40enSun, 07 Oct 2012 08:23:35 GMTSun, 07 Oct 2012 08:23:35 GMT
Instead of counting pills, working out various scenarios, and developing contingency plans, now it's all about intuitive guesses on when your opponent is gonna nuke. It's getting harder and harder to mathematically corner your opponent these days, not when he can simply blow the game with a 50-50 nuke-or-bluff in the very first round. You can only rely on intuition in those situations.

I know intuition is an important part of every card game, but the fact elo matches are random makes it very hard to get a good grasp of your opponents' skill level. That lv 27 "noob" might actually be a good player's second account, and that lv 68 "pro" might've joined the game last month and spent his time in DM. And since the game only lasts 4 rounds with emphasis on the first and second, by the time you get an accurate read of your opponent's skill level the game is already over.]]>Sat, 06 Oct 2012 17:22:59 GMTFreaks are AWESOME. Azel and Greem are back! And for those who say SOA isn't still dominating the scene, look at Jean and try running an Ulu Watu deck with Eddie... you will see how much SOA is in the game still. However just from doing the valentina missions, i would say that mono "gradual win" decks are completely viable. Hell even split decks can still be viable, with cards like Neil, Tremorh, and the Frozn clan.

However, there are some cards that I strongly disapprove of right now, those being Jean, Saki, Troompah, Beeksboy, and possibly Clover and Tuck.

Anyways, i really love this game, and have spent a good life savings on cards. That being said, i wish they would stop making so many new blood cards that are rare and game changing. The money grabbing scheme is kind of making the game less competitive. Wish i had time to write more, but real life is calling
]]>Sat, 06 Oct 2012 06:27:05 GMTelo player
Elo has long its esssence
I have to agree
When you have to play decks that "get rid" or counter those 50/50 decks that can be used as a guessing game ( +n life per damage, heal n max n, poison n and n.), you'll see those decks that overpower your deck

Deck variety is very wide these days
Or should I SAY VERY RANDOM

the more release, the wider it goes. The harder it is to fit a deck versatile enough for elo...]]>Thu, 04 Oct 2012 15:40:03 GMTRoots or Ghiest lol .. The only reason there's no "Total Domination" is because UR doesn't give SOA cards Power cards !

It does become a guessing game Sub especially when you face a hand like Jautya Uranus Aliester or Kenny Artus Azel ...
But I guess those Dr's coming back stop Life Cards but Poison cards are still at a high. Majority of people go with the trend for

Example now in Elo you don't go 2 hands without Seeing some kind of Sakhrom with Jautya / Petra / Uranus / Aliester / Murray Ngrath.

Ghiest have become a clan to use in Mono or a half deck , Hriger coming has helped a lot because Ghiest just didn't have 3 good 4* for a 4 4 4 3 3 3 2 2 format And you can't play 3 2*

Cuz you've got a choice from Z3r0 D34d + Mok who are great but then they've banned Arkn so your main options left are :
Elke (Too predictable , pill with her high you get in 3 damage , blatantly 2 - 3 pillz if they want to attack with it , and if you try countering a big card 6 power won't help)

Ludmilla (It's min is a bit too high especially with cards like Methane , Wardom XU52 Render this a 1 turn thing , 6 power gets you nowhere even with Soa.)

Wurmhol (I mean he's a very easy 3 damage and he can be used to take out a big card. But depends if you call the bluff he's basically useless , if you pill relatively high to counter a card it's 1 damage in . That's why it's easier for a easy 3 damage.)

Maybe i'm just underrating Wurmhol but Ghiest have come back.]]>Thu, 04 Oct 2012 15:06:06 GMTThu, 04 Oct 2012 14:36:01 GMT
They helped to control painful ability based cards....I never realised that hammering them so much means Muze + 3 heavy Dr combo's reign supreme!!!
It's nice to see cards like Jean help to control big 4 and 5* ability reliant cards

Maybe I actually want to see the SOA clans back....something I'd never, ever, ever say.....(Avid hater of those clans)]]>Thu, 04 Oct 2012 07:52:49 GMTelo has gradually drifted towards nukes, stoppers, and 50-50s.

