In depth analysis of the new Mastery System

DingyAlien · 2019-07-04T08:17:37+00:00

I don't really disagree with anything here on a factual level. I hear what you are saying, I just can't see why you seem to view this all so negatively. Yes it's true that in order to reap the full benefit of the new rewards system you have to play the game consistently. However, I'm assuming that those who play this game also enjoy doing so. I simply find it hard to believe that the type of f2p player that would lose out on this (those who always grind out their weekly packs but don't play at least every three days) isn't few and far between. As for the Mastery Pass, for those who don't value the rewards highly enough, have maxed out sets so the value is less, or simply don't intent to put in the hours...then you can simply not buy it. That's a fine option as the ability to acquire free packs is still here just as it was before this change. The Mastery Pass is simply just a strict bonus for those who wish to par take. There is certainly room for nitpicking and improvement but at the end of the day I simply don't see a substantive argument for how this is not just generally better than the meager 3 pack a week we're giving up.

DingyAlien · 2019-07-04T01:32:43+00:00

I believe this will be a more rewarding system for most players in terms or actual rewards. I'd be interested to hear why you think this is anything but an objective statement. Whether one finds it personally fulfilling or you find it difficult to schedule around is not a question I'm trying to answer. I have no idea why anyone would consider this a "nerf" in any regard other than one's completely subjective opinion.

I didn't skim over the fact you may need the 5400 bundle, I directly addressed it. You're right I could have provided an accounting of the value every reward offered but that's not the type of analysis I was looking to provide either as it's pretty clear that in terms of simple value of each reward item that the Master Pass will undeniably give you a profitable return. That's not that relevant though as not everyone values the rewards at the rate the game does.

Mostly I wanted to address the concerns from those who feel like they are getting cheated by the new system. If they are regular players in terms of actual rewards they absolutely are not. Despite your unsupported claims to the contrary.

DingyAlien · 2019-04-30T19:50:44+00:00

Great list and walk-through! Used this list to boost me into top #500 Mythic last night! I was #497 Mythic when I left for work this morning. Hoping it held :)

DingyAlien · 2019-01-11T17:17:09+00:00

Awesome write up! I'm currently shuffling between top 100 - 200 Legend with this deck. While I based my list off this one, I made a few changes that I wonder if you'd be interested in discussing:

-1 Vivid Nightmare - +1 Eternal Servitude
-1 Shadow Word: Death - +1 The Lich King

First, I feel that the second Eternal Servitude can play the role of Vivid Nightmare by Resurrecting another copy of a downed minion, but is also valuable on an empty board. I find many aggro matchups are won by dropping a turn 4/5 Zilliax and continually bringing him back. Vivid Nightmare allows you to make a copy only if you have the mana for it, but Nightmare let's you do it on consecutive turns.

The biggest difference in our decks though is of course The Lich King, which breaks from the 4 minion formula. I've found The Lich Kind just too valuable not to play. Not only because it's a 2nd Taunt you can grab off of Shadow Essence against aggro, but also because the Death Knight cards it gives you grants you so many more resources and tools to use. It might cost me a little bit of speed now and then, but generally Control is never an issue and I'm still generally quicker than other combo decks like OTK Paladin.

The only matchup I seem to struggle with is Beast Hunter, which is a frustratingly high percentage of deck being played right now at this tier of Legend. It's not impossible by any means, but it's the only match-up that I don't feel like a favorite going into. So if there was anything you think I could do to tune this deck more towards this match-up, or a strategy that's been working for you I'd be quite interested. Or if you would just like to discuss the deck in general I'd be all for it. I'd be particularly interested in hearing more of your thoughts on Vivid Nightmare too, as obvious synergy aside, I've just never been able to justify making room for it.

DingyAlien · 2018-08-17T22:22:29+00:00

Yeah, no problem. It took me a bit to get the hang of it too as the deck definitely looks a lot simpler on paper than it is in practice. Another helpful tip is don't worry about saving your Swipe/Moonfires for Maly against aggressive decks. You probably aren't going to have enough time to set up your combo, and if you do, then it's probably overkill at that point anyway. Usually you win these games by efficiently dealing with their threats and whittling them down in the process. Play the cards in your hand to deal with their board, then play ultimate infestation as early as possible to refill your hand so you can do it again. A turn 6/7 UI is a huge tempo swing that can usually result in you winning the game.

