Looking at this CoW and realizing I can't possibly hope to achieve top rank, not because I can't do the damage, but because I simply don't have enough eligible units at EX 3 to unlock all of the bonuses.

And that's the irony. For all that Alim screwed up about the NV units, you could argue that one really smart thing they did was introduce EX-levels, that allow them to prolong the shelf-life of this new era by allowing most players to have the fun and experience the power of playing with NV units while still allowing for slow, long-term growth and some relatively thin margins to still exist between regular players and whales.

Then Gumi comes along and says "I don't think so" and makes a format that purposefully drives players to max out their units EX-levels, and punishes them for not having EX 3 units. It's like taking a slow-burning fire and dumping accelerant onto it.

(Of course, Alim did their own undermining of this as well with premium units, which have a big power spike and unlock very powerful cards at EX 3. But CoW hugely increases the blast radius.)

Anyway, yes, this post is largely a rant because I'm pissed that for all of the strong units I have I still can't achieve first place because of an entirely arbitrary barrier. But I'm using that as an excuse to marvel at how easily the Gumi machine can undo with one hand what they created with another.