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This having been said, I may disagree with Nickname (man I seem to end up on the opposite side of discussions with you a lot, Sir) if I'm understanding your point.
I think you're misunderstanding in this particular case. I think we actually agree in concept.
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There ARE obsolete pieces... there ARE balance goofs... and while you can (and should) try to find ways to make them make sense, as pointed out in subsequent commentaries (such as comparing LV squads to Mace squads) that doesn't invalidate the idea that there are these pieces. Yes, good players can and will try to find ways to make these "lesser" pieces work... but they are still "lesser".
Completely agree, except I don't refer to something as "obsolete" just because it's "lesser". I said as much in my post. You can still include the worst pieces in the game in competetive squads. The squad is no longer optimal, but as long as the squad containing it remains competetive then it doesn't meet my definition of "obsolete" or "unplayable" just because there's an even better option out there.
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While I do agree with Shinja that few pieces (if any) are "unplayable", I do not agree with the implication that those of us that have been pointing out balance issues are suddenly incorrect by the realization that you can always play a lesser piece and still compete.
It's not my intent to imply otherwise. There
are miscosted pieces. There are pieces that can
almost objectively be considered worse in every concievable gameplay situation and absolutely are worse in 99% of situations.
I don't think that's in any way mutually exclusive with the concept that no currently available piece in the game is so bad that its mere presence on the board moves the squad from "competetive" to "bad" regardless of the rest of the contents of the squad.
I stop short of saying that every piece can be "good" in some regard as in Shinja's latest post. There are some serious clunkers out there--they just aren't so bad as to be "unplayable" even in a competetive environment.
There are a couple cases that are even harder to justify than the examples Shinja picked.
Erm131's favorite is the Geo Drone vs the Ewok. There is only one current situation where the Drone is preferred, and that's when fighting against Antilles.
Another is Quinlan Vos vs JWM. There are only single point differences in the stats but the JWM is advantageous in every other regard by such a wide margin it's hard to make much of a case. Then he's non-unique so less vulnerable to BHs and able to use way more CEs. And he's got no Savage issue. QV is basically never the better option.