What % of constructed armies are balanced?

[mongolian]

Every army has a counter, but still.  How many constructed armies are balanced?  Mistakes can be accountable, but I'm curious to find out if people think constructed is fair.  If not, what would it take to make it so?  For starters, removing the wizard and sergeant out of the equation would really make armies more balanced.  The ultimate goal should be to try to mimimize the rock-scissor-paper factor won by using key overpowered units.

[minime]

i dont play enough constructed to answer this question, but i don think that rock-paper-scissor is a problem. the similar game is not chess but again magic the gathering in mtg constructed is played as a tournament format.

[Wakrob]

I too have played very little constructed so I didn't vote.

But I see your point.  Ive had a hard time making armies because everyone I think up I can think of another army that means almost an auto lose for me.
You have much more experience than me at the game but I see a big part of the paper scissor stone problem coming from Inorganic.  If you have a straight caster that takes up 350 pts or some other effect you need to happen, a all inorganic army ends you.  One of my armies is Hydra-Artificer and has no real fear against Heretics, Witches, etc.
I would like to see a way to make more teams viable more of the time.  Perhaps bigger point battles.
Or perhaps a sideboard like Magic the Gathering has somehow.
What if both players had to pick pieces for their army one at a time taking turns!  This would cause you to see some hidden units like assassins but would allow you to build your team based on what your opponent is doing.  That would be awesome!

Wak

Edit:  What is you dont like about the Wizard?  Once its indestructible its slow and doesn't hit hard.  You should be able to bum rush past it once they have 350 pts as that weak piece.  The Sarge I could see causing range problems , though I like the piece.  What if it couldn't rally pieces that only have 1 action point?

[travcm]

Edit:  What is you dont like about the Wizard?  Once its indestructible its slow and doesn't hit hard.  You should be able to bum rush past it once they have 350 pts as that weak piece.  The Sarge I could see causing range problems , though I like the piece.  What if it couldn't rally pieces that only have 1 action point?

You mean the Magus.

[mongolian]

I guess the problem stems from the fact there are no deviations of consturcted.  Instead, constructed must be ALL UNITS included scenario.  I appreciate more restricted scenarios.  Like in MTG, they have TYPE1 & TYPE2.  I think zatikon needs more TYPE2, aka constructed formats with limited scenarios.

EX: Only Archers, swordsman, & Commanders.

[Kran]

almost 25% hope I.

[Jezebeau]

mongolian, I think one problem with that argument is that the simpler the available units get (ex. only archers, soldiers, and commanders), the closer it gets to being a solvable game, which would be even more rock-paper-scissors.

[mongolian]

I've done much play testing on mirror armies.  There is no rock-scissor-paper.  It comes much more down to skill.  When you limit the choices in constructed armies, you are minimizing the ability to have extremely powerful decks.

There are 2 options in watering down powerful constructed armies and reducing the rock-scissor-paper effect.  (1) Increasing the 1000pt armies to 1250pts, just like random.  Or (2) changing/removing the powerful pieces.  Currently, I only have an issue with sergeant and wizard.  Both supply too many power combo's.  But increasing range to any unit is really the worst of all the evils.  A witch should not be able to target something with range 6, then with a 2nd sergeant be able to be moved back out out of target 6. 

[Jezebeau]

I'm not talking about mirror armies, I'm talking about constructed armies with heavily limited unit choices.

But, let's talk about your current issue.  Yes, they combo well, but wizard costs 350 points and a fair bit of time to get several units flying.  Your example with the witch and two sergeants costs five command for one action at +1 range, and the formation requirements for it either can't be repeated the next turn, or leave sergeant in range.

[Kran]

The problem is that top 5 players are allmost close to perfect gameplay, and leave their rating by the ability to create and choose beetwen armyes. The main difference beetwen rank 1-2 to rank 4-5 of constructed players are how they know the playing style of the opponents, and then choose an army that can usually beat his style of play.