Arena battle videos and discussion

[Shintroy]

spoiler: vs Mudvayne

Harmless Mime vs 12 Speed, Barrage team
Doesn't look good for Mudvayne. His team doesn't do enough damage to keep up with  this team.

R1 - Good opener for Mudvayne. Odin? This could definitely counter my team...  Ten minutes of nothing...... Once my team tied Mudvayne's speed it was over.

R2 - Why cyclops and odin? At least with Odin you have the dead proc combined with the low damage. Smaller map just means more mimic daravon and charm mimickry, although I did want this to go  to a third round.

GG. Thanks for the vid. Just wanted to get that out there in hopes of speed boosting being removed for at least the next patch. Sorry it took so long Barren. It's best when they don't fight back and embrace love and peace.

spoiler: Truelight vs Rouroni

Unfaith/Faith vs AoE Mime
Yes. I needed to see this team again soon. Those 180+ thunder flare combos though? Times two?! Truelight has to get in with the archer and cripple the scholars.

R1 - Great opener for Truelight. I think it's over due to the small map and Truelight's team countering low and high faith. RIP

R2 - Brutal

GG.

[Mudvayne]

spoiler: VS Shintroy

I got wrecked. Too much status and i just simply do not have the damage output or status protection to stand a chance. Theres going to be a major overhaul to that entire team very soon. GG Shintroy. Damn was that boooring to watch though...

[Barren]

Note to self: Don't pair two very similar teams together again

[Shintroy]

So far Gatebuster's been the only player to agree on patch 140 having no SP altering skills. I only made that team to showcase how bad things can get. The only teams I've found that hard counter the team L&P is high faith, caster teams. It's

Aside from SP altering is there anything more boring to watch? I can't think of any myself. Maybe a 4 unit quake and tornado team with all units doing 200+ damage or something. Either way, just like how 139's meta is vastly different than 138, I'm so looking forward to the next patch. 139's pretty balanced, but static speed on units would make it nearly perfect. Think about it, the only way to alter SP permanently would be equipment break and steal accessory.

spoiler

What's everyone's worst match up overall? I used to have a big weakness towards heavy caster teams, but now after about a year playing I think my worst team  to fight no matter what is... actually just heavy AoE teams. I rely on set ups too much to compete with that kind of raw power.

[Barren]

For me its been the SCC because pending on what class you pick is how you benefit or are handicapped. For me archers do have solid damage and good at range but unless you're willing to go hybrid then sandbagging will be an issue. I probably should have considered using an cursed ring archer with quickening to take some pressure off. And a archer with white magic but because of their low MA its a turn off for me. But hey its whatever, some classes benefit more than others

[Corosar]

any team that has high movement and speed tends to get me hard... usually any team that outmoves me tends to wipe me out.... ohh and charm... charm gets me right in the down under more than anything.

[silentkaster]

Been away for sometime...sorry about that all. Really busy life.

Added a new team if anyone wants to try that out.

spoiler: vs. Corosar

I just about cried when I saw the Magic Song bard use Battle Song. Of course, it was my fault as I had listed the wrong song under him and left it up there all this time. It, however, did help in the third round when Corosar almost put me away. The extra power the mime gained from Battle Song boosted him to do enough damage for a KO.

In any case, GG. I saw Round 1 and was like, "Should I even watch the rest?" seeing how soundly I was defeated.

[dw6561]

I would be ok if speed altering were removed because I don't use quickening much anyway. I only tried once or twice, and both teams didn't make the cut (one of them was pretty much using the same combo as a certain season 4 tournament team, so I didn't post it because I need originality). It's already hard to make it work correctly with the way the unit has to be specifically tailored to use that skill and can't have any other moves that use MP.

More boring to watch? What about dances and songs, being mimicked twice per use? Just wiznaibus and battle song, over and over and over. The sound eventually becomes grating and matches take forever. Quite frankly I'm glad people ignored that mime team I posted but removed, because it was an embarrassment to mimes everywhere. I was seriously thinking "better remove this before someone decides to test it". I completely understand that neither the person recording the match nor the veiwer wants to suffer through that.

