Which is the Best #1 Mono Element Team to Build?

Which is the Best #1 Mono Element Team to Build?
(2nd January 2017)

First of all, Happy New Year everyone! 
It has been a busy 2016 and I hope everyone enjoyed the previous year.  

Now, we are in the new Starburst PvP era and I believe we are all considering which MONO element team to build to conquer PvP.

Thus, I've decided to do a brief team analysis between the elements, based on my personal opinions.

TL:DR / Summary / Conclusion (Most Bottom of the Page)

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There are 5 elements to this game: Ardor > Whirlwind > Thunder > Light > Dark > Ardor

Elemental Advantage:

• 25% more damage to players of opposing/counter element
  
  
• 25% less damage taken from players of opposing/counter element
  
  
• 20% more reflexes against players of opposing/counter element
  
  10% reflex increase on own player and 10% reflex decrease on enemy player

When considering which mono to build, my goal is to find a mono that can conquer the other 4 elements.

And that will be what my analysis is based on. Whether if the mono can conquer the other 4 elements.

(what? you want to use dark to beat light? thunder to beat whirlwind? yes, that's what we are looking for)


Ideally, everyone should be building 2 mono teams.

Because whenever you meet an element that you are weak to, you can bring out the other mono that you have.

But most of us have limited resources, hence, our goal is to find the best mono element to start building with.


Questions & Notes:

The teams displayed mostly contain legends, both new-star and classic. These might not be obtainable for new players?

Ans: We are comparing the mono element teams at the peak of their capabilities. Therefore, legends will be included.


*Note: The win-rate discussed are on a level-basis with no advantage (Live PvP, Club Matches etc).

In PvP, home team will gain advantage of chains, club bonus etc.

Therefore, for PvP home games, you can increase the chances of winning by 10%~20%

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ARDOR



Above is a typical mono ardor team that most people will build.



Kevin can be used at frontline too for a 4 man front. 

CM can potentially be Lia/Kyosuke.

Shu, Yuri, Erica could be potentially used in the backline too.


An Overview of Mono ARDOR (Strengths, Weaknesses):

• In terms of strikers/GK, Ardor has few of the strongest strikers and one of the top GK around.
  
  
• In terms of CM, Ardor CM pales in comparison with other elements
  
  Ardor CM also face the strongest challenge against CM of dark and rainbow teams (mainly Metatron CM)
  
  
• The power of mono Ardor comes from a strong, sustainable backline with high damage frontline striker.
  
  Highly powered line-breaking players such as (Choi, Death Queen)
  
  
• For the reflex game, ardor has gaphyl, victoria and is a mixture of CAR (Death Queen) with reflex totems 
  

There are a few ways to play an ardor team:

• You can go for high DR angela, not focusing on crit resist.
  
  
• You can play OHKO with William ace
  
  
• You can also go for high HP angela
  
  
• You can do entrapment with Bora striker, DI with Sharr etc.

How will ARDOR fare against the other elements? (My Personal Opinions)


VS Whirlwind:

• Whirlwind best GK are Black Tortoise/Jin 
  
  Sharr fares well against Jin - Average to BT 
  
  Bora works well against both
  
  William fares badly against both when he cannot crit
  
  
• Against WW strikers (Shanti/Kirin)
  
  Angela can be entrapped and killed by good Kirin and high penetration power Shanti.
  
  
• Line-breaking
  
  WW players do face issues breaking through/stealing from Choi/Victoria/Death Queen/Jiho or any other ardor players
  
  While ardor players, penetrate through almost all WW players just fine.
  
  

Conclusion: Mono Ardor win rate against Mono Whirlwind should be 75%-25% (win chance - loss chance)

Unless being entrapped by Kirin OR having a william that cannot crit enemy GK.


Against Thunder/Light:

• Most Mono Thunder come with high penetration power OHKO strikers (except Vann)
  
  Mono Thunder goes for quick matches.
  
  
• Mono Ardor doesn't have sufficient critical rate resist totem 
  
  NOR elemental DR totem against Thunder
  
  Likely to be OHKO-ed or 2HKO by Mono Thunder.
  
