setups, unlike Duo, are for the most part, wider than BD145 and have a fairly large gap between BD145 and the Metal. This allows the spikes on the top of Death's Metal Wheel to make contact and do major damage. Death is also known for have relatively low recoil, and being able to resist/do really well against Spin-Equalizers.
90:This is a really unique height for Death. It is low enough to optimize spike contact and get under SP230, but high enough to lessen pure disk contact. Not only does this track serve specific benefits, but also general benefits because it is low. Being that the majority of Beyblades in the overall Metagame are 130+ height, the spikes will continue to make contact providing excellent smash. Coupled with the sheer speed, extremely low center of gravity, and relatively low recoil of Death, this thing is extremely hard to KO by other current attackers. Think of it as Scythe 90RS or Wing 85RS. Only it moves.....very quickly...
RF: When choosing the tip, it was pretty obvious to me that I needed a Flat Rubber Tip for fast movement and obviously to KO things....I chose RF because it had the most stamina out of the other Rubber Flated Tips, giving it a higher chance of OSing an Attacker if Death did not achieve the KO, and IMO is generally easier to successfully deep bank with.
The Launch
Basically you need to deep bank when battling Right Spin Synchrom Defense Customs to maximize spike contact. Use a wider launch when VSing Left Spin Dragooon Combinations; the speed coupled with the spikes should be able to push them out.
Tests
Death Escolpio 90RF vs Killerken Gargole BD145RB
Death: 14/20 (13 KO, 1 OS)
Killerken: 6/20 (All OS)
Death Win Rate: 70%
Deep banking is the most important thing when getting this combo to KO. Try a few test battles to get the hang of it first.
Death Escolpio 90RF vs MF-H Flash Dragonis S130RF
Death: 17/20 (8 OS, 9 KO)
Flash: 3/20 (2 OS, 1 KO)
Death Win Rate: 85%
Death Escolpio 90RF vs Killerken Dragooon BD145RDF
Death: 19/20 (All KO)
Killerken: 1/20 (All OS)
Death Win Rate: 95%
18 Ties Redone (OMG!!!!)
Ok, after this test, I was done for the day. Basically Death tied just about every other match giving it plenty of time to KO. Idk how this happened since RDF has a ton of LAD, but I will have a video of this matchup coming up maybe tom.
Videos
I made this video in the very early Beta stage of this theory. Since then I have made some changes to the Beyblade, however they barely effect the combinations faced in this video. VSing Dragooon BD145RDF and SP230 Defense Custom to come!
Closing Remarks
Be smart with this combination!! This Anti-Meta custom is based of off an ideal definition of Metagame. If you know your Metagame has not yet been dominated by Dragoon and Synchrom Defense Combos and that Duo Defense is still the "in thing", then be wary of using this. Yes Duo 90CS and Duo BD145CS and possibly even Hell 230RS (lol), but that doesn't mean this Combination is bad. This combo is designed to be that surprise combo, the one no one expected and the one that can help make a match that much more fun and interesting to play. Also some of these parts such as the Clear Wheel and the track are not static. One person may do better with 100 over 90 or perhaps Susanoo over Escolpio. Don't be afraid to make some changes to the combo and post your results in the thread! We could always use more insight!
Thanks!