The current “meta”

Replies

  • scuba
    14034 posts Member
    Rey is great. Not the best in defense. I can still win against her with my cls arena team. In fact, I love seeing her. Better than fighting all the cls it was before.

    Well that can't be true... According to all the interviews and videos she is a defense God!
  • rawman
    685 posts Member
    edited January 2018
    leef wrote: »
    rawman wrote: »
    There a lot of different comps than can make it to top on offense currently. The more interesting question is which comps hold best on defense? I would say NS and JTR comps are the best for this currently assuming they have very good speed mods. At least these are the only comps which give me issues here and there and force me to switch squads on offense.

    one could argue that we shouldn't focus on defence as much if we want a diverse arena =D

    One could argue what he wants, but be real: Arena is about crystals for most players and will always be. If it can save you 1-2 refreshes people will choose the squad for defense which will make them drop as less as possible.
  • scuba wrote: »
    Rey is great. Not the best in defense. I can still win against her with my cls arena team. In fact, I love seeing her. Better than fighting all the cls it was before.

    Well that can't be true... According to all the interviews and videos she is a defense God!

    I have just zetaed her leader and its the best defence team I ever had
  • I still run the Titans setup and can beat most RJT teams (still gearing up my own RJT) and even NS teams, still hold decently on defense too.

    Planning to switch to RJT once she and bb8 are ready just for some variation, might run a RJT, bb8, R2, GK, OldBen setup.
  • Does anyone have tips for CLS v JTR.

    I usually use Han to stun R2 so he doesn't immediately smokescreen. My R2 basic attacks Kenobi to avoid the cleanse... CLS special back on R2 to remove TM. Burn down kenobi/R2/third.

    Usually have BB8 & JTR left standing last (too much foresight to focus them down earlier).

    I find the 5th member (JTR, R2, GK, BB8 + 5th) is largely irrelevant... I run OB & GK and find Thrawn can use fracture 2 sometimes 3 times in a single battle and I still win...
  • leef
    13458 posts Member
    Shaunyvee wrote: »
    Does anyone have tips for CLS v JTR.

    I usually use Han to stun R2 so he doesn't immediately smokescreen. My R2 basic attacks Kenobi to avoid the cleanse... CLS special back on R2 to remove TM. Burn down kenobi/R2/third.

    Usually have BB8 & JTR left standing last (too much foresight to focus them down earlier).

    I find the 5th member (JTR, R2, GK, BB8 + 5th) is largely irrelevant... I run OB & GK and find Thrawn can use fracture 2 sometimes 3 times in a single battle and I still win...

    stun bb8
    Save water, drink champagne!
  • Mobewan
    702 posts Member
    edited January 2018
    @Shaunyvee

    If JTR doesnt have virtuous protector zeta, it's easiest to stun JTR.

    Stunning r2 works sometimes, but not if JTR decides to cleanses him right away. Then you have a wasted stun.

    Stunning bb8 is the safest bet that works all the time. The only exception to this is if the JTR team has a super fast old ben, so i stun him to prevent his ability block right away.

    After the initial stun, your gk should be fast in order to get his lead the charge on GK.

    Make sure your r2 second move is burn to slow down JTR team cooldown reduction.

    Next, i usually go for rey scavenger if she is there. Otherwise, i go for r2. He is easier to kill quick than bb8 and JTR with their evasion.
    But i will go for JTR instead of r2 if she is open and my team has turn meter.

    This is against JTR with 2 kenobi.
    If old ben is fast enough to ability block your GK, you have to stun old ben.
    https://youtu.be/7t0Ylio4sqQ
  • I’ve started using Rex lead. JTR and CLS team both rely on crits so Rex is amazing against these teams. His cleanse is great as well. I don’t think it holds as well on defense but honestly my arena rank hasn’t dropped out of the top 20 so either it’s working or I’ve just been lucky lol. I surprised he’s not really used anymore. I’m the only one in the top 50 running him on my shard.
  • Smapty wrote: »

    You can be creative in arena...

    I thought the Ewoks would “maybe” work and so I focused on them for a while... and they are fantastic
    )
    Can I ask what your arena rank is? I have to disagree with a lot of what you are saying. It is very difficult to be "good" with a creative team. Thousands of other people aren't wrong.

