I'm going to state my overall opinion here:
On the subject of Gravity, I oppose its ban. In my honest opinion, given
1) the fact that it truly is not the highest powered Attack wheel in the format,
2) the fact that, in a tournament situation and with an average launch, it will lose consistently to LTDC,
3) the fact that RF Defense can easily take it out, and
4) the fact that RB is being reintroduced, that Gravity Attack types are not unhealthy for this format. They work consistently against MTDC, and HTDC, both of which Lightning and Beat cover. Regardless of your 50-60% wins rates against Earth LTDC ( I would like to note that Bakushin can easily take it out), you will not win in a tournament scenario without an extreme degree of luck.
Overall, it is not really much more effective than other options. I would just as soon use Lightning, Beat, Cosmic, Phoenic or Omega as I would use Gravity.
Gravity spin-equalizers, though they are effective, are not unhealthy for the format in my opinion. Gravity EWD is easily countered with an Attack type, no matter how weak you launch it. The idea that these customs choke the use of other Stamina Metal Wheels could be true, or it could not. The fact is, in a match with Earth 85EWD vs. Gravity 85EWD, Earth will most likely win regardless of what spin direction the opponent uses. Its weight distribution is quite undesirable for a spin stealer in and of itself, and I honestly don't think conventional Stamina will become unviable.
Again, depending on the situation, I would definitely use other competitive Stamina wheels over Gravity it I had the option. I just really don't think the Stamina meta will take a beating from Gravity. Just because it's good isn't a reason to ilegalize it. As long as it isn't dominating/choking the use of other wheels (which is hasn't yet), then IMO we should just leave it alone.
Again, we've only had like, what, 5 limited tournaments? All in different places? So I could definitely be wrong, or I could be right. This is one of those subjects that's a little cloudy, and we just have to wait and see what happens before we take action.
Overall, I don't think Gravity is overpowered when used with conventional Attack/Stamina customs. If tournaments become extremely Gravity-prevalent, then we need to determine something. We need to figure out if it's actually Gravity's competitive application, and the players feel compelled to use it out of fear, or if it's simply the mindset/preference of the players.
If everyone simply likes Gravity and enjoys using it (which was the cause if its use in NC), then we can't change that. They'll keep using Gravity as long as they enjoy using Gravity. However, if the root of the problem is purely competitive, then something needs to be done.
On the subject of Gravity F230/T125 CF/GCF, I feel that both are not only unhealthy for the format, but utterly broken. There are very few, if any, competitive counters in this format for either of the two. They can win against just about everything consistently. Something needs to be done about these two customs.
As for F230, there are multiple options for fixing the problem. We could ban Gravity, we could ban F230, or we could ban something else specific, that I'll introduce soon (most you probably know anyway).
The problem with banning Gravity is, if you're like me and enjoy using/playing in tournaments with conventional Gravity Attack/Stamina types, banning Gravity destroys those customs as well, and makes for a much less complicated/versatile format in my humble opinion. If you're in favor of banning Gravity Attack/Stamina, though, this would be the perfect option.
End result: -Conventional Gravity combos, -Gravity F230CF/GCF, - Gravity T125GCF, +Meteo F230CF/GCF <- (this will come in later)
The second option is to ban F230. This would present a couple problems.
1) Meteo F230 would become illegal. Meteo's Stamina is so horrendous, and it's so absurdly easy to KO, that honestly, form my experience, Meteo F230CF/GCF is quite harmless to the format, and makes for quite a bit more interesting matches.
2) The second problem here, is that we don't get rid of Gravity T125GCF. This only rids us of the F230 combinations.
End result: +Conventional Gravity combos, -Gravity F230CF/GCF, -Meteo F230CF/GCF, +Gravity T125GCF
The third option, which I'm going to mention now, is to actually
ban CF/GCF. This rids of Gravity T125GCF and F230CF/GCF, without harming the conventional Gravity combos or eliminating any other popular customs in the format... except for Meteo F230CF/GCF, which is an unfortunate drawback in this case.
End result: +Conventional Gravity combos, -Gravity F230CF/GCF, -Gravity T125GCF, -Meteo F230CF/GCF
Those are our real options. I am personally a strong proponent of option 3, as my biggest concern here is to get rid of the more overpowered Gravity customs, while keeping the conventional, not-so overpowered (in my opinion) ones.
As for my opinion on the issue of Scythe, it's quite brief.
The combo in question here is MF(-H) Scythe Pegasis II CH120RF. I have tested this combination extensively under countless different conditions, and I simply do not find it ban worthy in any way, shape, or form.
From my testing, it is easily countered by LTDC/LTSC, and honestly covers no more of the meta than a Beat MTAC. There are conflicting test results on this subject, and the point has been raised that these differences may be caused by mold variations in different Metal Wheels, but as of now I have not gotten gamebreaking results with it, nor anything to concern me about the health of the meta.
My opinion on Rubber Ball, I moderately support its legalization. I doubt it would hurt anything, and it would definitely help MTDC against Gravity/Lightning combinations. It would add versatility to the Defense meta, and perhaps nullify some of the concerning numbers we're getting from Cosmic, Beat and Phoenic.
That's my overall opinion on everything. This is all coming from extensive informal testing. I've done plenty of it. Again, we all must be reminded that anything we're discussing about different parts' effects on the metagame is purely assumption. We have yet to actually evaluate whether or not certain things actually help or hurt the format. We're basing our assumptions on relatively solid information, but we all must keep in mind that any or all of us could be incorrect when it comes to actual tournament play.
This is pretty much my final comment in February's update. That's all. I'm out.