Now that I've finally gotten my grubby little hands on the TT Union, hK, and bX, I decided to test them to find out which was the best, and which, if any, could be a right spin counterpart to nL. The idea for this was kind of inspired by henwooja's video comparing aZ3, T3, and H4, so in a sense this is what these tests are trying to accomplish.
I've only done the first part of these so far, against Stamina, but will do vs. Defense at some point in the near future hopefully. Maybe I'll even make my own video recapping all this after I finish the 2nd (and maybe 1.5th) part.
Combo Selection
Hazard Kerbeus 7Dagger Xtreme': According to what Shindog's told me, hK is most effective in the first ~3 seconds of the battle, and needs to be moving fast, so Xtreme' is the obvious first choice, though Ev' could also work. I wanted to put 10 or 00 on it but they kind of lined up weird especially with Dagger, so 7 it was, as 0 would have slowed it down a bit more. I wish the lil frame holders on 10 and 00 were in different places, it would keep them from being basically the same disk.
Union (Speed Mode) Pegasus 00Dagger Xtreme' GEN: Union is also supposedly very fast, so same logic applies. I wonder if Ev would make this better since I noticed it was kinda smashing F3. This time 00 lines up right with the contact points. I only used Pegasus because it made the whole Layer RED
Buster Xcalibur 10Cross Charge: I had a hard time finding a good combo for bX because it's not just a KO Attacker like the others, and I still don't really know what it's supposed to be. It's a bit of a danger bomb I guess. sX is actually better at stationary Attack on Om (I tried Om and Un on bX and neither could burst C3, while sX did pretty consistently) and it tended to waste X's aggression (Qc' was a little better at this, but Charge had the overall best performance). Chm or Charge' can probably be used as replacements, but not Ωcta.
Nightmare Longinus Turn Xtreme': established competitive nL setup.
I've also recently gotten the Absorb-S Driver, so I'll be using that, and my 10 Cross that balances pretty well with most things on it, and Fafnir F3 and Caynox C3 for my dummy "Stamina" combo. It's a common, all purpose stamina combo that you're likely to run into at some point. Mine does not have a particularly tight spring, but it's usable. I prefer to use it on H4 over either of these 2 Layers.
Defense
Geist Fafnir 0Lift Ωcta: It's like 64 grams, decent LAD, same spin Stamina, and burst resistance. I think it's one of the only really viable Defense combos in Limited.
Maximum Garuda 00 Keep': Unlike the left spin version, this one is light, but is also basically a perfect circle and has a lot of grip. With the way the whole Garuda mechanism works it gets like an extra special buff from the Dash Driver, so you don't have to worry about bursting either.
Same Spin
Hazard Kerbeus 7Dagger Xtreme' vs. Caynox C3 10Cross Absorb-S
hK.7D.X': 15 wins (6 KO, 9 Burst)
C3.10C.Ab-S: 5 wins (all OS)
2 ties redone
hK.7D.X' win rate: 75%
hK actually has a lot of OWD that contributes to its movement speed, making it a bit difficult to control. Once I figured out how to aim it correctly, it tended to get a lot of powerful hits in the first window and even a few mid/late game bursts.
Union Pegasus 10Dagger Xtreme' vs. Caynox C3 10Cross Absorb-S
UP.10D.X': 19 wins (6 KO, 13 Burst)
C3.10C.Ab-S: 1 win (OS)
UP.10D.X' win rate: 95%
This was very impressive. Or maybe C3 just really sucks.
Buster Xcalibur 10Cross Charge vs. Caynox C3 10Cross Absorb-S
bX.10C.Ch: 17 wins (3 KO, 14 Burst)
C3.10C.Ab-S: 3 wins (all OS)
bX.10C.Ch win rate: 85%
I dunno why Charge works with this when Un, At, and Om don't. Maybe this thing is just like the Limited danger bomb, that'd be cool.
BONUS: Buster Xcalibur 10Cross Quick' vs. Caynox C3 10Cross Absorb-S
bX.10C.Qc': 6 wins (all Burst)
C3.10C.Ab-S: 4 wins (all OS)
bX.10C.Qc' win rate: 60%
Nightmare Longinus Turn Xtreme' vs. Fafnir F3 10Cross Absorb-S
nL.T.X': 16 wins (2 OS, 5 KO, 9 Burst)
f3.10C.Ab-S: 4 wins (3 OS, 1 KO)
nL.T.X' win rate: 80%
All of them performed exceedingly well against their same spin Stamina combos, but I have a feeling that the real culprit is my Ab-S. Maybe I should try with F3/aZ3 on At-S as more of a Same Spin Stamina/Burst Defense hybrid.
