The BEST

[@erinsolomon2210]

I think the Pompfe that can break a team is a left-handed chain player with a chain made of tubular webbing. Chains in general made a huge leap with the "technological development", moving away from the link chains of the past. Even in top-tier finales, there aren't as many people able to counter chains as there were a few years ago because they are much faster, much more precise, can be held shorter and still have the 3 stone bonus over the other Pompfen. Having a left-handed chain player is a huge bonus as it can negate most anti-chain skills a player may have if he hasn't trained against it and a right handed staff or shield player may be at a disadvantage simply because of his own handedness, which may dictate his stance.

[@Jugger_Coach]

The chain has certainly gained a lot, maybe most by the new builds. They became incredibly fast to spin up (yet tend do entangle a bit easier). As for left-handed, they certainly do have big advantages as well, though I would expect experienced teams to train for such occasions. As said, I also do regard the chain as extremely powerful. Yet there is a steep learning curve, and the restriction of one per team.

[@Niccer]

I heard that dual short is rising in the meta in spain. Good dual short has a strong advantage againt shield. In Spain where shield is very popular, they seem to use dual short as a counter. In a setup where the oppenend has multiple shield players that might be a good value and worth the downsides of dual short.

[@Jugger_Coach]

That's very interesting to hear! Yes, I also encountered Dual Shorts as a good shield counter indeed, yet usually with mixed spar setups that wouldn't be that much of an advantage, at least as I could watch it here. It would be like a very specific tool. Maybe the Ultralight way changes some more in terms of Duel spar wielding, too.

[@aschneider8912]

Dual wielding might not be powerful enough to be a main-stay on the pitch (unless the double pin finally comes through?), but I found it's a crazy good workout, especially if you normally play 2H spars. For one, it requires a much more agile playstyle, even more so than the shield and secondly I found that it forces you to think outside the box in terms of approaching duels. So while it might not be the best as your go-to spar, giving it a whirl once in a while in low-stakes environments like practice or friendly games with neighboring teams could prove benefitial to your overall play. Also if you manage to consistently block chains with it, the mental damage inflicted on the chain player is considerable

[@Jugger_Coach]

That is a very interesting approach, thank you! I can imagine this as a very fine option for the more advanced player :)

[@Battan1337]

I am doing some statistics on chain at the moment and it's not looking even close to balanced. the KD is at + 2.7 at higher skill-levels. and + 2.8 for newb games. It's OP and that's just a fact, but how OP is what I'm going to find out with even higher accuracy as i go through more videos in slow motion. I hope this will help with future balancing of the rules of the game. Chain being OP is simply a fact, whether you do something about it or not is not up to me but from a game-design perspective i would say you really should as it hurts the player-base.

[@Jugger_Coach]

Great job with a study on that! Very much appreciated. And sort of fits my feelings, especially now since teh Chain became that light and fast. Would you like to share your background in Jugger? At which tournaments did you collect your data?

[@Battan1337]

​@@Jugger_Coach Yes, these stats are based on what i can see watching matches on youtube in slowmotion. Both teams chain players are counted. I do not count Chain VS Chain since it wouldn't be relevant when measuring balance. K= "kills" Refer to tagging the opponent. D= "Deaths" Refers to getting tagged. KD= How many K you get per 1 D Good thing to know is that having 1 KD isn't balanced considering the quick can't tag enemies and is a "free kill". So slightly more then 1 is balanced. Zonenkinder VS Rigor Mortis KD + 3 K: 55 D: 18 Final Rigor Mortis VS Bob Jugger KD + 2.7 K: 62 D:23 Bergslagstrollen VS Umeå Osport KD: + 2.8 k: 28 d: 9 I might continue my research and watch more games for more accuracy if it is requested. Then i will move on to more specific statistics per requests. Later i can check KD on other pompfens as well.

[@Jugger_Coach]

@@Battan1337 Thanks

[@mouezzz4111]

@@Battan1337 Hi ! First, great job ! And then, I want to tell you that even of I may be a bit late, I would like to offer you my help during this quarantine, if you need to do more statistics on this.

[@Battan1337]

​@@mouezzz4111 Yes, we need more statistics. Pick a pompfen, count the "kills" and "deaths" it gets but don't count when the pompfen faces itself since that will not help when trying to know how it fairs against other pompfens. There's a lot of games you can watch on youtube, watch in slowmotion. Write down K and D and what game it was. Watch both sides players. Right now after 6 games and thus about 400 "fights" (kills or deaths) the chain is at 2.42 KDR. These are the videos iv'e analyzed so far for the chain. Bergslagstrollen VS Umeå Osport Final Rigor Mortis mot Bob Jugger. Zonenkinder VS rigor Mortis, kedje stats. Bergische Meisterschaft | Peters Pawns vs HaWu AllstarZ | Halbfinale Bergische Meisterschaft | HaWu AllstarZ vs Zonenkinder | Finale FINAL: Victim vs Rigor Mortis @ Kieler Nordderby 2019 I Slow Motion!

[@mouezzz4111]

Dual short is probably the best spar you can chose

[@Jugger_Coach]

Then I am looking forward to see more of them succeeding in our tournaments here.

[@mouezzz4111]

Actually, I think the reason why you don't see so much of them is because they need way more training to be efficient, but if you're enough train, it can be like an upgraded shield, since you can change the blocking side instantly, if needed, you can attack much faster using both sword. Moreover, it can be efficient against qtip, as you can parry easily on each side. From my personnal experience, the big problem is to counter a chain.