While I completely understand the focus on Burst over MFB, I do think Limited should get a lot more attention than it does. The "flavor of the month" becomes even more stale when it is only one or two regions hosting Limited events every two to three months or so. The meta has kinda stalled out. Say one combo sees widespread use during an event. With the next Limited event in the area generally not happening for two to three months, that gap in between tournaments is seen as a "long period of dominance" for that combo when in "tournament time" it's only one event. MF-H Jade Aquario CH120RB was one of these combos that was super prominent in one event and then like never got used again. In between those events there was a lot of talk about banning Jade, but those were put aside once Flame 230 took over.
You say that the banning of Libra was questionable, but Libra had many of the same qualities that make you opposed to unbanning Gravity: You can put it on a bunch of different competitive setups and it'll do above average. I can't say for sure if it kept Dark Knight in check, since I remember reading someone's tests (I want to say Mitsu) when Dark Knight got good win rates vs Libra HTDC and LTDC. If it was Mitsu, I do know that he also ended up losing to Libra W145EWD using Dark Knight LTAC, so with testing vs tournaments who really knows.
However, I think that Gravity is significantly weaker than Libra in most respects. I don't think its raw Stamina is that great, and in my experience Meteo outclasses it for Spin Stealing. With most Attackers being LTAC the meta isn't looking too friendly to CH120/__145/B:D height combos, and even with a weak launch it can be KOed by an aggressively launched Defense Type. I find it worse than Lightning, DK, Quetz, Screw, Bandid Wyvang, and sometimes Pegasis and Cosmic for Attack, but apparently I'm the minority that can't get it to work (maybe because I don't have the Attack CW?). Also, I've found that despite being able to get around weak launching the versatility of being Dual Spin doesn't really help it as an Attacker unless you're up against RS (which you can probably OS/Upper OS in same spin anyways). Unless you're using TR145 I can't really see it winning any relevant LAD matchups either. Meanwhile, it is generally too recoily to use for Defense. MF-H Gravity Stamina 85/90RSF/RB might be good, but I can't see it being overwhelmingly better than Bakushin or Jade. Maybe it beats Pegasis with a weak launch?
As for these comments about the "nature" of Limited, here are my thoughts on it. While it gets a bit off topic, but I tried to tie it back into my main points at the end.
In my opinion, Limited is easily the best format for two reasons:
- It allows players to be creative and experimental in their part and combo selection without a huge sacrifice of competitive ability, a quality I feel was lost in Standard starting with Zero-G. Since most everything is in the same weight class, you can get away with using "dumb" or "weird" combos. While this might sound like it makes it easier for unskilled players to win, I am of the opinion that it does the exact opposite by rewarding the players who are knowledgeable about how parts work and are therefore able to use that knowledge to create innovative combos with unique concepts that also don't suck.
- It somewhat takes the role of game design out of Takara-Tomy's hands and into that of the players. We get to decide what parts are "fair" and which aren't. Of course, we sometimes make mistakes, and that's why the bans and unbans can be undone (supposedly) easily. As players, what we want for the game isn't necessarily what is best for it. But while I don't doubt Takara-Tomy puts at least some amount of playtesting into their products, I am confident that they aren't knowledgeable to the degree that most WBO members are about how each specific part performs, how it interacts with other parts, and why it is good or bad.
When Limited was originally announced, it was designed to have a banlist that updated bi-monthly. That idea was scrapped pretty quickly as th!nk and Ingulit left/became inactive, and turned into "banlist only updates when something becomes horrendously OP". The way I see it, though this may not be what those two originally intended, the end goal of Limited was a "perfect game" with an incredibly balanced overall metagame. Each of these "steps forward" we've been taking by banning and unbanning parts has supposedly brought us closer to this perfect game, which may be why the banlist updates have become so infrequent. Or it might just be because Limited tournaments have become less frequent. You need to be very influential to force a change either way on the banlist, making bans and unbans a lot more permanent than they used to be. While I'm not too sure about the whole "organic development" or "stepping forward and back" thing, I definitely agree (I think? Maybe I'm misinterpreting these posts) that the banlist needs to update a bit more frequently, and also needs to be a little easier to change. I understand that the perfect game is impossible to achieve, but with more frequent updates (and Limited tournaments) we should be able to get closer to it with many small adjustments.
With all that being said, why not ban Dark Knight and unban Gravity? If people take these comments on the nature of Limited to heart, this is an easy decision to fix should it end up being a mistake.
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have been used quite a bit in Toronto. 1234beyblade probably has the most experience with them. How do you feel about it?
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