Moscow qualifier.

I think you need to grind harder in TE...

It reminds me of 2003, when Warcraft 3 was released. Many people from StarCraft immediately rushed to it, started promoting it, saying it was a game of a new generation, much better than StarCraft.

I won't go into detail about the arguments, I'll just focus on one argument - they said that in StarCraft you have to grind a lot, but in Warcraft you can come up with something.

For the first year or two, that's how it was. Then there was an outflow back, with the same argument - in Warcraft, everything has already been grinded, the game has turned into a confrontation of micro-control, and in StarCraft there are various "gop-strategies."

Then the TFT expansion was released, and at first there was a wave of interest, many old players returned, but then the game again came down to a confrontation of micro-control.

In general, the conclusion is that the necessary degree of grinding is determined by two main factors: 1) about 80% - by the level of players, 2) about 20% - by the strategic depth of the game (or rather, the lack thereof).

An example regarding the strategic depth:

Of all the templates, the most grindy one is Jebus. Due to its low strategic depth, whoever eats more on the first turn and breaks through the Gate of the Elements earlier wins.

The least grindy one I know is 8xm12 on a 2500 start. Due to the abundance of paths, directions, small size, and overall poverty of the zones.

An example regarding the level of players - TE.

Yes, playing TE against Stinger & Co and having a lower level of grinding, the chances of winning are very small. For example, because on restarts, you can't force a situation where you have Taz with 3 stacks and your third native hero vs. Valya with 1 stack.

This is a sport, kid, the victory of the strongest is the norm, not the exception.

Added after 12 minutes

2 Vik. Maybe I'm talking nonsense, but still. Have you ever wondered where this constant desire for different templates comes from?

It's like an itch in my ass :). I want to try everything and evaluate it. I like to come up with strategies, prioritize things in a new way, etc.

I sometimes play Light just out of curiosity, even though I don't plan to play it in tournaments.