Instead of treating each round as a opportunity to gain a small advantage, either in pills or life, that you can take into the next round as part of a gradual buildup process until a win becomes inevitable, many elo players treat the 4 rounds as 4 cups to hide their ball (nuke) under, and make their opponent play the guessing game ]]>Thu, 04 Oct 2012 05:53:02 GMTELO easier if there is a strong trend of decks. It is easier to counter that way rather than play a mono GHEIST deck and seeing several mono Skeelz or Stop cards then switching to an AS/PC deck only to start facing NM and Junkz half decks and so on.]]>Sun, 30 Sep 2012 13:46:49 GMT elo I cant got 5 games without seeing a same or similar deck that's is overpowering
elo was good as it was with 12 life and 12 pills now it is hard to get to 1300 for me back then that was easy because the opening rounds usually didnt mean you win or lose that decison use to take round 2 or 3 but now it is possibly 1st round]]>Sat, 29 Sep 2012 04:53:46 GMT
so to answer your question wats_happenin, yes, ive definitely moved away from ELO... ive played the last 2 weeks... which would make it about 2 weeks in the last 40 (at least)

the big change in meta was the 14 life increase, the game became more about pill hoarding and loading up on your nuke card. but now with more nuking cards out there, hands will often have multiple hard hitting cards, which reduces a lot more games to guessing

decks are now loaded with dangerous cards and solid throw away (low or zero pill) cards... this makes opening rounds a lot more decisive that it used to be.]]>Sat, 29 Sep 2012 04:34:39 GMTSheryl for some reason ...turns out she's not that good

I think Ghelas your onto it....the painful 1 hit or 2 hit winners are the issue...I'll just use Karrion/Kenny as an example cause its probs the best...sure some clans can counter it and if you happen to draw 2 SOA ability cards gg's...but the issue is if you don't...powerhouse cards are just rolling through weaker decks/hands

I know it's all about deck balance but I think people are abusing the powerhouses a bit too much these days]]>Sat, 29 Sep 2012 01:42:58 GMTSat, 29 Sep 2012 01:38:50 GMTELO has seen it's ups and downs and I think this has to do with the bans over the weeks, months and years. New cards like Beeboy and Clover are making ELO a pain these days and people are trying to get cheap wins. If anything it has lost morale.

As for the Silmans 's I don't believe I have seen 1 at all this week! however I have seen my fair share of Bangers/Pussycats decks so it weighs out in a way, sorta.]]>Sat, 29 Sep 2012 01:30:24 GMTSkeelz really counters Nightmare and personally ive been running Skeelz to great success (just saw you yesterday with that funky Piranas ]]>Fri, 28 Sep 2012 23:32:36 GMT
Player in a Big-Time guild: "I want to play with some of the new cards, they feel pretty OP! Let's go ahead and vote to unban a bunch of them!"
Rest of Big-Time guild: "GREAT IDEA!"

...A few weeks later:

Player in a Big-Time guild: "I am sick of seeing all the new cards, they feel pretty OP. Let's go ahead and vote to ban them all!"
Rest of Big-Time guild: "GREAT IDEA!"

And of course every time you see a week with confusing meta, a bunch of players decide to cram as many 50% win cards into their deck as they can... Blissfully unaware that having 2 or 3 of those cards doesn't drive their win odds above 50% unless they play well.

I think that this will even out a bit as ELO Karrions, er... I mean, carries on.
And I am happy to report that I'm still doing fine with Junta/Vortex (or would be, if I could pay attention instead of playing UR every time my poor achy hands need 3 minutes away from work...)]]>Fri, 28 Sep 2012 20:55:31 GMT
I found it interesting when you said that "the meta has gotten to the point where it's just so confusing it's gone past fun to annoying." In what way?

Obviously it's no fun seeing the Karrion/Kenny Cr/Azel/Pan hand every now and then (I always *facepalm* when I do) but it seems your main point was about seeing some 'random' cards. I think it's a good thing... if people are game enough to go using Sliman in ELO, then I'm all for it.

I've only recently started playing ELO more seriously, so I can't really comment on the 'better or worse' question. But if the meta is so confusing that you can never really know what to expect, and can't go in with a sure counter-deck, or counter-counter deck, then I'm all for it. ]]>Fri, 28 Sep 2012 15:51:45 GMTELO these days?
I honestly can't pinpoint what it is but I feel that ELO has gotten majoritly worse in recent times

Like I know its a weird statement with no 'oh i dont like the bans' or 'herp de derp bring back spyke' sort of quotes

I feel that the meta has gotten to the point where it's just so confusing it's gone past fun to annoying

I don't know about you guys but the randomness I've faced lately is getting to the point of just 'what in the hell are you thinking'. I mean Sliman's? Herman? Stanly?

I don't know lololol

I'd just love to hear your opinions on ELO these days...do you think it's getting better? Worse? Sort of the same?
Is there a reason people use randomness? Is there a reason I keep running into Karrion/kenny/Azel/Pan in one hand? Am i just the luckiest guy in UR?]]>