Stats from Week 10 of the Spring PvP Season with Flaxative.
Week 10
(Click for full.)A lot of new names in the Most Wins category, and some shake-up in the Highest Rated category.
Showdown
PaladinGP and Stexe, the two highest rated players over the course of the season, agreed to play a match against each other, which Sorcererer Fyra recorded! It’s a slugfest with a lot of player complaints about bad draws and Whirlwind luck—to which any observer can just say, “well, what can you expect of Whirlwind?”
Here’s the video:
And if you want to see discussion of the match, there was a forum thread.
Both players in this match appear to be running variations on PaladinGP’s classic Divide and Conquer build. Around the time the video was posted by Fyra, another user posted guesses and analysis regarding Stexe’s build—which was basically D&C with Vibrant Pains (remember how that item is fair? No? I wrote a post about it). PaladinGP then posted his own build in the interests of perceived “fairness.” You can find both builds in this thread: High Level Competitive Builds.
Despite the fact that both players are essentially running minor version updates or iterations on a well-known build, some sparks flew when involved parties didn’t like the fact that their “secret tech” was revealed. There were even accusations of build theft! Exciting times in Cardhuntria, folks.
So you see it here: the two best players in the game (arguably) use the two most broken things in the game (Whirlwind and Nimble Strike, not arguably), and the loser complains that it came down to luck.
Balance
Someone somewhere said, in the last week, that the PvP Season sucks and is doomed to “failure” because the game isn’t balanced. Valid constructive criticism for me? I don’t know. The only complaints I’ve received have been from the very top of the charts—people who run the cheese, subscribe to the cheese, love the cheese. It’s hard to take their feedback seriously, so you, the average reader, what do you think? Should Card Hunter not have competitions until the game is immaculately balanced?
Guilds
(Click for full.)There were fewer active guilds the last two weeks, but some of them are growing. Ninety-Nine Knaves in particular is growing quickly and becoming a serious contender for guild points, placing on the charts for the first time last week and again this week. It will be interesting to see how the final charts favor the different guilds.
Until next time!
-Flaxative
June 11th, 2014 at 2:22 am
My build idea is actually from an older build than PaladinGP’s “Divide and Conquer.” The idea of running 2 Warriors with high damage and 1 Wizard for control and Whirlwind was something I used right after the game was released: two Human Warriors with All Out Attack and Axes (only good weapons I had at the time) and an Elf Wizard with Whirlwind and Slippery who distracted the enemy with low life while my warriors mopped up.
Also, the build is more than just Vibrant Pain with Whirlwinds — even PaladinGP admitted that our builds are fundamentally different besides the Whirlwind and Nimble Strike.
Mine relies on Officer’s Harness, Team Run, and heavy hits from Obliterating Bludgeon. His relied on stacking all his tokens on weapons (Vibrant Pain / Lochaber / Bejeweled) with less utility due to fewer tokens to spare.
Finally, the “another user posted guesses” was more like a user who stalked my games and put my build on the forums without my consent. I told everyone I would be posting my build and a strategy analysis when the season was over — but I guess that wasn’t enough for some person to make an account just to post my build.
June 11th, 2014 at 2:25 am
The only reason I played PaladinGP was behind he complained I was avoiding him and it was unfair (I was avoiding him, but I didn’t find it unfair). I knew the match would come down to luck and with me having higher Elo there as no reason for me to play against him if it was a die roll game.
When you have the best of the best players playing it will inevitably come down to luck as skill and builds are generally equal.
It isn’t complaining — it is stating fact. =)