“Back floating is an expression of skill”

When one strategy is 99/100 the best play, with almost NO COUNTER except to do nothing at all - that is not a skill expression, that is a dev failure to create a good sand box. I have lost 12 of my last 15 matches to back floaters who do NOTHING except go back and fish for PVs.

Nothing about this game is balanced or skillful - characters and teams are fundamentally unbalanced, mechanics like PV/paralysis/faint have absolutely no counters, characters can get access to RR at vastly different rates. This is not in any way a skillful or competitive game - IT WAS A FUN GAME AT ONE POINT. The fact that matches can be determined by who back floats / PVs the most is a clear indication that the sandbox is BAD and BROKEN. Also, a fundamentally unbalanced game should not in any have strict “skill based matchmaking” because there is no skill - and these devs use such poor algorithms that once you get to a certain rank, around 65 - almost every match becomes a “RP bonus match” and typically those higher ranked players exclusively back float. They are so scared to lose that they will never press cards until they get a PV.

Before last year, I made it to top 10k in PvP for like 30 some consecutive seasons with no frustration. I never learned how to backfloat, (I still don’t know the strategy) and made it to around top 1500 by being aggressive. Now, that is LITERALLY NOT POSSIBLE.

Some people say that PV is the real problem, which I think is partially correct - it has been a bad mechanic since day 1. However the lack of counterplay to a back float is as big or bigger of an issue. It’s also fundamentally against what DB is all about. Characters in the series have never retreated to bait an enemy into a move - because the story was about FIGHTING, not about being a coward and fishing for easy wins.

This is mostly a post for any dev that MIGHT look (I know they probably won’t because they’re bad at their jobs for the most part), and I know that every downvote I get is from back floaters that know they won’t ever win a match again if their 1 strategy is jeopardized. I’m in a state of fury at this fucking game, the environment is terrible, characters are not fun to use, and the meta and sandbox is a fucking joke. PV, back floating are the single worst parts of this game and the “skill expression” argument is baseless and vapid. No back floater can propose an alternative because their mindset is that of a COD camper… “it’s a legit strategy, skill issue.” No, you’re just a back floating twink exploiting the easiest strategy to flex wins in a non-competitive game. If the environment was actually fun, no one would care - but they have sacrificed fun for “skill”, and they have utterly and in every way failed.