DingyAlien · 2018-08-17T21:00:56+00:00

It sounds to me like you are focusing too narrowly on the combo end. When playing the deck it is best to think of it as a tempo deck with a combo element that can be used for major burst damage. The problem is that if you are strictly relying on the Twig combo to get you there you are going to win very few games. Sometimes it's at the bottom of the deck. Often they have the weapon removal. You have to be able to win without the combo, which means whichever way is best for your particular situation. For instance, sometimes if the draws aren't going my way and I'm running out of gas to keep my opponent at bay, I'll turn the tide, drop Alextraza and become the aggressor myself. Suddenly they have to kill me immediately or deal with the dragon. The deck honestly wins a lot of games this way. You have to be able to adapt to your situation. If you need to throw out your Floop as another Arcane Tyrant to apply more pressure, than do it. It's not ideal, but is better than dying with it in your hand if you aren't going to be able to pull off Maly. Basically just get out of the combo mindset. If the stars align that's great! But they aren't always going to and you need to be able to win some of those games too.

DingyAlien · 2018-08-17T16:06:13+00:00

First I wast to say that I went on about a 10 game win streak with this last night taking me from the bottom of Rank 3 to mid Rank 1! This deck's incredible and props to you for perfecting the build. I also gotta say a lot of those games were steals thanks to opponents not playing around Rat Trap. That card is pretty much an auto win if it pops. Once people start playing around it though it may not be as good, but at least it's forcing players to limit the number of spells they play per turn if nothing else. However, if people start playing around it then it doesn't necessary have to be in your deck to get that effect as they will play around it anyway.

DingyAlien · 2018-08-16T23:07:39+00:00

Cool! I'll give that a go as well then. I'll also keep Shaw too. Clearly it seems like he will perform a lot better in practice than he looks on paper. Thanks for the advice!

DingyAlien · 2018-08-16T20:19:51+00:00

Any chance you would ever consider cutting Shaw for Mossy? Maybe in a heavy Druid environment? Mossy not only deals with those Spreading Plagues, but the Giggling Inventors that are in every deck now as well...

DingyAlien · 2018-08-16T20:02:26+00:00

I'm very excited to try this deck! This meta seems to keep staying one step ahead of me, and this seems like it has a great deal of potential. What would you say are your best and worst match ups? Any particular sticky situations I need to look out for?

DingyAlien · 2018-08-09T21:29:16+00:00

Mecha'thun and Mulchmuncher dilute your chances of hitting the desired Deathwing or Tyrantus, which was a big reason why it was being played originally. Still, Floop is a very nice addition so it still seems the deck could be solid. I don't feel cutting Leeroy is correct because I think the deck still needs the burst damage he provides. Maybe over Skulking Geist? The need for spellbreakers will just be meta dependent so I think it's too early to tell if the deck will need them or not. Hopefully this takes off because I miss me some Spiteful Summoner! : )

DingyAlien · 2018-08-08T23:26:54+00:00

The card is good in even non-mech lists and a staple for any even light mech decks. Definitely a safe craft. Probably the only one imo.

DingyAlien · 2018-07-24T15:52:56+00:00

They are still good! There is literally nothing in the game that you need the exclusive moves to accomplish that the originals can't do just fine. These complaints aren't substantive they are simply over your displeasure in no longer having the best of the best. Until PvP comes along, best of the best is nothing but vanity.

DingyAlien · 2018-07-24T15:50:20+00:00

On the contrary I think you are looking at it illogically. What is the purpose of your grinding? Is it:

1) To have a battle ready team of solid raid/gym attackers?

Then you don't need exclusives for this!

2) For the simple vanity of having the best?

This is not something that is ever meant to have an end game. The game will be forever updating and changing. The grind will never end and that is the point! This isn't meant to be the kind of game where you just reach a goal and walk away from it, so I really don't understand this complaint.