  However, the opposite is true where Mono Thunder GKs can be OHKO-ed or 2HKO by Ardor strikers
  
  
• Mono Light best striker comes with Latios (long matches) or Vonchi (stacked active striker)
  
  Neither can OHKO Angela
  
  
• Mono Light Best GK is either Kei/Isillia
  
  Both GK are weak to ardor strikers (chitose doesn't reduce damage from ardor)
  
  However, the strength of mono light lies in its high heals, DR mid and frontline AB killing backline with high heals.
  
  Hence, it's 50-50 against a mono light with Vonchi and 70-30 for a draw game against a mono light with Latios.

Conclusion: Mono Ardor win rate against Mono Thunder should be 35%-65% (win chance - loss chance)

Because of thunder speed in getting the shots in faster. 

Mono Ardor win rate against Mono Light should be 50%-50% (win chance - loss chance).

50% chance to prevent a draw game against Latios and 50% chance to win against a mono light with Vonchi to be killing Angela off.


Against Dark:

• Line-breaking
  
  Ardor doesn't have much issue breaking through dark players, unlike Whirlwind having troubles against Choi/Victoria etc.
  
  
• The main issues for against Mono Dark are the dark GK and dark strikers.
  
  Presty with Patricia in a mono dark team hurts mono Ardor real bad.
  
  William, Sharr, Bora are all paralyzed and rendered useless by Presty.
  
  
• Against dark strikers (Ravian, Lucid, Vitos)
  
  Vitos high penetration power, Ravian 15% HP damage + reflexes and Lucid high receiving pass and speed
  
  Combined with Shura critical rate totem and Baltheon high pass, makes dark strikers extreme potent against Angela.
  
  
• Hence, Angela is susceptible to being killed fast by dark strikers
  
  While ardor strikers require many shots against Presty or might not even kill her at all.

Conclusion: Mono Ardor win rate against Mono Dark should be 10%-90% (win chance - loss chance)

You might still win a mono dark team with Zibroi/Ronald GKs quite easily with Mono Ardor.



Should we build Mono Ardor?

Mono ardor has big issues against Dark (against presty), Thunder (against OHKO), and barely wins against Light (against fully stacked vonchi or draw game against latios).

It's only good against Whirlwind which it should be good against.

Hence, mono ardor is probably not the best MONO element to build atm.

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Whirlwind




Whirlwind is an element where most people will go 4 front or 4 backline.

Reason being, whirlwind lacks players who can act as mid-line walls to counter-reflex or counter-damage and kill enemy players.

Unlike ardor which has Choi/Victoria who are good at blocking and killing enemy players.

From the above, you can observe that whirlwind players are very versatile and can be placed almost in every position, front, mid or backline.

Hence, there are too many possible ways to build a mono Whirlwind team.

However, a mono Whirlwind team with Kirin striker will require a totally different formation from a normal OHKO striker.



*Options for X can be referred above.

There are two types of mono whirlwind Kirin teams:

• One kills enemy backline with damage
  
  
• The other gets back the ball from enemy backline via reflex CA
  

An Overview of Mono Whirlwind (Strengths, Weaknesses):

• In terms of offensive firepower, Shanti is one of the top strikers out there.
  
  In terms of utility, Kirin provides one of the toughest to deal with, paralysis utility.
  
  However, Presty has been introduced as a Kirin counter so Kirin is less invincible now. 
  
  
• In terms of defensive power, Black Tortoise, Jin provides one of the strongest defensive strength for Mono Whirlwind.
  
  High critical resistance, high DR goalkeepers.
  
  
• With most players with positional reflex & speed buff (meiran/neraizel), Whirlwind is the fastest element out there.
  
  Fast backline, fast midlines, fast frontlines.
  
  Even Mono Thunder speed is not as global as whirlwind, thunder is usually fast in only 2 lines (front and mid).
  
  
• If there is any weakness to Mono Whirlwind, it will be mainly the uprising of Elaine, Choi, Victoria which are powerful counters.
  
