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What is the most competitive brakcet?
I’ve been twinking for years upon years, and the debate always comes up; Which bracket is the most competitive? In this article I plan to do an overall analysis of the current major brackets and judge them on a scale of 1 - 10 (ten being the most competitive) based upon varying factors as well as my personal insight into these brackets. I hope to demonstrate a fairly unbiased opinion and you may or may not agree with me. This article is based on the current state of brackets during August, 2014.
Brackets:
Bracket: Level 10
Competitive Level: 6
Explanation: I will be honest that i’ve only dabbled a bit in this bracket, but my personal friend Sponsor is without a doubt a veteran in this bracket. It’s without question that this bracket holds some extremely dedicated and skilled players. But, I rated this bracket a 5 for a several reasons. The lack of activity on a daily basis is a big reason. Although when PuGs do get going they’re pretty solid, this overall lack of activity leads to no real premade activity as well as no constant participation. In addition to this, the lack of moves/spells can lead to a really stale and bursty playstyle. Some will argue “this makes skill more of a factor” but skill and positioning can only do so much when you’re being one shotted. I think if this bracket was more active, it would definitely be a high 7 in competition rating because the players DO know what they’re doing.
Bracket: Level 19
Competitive Level: 8
Explanation: This bracket is my home bracket, and before I’m accused of rating this unfairly, please allow me to explain myself. Although 19s aren’t the most active bracket, they do have daily games and on occasion 2 games going on at once in the evenings. The majority of games have very elite players on each team, which make for incredibly fun and close games where you can’t really expect ignorance of basic game mechanics from the other team. Great premades do happen once in awhile, and this only furthers the competitive atmosphere around this bracket. But, I think the main reason this bracket is so competitive is the insane amount of dedication people put into their characters, guilds, and the community. You have people paying for faction changes for that item that will give that extra edge, you have people who pay real money for extremely rare items, and you have people playing for DAYS to increase their skill and gear. A great example of this is the dedication Myrm showed forming the 19 twink tournament this summer, investing his own money for the good of the community. The drive to win is why this bracket was rated an 8.
Bracket: Level 20
Competitive Level: 5
Explanation: When blizzard added the play free up to level 20, this bracket exploded into the most active twink bracket without a doubt. I played this bracket for around 1000+ Warsongs, and I came to the conclusion (mind my colloquialism) not everyone can be the sharpest tool in the shed. A lot of the bracket can be very daft, not playing objectives at all and lacking basic concepts regarding game mechanics such as CC and kiting. This can lead to very frustrating losses or faceroll games, but to say this is the entire bracket would be insulting to the outstanding players I have met in this bracket (two of those great players being Albino and Mindy *Shoutout*). Chances are if you’re reading this, you probably aren’t in this group of “unskilled” players because you care enough to be on this twink forum. I did have a few fun games in this bracket, but generally I could flag carry with relative ease, easily avoiding death with positioning and jump tricks until 10 stacks. This bracket use to have more premades but overtime it seems to have decreased in activity regarding that aspect. In my opinion, it has lost that competitive edge it had in Cataclysm and is now more of a casual bracket.
Bracket: Level 24
Competitive Level: 6
Explanation: The reason I included this separate to the 20 bracket is because I almost consider it a separate entity. These players pay for the game, which to me shows a lot more investment in the game (for the most part). They have better positioning, and their ability to form guild/groups allows them to form premades A LOT easier than free to plays. Granted, a lot of these players are carried by their gear advantages, but for the most part they have more competence than your average “Skeying” free to play (AGAIN this is the AVERAGE player, you could very well be better than a 24 player). I also have 24 twinks, and I actually had the pleasure to premade at this level. It wasn’t on the same caliber of competitiveness as a 19 premade, but any premade activity demonstrates a fairly competitive bracket. Also, I would say it takes a fair bit of dedication to get a best in slot 24 twink, getting those charged rings aren’t always easy!