My weakness is usually big damage AOE attacks, status spells, and high speed teams. I tend to focus more on making my teams have a bit of everything, so the damage is not as potent as it could be. Also since most of my teams have a straight 8 speed and no slow protection, a slow 2 spammer can completely ruin my day.

[Barren]

In general if you are going to make a team that all has 8 speed it is recommended that you get slow protection. You can use diamond armlet and platina helmet. Sprint shoes do count but it also means +1 speed. So there is that. Plus you can make an earth absorb team that everyone is immune to slow and oil so that can be a good combo as well

[Shintroy]

Three team ideas I've been meaning to do, but haven't been able to complete. I figure it wouldn't be a bad idea to post them since I'm not the only one having problems coming up with innovative teams.

spoiler: 3 teams

spoiler: Nin/Draw Out (free to take)

I've been making a lot of scholar + forced reaction teams lately so I've put making a team for this unit on the back burner. The unit hasn't been done before in 139 so I didn't want to be lazy with the team. Posting it because I doubt ever makign a team for this unit at this point.

140 Asura
198 Meiton vs 40 faith
102+112 melee
2250 JP (PA Save? Masamune? Who knows.)

Male
40
40
Ninja
Draw Out
???
Attack UP
Move-MP Up
Hidden Knife
Ninja Knife
Twist Headband
Black Costume
108 Gems

Meiton
Asura

spoiler: Nuclear themed team (free to take)

1 Water Scholar - Absorb Water/Lightning(Immobile Absorb MP)
1 Lightning Scholar - Absorb Water/Lightning(Immobile Absorb MP)
1 MA Save Mage named Meltdown, Unstable or Core. 16-18 MA with Flare/Ultima/Bahamut. The unit doesn't absorb the scholars and mainly heals from unit 4's distribute. I've gotten the unit up to 21 MA once on a small map, but only against another player's 8/9 speed team.
Either a Ninja with rubber costume and faith katana or a 10+ speed cursed ring/crystal shield/rubber costume unit that acts as a distraction

Just wanted a really powerful no revival team that gets more dangerous the closer you get to it. Never got it quite right though.

spoiler: Murasame/Healing Staff

Never even started on the units, but the idea was to have overheal and overkill units on the same team. I wanted to have a "distraction" like unit that the enemy team would focus on. The unit would have distribute and be paired of up with a two hand healing weapon user.Couldn't figure out job combinations that weren't super defensive.

I have enough defensive teams as is and couldn't make a good enough team to replace white wind. This is going to be my next team, but I'll only release it when it's good enough to be introduced as a "main" team.

[Barren]

I made my no regard team with limited resurrection power, i.e. phoenix down with a cursed ring unit. One of the best ways to make a undead mage with equip armor would be rainbow staff, cross helm, gold armor and cursed ring. Time Mages with 10 speed, sinkhole and balance can be strong even without short charge, just don't use haste/slow 2 because you need short charge for it to go off in time. Of course if you switched it around with undead paladin with time magic you can get away with short charge. You can do a 10 speed paladin with short charge. H Bag, Crystal Shield, Cross Helmet, Gold Armor, Cursed Ring.

Just throwing ideas around

[Elmdork]

Thanks for running matches, guys! "Ban Hammer" is an all-in team so I'll either stomp or fold quick. I didn't even want to give the scholars raise and fairy! Need those things though, can save them one day. Any combination of auto potion, HP restore, shell, magic defense up and 40 faith will do em' in quick, but if you forget to bring that to the party.. one, maybe two turns max. Don't see nealy enough games against TL, I just like to watch his teams go. Always exciting

spoiler

But I totally folded on this one, GG. Hope we get a closer match next time

Edit: oh almost forgot, always been against speed altering abilities. You can even benefit from slower teams if there was a speed cap. So many minor improvements come out of this.

spoiler: Weaknesses

Hard to say what hurts me most in arena, my teams are all very different from each other. Two tournaments I entered I used caster based teams with no absorb, so counter magic has been a bitch. Also in any match up, DW and TL have been the bane of my existence, but I love their teams and they have earned my respect.

