After being out on day 2 for 2 tournaments in a row, and going fast that way in a 3rd due to some bad boards and some really cheap shots by the AI, it’s obvious (to me at least) that there still need to be some real fixes to the matchmaking and tournament play.
Some suggestions:
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do better at factoring hero talent grid levels and troop levels into the team power level; these seem to be a big factor in creating uneven matches. Basically, don’t set up players vs opponents they stand no real chance of beating. That’s not fun.
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Colors. If a specific color hero is prohibited, lessen the appearance rate of those tiles. Don’t allow the RNG to spam the one color players can’t use, forcing them to just power-up the enemy’s specials. Again, that’s frustrating, not fun.
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Lessen the effect of the RNG overall. How much of a “tournament” is it really if the luck of the starting board is the largest factor in if you win or lose? And the second largest factor is the luck of the replacement tiles? Player skill and team selection are normally far outweighed by luck. That’s backwards. Luck should only trump skill in the extreme cases, not the norm.
To the devs: if no one has ever told you this, then let me: your primary goal in game design should be enjoyability. Because that is the biggest factor in player experience… which makes players continue playing your game… which is what enables profitability, the end goal of the company. All other design goals should be secondary to that. A “fair” or “equal” system is still poorly made if it’s not enjoyable.
A mentor summed it up best. Before implementing anything, ask yourself this one question: “Will this frustrate or irritate players?”. You should put in nothing that fails that test.