    Also, my shard isn't the oldest...but there are no ewoks in the top 50...let alone the top 10. Fantastic?
  • Hango wrote: »
    I love the empire and I play the empire. (Thrawn (L) Krennic, DeathT, ShorT, StormT.) My places in the arena (no refresh) top20 (refresh) top10 / top5, but Rey Jedi is more difficult, now he is a farm and he's working on - Veers (L) Starck Thrawn DeathT ShorT

    I played the same team with good result against all team, but to beat strong rey team i switch gk form storm and nihilus for krennic with great result. I can do top5 with 1 refresh, but during my payout time i'm at work
  • Smapty wrote: »
    Maybe run a super high potency bounty hunter team under boba with Zarriss... can they even be killed?
    (Outside of insta kills from someone like Nihilus)

    They might be awful but it’s possibly an unrealized super team....

    How many people have them at g12 with g12 gear on them?

    The regen from Zarriss would be insane...

    Might be my next project ;)

    I wouldn't work on that quite yet. No taunting tank for the Bounty Hunters means Barris will die quickly. Kenobi lead makes her heal for a lot more than she does by herself due to the hp increase. She'll be able to heal the bounty hunters for a ton for sure, but she'll be the first target and then the BH's die quickly again.
  • Ugnaught wrote: »
    It is very difficult to be "good" with a creative team. Thousands of other people aren't wrong.

    I'd agree.

    It might be regrettable. But it's true.

  • Smapty
    1260 posts Member
    edited January 2018
    Ugnaught wrote: »
    Smapty wrote: »

    You can be creative in arena...

    I thought the Ewoks would “maybe” work and so I focused on them for a while... and they are fantastic
    )
    Can I ask what your arena rank is? I have to disagree with a lot of what you are saying. It is very difficult to be "good" with a creative team. Thousands of other people aren't wrong.

    Also, my shard isn't the oldest...but there are no ewoks in the top 50...let alone the top 10. Fantastic?

    I can take #1 easily with the Ewoks (work schedule permitting)

    They probably aren’t as strong defensively as most common top teams and I’m sure are more of a target just by being different.. regardless they are still viable and very fun to play

    Here’s some videos vs some common teams (on full auto even) if you are curious how they perform in the current meta...

    Vs. JRT lead
    https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=R-ZqZbSxBvw
    Vs. CLS lead
    https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=KJfF9IuN_tg
    Vs. Empire
    https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=pBiJgrL4a_k
    Vs. NS
    https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=b7eU-VZStak
  • Ewoks can take down pretty much anyone except a ZBarriss squad. The reason you don't see them is quite a few are shipment only and wicket is a LONG "farm" that can only be obtained if you already had a really solid Ewok squad. Before the ATST event there was no reason to gear them(except maybe Teebo & Chirpa for raids), unless you are a big murderbear fan, and even with the event it's debatable if it's worth the cost.
  • CLS + Ewoks + Nightsisters +GK
    CLSEwokNightsistersKenobi
    Rey
    Jedi Training
    RJT
    RJTCLSNSEWOKSGK
    KGSKOWESNSLCTJR
    SERNORKST GG

    SEPARATIST rework w/Grievous re-work CONFIRMED next META.
  • scuba
    14034 posts Member
    Smapty wrote: »
    Ugnaught wrote: »
    Smapty wrote: »

    You can be creative in arena...

    I thought the Ewoks would “maybe” work and so I focused on them for a while... and they are fantastic
    )
    Can I ask what your arena rank is? I have to disagree with a lot of what you are saying. It is very difficult to be "good" with a creative team. Thousands of other people aren't wrong.

    Also, my shard isn't the oldest...but there are no ewoks in the top 50...let alone the top 10. Fantastic?

    I can take #1 easily with the Ewoks (work schedule permitting)

    They probably aren’t as strong defensively as most common top teams and I’m sure are more of a target just by being different.. regardless they are still viable and very fun to play

    Here’s some videos vs some common teams (on full auto even) if you are curious how they perform in the current meta...