Opposite Spin
Hazard Kerbeus 7Dagger Xtreme' vs. Fafnir F3 10Cross Absorb-S
hK.7D.X':11 wins (10 KO 1 Burst)
F3.10C.Ab-S: 9 wins (1 KO 8 OS)
hK.7D.X' win rate: 55%
If you nail the first hit hK doesn't really care about spin direction. It's like Flash, Manta Diver, and a Doge all in one.
Union Pegasus 10Dagger Xtreme' vs. Fafnir F3 10Cross Absorb-S
UP.10D.X': 6 wins (all KO)
F3.10C.Ab-S: 14 wins (all OS)
UP.10D.X' win rate: 30%
This surprised me considering how well it did in same spin (again, maybe C3 is just bad). There were a lot of "almost" KOs, but it just couldn't knock F3 back quite far enough to KO it.
Buster Xcalibur 10Cross Charge vs. Fafnir F3 10Cross Absorb-S
bX.10C.Ch: 6 wins (all KO)
F3.10C.Ab-S: 14 wins (1 KO, 2 Burst, 11 OS)
bX.10C.Ch win rate: 30%
I kind of expected this one to do bad against opposite spin, mainly due to the Driver. It was able to weight room F3 a few times though.
Nightmare Longinus Turn Xtreme' vs. Caynox C3 10Cross Absorb-S
nL.T.X': 8 wins (all KO)
C3.10C.Ab-S: 12 wins (all OS)
nL.T.X' win rate: 40%
Wow, looks like hK is better at KOing opposite spin than nL. In fact, hK was significantly better than all of the others in opposite spin. I don't know if Qc' or X' would help Buster much here without sacrificing too much of its same spin utility (which I feel this Charge combo has a lot of).
Conclusion (of Part 1 at least)
Nightmare Longinus: (0.8 x 0.5) + (0.4 x 0.5) = 0.6
Hazard Kerbeus: (0.75 x 0.5) + (0.55 x 0.5) = 0.65
Union Speed (TT): (0.95 x 0.5) + (0.3 x 0.5) = 0.625
Buster Xcalibur: (0.85 x 0.5) + (0.3 x 0.5) = 0.575
Though the numbers of each spin direction might be a bit different, since all of these parts perform slightly differently, the overall score vs "Stamina" so far is about the same. hK performed the best for me, and even before I did all the math that was the subjective opinion I had after doing these tests as well. They are all quite good in their own way though, For example hK is a lot more tech-y while bX you can just kind of launch hard.
I've only done the first part of these so far, against Stamina, but will do vs. Defense at some point in the near future hopefully. Maybe I'll even make my own video recapping all this after I finish the 2nd (and maybe 1.5th) part.
Combo Selection
Hazard Kerbeus 7Dagger Xtreme': According to what Shindog's told me, hK is most effective in the first ~3 seconds of the battle, and needs to be moving fast, so Xtreme' is the obvious first choice, though Ev' could also work. I wanted to put 10 or 00 on it but they kind of lined up weird especially with Dagger, so 7 it was, as 0 would have slowed it down a bit more. I wish the lil frame holders on 10 and 00 were in different places, it would keep them from being basically the same disk.
Union (Speed Mode) Pegasus 00Dagger Xtreme' GEN: Union is also supposedly very fast, so same logic applies. I wonder if Ev would make this better since I noticed it was kinda smashing F3. This time 00 lines up right with the contact points. I only used Pegasus because it made the whole Layer RED
Buster Xcalibur 10Cross Charge: I had a hard time finding a good combo for bX because it's not just a KO Attacker like the others, and I still don't really know what it's supposed to be. It's a bit of a danger bomb I guess. sX is actually better at stationary Attack on Om (I tried Om and Un on bX and neither could burst C3, while sX did pretty consistently) and it tended to waste X's aggression (Qc' was a little better at this, but Charge had the overall best performance). Chm or Charge' can probably be used as replacements, but not Ωcta.
Nightmare Longinus Turn Xtreme': established competitive nL setup.
I've also recently gotten the Absorb-S Driver, so I'll be using that, and my 10 Cross that balances pretty well with most things on it, and Fafnir F3 and Caynox C3 for my dummy "Stamina" combo. It's a common, all purpose stamina combo that you're likely to run into at some point. Mine does not have a particularly tight spring, but it's usable. I prefer to use it on H4 over either of these 2 Layers.
Defense
Geist Fafnir 0Lift Ωcta: It's like 64 grams, decent LAD, same spin Stamina, and burst resistance. I think it's one of the only really viable Defense combos in Limited.