[CT5Holy]

FFT Arena 139c - silentkaster (Back to Basics) vs Barren (Anti-Oil Ninjitsu)

[Shintroy]

spoiler: Barren vs silentkaster

Balanced vs Faith/Unfaith
Looks like an even match up due to silentkaster's 12 speed + haste. Barren's likely to get some crippling opener turns as well since he goes second as well.

R1 - Barren with high ground at the start of the match proccing innocent.... 700 damage? The fun stops here for silentkaster. It's still possible to come back with his 12 speed though. Probably have to do something about the monk's MP since he seems to be the team's main source of damage.

R2 - silentkaster's units have some bad pairings unlike barrens due to most of his characters having range and it being an absorb team. 775? That's all folks.

GG. One sided indeed, but I'm glad the teams were very different in design. I'm not a fan of the "ditto" match ups. They dont usually offer much information since both teams tend to share the same strengths and weaknesses.

Good stuff CT5Holy. No rust in the commentary and what not. What about making another team based off of a spell or ability from the final fantasy series? Huge fan of Delay Buster and made my team Bad Breath because of it.

spoiler: Blue Magic

Self Destruct - Team of 4 scholars with maxed out MA, worst compat, MA save and Faith Up and no absorbing spells. Designed to kill the other team before they kill each other.

1000 Needles - Shuriken and Wiznibus comes to mind.

Thought of making a vanilla FFT yesterday involving classic combos like Geo/Sam, Monk/Nin and Calculator, but didn't since I couldn't think of a name that could top LV5 Holy on the calculator plus Healing Staff + Holy isn't my style.

GL getting back into Arena m8. We're all in a dry spell in some way. Trying to make a team without a mime is keeping me down. Might just make another mime version of a common type of team....without quickening

[Mudvayne]

spoiler: SK Vs Barren

Uhh.. 700 damage ninjitsu? Then an 870 damage ninjitsu? That's like.. double the amount of damage compared to what I previously thought was the highest damage output achievable. I actually think it may be able to crit for 999 damage... GJ Barren, you have a damn scary team there!

[silentkaster]

spoiler: My Match

Good team Barren. I put that team together with absolutely no testing, wanting to do something interesting using the first four jobs that are typically unlocked in Vanilla. However, I am thinking I'm going to change a couple units to give higher damage output. I guess I'd still be true to the theme if I used a Wizard or Priest as well.

Anyway, nice job Barren. You blew me away!

Love CT5Holy commentary, as always. I know I've requested (and received) a match before, CT5 but do you think you could do another with CT5Holy's Favorite??? Please? :D

[Barren]

spoiler: me vs silentkaster

Wow, that team of mine did a lot more damage than I thought. That may have been the highest damage output this year. GG Silentkaster, sorry that had to go that way man. You deserved a better showing than this. I know there are specific setups to counter it though

[Shintroy]

I want to try this so here goes.. Someone request a team based on anything in Arena and I'll make it. It can be as absurd as you want. I'll try to make the best team possible. Don't hold back on the info. I wouldn't want to make team intended to be offensive, defensive.

spoiler: example

An offensive team revolving around Iga and Koga Knife.
A defensive team with 2 shieldrenders, no sleep or stop.
A "The Damned" team with no quake, tornado, haste 2, slow 2, stop, quickening, or anything else The Damned wouldn't use. Also have the main damage dealer use a whale whisker.

I'll do a new request every time one gets a match. I'll probably stop around 3-4 requests.

[Barren]

Okay, I'll go first. Make a team that uses weapons that are rarely used. Like two swords platinum sword and moonlight. Two swords mage masher. Two hands Ultima Weapon and Two Hands Lionheart. Classes can be squires/thief and samurai/paladin

[Corosar]

hmmm... that mention of the moonlight sword and its proc effect remind me of From software games... i think i am gonna make a new theme team