    Vs. JRT lead
    https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=R-ZqZbSxBvw
    Vs. CLS lead
    https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=KJfF9IuN_tg
    Vs. Empire
    https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=pBiJgrL4a_k
    Vs. NS
    https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=b7eU-VZStak

    Ewoks FTW!!!

    wnzljHn.gif
  • Ghastly things...
  • BadabumChaCha
    40 posts Member
    edited January 2018
    @Smapty
    if you have 100+ speed on all toons, with uncountable 18+ speed mods..
    you can do pretty well in arena even if choose 5 random toons from your roster each time :D
    but that doesn't make those toons "meta", it does only make you a player with god-like mods ;)
  • leef
    13458 posts Member
    rawman wrote: »
    leef wrote: »
    rawman wrote: »
    There a lot of different comps than can make it to top on offense currently. The more interesting question is which comps hold best on defense? I would say NS and JTR comps are the best for this currently assuming they have very good speed mods. At least these are the only comps which give me issues here and there and force me to switch squads on offense.

    one could argue that we shouldn't focus on defence as much if we want a diverse arena =D

    One could argue what he wants, but be real: Arena is about crystals for most players and will always be. If it can save you 1-2 refreshes people will choose the squad for defense which will make them drop as less as possible.

    One could argue that people shouldn't whine about the lack of diversity in arena if that's the case ;)
    Not saying you're whining about the lack of diversity, or anyone else in particular. It's just funny to me that "everyone" talks about how well a team does on def and "everyone" complains about the lack of diversity.
    Save water, drink champagne!
  • Since the introduction of JTR I have seen my arena shard become very diverse. My main team is G12 Talzin lead nightsisters so they have my very best mods. But I have decently modded ClS titan team and decently modded Imperial trooper team all ready to be switched in based on the team I am fighting. I love that I need to use any one of those 3 teams. Yes, arena is a source of crystals, but that is no reason that it can't be fun!
  • Smapty
    1260 posts Member
    edited January 2018
    @Smapty
    if you have 100+ speed on all toons, with uncountable 18+ speed mods..
    you can do pretty well in arena even if choose 5 random toons from your roster each time :D
    but that doesn't make those toons "meta", it does only make you a player with god-like mods ;)

    @BadabumChaCha Great mods will certainly help you... but they aren’t the “end all be all” for having success in arena.

    The only reason the Ewoks can compete is because of the synergy of the team and their ability to gain TM and have lots of turns compared to the other team. If I drop even one of them then the team becomes dramatically less effective.

    The same holds true for any of the top teams (JRT, NS, etc) the characters need to compliment each other to work...

    Believe me, I’ve tried a lot of crazy teams and most of the time they fail miserably... even with strong mods

    Here’s my gg profile if you want to see what I’m using... (my arena rank looks like a roller coaster ride due to my work schedule lol)

    https://swgoh.gg/u/smapty/

    my mods are decent but not any better than what most people have in high end arena.
  • scuba
    14034 posts Member
    leef wrote: »
    rawman wrote: »
    leef wrote: »
    rawman wrote: »
    There a lot of different comps than can make it to top on offense currently. The more interesting question is which comps hold best on defense? I would say NS and JTR comps are the best for this currently assuming they have very good speed mods. At least these are the only comps which give me issues here and there and force me to switch squads on offense.

    one could argue that we shouldn't focus on defence as much if we want a diverse arena =D

    One could argue what he wants, but be real: Arena is about crystals for most players and will always be. If it can save you 1-2 refreshes people will choose the squad for defense which will make them drop as less as possible.

    One could argue that people shouldn't whine about the lack of diversity in arena if that's the case ;)
    Not saying you're whining about the lack of diversity, or anyone else in particular. It's just funny to me that "everyone" talks about how well a team does on def and "everyone" complains about the lack of diversity.

    yup... the first question about any team comp is "how does it hold on defense?" well if "everyone" is trying to hold this leads to the same teams which leads to no diversity. Even if someone found the "God Defense team" that couldn't beat a mirror team that team would just be put in with an extra battle and you still have the same teams to fight over and over.

    If you want diversity you can't have good defense teams. Once a team start "holding on defense" over others player will migrate to that.
  • Good defense and bad defense at high end arena is a question of who weaker teams will choose to attack because they struggle with the best.

    Most people in top 20 or top 30 can easily beat everyone else and just choose a target based on their max jump.

    But if a team with mediocre mods or weak offensive team is fighting to climb into top 10, he will choose easier teams to climb. That is what is called bad defense.
  • I think "bad defense" is how quickly you can beat a team anymore. Since nearly all teams in the top 20 can beat each other, it then comes down to how much time you can leave your opponent to snipe your position (or vice versa).

    A good defensive team can take 3:30 minutes to lose.
    A bad one can lose in 1 minute.
  • Smapty
    1260 posts Member
    edited January 2018
    Really the “‘meta” lately has consistently been about the continual “power creep” and the introduction of new characters to address whatever the current strongest setup/ ability is...