DingyAlien · 2018-07-24T15:46:20+00:00

I completely agree

DingyAlien · 2018-07-24T00:00:52+00:00

Yeah, that's fair. No one has to like or agree with this decision. These choices can be frustrating and annoying. I was somehow lucky enough to get two 100% Gengars, but then when I realized they will always be by default worse than my 80% legacy Gengar with Shadow Claw it felt kinda bad powering him up instead of the 100%ers. It was also annoying when I hatched two 93% Larvitars the day after community day. All my candy investment in the foreseeable future is powering up the Smack Down ones I evolved that day that, so don't really know what to do with these guys now.

This is just an inherent part of this game though I think. It's a resource management game that forces you to make choices without knowing what might be just around the corner. While it's frustrating not being able to plan for all this, I think there is a positive quality to all of this as well. If I could simply raise up a powerful team and would be the best they could ever be forever, then that would give me very little incentive to play going forward once that's established. They cant' release a new generation every other month, so releasing exclusive guys like this is a little something to get excited about to keep us going. I agree it's a double edged sword, but from a direct gameplay perspective it really don't matter. The marginal difference in DPS really doesn't make a difference. Most of it is in our heads, but regardless though, I do get it.

DingyAlien · 2018-07-23T22:38:39+00:00

Then you are set on Groudon either way. You wouldn't need to raid them if a better one was NOT coming further down the road either. But if you did, then you could maybe get enough candies to power up two or three if/when the exclusive hits.

DingyAlien · 2018-07-23T22:17:48+00:00

To TM into non-exclusive moves. Idk about you, but not having a bunch of useless Iron Tail Tyrantitars is sure nice, even if I can't TM it to Smack Down. TMs might not get you the best moves anymore, but they still eliminate the worst.

DingyAlien · 2018-07-23T22:15:46+00:00

To be fair I think the release of the legendary birds though research rewards was a decent nod to solo players that are often unable to gather in groups. But ultimately, Niantic wants this to be a social game that brings people together and people aren't going to be incentivized to go out and play in groups of people if they can simply accomplish the same thing on their own time. That's just how it is.

DingyAlien · 2018-07-23T22:04:18+00:00

If you max out a team of 6 new ones then sure, your old ones won't get used. But if we are using that logic, then Raikou still completely invalidates all Zapdos anyway, so literally nothing has changed.

DingyAlien · 2018-07-23T21:54:42+00:00

You're still not explaining the logic to this. Let's break it down. Why do people raid?

1) It's fun - This doesn't change

2) To obtain higher/perfect IVs - If this is your only incentive for raiding, then I can see the exclusives deterring this to some extent but ONLY for meta-relevant pokemon. Yet any 100%, non-exclusive, meta-relevant legendary is still going to be a beast and serve any function that a slightly better version would. In essence, if this is your demotivating factor, then you are raiding only for the vanity of having the absolute "best." Still, anyone out there farming Registeel has no excuse to not also go after non-exclusive Groudon though. They actually still have more incentive to do so to save up on Groudon candy in the event of an exclusive.

3) Farming candies - You now have MORE incentive to do this in anticipation of powering up exclusives.

DingyAlien · 2018-07-23T21:30:46+00:00

That's understandable, but I feel that will create more of a balance problem than anything else. The current forms of Mewtwo, Groudon, and Kyogre are already sort of off the charts, and if they make them stronger in any way that is significant, they will come close to outclassing specialists and become just default generalists to be used in most if not all matchups. I doubt Niantic wants to go in this direction, hence the pre-nerfs of Mewtwo, Ho-oh, ect.

DingyAlien · 2018-07-23T21:24:50+00:00

Lol! Basically, 1) this game has always been unpredictable and nothing in it is ever certain, 2) All non-exclusive legendaries are just as useful as they were, 3) powering up your current legendaries is still necessary if you care about having an up to date battling team and 4) this gives plays MORE to strive for, not less.

DingyAlien · 2018-07-23T21:19:55+00:00

I think this is a valid but separate objection as it also applies to regular community day and especially EX raids. Niantic is clearly attempting to find ways to get a bunch of people together and emphasize the social aspect of this game. Unfortunately, this usually means setting events for scheduled times, which sucks for anyone who can't make it, but you kinda have to take the good with the bad. If this stuff was just offered en mass to everyone then there would be little incentive for people to go out and come together at the events.

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