(Jul. 06, 2016 12:44 AM)Kei Wrote: Although interestingly, I did some testing after reading your post and while MF-H Bakushin Leone 90RSF is definitely rather immovable and my experience is consistent with yours in that respect, my MSF-H Dark Knight Wyvang 85CS was actually able to OS it with a relatively high amount of consistency. The rubber on my preferred CS that I used to accomplish this is worn down a bit, as is the tip, but the plastic tip itself is exposed.
That's odd. I've always found that Bakushin 90RSF was able to OS Dark Knight LTAC via late-game destabilization with its slope, so I wonder what's causing the discrepancies between our results. Cake and I were comparing Bakushin and Jade earlier today, and I told him a theory I had that like Duo, Bakushin becomes better if it is worn and the surface is smoother. As I'm probably the most frequent Bakushin user on the WBO I would be willing to bet mine is a lot more worn than yours, so that might be the reason Wyvang can't spin steal off of it as well. Interestingly enough, I've also had an opponent's Bakushin Herculeo 100HF OS my MSF-H Dark Knight Zirago 90RF, so I have Bakushin winning getting the OS on both sides of the matchup for what it's worth.
(Jul. 06, 2016 12:44 AM)Kei Wrote: This is all great, but the problem is that none of these combos are nearly as versatile and relatively easy to use (in comparison to RF) as Dark Knight Wyvang CS is. Nobody is ever going to pull MF-H Quetzalcoatl 85RF in a tournament because it's use case (if what you're saying is true) is too specific. Lightning L Drago is obviously a much more widely useable Wheel, but even it doesn't have anywhere near the amount of Stamina or reach that Dark Knight can have.
I didn't mean that Lightning or Quetzalcoatl only exist to counter Dark Knight, both Wheels have wider applications such as defeating Stamina types and 145-height Defense. Personally I've always seen it as a tradeoff: Dark Knight has a much higher reach than either of those Wheels, but generally doesn't fare as well vs same-height opponents compared to Lightning or Quetz. Wasn't there some tournament where someone was spamming Dark Knight Girago 90RF, and then got completely shut down in the finals by Earth 90WD? Is that really any different than someone spamming Lightning/Quetz 90RF to get to the finals, and then losing to Earth 230D? I know that Dark Knight Girago is capable of KOing short combos sometimes, especially when you change the Chrome Wheel to Wyvang, but again, I fail to see how that's different than Lightning/Quetz 90RF occasionally KOing tall combos, especially when you change the Track to CH120 as they can still do damage to lower combos as well.
Personally I have continued to use other Attack Wheels, such as Screw, Pegasis, Bandid, and Quetzalcoatl in place of Dark Knight, and it's certainly not due to the psychological reasons associated with using F230GCF or Gravity sparingly. I've just been of the opinion that every competitive Attack Wheel in Limited has a certain role they work best in, and it's all about picking the right tool for the job.
(Jul. 06, 2016 12:44 AM)Kei Wrote: In the end, I guess the better question is: what do you think would happen if Dark Knight were banned? Only good things, in my opinion, as Cake so perfectly outlines below:
(Jul. 03, 2016 5:25 PM)Cake Wrote: My knee-jerk reaction to this is to immediately launch into a debate about how I think Jade is great and Dark Knight isn't game breaking, but after taking some time to think it over, I don't think it really matters whether Dark Knight is broken or if it does have viable counters.
Limited without Dark Knight is simply a better game; even though there is something of a stable type triangle with Dark Knight, that triangle and the meta at large is largely shaped by the threat that Dark Knight poses. It destroys even the most defensive mid-height opponents, threatens super-tall Stamina, and has the potential to spin-steal off of its main weakness, LTDC (which isn't usually enough to earn a win, but every bit helps).
With Dark Knight banned, as Kei said, it opens up the meta to a far wider assortment of Attack types, and reduces the threat to mid-height combos. I don't think there is a different combo that will suddenly take over in Dark Knight's absence; although Jade and Bakushin are highly effective Defense types, they don't have the Stamina or Attack to be threatening the way Libra was. If anything, Flame 230 gets my vote for next "irritating, meta-changing, overused" combo, but it's easily KOed with mid-height Upper Attack combos (which are at best a risky niche choice with Dark Knight around). No other Attack part has the kind of reach that Dark Knight has, so choosing the right Track should become more important, instead of just going low DK and KOing any height. Attackers on mid-height Tracks should lose very consistently to LTDC, and Attackers on lower Tracks won't be able to reach 230 with the kind of power Dark Knight offers.
TL;DR we kill the Batman to give everyone else a chance
Agree with every word.
At the risk of sounding important, maybe this one is a bit on me. Back in January when geetster99 swept that one tournament with MSF-H Dark Knight Girago 85MF I was the only one who was able to beat him (along with 2 other Dark Knight combos), 3-0 using Bakushin LTDC. I remember you asking if anyone had an answer for his combo and I almost spoke up, but decided to stay quiet so people would keep thinking Dark Knight was overpowered and I could exploit this at Anime North (basically I tried to long game the KO Attack scenario). Had I revealed Dark Knight's weakness to LTDC back then, the meta might have shifted in a different direction, but it's a bit too late for that now :')
I still personally disagree with banning Dark Knight, but it seems like I'm in the minority here (I'm still on the fence about the Omega/Libra re-bans tbh). I've never come to see it as overpowered, and frankly when Mitsu casually mentioned that you were thinking of banning it I was somewhat surprised. It's possible that part of my opposition of its ban is due to me also wanting Gravity unbanned, since Dark Knight is one of the newer Limited discoveries capable of checking Gravity and I have a sneaking suspicion that either one or the other is going to happen because banning one Wheel and introducing a new one might be seen as 'too drastic of a change' for one update.