From BROKEN to Unremarkably "Balanced" Ft. Nukes! - Israel Top Tier - War Thunder

[@Bentotrbas1-2-3]

I once told my gamer dad NOT to go Israel. 6 months later, he got the last Merkava in the tech tree while only playing Arcade battles. What a gamer dad 🗿

[@tankman66]

He's a chad

[@bickboose9364]

You also got a non-gamer dad?

[@Minute_Sniper]

Why is aracde being so hated on? I only ever play arcade and i got china and germany full grinded and is going through 9.3 soviet rn

[@crad5476]

@@Minute_Sniper Because all the "cool" kids only play realistic and arcade is for bad people, apparently.

[@Minute_Sniper]

@@crad5476 realistic has too much cas and flanking. It's quite overwhelming compared to arcade. Honestly, those who play realistic swear by it and those with aracde swears by it too

[@amazingjarl7147]

gaijin seriously needs to fix the armor for these things, ain’t no way 2 feet of composite barely provide 400mm of KE protection at the thickest point

[@israeli_tank_lover]

yeah i think it should be on par with the Abrams or leopards

[@amazingjarl7147]

@@israeli_tank_lover at LEAST

[@maplearrow1842]

No it makes sense. NERA is usually made of a soft material (rubber, kevlar, etc.) sandwiched between two thin metal plates. An APFSDS will slice through if there’s no thick backing plate like on the Abrams. Also keep in mind the Merkava was built for urban warfare, especially the MK4.

[@idokor2163]

The problem of the mrkava is the fact that the toret is classified so gaijin doesn't know what to do with it

[@maplearrow1842]

All modern tanks have classified armor. Gaijin still managed to get pretty realistic protection levels with the exception of gun breaches that are intentionally nerfed.

[@tyykthunder]

Just got Israel like a couple weeks ago and don’t regret it 💪

[@getout2012]

They're adding the 30mm namer

[@tyykthunder]

@@getout2012 I’m so excited but if it does get it’s composite armor. It’s just gonna be garbage.

[@ARFAF]

@@tyykthunder it will get composite armor, and its in the dev server so it will be a subject to change so no way it wont have composite armor, like 61 tons of weight for what?!?!

[@mrbangosan6064]

I am from taiwan not Chinese you?

[@Under_Tone]

@@mrbangosan6064 I am from New Germany, not Azerbaijan.

[@bendawg8-wi4dr]

I’ve been playing it a lot recently, and a few things to note for anyone looking into grinding top tier Israel: 1: the Merkava loves to occasionally bounce sometimes and tank 3BM60, but majority of the time it will go right through. 2: the Merkava Mk.4 usually loose their engine or a crew member or two, but they are quite hard to kill in one shot. 3: the main advantage of the Merkava is the gun, so try to get the highest reload rate you can, and maybe even buy an ace crew for the Mk.4M just to have an easier time with the 6 seconds. 4: the Barack II is amazing, is has stand off capability (to an extent) with lock and forget guided 2000Lb bombs, and then the capability to carry even more guided bombs (you can max it out with 8 total lgbs!) 5: the AH-60 has a pretty good loadout for dealing with SPAA and tanks alike, and the spikes are pretty good at dealing with enemy helis. 6: no light vehicles (yet) and no wheeled ones. 7: the premiums aren’t very good, the Merkava Mk.2D (which is off sale atm) could be a potent premium if it gets a 5s reload in the future, but for now it suffers with 6.7. The Raam Segol is decent but it lacks high gen thermals, any armor what so ever, and can be sluggish in mobility. I’ve grinded the tree using both and it was quite miserable at times…

[@Phoenixmethode]

I love how the BT-5 killed like 3 people in the 12:45 game xd

[@Iron_Blood_Enjoyer1933]

There's a one-off M-50 Super Sherman variant/prototype from the early to mid 60s called the Degem Yud, which is an M-50 (An M4A3 large hatch) hull that was lowered by 30 cm in order to lower the height of the tank. After the first tests, the project was sadly abandoned & more likely than not the prototype was scrapped. But pictures exist of it, and it literally looks like a Sherman that was partially squashed.

