The discussion has raged on for months on end… you all already know the deal by now. The devs have taken measures to counteract it, which is appreciated, yet it’s still always on the prowl. It’s just plain toxic, and I think a lot of us wouldn’t at all mind if it just disappeared. And I might have an idea to make that more or less happen, without too much fallout.
Twighoul had the right idea. Should he ever face up against an AP spammer, the punishment is grueling: up to 3 monsters gone in a flash, along with a primed 100 TU sweeper. And everyone has access to this monster, provided they’re willing to grind for the vorabooks. But there are several catches; first of all, it’s functionally a RAW skill, so using him restricts your own strategy. Secondly, his stunning entrance is heavily exploitable. And finally, worst of all, he just really doesn’t offer anything else. He’s a one trick pony; if there aren’t protectors to insta-gib, he’ll just sit around looking rather foolish. He might resort to glare and get one of his teammates killed, and if for whatever reason he gets knocked out, he’ll just come right back a second time, continuing to grace you with his worthless presence. For every match where he annihilates the enemy FL, there’ll be 9 more where he just sits there like, well… a stump, and hogs a much needed field spot. This heavily discourages his use, which in turn diminishes the impact of guardian execute.
Not only that, but individual protectors have been getting caught in the crossfire too; poor souls like Bullbrazen, Skeleviathan and Voodoom are buckling under the increasingly aggressive protector counters, having done nothing to deserve it. The fundamental problem here isn’t the use of any individual protector, but simply a multitude of them crammed together. Twig sort of failed to acknowledge that.
In light of that, my proposal is a move that specifically punishes opponents for abusing protectors, but leaves them be if they’re using them in moderation. A dual move, with piercing and possibly even revenge nullification, that only deals massive critical damage if BOTH of its targets are protectors. It should be given to a legend, it’s obviously too strong for a SE and it’d be way too inaccessible on a mythic. And said legend should have plenty of other things going for it too; this AP counter would be highly situational after all, especially if it’s managed to do its job, so it’s not nearly enough to make the monster all on its own. Think Cannibalize Token on Dusicyon; it rarely sees use, but makes an immense impact when the opportunity arises. If it’s part of a versatile and overall effective moveset, that’ll give it the platform it needs to have a genuine presence in the meta. From there it can rain terror down on AP spam, while leaving moderate, healthy protector use unscathed. Thus encouraging more balance and creativity in team building! What do y’all think?
