Batch Attack Testing: Chrome Wheels Part 1: Right Spin
Okay, here's the first instalment of my testing of Chrome Wheels against a single Defense Combo, just to get a general idea of their attack power, today is Right Spin. I'm not really planning on doing any Chrome Up tests because it's generally inferior to either Left or Right Crystal Up, so there should only be two parts, left spin should be along tomorrow.
Obviously this only shows their side-on ability, generally most of them are best at that
I didn't test the following wheels as they have no attack against same-height opponents: Orojya, Revizer (Orojya has some smash if it can get under things but being a chrome wheel this isn't easy for it to do against most opponents).
I do not own the following Chrome Wheels: Begirados, Pegasis, Gryph, Gargole, Girago, Genbull. Didn't want to make a thread when most of these likely have attack potential.
MSF-H: All of them need the extra weight.
Gladiator: Appears to be my best offensive Right Spin Crystal Wheel offensively (Ahead of Thief, with Samurai being the worst – still testing stuff). It also exposes the contact points of most of these chrome wheels nicely. If another is used, it's because it exposes the wheel's contact points better
R145: R145 is always oriented with one wing directly under the hole in the chrome wheel unless otherwise noted, which generally improves the balance of the wheel (or at least, has less of a negative effect than GB145 and the other orientation for R145). I did use H145 on Phoenic as using R145 leaves you with severe recoil trouble against LTDC, the others didn't seem to have similar problems with R145 there.
LRF: I like LRF and R2F in the opposite spin direction to what they're intended for, more consistent aggression/attacking time, seem a little faster than RF and with almost as much recoil control. Could just be my imagination though but it's not hurting anything. My LRF is worn but still moves fast.
MF-H for weight
Libra is because I've had a lot of problems with Earth breaking lately so I didn't feel comfortable using it, as some of these wheels are extremely violent. Libra on the other hand has been used heavily, being one of my earlier MFB purchases and being used for all the testing I did when we started looking at unbanning it, in the Libra Re-Testing Thread that was one of the first threads I made.
SW145 was used because I was having trouble stopping my CS's going aggro (which makes tests less consistent) and my GB145's seemed to exacerbate the problem. SW145 is the next heaviest 145 height track, the weight difference is .2g (though one of my GB145's (which is now broken) is the same weight as this SW145), and I currently only have R145 because Korea's postal service is reallllly slow at the moment. As it won't get hit in these matches as none of the wheels have an overhang etc, it should be basically the same as GB145.
CS is a little aggro, it can be launched to not tornado stall but when hit it does head to the ridge or fly around the stadium etc. I couldn't find one that didn't, and this one started doing it on SW145 after 30 rounds, meaning I had to go back and redo them all.
Being almost as old as my Libra and seeing significantly more use, my BB-10 is definitely showing its age, with a few cracks in the walls covered by a single layer of tape (which shouldn't absorb impacts any better than the walls), and one wall with a larger crack has scrunched up newspaper scraps stuffed in its underside to return the give of that wall to normal levels and limit further damage.
tl;dr Stadium isn't tourney legal, but shouldn't have a measurable effect on results.
I used a single Beylauncher L/R for all tests, though during the Wyvang ones I swapped to another due to a string break. Both had/have full length strings. Libra launches first and is shot with a slight bank that seemed to help prevent it going aggro.
I did these tests in an unusual order: I did ten rounds of each in the order listed, then another ten of each in reverse.
Goreim, Ifraid and Saramanda all did poorly in my pre-testing, and as I lost a lot of time to launcher repairs and breakage, disassemblies resulting in 20 minute hunts for parts and having to redo the first 30 tests when my CS suddenly decided it was aggro meant I decided to only do ten rounds of each and stop if they didn’t manage above 50%. None of them did, but I did another 10 rounds with Goreim and then 5 more with Samurai after everything else.
The Tests
Benchmark:
MF-H Gravity Perseus (ATK, Counter) R145LRF (Right Spin)
1. GPKO
2. GPKO
3. GPKO
4. GPKO
5. GPKO
6. LKO rebound
7. GPKO
8. GPKO – lategame off bad launch
9. LOS
10. GPKO
11. GPKO
12. GPKO -effortless
13. GPKO
14. LKO -recoil
15. GPKO
16. LKO -recoil
17. GPKO
18. GPKO
19. GPKO
20. GPKOs
Draws: DKOR4,6, 8, 12, 14, 17, 19
Observations:
Libra: 4/20 = 20% (3KO, 1OS)
Gravity: 16/20 = 80% (All KOs)
There were a tonne of DKO's and I'm not sure why, it's not normal, but perhaps the overhang that lets gravity land hits on Libra's recoily underside was also hitting SW145 or something, resulting in both flying out??? I dunno. Still, Gravity's overhang does mean these results are a little exaggerated (but then, it wasn't even in its best spin direction for this matchup either...)
