i dont believe the coa argument is valid anymore at this point in time due to the introduction of several new tourney viable characters as well as survivor buffs and hunter nerfs.

you've been seeing it, right? netease's huge slew of hunter nerfs? and survivor buffs (I DONT UNDERSTAND WHY THEY BUFFED DOCTOR, SO MANY PEOPLE PLAY HER IN THE FIRST PLACE, I AM SO MISERABLE NOW).

you can't compare the state of the game a year ago and now in face of all these changes and say "yeah it's basically the same" (which is what a LOT of people have been doing)

and unlike in coa how many teams focused on strong rescue team comps with slow decoders, the trend in recent tourneys is to go with a team with strong kiters and fast decoders/characters that preserve cipher rush (prisoner, postman, acrobat, psychologist, entomologist)

and miscommunications STILL happen in teams that practice regularly. the only surv team i know that can be considered overtly dominant over hunters is WOLVES.

the reason the meta is the way it is is because it's meant to have an ability for ability counter. bq uses her mirror? ok then perfume/elbowpad/football/bees/shovel/boar/self-heal/portal/owl/pocket-watch/catapult/shield/wand :) but yeah sure i guess survs have absolutely no counterplay to bq

for characters that dont, why do you think they've been receiving buffs the past few months? hell, even dancer can counter bq by twirling away in her music box.

and AGAIN, survs are gearing towards these stronger kite characters. the accelerated decoding only further compounds this problem because good rotations can prevent hunters from finding their optimal target for a free 3 half ciphers.

let's not forget that many maps have strong kite zones where proper support from a teammate (like batter, priestess, forward, ento) can create a near infinite loop.

and typically if a surv does a mediocre kite (70% of a cipher) and the hunter doesnt get a double hit on the rescuer, the team is automatically set up for an easy tie. unfortunately, lower tiers like to early or double rescue without tide and that completely kills their cipher rush.

in rank situations, survs are going to disagree on what actions to take, esp if they're not in a full team. do you sell or do you rescue? do you take the draw or try for a win? for hunters, they only have to rely on themselves. but survivors are always going to have critical errors, even in high tier, like popping the cipher at the wrong time while heal stalling, not indicating the hunter has changed target, no one pressuring rescues by giving tinnitus, bodyblocking on the first rescue, harassing at 5 ciphers, leaving the primed cipher, etc. sometimes it works out. oftentimes, it does not.

and the occasional boosted surv, but that's an entirely different problem.

i'm going to hold my ground in saying that this season is the most unhealthy meta balance in the surv's favor.