Following the release of BX-36 Whale Wave, the new Elevate bit has been a hot topic of discussion. Some fear it marks the beginning of a downward spiral towards a LAD-dominated META while others discount the new bit, citing its low burst resistance and lack of a consistent left-rotation blade to pair it with. However, no matter how you look at it, there's a common problem with these sentiments: they lack proper testing to back them! That being said, this thread aims to change that. Let's. Get. Testing!
Cobalt Dragoon 3-60 Elevate VS Wizard Rod 3-60 Ball
Cobalt Dragoon: 80% (5 OS, 2 KOs, 1 Xtreme)
Wizard Rod: 20% (2 KO)
Video:
Notes: Oh yeah, equalization is BACK! Dragoon Elevate won every battle that came down to stamina. You need to launch fairly hard... but not too hard or you'll be the one in the pocket!
Cobalt Dragoon 3-60 Elevate VS Wizard Rod 5-60 Hexa
Cobalt Dragoon: 40% (3 OS, 1 Xtreme)
Wizard Rod: 60% (4 OS, 1 KO, 1 Burst)
Video:
Notes: The OTHER common Wizard Rod combo. Dragoon struggled a bit more here, but despite what some have been saying, it's far from an unwinnable matchup even if it comes down to LAD. Your goal as the Dragoon player in this matchup, if you're unable to score any of the "attack" win conditions, is to bully Rod Hexa into the rail and destabilize it just enough to squeeze out an OS.
Wizard Rod 3-60 Elevate VS Wizard Rod 3-60 Ball
Wizard Rod 3-60 Elevate: 70% (6 OS, 1 KO)
Wizard Rod 3-60 Ball: 30% (2 Burst, 1 KO)
Video:
Notes: I see everyone talking about Elevate for opposite spin, but uh... what about the same spin potential? We can't ignore that, right? Well, this test, at least in my opinion, confirms it! I'm not saying my ten round test means Elevate is now the king of same spin stamina. Far from it. However, because it did so well here, I would highly encourage others to try it out and post their findings. This was interesting!
Overall thoughts so far:
From the testing conducted thus far, Elevate is a bit with high promise. It has the highest LAD of any current X bit and seems to boast some fairly impressive same spin stamina. Time will tell just how much of an impression the new bit will leave on the meta. In the meantime? I encourage everyone to test the bit and post your results here! Thank you for reading :)