Everyone always talks about nL and bL, and while those two are definitely powerful attackers, L2 always gets a bit lost, like Lost Long, in comparison, even though it saw semi-consistent usage throughout the God Layer era, even appearing at least once after nL was released. I decided to see how it stacked up to the other two Longini (mostly bL, since L2 seems more suited as a mixed attacker rather than a KO attacker).
Lost Longinus 10Reach Quick' vs Drain Fafnir 00Wall Drift
L2.10R.Qc': 5 wins (1 KO, 4 OS)
dF.00W.Dr: 15 wins (2 KO, 13 OS)
1 tie redone
L2.10R.Qc' win rate: 25%
It was getting hits, the hits just weren't doing very much. L2 would occasionally get a critical hit, but early game it would take more recoil than it could dish out, and mid-late game it just wasn't enough to KO.
I don't think dF ever lost more than 2 clicks, so I decided to switch to Hn' for more controllability/Burst Attack.
Lost Longinus Ωuter Hunter' vs Drain Fafnir 00Wall Drift
L2.Ω.Hn': 8 wins (3 KO, 4 Burst, 1 OS)
dF.00W.Dr: 12 wins (1 KO, 11 OS)
L2.Ω.Hn' win rate: 40%
Compare to this benchmark with bL:
LC Bloody Longinus Ωuter Hunter' vs Drain Fafnir 00Wall Drift
bL.Ω.Hn': 10 wins (2 KO, 3 Burst, 5 OS)
dF.00W.Dr: 10 wins (1 KO, 9 OS)
dF.00W.Dr win rate: 50%
Hn' was a significant improvement on L2, but I didn't find it to be quite as good as bL. I feel like L2's effectiveness drops off very quickly in comparison to bL, even against a same spin opponent it needs to win in the first couple of hits, whereas bL still has a chance for a late game burst or destabilization.
I also did some benchmarks with Myth and gZ for reference:
Myth Dragon2 5Cross Xtreme vs Galaxy Zeus 00Wall Drift
MDr.5C.X: 11 wins (5 KO, 3 OS, 3 Burst)
gZ.00W.Dr: 9 wins (2 KO, 6 OS, 1 Burst)
MDr.5C.X win rate: 55%
Myth Dragon2 5Cross Xtreme vs Drain Fafnir 00Wall Drift
MDr.5C.X: 2 wins (KO)
dF.00W.Dr: 8 wins (OS)
MDr.5C.X win rate: 20%
Lost Longinus Ωuter Hunter' vs Galaxy Zeus 00Wall Drift
L2.Ω.Hn': 1 win (KO)
gZ.00W.Dr: 9 wins (OS)
L2.Ω.Hn' win rate: 10%
It seems to be not totally useless, but imo not viable in Limited. I don't think I would use L2 over bL, nL, Myth, or tN.
Lost Longinus 10Reach Quick' vs Drain Fafnir 00Wall Drift
L2.10R.Qc': 5 wins (1 KO, 4 OS)
dF.00W.Dr: 15 wins (2 KO, 13 OS)
1 tie redone
L2.10R.Qc' win rate: 25%
It was getting hits, the hits just weren't doing very much. L2 would occasionally get a critical hit, but early game it would take more recoil than it could dish out, and mid-late game it just wasn't enough to KO.
I don't think dF ever lost more than 2 clicks, so I decided to switch to Hn' for more controllability/Burst Attack.
Lost Longinus Ωuter Hunter' vs Drain Fafnir 00Wall Drift
L2.Ω.Hn': 8 wins (3 KO, 4 Burst, 1 OS)
dF.00W.Dr: 12 wins (1 KO, 11 OS)
L2.Ω.Hn' win rate: 40%
Compare to this benchmark with bL:
LC Bloody Longinus Ωuter Hunter' vs Drain Fafnir 00Wall Drift
bL.Ω.Hn': 10 wins (2 KO, 3 Burst, 5 OS)
dF.00W.Dr: 10 wins (1 KO, 9 OS)
dF.00W.Dr win rate: 50%
Hn' was a significant improvement on L2, but I didn't find it to be quite as good as bL. I feel like L2's effectiveness drops off very quickly in comparison to bL, even against a same spin opponent it needs to win in the first couple of hits, whereas bL still has a chance for a late game burst or destabilization.
I also did some benchmarks with Myth and gZ for reference:
Myth Dragon2 5Cross Xtreme vs Galaxy Zeus 00Wall Drift
MDr.5C.X: 11 wins (5 KO, 3 OS, 3 Burst)
gZ.00W.Dr: 9 wins (2 KO, 6 OS, 1 Burst)
MDr.5C.X win rate: 55%
Myth Dragon2 5Cross Xtreme vs Drain Fafnir 00Wall Drift
MDr.5C.X: 2 wins (KO)
dF.00W.Dr: 8 wins (OS)
MDr.5C.X win rate: 20%
Lost Longinus Ωuter Hunter' vs Galaxy Zeus 00Wall Drift
L2.Ω.Hn': 1 win (KO)
gZ.00W.Dr: 9 wins (OS)
L2.Ω.Hn' win rate: 10%
It seems to be not totally useless, but imo not viable in Limited. I don't think I would use L2 over bL, nL, Myth, or tN.