Bracket: Level 39
Competitive Level: 7.5
Explanation: This bracket is so volatile that I haven’t had a chance to make a 39 twink yet, but I hope to in the future. I’ve seen a quite few of my friends who I know who are great players participating in this bracket. I don’t BELIEVE (correct me if i’m wrong) that there is any premade activity yet, but I do see active games on assigned nights. I rated this a 7.5 because just from the people I know who play in this bracket, I can’t see how it is NOT competitive. It is almost the child of the 19 bracket in that respect. I hope to get more insight into this bracket and get an actual perspective for you guys and I also am interested to see how this bracket progresses as time goes on.
Bracket: Level 70
Competitive Level: 5
Explanation: I recently made a 70 twink because I was interested in a twinking bracket that had arena involved in it. I knew going into this bracket that the skill cap wasn’t extremely high, but what I also learned playing it is that it is definitely a Gear/Comp > Skill bracket. Literally every team I versed past 2k rating involved a Disc priest, and either a prot pally, rogue, or the occasional hunter/boomy. No real CC was involved, rather it was who was more geared and could chain their burst better than the other team. A lot of the high rated teams were clearly unskilled, but rather carried by comp and gear. This bracket is really unbalance because skill can only carry you so far. The battleground aspect of this bracket wasn’t much better, but at least it wasn’t 3 minute arenas. Of course up around 2100, I started going up against some competent people showing there is talent in the bracket, but I just didn’t get the feel of competition going into every arena or battleground.
After reading this, I am sure a lot of you feel differently and I actually encourage you to voice your opinions below. The whole point of these blogs are to expose a personal opinion, so when you state YOURS please attempt to justify it to the best of your ability. Also, this is based on CURRENT information and isn’t a nostalgia blog about the old days. Thanks for reading.
*If I did not include your bracket, I apologize. These are what I consider active brackets: Shoutout to the 29, 80, and 85 bracket which I just don't know anything about*
I’ve been twinking for years upon years, and the debate always comes up; Which bracket is the most competitive? In this article I plan to do an overall analysis of the current major brackets and judge them on a scale of 1 - 10 (ten being the most competitive) based upon varying factors as well as my personal insight into these brackets. I hope to demonstrate a fairly unbiased opinion and you may or may not agree with me. This article is based on the current state of brackets during August, 2014.
Brackets:
Bracket: Level 10
Competitive Level: 6
Explanation: I will be honest that i’ve only dabbled a bit in this bracket, but my personal friend Sponsor is without a doubt a veteran in this bracket. It’s without question that this bracket holds some extremely dedicated and skilled players. But, I rated this bracket a 5 for a several reasons. The lack of activity on a daily basis is a big reason. Although when PuGs do get going they’re pretty solid, this overall lack of activity leads to no real premade activity as well as no constant participation. In addition to this, the lack of moves/spells can lead to a really stale and bursty playstyle. Some will argue “this makes skill more of a factor” but skill and positioning can only do so much when you’re being one shotted. I think if this bracket was more active, it would definitely be a high 7 in competition rating because the players DO know what they’re doing.
Bracket: Level 19
Competitive Level: 8
Explanation: This bracket is my home bracket, and before I’m accused of rating this unfairly, please allow me to explain myself. Although 19s aren’t the most active bracket, they do have daily games and on occasion 2 games going on at once in the evenings. The majority of games have very elite players on each team, which make for incredibly fun and close games where you can’t really expect ignorance of basic game mechanics from the other team. Great premades do happen once in awhile, and this only furthers the competitive atmosphere around this bracket. But, I think the main reason this bracket is so competitive is the insane amount of dedication people put into their characters, guilds, and the community. You have people paying for faction changes for that item that will give that extra edge, you have people who pay real money for extremely rare items, and you have people playing for DAYS to increase their skill and gear. A great example of this is the dedication Myrm showed forming the 19 twink tournament this summer, investing his own money for the good of the community. The drive to win is why this bracket was rated an 8.