[@AdamDorfman82]

The Nakba that everyone talk about is a tactic to manipulation the progressive left You will see. This is a self-inflicted outcome. During the Nakba, ARAB armies told the local Arabs to leave the areas where they planned to attack the Jews. The ARAB armies told them leave their homes, and everything behind, because the Arab Armies were planning an attack to destroy Israel. The ARAB armies then lost the war. The Arab countries told the displaced Arab people to settled in refugee camps. Some Arabs stayed and are not Israeli citizens and thriving. But the majority decided to exile themselves. Still 75 years later they never moved on and won’t accept the situation they caused for themselves and still dream of turning the lost into a victory. Meanwhile, many Arabs leaders of the displaced have made billions of dollars from global financial support and almost none of it made it to the people. Only since the 1968 has the displaced Arab started to call themselves, "Palestinians" - which is a name given by Europeans to the region, after they forcibly expelled the Jews, there's no P in Arabic, so why would they name themselves with a name, that doesn't exist in Arabic. justify more violence Ever since the Ottoman Empire the Arab just can't accept the Jews to be free people. Arabs are from the Arabian Peninsula - they speak Arabs. They pray to the Mecca in Saudi Arabia Muslim are not from Jerusalem. They are not from the land of Judea. Arabs are the colonizers and now need to accept co-existence. Islamic education needs to be reformed. Why does anyone think Hamas would stop its ambitions of destroying Israel? In a time of war, Muslim are encouraged to lie and to manipulate infidels. Anyone who is not muslim they do not accept as equal. But they will pretend to accept them until they acquire enough power to kill them. Do they not understand the Islamic “Taqiyya appears in Sura 3:28:" ? “Let not the believers take the unbelievers for friends; and whoever does this, shall have nothing to do with Allâh in any matter; unless you do this to protect yourselves from the unbelievers. Thus Allâh cautions you to have reverence only for him. To Allâh is destiny.” in other words, in a time of war its encouraged to lie; Regarding 3:28, Ibn Kathir writes, “… believers who in some areas or times fear for their safety from the disbelievers… are allowed to show friendship to the disbelievers outwardly, but never inwardly.” Ibn Kafthir quotes Muhammad‘s companion, Abu Ad-Darda’, who said “we smile in the face of some people although our hearts curse them"

[@venpirethevampire]

Merkava Mk4M and Merkava Mk4B main here. I use it liked a mixed bag tank, although my main way of playing is exploiting some spots which are wonderful for long range sniping. You have 64kph reverse and you can easily disengage after killing someone before the enemy team can react. When it comes to CQB maps, I stay in second lines and support frontliners by covering their flanks and engage enemy tanks that get the first shot and cripple our frontliners. The art of Merkava is a hard thing to master but a good merkava player will make the enemy team puke blood as you have some resistance against enemy helicopter CAS with your APS.

[@cabbageashthe1st594]

the one problem of the Merkava's is that it gives you the illusion of able to tank shots

[@liladoodle]

I'm still waiting for the Sholef, an indigenous SPH made on the chassis of the Merkava Mk 1.

[@Iron_Blood_Enjoyer1933]

After Gaijin adds the 2S19 Msta-S for Russia.

[@diesirae8954]

After Gaijin adds another premium Abrams for the US​@@Iron_Blood_Enjoyer1933

[@JStef19]

I'm excited for the IFV based of the Merkava chassis though!!!

[@diesirae8954]

@@Iron_Blood_Enjoyer1933 After Gaijin adds another premium Abrams to the US

[@JChris2403]

funny that its now gonna be in the next battlepass

[@mrsteel250]

I find playing aggressive works the most reliable with the merkavas because the spaciousness ends up causing enemies to take shots that even though they shoot correctly it doesn’t knock out all necessary components so you can just turn and blast em. Long range is fun but it’s definitely requires lots of repositioning whenever you get spotted and patience

[@gekos7155]

6:45 When I hear someone say JuSt SpAwN SpAa Bro!

[@isaiahmountford5815]

skill issue

[@Optimusprime56241]

@@isaiahmountford5815 CAS monkey

[@lionblocks]

In the last sale i bought the Merkava Mk.2d and its an ok tank. I love it for the futuristic look 👀 ❤

[@Herrkapitan5556]

I love the Merkava mk4 M. I usually play as defensively as I can and snipe at distance. Seems to work well.

[@israeli_tank_lover]

i've been wanting top tier Israel for soo long, and this video shows they can still compete. i would love to see more Israel content

[@Mr.ImmaBot-su1fh]

I love how he didn’t notice that a BT-5 killed the LAV-AD that killed the STRV 122+ lol

[@valomax1376]

With the merkava's i play passive/agressive (just keep pressure on the enemy position without taking to mutch risk and play with the turret cheeks you Can pull some overpenetration without damage

[@Dimanz8]

Sorry for my earlier comment in your other video about taking so long to start the gameplay. Im glad your actually doing something about it :).

