Grand arena 3v3: Do you enjoy it?

It's something fresh and I like it. Much better than banning key characters or buffing useless factions to be OP as f*** in TW. Yes, it gives a bit of disadvantage to ship-heavy players, but why would you focus on ships after you have say two usable fleets? That's a disadvantage everywhere else, too.

I thought I would like 3vs3 because of the fresh challenge and theorycrafting, but it ended up being really dissapointing.

1) RNG is even more crucial than before. 3v3 leaves very little room to breath and is way less forgiving than 5v5. Every member of the team is vital, a lucky evade in round 1 or a stun being resisted will have much more impact than in 5v5, where other characters can palliate such minor failure.

2) Abilities like Fracture, Mark or isolate are even more potent than before because you're effectively removing 1/3rd of the opposing team instead of 1/5th. In the same vein, the Han's opening stun will cripple the opponent much more. If you're facing it, it's also way more likely to hit a crucial gear of your team since you only have 3 character in your team.

3) Any strength and weakness are amplified. Plug-and-Play characters (such as Thrawn or even MT in this case) becomes incredibly powerful, as well as all characters with "small team synergy" (Triumvirate; CLS/Han/Chewie, MT or Assajj with Zombie; Revan/GMY and a third and so on). Teams that really requires a full 5 peoples synergies becomes borderline useless. Teams like Pheonix or Ewoks, that really only shines when all the synergies are shared are really crippled a lot by this 3v3 format.

Strong teams and OP characters just become stronger, while weaker characters or more complex teams are just being weakened. The game wasn't really thought or balanced that way, imo, and you can see it. I really tried to love this 3v3 format, but I just can't.

Love it. It's fresh and different.

only thing better might be a 6v6, but enjoy all the GA bc way less of a time suck than TW

I do not like fleet, but i like 3v3 even less. In the end it's just a personal preference, but i'm a bit bummed out that the 3v3 format has the best rewards. I got #1 in all other GA's, #5 - 7th place rewards in the 3v3.. =D

I’ve won every GA so far. I say that to put this into context: I hate 3v3. I never feel like I have enough squads for both offense and defense.

@Durango thanks a lot for expressing my concerns in a much better way that I ever could.

I prefer 5v5, though it does break up some of the comps that are otherwise completely overwhelming if you don't outspeed them (nightmare, revan, etc) so it has that going for it.

Per CGs most recent post about TW, GA is supposed to be about true full roster PVP competition. TW is the “Fun” PVP mode. 3v3 and no ships does not allow me to use my entire roster as GA is defined to be right now. As someone who has spent time resources on ships I want to use them in as many aspects of the game as possible.

I don't mean to be like 'Where is the Road Ahead' however, I think it would be helpful to know:

Are 3x3 and 5x5 going to have parity in GA? There is certainly support for 3/3 as a format, although not by any means unanimous. I ask, because if GA is going to be 50% 3x3 and 5x5 I will put thought into building 3 man teams. An example might be Nightsister Spirit who is a very strong 6th choice who is good for allowing 2x 3 man (or girl) teams, who I otherwise might not use if I only have a 5x5 team.

If people get used to 3x3 as a format there may be less surprises and irritants.


As an aside, I personally think for 3x3 it is better if you can see all the teams that they have deployed in a zone, and you don't have a team hidden behind another. (not sure if that's the case for this one?)

If my opponent has a very strong super team that I can't beat, I am going to have a lot more fun if I can fight the other teams that they have, and lose the points for not beating that team, but get the rest.

If they sweep my whole defense and I don't beat one form, I am going to still lose but atleast I got some fun battles. It may be more engaging if players can get fun battles even if there's a form they can't beat.