Bracket: Level 20
Competitive Level: 5
Explanation: When blizzard added the play free up to level 20, this bracket exploded into the most active twink bracket without a doubt. I played this bracket for around 1000+ Warsongs, and I came to the conclusion (mind my colloquialism) not everyone can be the sharpest tool in the shed. A lot of the bracket can be very daft, not playing objectives at all and lacking basic concepts regarding game mechanics such as CC and kiting. This can lead to very frustrating losses or faceroll games, but to say this is the entire bracket would be insulting to the outstanding players I have met in this bracket (two of those great players being Albino and Mindy *Shoutout*). Chances are if you’re reading this, you probably aren’t in this group of “unskilled” players because you care enough to be on this twink forum. I did have a few fun games in this bracket, but generally I could flag carry with relative ease, easily avoiding death with positioning and jump tricks until 10 stacks. This bracket use to have more premades but overtime it seems to have decreased in activity regarding that aspect. In my opinion, it has lost that competitive edge it had in Cataclysm and is now more of a casual bracket.
Bracket: Level 24
Competitive Level: 6
Explanation: The reason I included this separate to the 20 bracket is because I almost consider it a separate entity. These players pay for the game, which to me shows a lot more investment in the game (for the most part). They have better positioning, and their ability to form guild/groups allows them to form premades A LOT easier than free to plays. Granted, a lot of these players are carried by their gear advantages, but for the most part they have more competence than your average “Skeying” free to play (AGAIN this is the AVERAGE player, you could very well be better than a 24 player). I also have 24 twinks, and I actually had the pleasure to premade at this level. It wasn’t on the same caliber of competitiveness as a 19 premade, but any premade activity demonstrates a fairly competitive bracket. Also, I would say it takes a fair bit of dedication to get a best in slot 24 twink, getting those charged rings aren’t always easy!
Bracket: Level 39
Competitive Level: 7.5
Explanation: This bracket is so volatile that I haven’t had a chance to make a 39 twink yet, but I hope to in the future. I’ve seen a quite few of my friends who I know who are great players participating in this bracket. I don’t BELIEVE (correct me if i’m wrong) that there is any premade activity yet, but I do see active games on assigned nights. I rated this a 7.5 because just from the people I know who play in this bracket, I can’t see how it is NOT competitive. It is almost the child of the 19 bracket in that respect. I hope to get more insight into this bracket and get an actual perspective for you guys and I also am interested to see how this bracket progresses as time goes on.
Bracket: Level 70
Competitive Level: 5
Explanation: I recently made a 70 twink because I was interested in a twinking bracket that had arena involved in it. I knew going into this bracket that the skill cap wasn’t extremely high, but what I also learned playing it is that it is definitely a Gear/Comp > Skill bracket. Literally every team I versed past 2k rating involved a Disc priest, and either a prot pally, rogue, or the occasional hunter/boomy. No real CC was involved, rather it was who was more geared and could chain their burst better than the other team. A lot of the high rated teams were clearly unskilled, but rather carried by comp and gear. This bracket is really unbalance because skill can only carry you so far. The battleground aspect of this bracket wasn’t much better, but at least it wasn’t 3 minute arenas. Of course up around 2100, I started going up against some competent people showing there is talent in the bracket, but I just didn’t get the feel of competition going into every arena or battleground.
After reading this, I am sure a lot of you feel differently and I actually encourage you to voice your opinions below. The whole point of these blogs are to expose a personal opinion, so when you state YOURS please attempt to justify it to the best of your ability. Also, this is based on CURRENT information and isn’t a nostalgia blog about the old days. Thanks for reading.
*If I did not include your bracket, I apologize. These are what I consider active brackets: Shoutout to the 29, 80, and 85 bracket which I just don't know anything about*
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. And I agree, I should have talked to some of the key members of these brackets (great suggestion if I ever get into a multi bracket article again).