Maximum Garuda 00 Keep': Unlike the left spin version, this one is light, but is also basically a perfect circle and has a lot of grip. With the way the whole Garuda mechanism works it gets like an extra special buff from the Dash Driver, so you don't have to worry about bursting either.
Same Spin
Hazard Kerbeus 7Dagger Xtreme' vs. Caynox C3 10Cross Absorb-S
hK.7D.X': 15 wins (6 KO, 9 Burst)
C3.10C.Ab-S: 5 wins (all OS)
2 ties redone
hK.7D.X' win rate: 75%
hK actually has a lot of OWD that contributes to its movement speed, making it a bit difficult to control. Once I figured out how to aim it correctly, it tended to get a lot of powerful hits in the first window and even a few mid/late game bursts.
Union Pegasus 10Dagger Xtreme' vs. Caynox C3 10Cross Absorb-S
UP.10D.X': 19 wins (6 KO, 13 Burst)
C3.10C.Ab-S: 1 win (OS)
UP.10D.X' win rate: 95%
This was very impressive. Or maybe C3 just really sucks.
Buster Xcalibur 10Cross Charge vs. Caynox C3 10Cross Absorb-S
bX.10C.Ch: 17 wins (3 KO, 14 Burst)
C3.10C.Ab-S: 3 wins (all OS)
bX.10C.Ch win rate: 85%
I dunno why Charge works with this when Un, At, and Om don't. Maybe this thing is just like the Limited danger bomb, that'd be cool.
BONUS: Buster Xcalibur 10Cross Quick' vs. Caynox C3 10Cross Absorb-S
bX.10C.Qc': 6 wins (all Burst)
C3.10C.Ab-S: 4 wins (all OS)
bX.10C.Qc' win rate: 60%
Nightmare Longinus Turn Xtreme' vs. Fafnir F3 10Cross Absorb-S
nL.T.X': 16 wins (2 OS, 5 KO, 9 Burst)
f3.10C.Ab-S: 4 wins (3 OS, 1 KO)
nL.T.X' win rate: 80%
All of them performed exceedingly well against their same spin Stamina combos, but I have a feeling that the real culprit is my Ab-S. Maybe I should try with F3/aZ3 on At-S as more of a Same Spin Stamina/Burst Defense hybrid.
Opposite Spin
Hazard Kerbeus 7Dagger Xtreme' vs. Fafnir F3 10Cross Absorb-S
hK.7D.X':11 wins (10 KO 1 Burst)
F3.10C.Ab-S: 9 wins (1 KO 8 OS)
hK.7D.X' win rate: 55%
If you nail the first hit hK doesn't really care about spin direction. It's like Flash, Manta Diver, and a Doge all in one.
Union Pegasus 10Dagger Xtreme' vs. Fafnir F3 10Cross Absorb-S
UP.10D.X': 6 wins (all KO)
F3.10C.Ab-S: 14 wins (all OS)
UP.10D.X' win rate: 30%
This surprised me considering how well it did in same spin (again, maybe C3 is just bad). There were a lot of "almost" KOs, but it just couldn't knock F3 back quite far enough to KO it.
Buster Xcalibur 10Cross Charge vs. Fafnir F3 10Cross Absorb-S
bX.10C.Ch: 6 wins (all KO)
F3.10C.Ab-S: 14 wins (1 KO, 2 Burst, 11 OS)
bX.10C.Ch win rate: 30%
I kind of expected this one to do bad against opposite spin, mainly due to the Driver. It was able to weight room F3 a few times though.
Nightmare Longinus Turn Xtreme' vs. Caynox C3 10Cross Absorb-S
nL.T.X': 8 wins (all KO)
C3.10C.Ab-S: 12 wins (all OS)
nL.T.X' win rate: 40%
Wow, looks like hK is better at KOing opposite spin than nL. In fact, hK was significantly better than all of the others in opposite spin. I don't know if Qc' or X' would help Buster much here without sacrificing too much of its same spin utility (which I feel this Charge combo has a lot of).
Conclusion (of Part 1 at least)
Nightmare Longinus: (0.8 x 0.5) + (0.4 x 0.5) = 0.6
Hazard Kerbeus: (0.75 x 0.5) + (0.55 x 0.5) = 0.65
Union Speed (TT): (0.95 x 0.5) + (0.3 x 0.5) = 0.625
Buster Xcalibur: (0.85 x 0.5) + (0.3 x 0.5) = 0.575
Though the numbers of each spin direction might be a bit different, since all of these parts perform slightly differently, the overall score vs "Stamina" so far is about the same. hK performed the best for me, and even before I did all the math that was the subjective opinion I had after doing these tests as well. They are all quite good in their own way though, For example hK is a lot more tech-y while bX you can just kind of launch hard.