  Choi/Victoria kills whirlwind players and Elaine CA all kinds of whirlwind players.
  
  
• Overall, Mono Whirlwind is a strong element, both offensively and defensively.

How will Whirlwind fare against the other elements (My Personal Opinions):


Against Light/Dark:

• Mono Light has very high DR/HP mids that are hard to penetrate and consistent heals, keeping them at full HP.
  
  Unlike Ardor, Whirlwind doesn't have the strong line-breakers except Khirel.
  
  Hence, mono whirlwind can be trapped by mono light mid-lines and never break through.
  
  
• Shanti/Kirin are unlikely to OHKO light GKs and light backlines are more likely to act first. 
  
  But once Kirin front get going, the chances to kill off a mono light backline is pretty high.
  
  
• For mono dark, the main issue is Presty which can be pretty well dealt with, by high penetration power Whirlwind strikers and good assists.
  
  Another weakness of dark, lies in the fact that they are slow, lacks good line-breakers besides Dale/Jheet/Orses.
  
  Dark players are also easy to break through.
  

Conclusion:

Mono Whirlwind Utility (Kirin) win-rate against Mono Light is probably 70%-30% (win chance - loss chance)

*Using Kirin will give you a better chance against Mono Light than Shanti.

Mono Whirlwind OHKO (Shanti/Beatrice) win-rate against Mono Light is probably 40%-60% (win chance - loss chance)

Mono Whirlwind win-rate against Mono Dark is probably 50%-50% (win chance - loss chance)

*Only if you use Shanti/Beatrice against Presty.

*You will have an easier time with mono dark teams if enemy is using Zibroi/Ronald.


Against Thunder:

• Mono Whirlwind has a huge advantage because of the GK ability to tank many shots from thunder strikers.
  
  Mainly due to magnus, elemental damage reduction and duran.
  
  
• As long as ball is consistently supplied to the frontline and trade shots for shots, Mono Whirlwind should win easily. 

Conclusion: Mono Whirlwind win-rate against Mono Thunder is probably 90%-10% (win chance - loss chance)

You can still lose if mono-thunder gets a few 1v1 shots with your GK.

Against Mono Ardor, as reasons mentioned above in the Ardor discussion, Mono Whirlwind win-rate is approximately 25%-75% (win chance - loss chance)


Should we build Mono Whirlwind?

Mono Whirlwind is good against Thunder, has a good chance against Light/Dark while being only weak against Ardor.

Mono Whirlwind is close to dominating the other 3 elements besides Ardor which it is weak against.

However, most rainbow teams also use Angela which is bad for Mono Whirlwind strikers.

Hence, its a difficult decision to build Mono Whirlwind since Angela is everywhere atm.

But in the long run, if Angela does get a huge nerf, Mono Whirlwind will be most likely the BEST/TOP element to build.

Since mono-ardor is not going to be a threat anymore if Angela is nerfed.

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Thunder



Most mono thunder run a fast 4 man midline to pen/steal and keep supplying balls to the frontline for 2HKO shots.

Some mono thunder run a 4 man frontline for quick matches, either OHKO or 2HKO.

Few mono thunder run 4 man backline for long matches, especially when Raklet is less durable than other top GKs (Presty, Angela etc).

Veronica is mainly used in frontline as a defense debuff totem to facilitate striker's OHKO.

4 man thunder midline/backline is usually used for thunder striker like Vann that requires many shots to stack his active.


An Overview of Mono Thunder (Strengths, Weaknesses):

• High offensive power, OHKO goalkeepers from most mono elements except Whirlwind.
  
  
• Average defensive power, Raklet's durability can be low if you do not run a 4 man backline
  
  Raklet also loses HP buff after 20th minute (meaning thunder should go for quick matches)
  
  
• Capable of building fast lines (mostly mid and front)
  

How will Thunder fare against the other elements? (My Personal Opinions)


Against Light/Dark/Ardor

• Very straightforward. OHKO them all
  
  Dark, Ardor elemental DR totems (Death Queen/Patricia) doesn't reduce damage from leventor.
  
