Say it ain't so Aftersound :'(

It appears even @aftersound is on the Gladiator Train these days :(

I am really hoping they send the Gladiators back to the Arena at some point because that is, in my opinion, where they belong.

As I made my team, I thought "If they play Katrelba, I'm fucked... but I can't base my decision off one possible card play... even if that card is OP AS FUCK..."

womp womp

When certain cards, make up a large percentage of the Meta, because of their strength/utility... often times many TCG companies will retroactively ban them.

For this example, one of the incredibly powerful - GAME CHANGING Glads is:

I believe the addition of Gladiators to Ranked Battles was a MAJOR MISTAKE and here's why:

A. Soulbound Reward Cards are a pain to get in the first place, as it relies greatly on RNG

I understand the concept with the SB Reward Cards and while I would rather have the old style Reward Cards, I get the "Play to Win" idea... and I can live with it... it just sucks that all my reward chests seem to have the same 5 Cards and I can't get a Venari Marksrat to save my life 😒

The first step for a New Player to get Gladiators in Ranked is to get the right RNG and get a SBRC Summoner.

That's already kinda difficult, time consuming and absolutely zero way to predict WHEN it happens...

B. In general, for their level, Gladiators typically have greater strengths/abilities than normal cards... plus every Gladiator has Bloodlust.

C. To get Gladiators... a player must... find a guild, join a guild, get added tp a Fray to play in, have the guild do relatively well... and then eventually earn enough Merits to get a Gladius Case.

This is also hard and time consuming... with a major RNG factor thrown in.

All of these things combine to make it very, very difficult and time consuming to get both: SBRC Summoners and Gladiators.

The experience is as such:

I decide to try out a cool #play2earn game I've been hearing about...

I do some reading or maybe just yolo it into the game...

I play a bit...

I lose a bunch (to be expected)...

I notice a lot of my losses are to cards that can be played in the game... but I have to earn them...

I look at how many steps are involved in earning them...

Decision

That's stupid, why do I keep losing to cards I can't buy... that's not fair.

exits the game

I fear this will be the outcome for many players who enter during the next Bull Market Cycle...

SBRC's are one thing... but having my teeth consistently kicked in by SBRC's AND Gladiators is INFURIATING but even still, I have clawed my way up to Gold 1 and will eventually make it back into Diamond.

I don't know how long that will take but I can say, with 100% certainty - without Gladiators in Ranked Battles, I would have made it well before now.

I have lost too many games to Quora/Katrelba/Isgald/Chimney/Fina to count... If even 3 of those games I lost... had gone the other way... I would be in Diamond.

Which means... Gladiators in Ranked DO IN FACT make a difference.

Therefore I have made the following decision:

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I ABSOLUTELY REFUSE TO PLAY GLADIATORS IN RANKED BATTLES EXCEPT WITH THE "ARE YOU NOT ENTERTAINED" RULESET.

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Even though they are LEGAL in Ranked Play... I believe GladSpam is a bad experience for players.

I will use any and all of my SBRCs in Ranked Battles... just not my Glads... and I encourage all of YOU who read this... to do the same.

I do win against Glads, even without using them... but running #GladSpam requires #noskill and while Gladiators don't "Guarantee" a W... It most certainly gives one an edge.

To deny that, is evidence to ones bias. The lower the League, the greater the effect Glads have on Ranked Battles... but again, imo, they belong in the Arena.

#EndGladSpam #GladiatorsInTheArena #NoGladMartyrSammich #BrawlOnly

Cheers 🍻,

• CaptainDingus