MSF-H Thief Balro R145LRF
Notes: Balro's contact points are really easily blocked, Thief only blocks two, making it better than Gladiator and Samurai.
1. BKO
2. BKO
3. LKO
4. BKO
5. BKO
6. LKO – CS is a bit aggro when hit so it counterattacked
7. BKO
8. LOS – wall saves
9. BKO
10. LOS –wall saves again ewww
11. LKO rebound
12. BKO
13. BKO
14. BKO -lategame
15. LOS
16. BKO
17. BKO
18. LKO
19. BKO
20. BKO
Draws:
Observations:
Libra: 7/20 = 35% (4KO, 3OS)
Balro: 13/20 = 65% (All KO)
Balro scored a lot of lategame KO's, I wish I'd noted them down, but I almost think it's more dangerous lategame than at the start, if only because it tends to get knocked out more early on
MSF-H Gladiator Killerken R145LRF
1. KKO
2. KKO
3. KKO
4. KKO
5. LKO –nudged killerken out
6. KKO
7. LOS
8. LOS – libra ts'd and dodged after the first hit.
9. LOS
10. KKO
11. KKO
12. LOS
13. KKO
14. LOS
15. KKO
16. KKO
17. KKO
18. LOS
19. LKO
20. KKO
Draws:
Observations:
Libra: 8/20 = 40% (2KO, 6OS)
Killerken: 12/20 = 60% (All KO)
Killerken is awesome – as long as you have a strong launch (which also means a string launcher with no skipping or string length loss from fraying), a fast rubber tip, and it makes contact in the opening seconds of the match. I know I mentioned it in the testing criteria, but when you look at these results, please keep in mind that I redid any sub-par launches, because Killerken is a lot less forgiving than most of the other beys that got similar results.
MSF-H Thief Phoenic H145LRF
Notes: H145 used because otherwise Phoenic gets wrecked by Bakushin LTDC
1. PKO
2. PKO
3. PKO
4. LKO - Recoil
5. PKO
6. PKO
7. PKO
8. LOS
9. PKO
10. LOS
11. PKO
12. LKO -rebound
13. PKO
14. PKO
15. PKO
16. PKO
17. PKO
18. LKO rebound
19. PKO
20. PKO
Draws: r14dko r17dko
Observations:
Libra: 5/20 = 25% (3KO, 2OS)
Phoenic: 15/20 = 75% (All KO)
Assuming Gravity gets banned, Phoenic will probably become my main attack wheel. It's relatively forgiving compared to most chrome wheels, and it's also effective against opponents at any height. Gravity is probably just slightly better against most things particularly because it has dual spin, but this combo is great and I love it.
MSF-H Gladiator Wyvang R145LRF
1. WKO
2. WKO
3. WKO
4. WKO
5. LKO –recoil
6. LOS
7. WKO
8. LKO
9. WKO
10. WKO
11. LOS
12. WKO
13. WKO
14. LOS
15. WKO
16. WKO
17. WKO
18. WKO
19. LOS
20. LKO -recoil
Draws:
Observations:
Libra: 7/20 = 35% (3KO, 4OS)
Wyvang: 13/20 = 65% (All KO)
Wyvang is not amazing against same-height opponents, which isn't too surprising looking at its sides. Pretty good attack wheel all around though.
MSF-H Gladiator Dragooon R145LRF
Dragooon is heavier mold.
1. DKO
2. DKO
3. LOS
4. DKO
5. DKO
6. LOS
7. DKO
8. LOS
9. DKO
10. DKO – rebound
11. DKO
12. DKO
13. LOS
14. DKO
15. DKO
16. LKO – dunno what happened here but a light tap sent dragooon flying?
17. DKO – dunno what happened here but a light tap rolled libra out of the stadium?
18. LOS
19. DKO
20. LOS
Draws: r7dko
Observations:
Libra: 7/20 = 35% (1KO, 6OS)
Dragooon: 13/20 =65% (All KO)
Dragooon is a little inconsistent, some hits are really hard, some aren't so hard, and towards the end there it seemed less powerful, maybe just bad luck though. That said, it's a very solid attack chrome wheel and deserves further testing.