[@monkeyism06]

As soon as i found out myself how the 120mm he-tf behaved around tracks I started the grind for the merkevas

[@vadimyakus]

I don’t know why exactly, but Israel is my second favorite nation in the game after Germany. Only two things I hate about it: - absence of any good anti air, - 99% games will be together with weak USA at top tier.

[@unoriginalplays120]

Justin, will we see a revisit of the cm11? Its been like 3 years. Or a video on the regular ztz96 at 9.3, you have never made one before

[@craigohagan4053]

I would love this too as a new china main. I actually started paying china because of you!

[@bendawg8-wi4dr]

4:00 there really isn’t a playstyle for the Merkava, it’s not the best at something, yet it’s not the worst at everything. You can play it however you like, just keep in mind the massive profile this thing has, so things like flanking might be a bit harder.

[@Roolandhun]

Love the vids! Keep it up❤

[@Maxalhw]

I wanna say that i really appreciate your apolitical character. Keep it up Justin

[@vadimyakus]

My answer to the very first question of the video: you play Merkava slow, but aggressive. This is not a sniping tank due to bad angles of the gun and close to zero armor of the turret. The only reason why Israel always loses is the fact they always play alongside USA

[@marcogranados541]

GG on the last match, I was the Gepard

[@dalekool9975]

Don't know if you have found out yet, but the new f15 does have new avionics in addition to the fox 3s. New radar and HMD, so it is getting some improvements

[@thetalkativetalker4741]

I find playing the merkavas is better in a defensive role on or near a cap and then try to find a hull down position

[@krustykrabkk7742]

2:50 the barak II gets the the derby missile and the new f15 gets the aim-120 next update

[@Moondoggymungmung]

If I hear the whine of turbines and freedom, passive. If I hear the growl of diesels I unga bunga.

[@JF_Suzuki]

Israel is a fun nation to play, what's not fun is you're almost guaranteed to be in the same team with US, and yeah we all know how it goes from there...

[@noamax1]

merkava ia amazing at sniping but it needs to get armor buff

[@fiakes7488]

Don't play too shy with the merks, but make sure you don't get into trouble. Just make sure you have a teammate or two around and use them as a morale boost xD. I like to take around 27 rounds so the back left side of tank is empty, which lets me poke it out and bait enemies into shooting it.

[@Arielyedidi]

I push with it

[@mikelangelo1232]

Wow 2 mile line up, thrilling.

[@brandonfaulcon5206]

Set yourself up at the front with the first surge of team and once they die off, pop a kill or two then backup. Defensive media a is best merkava. I find the whole line plays that way

[@homie7656]

Merkavas are best played in a bit of a sniper/flanking hybrid. Getting to a position where you can use your commander sight to shoot enemies is the best you can do. unfortunately not all maps provide this and you get stuck with either a sniper only or flank only role.

[@tubopanderson8106]

you just gotta learn how to use that HE round my guy, it turns the merkavas from mid to deadass hilarious to play, being able to nuke every top tier mbt with what is essentially aphe is incredibly funny, it singlehandedly got to me to 1300+ kills in the merk4m

[@TheWomanFace786]

that's insane bro, nice

[@jessematthews6861]

it depends on the map and how well the team as a whole is running. I usually like to be aggressive in a flanking posture to reach a firing point, but more often than not, I snipe since its best armor is the turret PS: yeah, I've been noticing that as well. a lot of the games ive played as israel, I've been on the losing side. sometimes I play well, sometimes shit hits the fan. but recently it feels like it happens more often

[@CrimzFN]

The issue with israel now is that it is matched with US Clickbait premium buyers, destroying the winrate and whole experience. You play Israel, you watch your team get farmed for two minutes before the other team is in your spawn. Courtesy of the summer sale!

[@carlosdelgado3704]

3:48 Nah man you have to be passive-aggressive as in: focus on sniping but be aggressive whilst doing it. With all those smoke bombs u can move from place to place or disappear to another position. Is about keeping distance, flanking, staying hidden (unless you know your armor can save you) and slowly pick out the more aggressive russian players. Grinded out Israel around when it first came out and honestly I haven’t switched nations then. (I am a little biased since I’m Jewish lol) but Merkavas are just a force to be reckoned with if you know how to play them and use their awkward angles to ur advantage as well.

[@BearcatThunder]

How I play the merkavas: For the mk3 and mk4 I just use the HE round and laugh when I one tap mbts. The only ones I really like playing are the 9.3 ones.

[@bruman182]

You should do a low tier video on the Italian P40. Its a 3.3 medium tank that has amazing armor and a 75MM APHE that has 270 Grams of explosive filler. Very underused tank.

