User blog:DutchRits/Character Card Comparison, Part 4

In this installment I'll be discussing the non-Event/Episode Super Rare (SR) cards that are available as random draws in the Space Bridge (or as an Episode Reward in Covert Operations in Elite Soundwave's case). These are the original heavy hitters of the game...a treasure bestowed at the end of a random draw of Silver or Gold Warrior Medals featuring many of the same characters in the Rare cards but with different art, stats (duh), and weapons. Their drop rate is notoriously low, with equally scarce weapons required to unlock their true potential. If you thought collecting a complete MTM Rare card and Max'd Weapon was tough, you ain't seen nothin' yet! I have personally gotten 3x Elite Starscream robot modes, 2x Elite Grimlock & Galvatron Weapons, but have only completed ONE MTM Non-Event SR and weapon...Elite Shockwave, and I've been playing since Fatal Furies. Prepare for frustration.

The SR's continue the trend of distinct power Tiers I discussed in my previous posts (,, and , all updated 31 Jul 2013) and even mimic the relative power seen in the R cards. Chromia, Cyclonus, Wheeljack, Mirage, Ravage, Laserbeak, Ramjet, Slipstream and Ratchet are all Rares that didn't make the SR cut, but all of the others did, with the inclusion of a few new faces. Flamewar, Arcee, Jetfire, Galvatron, Metroplex and Trypticon are excitingly fresh additions (who hasn't been thrilled to see Jetfire, Metroplex or Trippy in a draw?), while Elite Bumblebee, Elite Prowl, Elite Skywarp, Elite Thundercracker, Elite Autobot Jazz, Elite Soundwave, Elite Ironhide, Elite Shockwave, Elite Starscream, Elite Grimlock, Elite Optimus Prime and Elite Megatron are simply SR versions of their R selves, albeit with new kick-a$$ art, stats, and card attributes.

Interestingly, the developers didn't make the SR Weapons count as signature weapons for the R character cards, and vice-versa. I would have thought that would be a no-brainer (R Optimus Prime can't count his SR Weapon as a "signature weapon?" LOL, whut?), as it would have made the R cards more useful (the ~7% bonus to stats is negligible for a R card, especially given that the card won't match the Specialty or Class) and it would allow for a weapon to be used with a SR card that didn't belong to another character (I have my Elite Jazzs on my 3-person Autobot Team for kicks, using Episode Sideswipe's Weapon until I can get his SR weapon to drop).

One new addition to my chart: while it's still sorted by Tier, you'll see a three-color scale for MTM ATK, MTM DEF, and MTM Health, ranging from Green (Low) to Yellow (Mid) to Red (High). The usefullness is that you now have a color chart telling you who has the highest & lowest stats in each category, as well as those in the middle of the pack. While those cards in higher Tiers are generally higher in all three categories, you can now see that some have very high rankings in one attribute but are lower in others, such as Elite Grimlock and Elite Starscream. You're welcome.

Now let's look at the Tiers. This card type features the widest gaps between Tiers, making their distinction that much easier:

Tier 1 28k-33k: Bumblebee, Prowl, Flamewar and Skywarp are the only four characters in this group. Bumblebee is, by far, the weakest SR card (and rightfully so!) while Skywarp is significantly more powerful than the other three. Prowl has the lowest attack of any SR, yet his defense is on-par with Elite Shockwave, two Tiers above him. I found it interesting that Bumblebee and Prowl are in the same order as their R cards...not that that's significant in any way, but I like symmetry.

Tier 2 34k-37k: Arcee is a significant jump from Skywarp, yet is well below the rest of this Tier. Thundercracker, Jazz and Soundwave are pretty even, with Ironhide leaving them in the dust by over 1k MTM points.

Tier 3 38k-42k: This is the most balanced Tier, with only ~1400 points seperating the top and bottom members. Two of the top-four damage-dealers are in this Tier (Grimlock and Starscream), who consequently have Defense values on par with a Tier 1 SR card. Grimlock also took the biggest tumble in relative power from his place in the Rs, given that he was the second most powerful R card, but is fifth here. Galvatron is surprisingly weak, a full 7k MTM points behind Megatron (but...but...Galvatron is the new, improved Megatron, right?), and his attack power is actually worse than Flamewar's. Ah, well...Galvatron's Weapon makes up for it, I suppose.

Tier 4 43k-48k: Metroplex, Trypticon, Optimus Prime and Megatron. Need I say more? Metro & Trippy are beasts in the Defense and Health department, but are surprisingly weak, attack-wise (again, slightly ameliorated by their respective weapons). Optimus and Megatron have attack values on par with many of the mid-to-high range Episode SRs, making them viable even to experienced players (rather, those who don't consistently place in the top 100 and have nothing but Ultra Rares & Episode Omega Supreme).

Note: I included Silverbolt simply because he appeared on this Wiki's All Character Card List when I copied it into Excel. I had no idea why he's there, but he's since been removed.

Bottom Line: the trend of obvious statistical Tiers continues, although the SRs feature the widest disparity between Tiers. The SR Tiers will form the basis for my argument for rebalancing the Event SR cards in a later post.

Next: Event/Episode SR Cards by Event/Episode Tier (or, How to Destroy Game Balance Through Deck Creep)