Why is PVP so bleak after 1K?

Ruinate

madsalad wrote:

This isn't necessarily true if they are following the A-cc-A method of unshield, play A team, play cupcake and quick play another A team before shielding. It all depends on how they approach the baking. While it is safer to wait like two minutes after baking up the cc and then sheilding, if you want to be able to break shield and not get beaten to death later, you should try to play a quick a-team match after baking so that when you shield, and subsequently break shield later, you are not on defense with a cc.

A-cc-A is the method I immediately think of when talking about baking. It's true, I've seen screenshots where a baker takes 3-5 hits while switching back to A team. It does happen. But I've never seen a true cupcake that I wanted to eat go to total **** after just 1 match.

dcopelov

So the 'right' way to define cupcake (and I'm sure you guys will correct me if I'm wrong here) is

Someone you know (e.g. an alliance mate) who went on a win streak and then told you that they were about to shield.

And you hit them while they're shielded, which gives you a nice score bonus and doesn't hurt their score. Is that about right? I assume 'baking' refers to the process of building up a decent win streak so your team is worth a hefty amount when beaten (while shielded).

Despite the adorable terminology involved (who doesn't like cupcakes and baking and the intersection of those two things?), which I certainly appreciate, this does sound like the closest thing MPQ has to win trading (in which a high-ranked player 'throws' a match to boost an accomplice's ranking).

My guess is that scores are so ridiculously high for the elite 5* players because they can 'bake' faster and more deliciously than anyone else for other qualified players to eat.

So it looks like I need to be in a decent alliance with LINE chat or some other sideband communication system before I can hit 1.3K.

Not judging, just trying to understand how all of this works.

Unknown

dcopelov wrote:

So the 'right' way to define cupcake (and I'm sure you guys will correct me if I'm wrong here) is

Someone you know (e.g. an alliance mate) who went on a win streak and then told you that they were about to shield.

And you hit them while they're shielded, which gives you a nice score bonus and doesn't hurt their score. Is that about right? I assume 'baking' refers to the process of building up a decent win streak so your team is worth a hefty amount when beaten (while shielded).

Despite the adorable terminology involved (who doesn't like cupcakes and baking and the intersection of those two things?), which I certainly appreciate, this does sound like the closest thing MPQ has to win trading (in which a high-ranked player 'throws' a match to boost an accomplice's ranking).

My guess is that scores are so ridiculously high for the elite 5* players because they can 'bake' faster and more deliciously than anyone else for other qualified players to eat.

So it looks like I need to be in a decent alliance with LINE chat or some other sideband communication system before I can hit 1.3K.

Not judging, just trying to understand how all of this works.

You're close! But the step missing is "The Win Streak player switches their good team out for a really bad team" (Like, two 2*s and a loaner when before they had maxed out 4*s) "and wins one match with them, lets people know they are out there, then shields"

Thus, the people who know they're cupcaking can hit this 2* team at a pointvalue where they SHOULD be running a 4* team, giving them a much easier match for more points then a match that easy should be worth.

dcopelov

Aha!

That explains why sometimes, I see 2* teams that have no reason to be worth as much as they are (sometimes as much as 74 points!). I must be seeing them during the 1 match they have to play to lock in the **** team before shielding.

Thanks for clearing that up! I still don't feel great about this setup, but at least I'm more informed!

halirin

One thing that hasn't been mentioned is that the points lost for getting beat are = to points gained after 1k. So basically points can't accumulate much above that without shielded hits. That's why it's so barren for people who don't use BCs.

madsalad

dcopelov wrote:

So the 'right' way to define cupcake (and I'm sure you guys will correct me if I'm wrong here) is

Someone you know (e.g. an alliance mate) who went on a win streak and then told you that they were about to shield.

And you hit them while they're shielded, which gives you a nice score bonus and doesn't hurt their score. Is that about right? I assume 'baking' refers to the process of building up a decent win streak so your team is worth a hefty amount when beaten (while shielded).

Despite the adorable terminology involved (who doesn't like cupcakes and baking and the intersection of those two things?), which I certainly appreciate, this does sound like the closest thing MPQ has to win trading (in which a high-ranked player 'throws' a match to boost an accomplice's ranking).

My guess is that scores are so ridiculously high for the elite 5* players because they can 'bake' faster and more deliciously than anyone else for other qualified players to eat.

So it looks like I need to be in a decent alliance with LINE chat or some other sideband communication system before I can hit 1.3K.

Not judging, just trying to understand how all of this works.

You don't need a decent alliance with LINE to eat/back cupcakes. Cupcakes are available to everyone. You just have to be really good with your timing . And, because they are open to everyone, I wouldn't consider this win trading either.

Hendross

madsalad wrote:

You don't need a decent alliance with LINE to eat/back cupcakes. Cupcakes are available to everyone. You just have to be really good with your timing . And, because they are open to everyone, I wouldn't consider this win trading either.

Yes, you may stumble into a random cupcake, but the existence and timing of them are limited to elitest Line rooms.

TxMoose

Hendross wrote:

madsalad wrote:

You don't need a decent alliance with LINE to eat/back cupcakes. Cupcakes are available to everyone. You just have to be really good with your timing . And, because they are open to everyone, I wouldn't consider this win trading either.

Yes, you may stumble into a random cupcake, but the existence and timing of them are limited to elitest Line rooms.

not completely true. line is nearly required for 2K+, but for 1300 - 1500, some manage to pull that off routinely without it. with some effort and finding a routine that works, non-liners like me can and do eat 6-8 cakes per event. that isn't just dumb luck. it does take effort and finding a routine where your schedule lines up with the big guns - once you find that routine, it becomes pretty simple.

simonsez

dcopelov wrote:

So the 'right' way to define cupcake (and I'm sure you guys will correct me if I'm wrong here) is

Someone you know (e.g. an alliance mate) who went on a win streak and then told you that they were about to shield.

Doesn't need to be someone you know. Just keep skipping and you'll find them, if your points are high enough.

madok

TxMoose wrote:

not completely true. line is nearly required for 2K+, but for 1300 - 1500, some manage to pull that off routinely without it. with some effort and finding a routine that works, non-liners like me can and do eat 6-8 cakes per event. that isn't just dumb luck. it does take effort and finding a routine where your schedule lines up with the big guns - once you find that routine, it becomes pretty simple.

Bingo. I'm not in any BCs but I know my slice well enough that I get those 6 to 8 cakes per event to push me to 1K or even 1.3K regularly. They all have a system that they tend to follow and if you watch long enough you can work with it.