    JRT is a clear example of this with her undispellable health regen block debuff.. making Zarriss much weaker in today’s arena

    Before that it has been a steady introduction of new abilities via new characters or reworks of existing ones to make whatever current meta exists obsolete...

    GK killed the AOE meta... R2 killed the Zaul teams... NS put CLS in his place...

    I could probably go back and find many more... but that’s the way this game works apparently

    Buy or invest in the new “latest and greatest” or get caught playing catch up.

    Hey it’s a business and the idea is to make money... I get it

    At least there are some options nowadays and more than just one cookie cutter team to beat them all (Im looking at you Poe coin flip team of 2 years ago)
    Post edited by Smapty on
  • Mullato
    2582 posts Member
    I have become pretty inactive in this game for the most part. I went from participating fully in raids to just autoing tb, posting zeros on raids, basically just getting my 600s.

    I used to rotate 1-4 for payout in arena, to now letting myself drop into 50-70s...wherever i get knocked too. Alot of times I'll go a week without doing any arena battles, was feeling pretty burned out on the game.

    So I finally went back to Jedi after getting bored of my rebel squad. And this time it's an actual full Jedi comp. Most fun I've had in a long time - running something different than everyone else on my shard and my favorite faction. I put them in e other day when I got off work after payout and climbed into top 20, to see how they fair.

    All are g12 with some g12 pieces on them.
    Have zetas on
    QGJ,
    hoda (heal)
    Ezra
    Ben (taunt)


    Does ok vs most Rey squads.

    HIHMcDO.png
    TXcafGf.png

    Cls rebels can blow my ben or gk up, but that's ok lol.

    OqMfRMT.jpg
    kY9EDuQ.png



    Ezra is nasty with masters training, highest hit I've seen from his special was 62k I believe. Highest basic was a double tap for 23k-23k.

    QGJ can do decent with masters training also. Basic is around 13k, and his dispel hit a thrawn for 22k.
  • leef
    13458 posts Member
    ofcourse this guy ^ is still running jedi xD
    Save water, drink champagne!
  • I think that there is more and more diversity coming into the game which can only be good..
    I have got to the top of my arena with a NS squad. However I realise that to stay there and also to enjoy the arena you ideally want 3 or 4 good squads. So I am now working on a CLS/Baze team, farming Wampa and waiting for a Empire/Sith upgrade (Vader/palpatine maybe) and from left field am farming Ewoks. I rcon between them they could rule the galaxy!!!!!!!!

  • Smapty wrote: »
    So what do you think?...
    Arena is kinda fun again... its nice that no one team dominates them all :)

    (Apologies for the wall of text)

    Not on my shard, lol. I haven't fought anything other than a CLS team in at least 2 weeks.

    Also, looking at swgoh.gg's meta report, 50% of all top 100 arena teams are led by CLS. Rey is in 2nd place at 18%. CLS, Han, Kenobi and R2 are on virtually every team.

    Even if we say that there are 5 viable teams in the arena, that isn't variety IMO. You can look at the top 100 arena players in similar games and you won't find any two identical teams, except by random chance or if someone is copying someone else for fun. That makes for a much more strategic and fun game.

    The problem this game has is twofold:
    1) The license is a strong influence, and people expect there to be OP heroes (like Luke and Vader), and useless heroes (like Lobot). I would argue that you could make all of the heroes useful and the community would accept it, but maybe folks would disagree with me.

    2) The game is designed around factions, rather than skill sets. Certain characters are much stronger when combined with other specific characters, usually in their faction - phoenix squad, Nightsisters, First Order, etc. Given most factions have <10 heroes, you get a lot of similar teams. There are a few characters who transcend their faction (Thrawn, Nihilis, Barris), but how often do you see a top 100 arena team without at least 4 members of the same faction. Barris, Thrawn + 3 or Barris, Kenobi +3.

    I would like to see a thread where people were debating the relative strength of TM reduction teams vs. Multiple Assist teams vs. Stun teams instead of Nightsisters vs Rebels vs Empire. That would be an indication that there were more options.
  • Gamorrean wrote: »
    scuba wrote: »
    Rey is great. Not the best in defense. I can still win against her with my cls arena team. In fact, I love seeing her. Better than fighting all the cls it was before.

    Well that can't be true... According to all the interviews and videos she is a defense God!

    I have just zetaed her leader and its the best defence team I ever had

    he trolling ,lol
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