[@MoRaXSCV]

Playing it passive or a sniper the turret is well armored so its worth using it to peak shot and go to cover again because we have 64km backwards xx

[@VoidouWT]

I mean 8.7 Israel is just an absolute destroyer of a line up but got nerfed with the A4s br changes but the mystere IVA isnt too bad with the merks you gotta play them passive aggressive don't push dumb but play like they don't expect you to play in a merk (a neat buff for the merks would be to add their spall liners but gaijin says they don't exists so they don't exists ig)

[@ryzenone4575]

I love the israeli tree not the strongest but i have found really using the angled armor in a hull down position to bounce rounds is amazing.

[@LiLei-mi4nh]

Merkava´s my favourite top tier Tank....i love it!

[@keefebarry1087]

I play Israel 11.0 and 11.3 a lot, and it's a much better experience than 11.7-12.7 by far. Genuinely 11.3 is one of my fav to play.

[@tsukaharabokuden5892]

Merkava has an amazing commander sight and I play hull down sniping and it rocks

[@amazingjarl7147]

finally got the mk4m after wanting it since release SO worth the grind

[@anunknownguy5776]

Can you do a revisit on T-80UK?

[@the_defaultguy]

merkavas really look cool the most sand dweller looking tank 2nd most appropriate looking tank for its nation is the Leopard 2s

[@ZH5768]

Can you do a video overviewing all the premium helis to buy so that i can see their pros and cons? I'm really stuck between getting the prem american apache and the z-19 prem.

[@JustinPlaysTV]

I like this idea!

[@ZH5768]

@@JustinPlaysTV Thank you!

[@panzerlite8108]

Merkava 4 plays like a glass cannon to be honest. Though it does angle well, surprisingly. It should be one of the more armored in the game, but it's not allowed that.

[@waleedbinhamid247]

Am an Israeli main for Ground and Air ! Looking for more high tier tanks! And on Air we need the F16i Sufa ! With the CFTs

[@Harbinger7251]

Since I am top tier Sweden I play hyper aggressive with any mbt I have including the Merkava, Leclerc, and Ariete

[@hughpannell596]

i hope they will add the chains to the back of the turret like irl. kinda like the t90ms netting.

[@DracoSen21]

Gotta like how every KZbinr drops a bomb or agm and spend the next 10secs looking at it and flying straight up while some other SPAA kills them

[@Existor106]

the only merkava i have for now is the 2D and i play it like a t72, mostly passive but when given the chance i push aggresively...unless its a full uptier

[@Milkslaps]

when i play the merkava's i usually semi rush the enemy and then just kinda snipe. or i just try to flanks since the merks obviously have no armor. when playing the tanks like this i usually get either enoughj spawn points for the kurnass2k or around 7 to 9 kills i do lose pretty much every single game tho, unless i play together with ussr

[@ShinGojira54]

Nice

[@signor_padella284]

I love the merkavas but the blow up panels in game don’t work you die wen they hit the amount in the turret

[@zerowlade]

i think you should play more planes :)), but loved the video anyways!

[@jb7483]

Top tier Israel, i can't win a match to save my life. Every team evaporates, and recently, with the merkava, i noticed the shells dont spawl that much. I find myself camping and ambushing.

[@RogueKnight423]

Merkava is my favorite tank irl...2nd being Abrams

[@Tooslw]

Any tips on grinding I just switched to ussr because I found USA unfun(mainly air) so now I’m grinding ussr and the air grind is fun for now but ground is not doing so well

[@RDEnduro]

I wish the tanks were called Steven Segal and Gal Gadot

[@DecepticonBruticus]

if memory serves, the new F-15s also have stronger engines and lose the afterburner feathers

[@Thundergod-bo4dd]

You should use the proxy heat round on the Abram’s and try to play spaa with it

[@Mellenius]

I have the Premium Merkava but I have not climbed the ranks sufficiently yet to make use of it so I cannot give a recommendation. I may be lvl 100 but I don't Main any nation (I'm between 6.7 and 8.0 across all nations atm for ground)

[@noamax1]

im a merkava main and u should play it like a light tank its has great mobility so use it and a lot of awearness and u cn carry games u said the merkava isnt fast but keep in mind it accelerate faster then most if not all other mbts

[@themastrofall]

Curse of queuing with US teams, been a thing since the XM-1 came out

[@MarineCorpzor1]

The Netz is getting dropped down to 11.7 in GRB, so you can kill Cas with out up tiering yourself too much. Though the Merkavas should all be at 11.3 including the Mk. 4M, why missile hardkill uptiers it, idk and gaijin probably doesn't know either.

