Why Balance is Almost Impossible

When it comes to JWA, there are many issues. And by many issues, I mean many, many, MANY issues with the game. If you were to ask a couple people about some issues, many would say balance. Now balance is a bit of a controversial topic. If everything were perfectly balanced, well then we'd have a full team of one creature, and that's not fun at all. What people want is a somewhat balanced game where even the worst creatures can compete in the right hands and all creatures are somewhat viable in their own way. However, it is impossible to have a diverse meta in JWA anymore. Well, almost impossible.

Before we get into the way where a diverse metagame is possible, let's look at the tournament formats (I'm not discussing the arena formats that much because availability is a factor and it becomes more difficult to judge). First up we'll start with uniques. This is one of the wider spectrums in terms of rarity. With 48 different hybrids to pick from, you'd think that you'd see a lot of diversity. Well...the most recent unique tournament says otherwise. About 20% of that 48 were viable, with most teams comprising of the same 6 creatures. This makes sense with the level of powercreep that occurs in this rarity because when more creatures are introduced, Ludia wants them to have their own identity, which causes slight or extreme variance. You cannot seriously say that Grypolyth is on the same level as something like Aenocyonyx. The 2 unique Compsognathus hybrids are just so vastly different in power level. There is almost an inverted bell curve with this rarity (and the next one) with creatures like Pyrorixis and Atrocodistis on one side and the less fortunate ones like Diorajasaur, Pterovexus, Magnapyritor, and Smilonemyes on the other feeling like their own separate rarity in a way. And while some do escape this side like Dilorach and Dracoceratosaurus, it feels like this is the new norm.

Next up is the legendary meta, which is ever more vastly spread out. First up you have the absolute garbage legendaries with members like Entelomoth, Pyrritator, and Dakotanops. Then you gradually move up to creatures like Spinotahsuchus and Utasinoraptor. Then you move into a bit stronger with creatures like Stegodeus and Tyrannolophosaur, then a bit stronger with Dodocevia and Monostegotops. Then you move into the range of Indominus Rex and Scorpios Rex which are solid. Then you have your good solid team legendaries like Segnoraptor and Tarbognathus and Dreaddactylus. Then you take one final jump into the big 3 of Rexy, Panthera Blytheae, and Spinoceratops with honorable mention Thylaconyx. While the lowest uniques were on par with the best of rares, the lowest of legendaries are treading into common territory, while the best legendaries are in contention for top 8 in the game. And those 3 with a couple other must have creatures like Thylaconyx make this meta even more restrictive because you need other members to deal with those 3, creating even more imbalance.

Next are the epics, which have some variation within the rarity, although trying to beat Pulmonoscorpius is a bit of a pain for most creatures. Dimodactylus also got a giant buff and is looking like a top threat as well. However there are quite a few creatures to choose from. Some old dogs like Procerathomimus even made a bit of a comeback. Again, the epic rarity has a vast strength distraction, with some epics like Giganotosaurus, Argenteryx, and Diplodocus at one end and others like Ouranosaurus, Ankylosaurus, and Darwinopterus at the bottom. And, like the legendary meta, it's a gradual increase in power as we start from the bottom epics and move towards the top.

Rares, like epics, are a very similar story. Gradual increase in power from the way bottom, but they cap out at creatures like Albertosaur, Suchotator, and Dracorex.

Commons are probably the most interesting of the bunch. They have the fewest creatures in their rarity, but they are the most diverse. You have your usual must haves like Sarcosuchus, Glyptodon, Coelurosaurvus and Triceratops gen 2, but you have a lot of creatures to pick from afterwards. I've seen success with Gallimimus, Hatzegopterus, Irritator gen 2, Sinosauropteryx, Ophiacodon, and Inostrancevia. In the end, there are about 21 different creatures that can compete with each other, which is a whopping 50% of the rarity. Compare that with the approximately 20% of uniques viable or the slightly more pitiful 18% of legendaries and you see something interesting occur.

So, when you look at this, something interesting is made apparent. The smaller the pool of creatures, the more variety there is. This may seem like the opposite of what should happen, and it's true...in a perfect world. However in a game like this, the exact opposite is true. As more and more creatures get added, in order to give them an identity, there have to be creatures that are strictly better than others. And seeing as Ludia is making creatures stronger and stronger, the wider and wider the balance gap becomes. So, at the end of the day, every update does indeed make balance worse and more impossible to achieve, but there is a way to bring balance back, but the issue is Ludia hasn't done it in quite some time.

There's a reason why I really talked about tournaments here. That's because there have been a few formats with restrictions placed. So while you can use epics, you cannot use creatures that stun, pin, or whatnot. And from my experience, these formats are some of the most balanced ones we've had in a while. So, let's take a look at a few formats and see what I mean.

First up, let's look at a format that I did not like at all. The one KO format did however have a lot of creatures removed from that rare format. Now while there was an issue in Titanoboa gen 2 being legal, the creature diversity was quite vast. Creatures like Carnotaurus, Majundasuchus, Dsungaripterus, and others were quite common despite never seeing the light of day before or since. So who knows how much this format could've improved if the one problem creature was removed.

The next format I want to discuss is the 1.1 format. Again, it has its issues, but when it comes to creature diversity, there was a lot. Yes you had Trykosaurus, Erlidominus, Indominus Rex, Allosinosaurus, Monostegotops being all over, but you also had many people running Dimetrodon, Gorgosuchus, Spinosaurus, Postimetrodon, Einiasuchus, Ankyntrosaurus, and Rajakylosaurus. So despite how lopsided this tournament seemed, it was far more diverse than most tournaments. And while availability was a factor, the advantage format was the most diverse I've probably ever seen. I saw Utasinoraptors, Sinoceratops, Triceratops, Pyroraptor, Uathraptor, and even GP's own Piere running an 8k hp Allosaurus at the top.

Now not all balanced formats need a specific restriction. Some do fine with just a simple hybrid/nonhybrid only format. The issue for most is that nonhybrid rare and hybrid legendary is still a giant pool of creatures. However, let's look at probably one of the best formats in my opinion: epic/rare hybrid only. This format had one of the smallest pools of creatures in tournament history with only 35 creatures in total to choose from. And yet there were many different good picks. Yes Argenteryx and Megalotops ran amuck, but I saw all sorts of creatures. Suchotator, Purrolyth, Stegoceratops, Megalogaia, Brontolasmus, Entelochops, and so much more. In the end, about 20 of those 35 could be argued for team use, which is ludicrously higher than any other format like this. This is probably my favorite of the formats we've had in a while because of all the options you could pick and choose from. Even some really bad epics like Edmontoguanodon made an appearance in the advantage format because there wasn't much in the way of shutting it down.

It's a shame that there aren't more restrictions placed in formats these days. Without these restrictions, the same old meta is played and it gets stale and boring despite new creatures getting added. With these restrictions, not only do the less fortunate creatures get to shine, but the diversity and balance is greatly improved. Balance is achievable, but it's not nerfing all of group A and buffing group B, but rather, by taking out just any group of creatures, you open the door for a possibility of diversity. The issue is that Ludia is keeping that door closed, and hopefully, they'll unlock it again. I thank you all for reading and I hope you all have a great new year!