  Light (Chitose) does reduce damage but thunder has elemental advantage so it cancels out.

Conclusion: Mono Thunder win-rate against these 3 elements will be

• 65%-35% (win-loss chance) against Mono Ardor (as mentioned in ardor discussion)
  
  
• 90%-10% (win-loss chance) against Mono Light (Elemental Advantage)
  
  
• 65%-35% (win-loss chance) against Mono Dark (similar to ardor)

And as mentioned above, home games in PvP provides home-ground advantage such as chains which further enhances the win rate.

However, as discussed in Whirlwind discussion, mono thunder fares badly against mono whirlwind with a ~10% chance of winning.

Even with home ground advantage, the chances to win might increase to 20%~30% but it's still very hard to kill whirlwind GKs.


Should we build Mono Thunder?

As you can see, mono thunder defeats all elements besides Whirlwind which it struggles against.

Mainly because penetration power and defense debuff doesn't affect elemental damage reduction (magnus) and elemental advantage.

When thunder strikers cannot 2HKO and the matches become prolonged, their backlines are vulnerable against WW strikers.

Mono Thunder will always feel bad when facing a whirlwind GK team + magnus + duran in backline. 

Therefore, if we build mono thunder, it is expected that we supplement it with a backup mono element team to defeat Mono Whirlwind.

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LIGHT




This is pretty much the standard template for the most mono light team, with minor changes here and there.

Most people would either run Latios or Isillia ace. 


An Overview of Mono Light (Strengths/Weaknesses)

• Average Offensive Power, mostly go for long matches
  
  Latios/Vonchi are stacked active striker while Hiro OHKO power is average.
  
  
• Average Defensive Power,
  
  Isillia/Kei are weak to OHKO strikers, usually taking high damage with elaine active on them
  
  
• High healing/sustainability for GK
  
  Lots of heals from Jibril, Sammy, Black Ivy, Virgil, Latios
  
  
• High AB recovery backline that kills enemy frontlines
  
  Virgil generates the spirit for Black Ivy and himself for active heals
  
  
• Super fast backline 
  
  Black Ivy + Chitose + Milky Way ~ speed totems X3
  
  
• High DR mid-lines
  
  Duke/Beth/WG are all high DR players that are hard to break through
  
  Especially after Jibril is dead

How will Light fare against the other elements? (My Personal Opinions)


If an enemy element doesn't kill Isillia/Kei in OHKO, its very likely that a light GK will heal all the way back up to full HP.

Reason? Virgil + Black Ivy backline with virgil x milky way generating all the spirit.

Once the ball starts getting to the frontline non-stop, jibril heals will start and everytime jibril dies, she gives 50% DR to the whole team.


Against Mono Thunder, Mono Light win-rate will be 10%-90% (as mentioned in thunder discussion) due to OHKO from thunder.

Against Mono Dark, Mono Light win-rate will be 80%-20%

• Assuming you have a good mono light mid-line that mono dark cannot pass easily.
  
  
• Also, mono dark strikers are unable to 2HKO mono light GK, resulting in the heals coming back in and making it harder

Against Mono Ardor, Mono Light win rate will be 50%-50%

• Mainly due to Bora/William that have high AB recovery and can 2HKO mono light GK

Against Mono Whirlwind OHKO (Shanti/Beatrice), Mono Light win-rate will be 60%-40%

• Mainly due to high heals and a mid-line that can stop whirlwind players with low offensive power to get through
  
  However, once they get through, can be vulnerable to Kirin fronts etc (30%-70% win-rate when facing Kirins).
  

Should we build Mono Light?

As observed, mono light is weak against Thunder, Kirins, and 2HKO Ardor strikers.

Even against dark strikers, there is no guaranteed win as ravian/lucid can deal high damage to light GK too.

While light strikers requires long matches to build their strength with stacked actives.

Hence, against mono light, its all about getting the 1v1 with high AB recovery striker, paralysis or OHKO-ing them.

Other than these, mono light is still pretty successful in dealing with most other strikers.