[@MrRazgriez666]

Hey Justin! I'm currently on the izzy grind, I was wondering if you have or know of a good way to use smokes effectively. As you know the merkava has a lot of smoke charges and I want to utilize them without annoying teammates. Awesome video as always!

[@schwartzprime3045]

the way i play is find a spot where people don't look often and shoot people relatively close cuz im not good at sniping

[@NathanSeigler]

Aggressive all the way. I'm a brit main so sitting still in a MBT is kinda the meta, which gets kinda boring. Anytime I get something with some mobility I go all out with it.

[@jasoncrawford4929]

Never forget the LIC had armor, was bug reported all the other merks should have similar, so gaijin just nerfed the LIC to be like the others

[@noamax1]

also to the ah 60 i reccomend 8 hell 4 spikes and 2 stingers

[@maiddargonskynight8277]

i play mark4 M very agressive and will use all knowlage on where i can get the frist shot on them

[@zinksolarhero1419]

i play the merkava as a defencive tank

[@credelle]

You just experienced the israeli top tier situation, you have to carry a bunch or clueless us mains to try to win, otherwise youre win-rate is going to be awfull

[@ilonestepgaming3662]

The merkava is made for a defensive role you need to play slow and defensive

[@chrism822]

utilize ESS, i have killed quite a few people with ESS, for some reason alot of people dont realize you can thremal through it, and you can catch people out with it. It wont work all the time but its great when it does work and you kill 2 people cause of it.

[@ParadoxErick]

2:50 new barak variant 🤔I thought it was moving to 13.0 🤔🤔🤔🤔

[@WispyCheese9113]

i play the merks but i play more passive, i just sit and let them come to me

[@Nasner-]

Just noticed how huge Merkava is

[@niojandonker625]

Hello justin, there is a new upcoming youtuber named BPA_Jon he is a ex pro wt player and started making video's not long ago. His vids are supercool cuz hes extremely good, maybe u guys could play together at some point. Two very good top tier players should be a joy to watch!

[@alphasima]

Got the Vautour right now(french) and i can’t deal with the modification grind😭

[@zyppydaddy007]

18 rounds only, lot of side to side and side scraping helps survive more shots. Do pop out shots and swing turret right away don’t stare at target and get back in cover every time even if you getting the kill.

[@JendaPtacek-hd1pt]

i camp with them or snipe since you can bounce on head even 292 if you lucky and it frustrate enemy haha

[@raizencore]

I just want to know how Israel has a decent winrate despite getting qued with US every single time, it's mind boggling.

[@kaisp2837]

I wish the discount can allow console players too 😭

[@dylanbotes6563]

Bro I don't even know how you play this with a controller 😮

[@kaisp2837]

@@dylanbotes6563 it’s not hard I get kills every game even on air it’s really not hard

[@bruh-nb8hf]

How do I lock the hellfire?

[@lonegaming8591]

Is it just me or are the antennas really distracting while playing this tank?

[@JustinPlaysTV]

Very.

[@CrimzFN]

you play it enough, eventually, they just disappear.

[@vralingfrostmere1561]

when i play my merkava i always play the same way, cowardly. everything can and will kill me

[@Jiberiel]

3 hours, 13 losses in a row? sounds like a normal day in WT for me ^^"

[@mythnotfound7070]

Fr my tanks are the first Israel tnak and a half maxed migach 1 and the matches I play are so unfair it's against mauses and t54s it's bloody bull it's a good tank but it always gets upteired they should change it to a 6.5 br

[@funwithmagnus8570]

Im only at 8.0 on isreal but i play top tier in russia and germany so i know what it is fighting merkavas. So far if i can see them theyre dead, but most time i get killed by a merkava, theyre far away and out of sight. So thats how ill play them.

[@carlosdelgado3704]

Havent played wt in almost 3 years until 2 days ago and I can say that Israel alone isn’t in a problem but NATO in total is; the exact same problems I saw in top tier are the exact same ones I’m seeing now. People: please learn to work together and trust me NATO will be able to fight back and win more matches

[@colbybrundige4423]

I think the only lines that feel good rn are the Leo's or the 122's. Everything else seems lacking.

[@Jay-qv1fi]

Israel top tier is great its just that Israel gets America as teamates which is why the loss rate is so high. I personally had countless times where i was the last person alive on the whole team

[@alessiogennuso4389]

Merkava armor is pretty unreliable but at least the gun is good, better played as a defensive sniper.