JWA Meta Discussion - 2.9: The Resilient Meta

by IDGT & Practicekat

The purpose of this update was to better balance Resilient.  In some cases, it did.  Lesser rarity Cunning creatures now have a fighting chance.  Some of the least used Resilient creatures in this rarity are now buffed as well.  But, with every meta change comes new obstacles.

In the end game meta, Resilients are looking like power houses.  The change from deceleration to vulnerability have benefitted two creatures through the ceiling.  Skoonasaurus and Hadros Lux now tower above the rest.  Their counter attacks alone have put them both into their own tier,   straight up decimating most Cunning and so many more Fierce.  They both also fair very well against many of the highly used Resilients.  Not all Cunning lost a step with these changes, though.  Gorgotrebax looks slightly better.  The newly buffed creatures, (neither of which are pure cunning), Poukandactylus and Spinoconstrictor, are also improved.  But sadly, two of these will lose to Lux and Skoona in most cases.

When looking for counters to Skoona and Lux, it is easy to see dinosaurs that have immunity to what makes these Resilients thrive.  Entelolania and Mammolania both are 100% immune to vulnerability.  And both have a good chance to win the matchup.  Ludia did buff one new creature that can handle them both. Testacornibus is on the scene and man is this thing powerful!  (Maybe a bit too powerful).  As of now, it may be the only reliable option to take these two down.  But a major concern when looking at what beats these two is that we are still stuck with a Resilient beating Resilients. 

What counters Testa?  Fierce should counter Resilient.  In this case, it does.  So, what is the issue?  The way the meta has shifted prior to 2.9, Fierce class has found its way out.  This is due to the rise of some Cunning creatures, mainly Scorpius Rex Gen 3 and Compsocaulus.  (SR3 is not completely Cunning, but it counters Fierce so well.)  We all know the scenario...bring in a Fierce class to counter the deer.  Then BOOM!  In shoots CompyC or SR3.  Now what?  Not a whole lot you can do, but, sit back and take it.  Currently, we have one pure Fierce Unique, which in most cases, is not as strong or fearful as it once was.  So many ways to defeat Thoradolosaur now.  Boy how the meta has changed.  Mortem Rex, our Apex Fierce, was nearly on its way out of most teams prior to 2.9.  Then Ludia nerfed it.  These two are good choices to take down Testa.  But the situation hardly presents itself as a true head-to-head.  When we start to drop down in rarity, the options grow.  But the issue is these creatures do not hold their own very well against other dinos.  Tryostronix may be the safest option for taking it down in Legendary rarity.  It has decent resistances as well as a buff.  Turn 2, Testa goes down.

The best way that Ludia could have toned down some of these big Resilients would have been to reduce overall stats from those select few that stand above the rest.  But this option would have also brought about major rebalancing.  Complete overhaul.  Which in turn may have over buffed something else. Leading us back to searching for ways to fix those creatures then.

A major issue in the end game is that there aren’t many viable FIERCE class creatures.  Which we get.  Fierce may be one of the hardest classes to balance.  Look at all the complaints before the swap meta.  Many, many issues were with Thor.  Once it got set-up, not much could bring it down.  Fierce have the potential to 3-0 most teams in the proper setting.

So, what may bring balance to this Resilient meta?  A more versatile Fierce class. Tryos is a template here.  Not the best turn 1 damage, but it does have a way to deal with many of the bigger Resilient creatures.  (Of course, we are discussing a boosted scenario).  Now, when looking at this example, what does it say?  One way to balance is to include more Fierce with lesser damage turn 1.  The player can swap out of a bad situation and chance taking the lesser damage.  It also allows the Fierce creature to potentially set-up a larger attack for the next turn.  Adding more non-damaging (RTC, MF, Refresh etc.) attacks to a few new end game Fierce will help their viability.  Fierce with “revenge” moves added to their kit may be beneficial as well.  On the flip side of this, it would also be nice to see some Fierce with On-Escape passives as well as Swap-Ins (non-damaging).  When we look at SR3 and what makes it so strong, sure it’s Toxic Quills is a very powerful move, but it also has one of the best non-damaging Swap-Ins in the game.  Hopefully, Ludia will expand on this.  And, of course, by buffing Fierce, Cunning will always earn a spot.

In most cases, we feel the Resilient changes were an overall buff to what most will experience in the arena.  And sadly, also a further buff to this dreaded swap meta.  These are not all bad changes and could possibly be less impactful with changes to other classes.  (Ceramagnus, for example, has been increasingly easier to deal with since 2.9.)  We just hope Ludia doesn’t stop here and will continue to balance the other classes.  As always- Good Hunting, Good Battles, and Good Luck!  

Thank you again to practicekat and IDGT for providing this invaluable insight! If you have any thoughts on the resilient meta please make sure to join in on the discussion on our discord!