With home-ground advantage, mono light teams can increase their win-rate significantly at home grounds.

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DARK

Mono-Dark teams are more complicated to build, due to both the nature of the strikers and the other players.

Vitos is a high penetration power striker, Ravian can be reflexed or damage based, while Lucid feeds off high receiving pass.

Therefore, we will have 2 mono dark team templates for these 3 strikers.


A Mono Dark Lucid/Vitos striker team provides much variety with 5 "X" with many possibilities.

X in backline can be Alice, Malcolm, Serestia, Verister, Orses, Avnore, Jeunese etc.

X in midline can be Alice, Jheet, Dale, Malcolm, Pinol, Serestia etc

There are no penetration power totem/aces for mono dark. 



It is rare for mono dark to do 4 man mid-line because there are no dark players that are capable of acting as walls.

Walls are strong players that can counter-damage penetrating enemy players and kill them such as Choi etc.

Closest to a wall in mono dark would be Serestia (Battalion), Dale.

Similar, 4 man front for mono dark is rare also because of the same reason. 4 man mono dark front is broken out fairly easily.

However, if you can get enough reflex debuff and luck to CA enemy backline or midline, 4 man front/mid can allow you to win pretty easily too.


An Overview of Mono Dark (Strengths, Weaknesses)

• Strong offensive power with the few of the best strikers (Lucid/Ravian)
  
  
• Strong defensive power with the best GK (Presty)
  
  
• Has some strong line-breakers (Dale, Jheet, Orses)
  
  
• Lack of spirit generation, less likely to cast active heals
  
  
• Lack of passive healer, like shu, gaphyl, virgil, butcher
  
  
• High reflexes debuff team
  
  Reflex debuffs are usually higher than buffs since enemy players are more easily to die and lose their debuff
  
  Debuffs will need to be restacked more often on enemy players than buffs on own players.

How will dark fare against the other elements (My Personal Opinions)

Presty is undoubtedly the most OP GK atm if you go for a long match.

She is only susceptible to OHKO by Mono Thunder that is capable of reaching 100% penetration power.

Dark strikers are the strongest of all strikers, capable of ending matches in 2~3 shots, except against Mono Light.

Ardor, Whirlwind < Dark < Thunder, Light


Should we build Mono Dark?

Dark is somewhere in the middle, dominating 2 elements and being weak against 2 elements.

But after looking at all the elements, we will look at the last element, RAINBOW to finally decide on which mono element to build.

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RAINBOW



Most of us have a ready-made rainbow team. 

So instead of preparing 2 MONO element teams, we can look at it this way.

We can have our already ready RAINBOW team + one MONO element to climb PvP.

Looking at it in the simplest manner, the most simple way will be:


Rainbow comes with Angela GK to deal with Mono Whirlwind while Mono Thunder kills all other elements. 

But what if your rainbow GK is BT/Jin? We will be ready to deal with Thunder.

So the best combination would be: 


Since Mono Light is capable of dealing with most element except Thunder.

Similarly, if you have presty as GK, then the best combination would be:


Because presty will deal with ardor strikers that your mono whirlwind is weak against.


Mono Ardor is probably the worst element to build since it is weak against Dark and Thunder.

You cannot really fit a rainbow team with mono ardor to solve its weaknesses.


TL:DR

All Elements have strong weaknesses to their opposing element.

In terms of weaknesses against Rainbow teams, 

• Whirlwind suffers the most against the Angela cancer
  
  Thunder is not far behind due to the high appearance rate of BT/Jin too.
  
  Ardor strikers suffer against Presty which is a growing cancer
  
  Light/Dark strikers are probably the better choices atm against rainbow.
  

So against rainbow teams, Mono Light/Dark will probably do better since they are mainly weak against thunder strikers only.

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Conclusion

We should either build:

• RAINBOW (with Angela GK) + Mono Thunder
  
  
• RAINBOW (with WW GK) + Mono Light/Dark
  
  
• RAINBOW (with Presty GK) + Mono Whirlwind

Depending on your rainbow team GK, we can determine which is the best element to build for your PvP success!