11/11 BUMP (last full update was 8/19 with a few mini-bumps in between as there hasn't been much change in the last few months)
Hasn't been a tremendous amount of movement recently with CLS / Han, etc still holding serve in arena. CLS hit peak leader usage at 62% that I saw in September, but GK has steadily been whittling away at that margin. Mother Talzin probably won't register much on GG due to her paywall, but when effectively deployed in a team she's a legit game-changer. Will have to see what FO brings and of course the new Rey in terms of impact on the meta.
Leads:
- CLS 57%, GK 22%, Rex 9% and no one else above 2%. Top 3 leads make up 88% of all leads used! I mentioned this in August, but this is the least diverse team / leader situation we've had since early in the game...and that's been for 3+ months now.
- In the August update I mentioned GK as a lead of interest given how much GK + Barriss counters the CLS meta, and he has moved from 6th most popular at the time to a clear 2nd
Character Usage:
- Most used character is.....R2D2 at 79%. This is actually down a few percentage points from a few weeks ago as R2 was pushing 83% usage - still, he's a pillar for many squads.
- Second in Command is Mr. Skywalker clocking in at 78%. Similar to R2, this is down a few percentage points from his peak around 82% a few weeks ago, but CLS is still a dominant character.
- Coming in 3rd is THE GENERAL at 77%...Kenobi just keeps getting better with age and he's the core of most every type of elite arena squad. Even when fractured and disabled, his tanking due to high h/p + team CD immunity come up big to help get a win.
- GAT comes in 4th at a very strong 62% and is followed by Raid Han at 54% as he crosses the 50% usage benchmark. Apparently hitting 5 times in the first round of a match is helpful! :)
- DN, who was previously a lock for 80%+ usage, is now down to 37%.
- Barriss usage is now up to 25% and is actually greater than the COMBINED usage of Chaze at 21%! Think about that!
- Of note - Mother Talzin clocks in at 13th most used - 3% of all teams. I'd expect this to creep up a bit gradually over time as that AOE plague is elite. Her growth will be mitigated by her paywall, but she's among the arena elite.
Teams
- Most used team by far, and most used I've seen even over the old 3x Cleanse squad, is CLS, Han, GK, R2, and Thrawn. This team is used by nearly 5x more players (1,082 counts) than the next most common squad:
- GK lead, Barriss, DN, CLS, and R2 ... which is the CLS counter! This squad comes in at 239 counts.
- The top 15 most commonly used team comps are all led by either Rex, GK, or CLS - the first DS lead comes in at 16th, which is Thrawn-led Empire team of Shore / Storm + DK / DT.
BIG WINNERS
- Barriss - her usage stepped up tremendously with the risk of CLS and G12 gear for GK that pushes his tankiness to new levels
- Raid Han - as of August update, he was 9th most used, but is now solidly in the top 5 with >50% usage. His update was huge.
BIG LOSERS
- All the ancillary leads being used back in August: Wedge, DM, and QGJ - these leads are now almost non-existent as arena has consolidated hard around about 10 or so heroes in specific comps.
- DN ... usage at 37% now, which is down from 60% usage in August, which was already down from 80% usage prior to CLS / Han
- Rex - while still very much a viable leader to take 1 even on old shards, Rex's usage is now down to just 9% overall
From what I've seen, plague + Barris / GK combo looks to be the most elite combination in character arena currently.