MSF-H Gladiator Bahamdia R145LRF
1. BKO
2. LOS
3. BKO
4. BKO
5. LKO – would've been a dko but libra held on at the lip a little longer
6. LOS wall saves etc
7. BKO
8. LOS – wall saves
9. BKO
10. BKO
11. LOS – lots of wall saves on both sides
12. LOS
13. BKO
14. BKO
15. BKO
16. BKO – dko went bahamdia's way this time
17. LOS
18. LOS wall saves
19. BKO
20. LOS
Draws: r1dko r14dko
Observations:
Libra: 9/20 = 45% (1KO, 8OS)
Bahamdia: 11/20 = 55% (All KO)
NOTE: A significant number of Libra's wins came from repeated wall saves. Bahamdia should've netted closer to 65%, both based on how many wall saves there were and the fairly sizeable amount of informal testing I've done with it in the past. As such, I will probably redo these tests tomorrow if I get time.
Bahamdia hits as hard as anything in the format but it is extremely unforgiving – I was going to make a discussion thread for it, but it only made me question my ability as a blader. I find it has a tendency to just wander out of the stadium mid-battle for no apparent reason (perhaps due to its width?). It also has a lot of rotational recoil. That said, if it lands a hit early on, whatever it hits is not staying in the stadium. A surprisingly small number of Libra's victories came from KO's, but that's more because of it being ridiculously lucky with wall saves.
Oh, Bahamdia also has another problem in general which is that its thin, flat design means it can only hit same-height opponents. Generally a Crystal Wheel gives it something against taller opponents, but it's too light to really be good with H145 so it can't do much to low track opponents.
MSF-H Samurai Saramanda R145LRF
1. LOS
2. LOS
3. SKO –caught libra on the TR
4. SKO – lategame from hop
5. LOS
6. LOS
7. LKO
8. LOS
9. LOS
10. SKO
Draws: R6 DKO
Observations:
Libra: 7/10 = 70% (1KO, 6OS)
Saramanda: 3/10 = 30% (All KO)
Stopped after 10 rounds as Saramanda showed pretty much no potential as a serious attack part.
Saramanda did better in pre-testing, but this fits my previous experience with it. Saramanda sucks and also has awful balance even for an unsynchromed Zero G wheel (it hops), I'm pretty sure TT giving it SW145SD was no coincidence. Ew.
MSF-H Samurai Ifraid R145LRF
1. LOS
2. LKO - rebound
3. LOS
4. IKO
5. LKO
6. IKO
7. IKO
8. LOS
9. IKO
10. LOS
11. IKO
12. LOS
13. IKO
14. LOS
15. LOS
Libra: 9/15 = 60% (2KO, 7OS)
Ifraid: 6/15 = 40% (All KO)
Did 10 Rounds and stopped as it scored under 50%, went back after doing the second 10 Goreim Rounds and did five more just in case, but it showed no improvement. Ifraid has some power sometimes but most of its hits do nothing, so eh.
MSF-H Thief Goreim R145LRF
1. GKO
2. LOS
3. GKO
4. LOS
5. GKO
6. LOS
7. LOS
8. GKO
9. LOS
10. LKO – Libra was saved by a wall and shortly after KO'd Goreim.
11. GKO
12. LKO
13. GKO
14. GKO
15. LOS
16. GKO
17. GKO
18. GKO
19. LOS
20. GKO
Draws:
Observations:
Libra: 9/20 = 45% (2KO, 7OS)
Goreim: 11/20 = 55% (All KO)
What Goreim lacks in power it makes up for in heart. It missed the 50% cutoff for the first 10 rounds in the tenth round due to wall saves, and in the elimination testing I did yesterday against MF-H Libra GB145RSF it didn't manage to budge the thing (so it nearly missed out on being tested at all). Basically, I went in expecting this thing to just bounce off Libra and it came pretty close to being even, so I gave it another shot after I was done everything else, and it did a pretty solid job (admittedly I think it got a little lucky in the last ten rounds but eh). You go little guy, you go. ;_;7
That's all I've got for today. I'll be back tomorrow with Dark Knight/Left Spin tests, hopefully.