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This might not be the place, but I'm already like five paragraphs into this so screw it. I'd like to delve deeper into the "each player type only used once per team" idea. Now, it might never get the traction it needs to actually become a rule, but I'd like to challenge teams and players to try it anyway. After thinking about it, I soon realized we actually run this exact setup on our team. We run a PMD-PLY-SNP, OFD-DFD lineup, meaning five different player types, and we've been doing something similar for the past two tournaments (SCL, ECL) we've participated in as well. And while I don't know if a setup like that will ever be viable at the Elite level (I hope to find out!), it is definitely viable as high up as the top tier of Pro - as evidenced by last season. It does require some extra effort in adapting your playstyle, both as a team and as individuals, but it can also yield some unexpectedly positive results. What I mean to say is that, the "Meta" doesn't have to be as all-encompassing as people make it out to be. Yes, for a team of five top-tier Elite players, maybe the 4 PMD's + 1 PLY is the absolute best setup possible to maximize their skill, but that doesn't have to hold true for everyone else. One does not have to copy everything from the top teams, even if I understand the psychology behind it (Hint: The top teams are top teams mainly because of their individual and team skill, not their player builds). In short, I'd like to encourage players and teams to try something different in order to see if it works for you. And if someone doesn't like your personal playstyle or the way your team plays...? Who gives a shit, haha. My frenemy Pardy has been ruining my life as a defender for going on ten years now, yet I wouldn't want to see anything other than a 173 cm, 72 kg "speedy boi" coming down my wing when I play TIKI Talk. Variety is the spice of life and I can't be the only one who still remembers players like Kriketski, Maise and Alex28 using strong, powerful builds at the Elite level. Krike with his 6000+ hits as a Grinder (I think?) during his time with JYP, Maise as the tall, lanky Grinder center you couldn't take the puck away from and Alex as the massive Powerforward using golden Truculence and hitting everything in sight on the forecheck. I, and I think many others in this community, still remember these players and their builds to this day for one simple reason: they dared to be the different. And they didn't just do it as a gimmick to be special and different, they did it in a way that made them incredibly effective for their teams - and forced other teams to adapt to their style. Hell, why NOT a PWF winger with Golden Unstoppable Force at the Elite level? I for one would love to see someone try it and force all the other teams to adapt to their unique playing style. Personally, that would be enough to get me to tune into a broadcast. People are arguing that certain traits would make the games unwatchable, and they might have a point with a few of them (mainly Tipper), whereas I'd argue that it has become so goddamn boring to see the exact same builds and traits being used by literally everyone.

Personally I love this idea that Keusch mentioned (the bolded). Even if it would just end up being the default/safe option of TWF-PLY-SNP, PMD-TWD, it would still bring a LOT of variety and encourage teams to try new things. Count me in for this idea rather than any bans etc. -- On the main topic, I am on team "No Bans", with the exception of maybe Big Tipper (at least the Golden variety) as I can see the arguments for it equalizing the playing field in a way that is detrimental to the gameplay experience. However, Truc (and it's dumb cousin UF) certainly aren't the powerhouses they are made out to be - not in NHL 25. To me, there is a clear difference compared to how it was when they were at their "worst". And banning One-Tee? Come the fuck on, haha. The OFD is FINALLY vaguely useable in NHL 25 (but just barely) with Elite Edges being taken out and the extra 80+ points added in certain categories, and now people are asking for the one strength it has to be taken out? I guess some really do hate variety in player types and just want to see the same "4 PMDs + 1 PLY"-meta we've been seeing for literally YEARS now... If people are just throwing shit to the wall and suggesting banning traits they seem to personally dislike, I'd like to introduce banning Stick 'Em Up and Shutdown to the mix. Let's see how well people can stick-check each other without having training wheels, crutches and aim bot on their sticks. I am kidding in the sense that I don't actually want Stick 'Em Up and Shutdown banned... but if there is ONE trait that has been comically overused and is comically overpowered in NHL 25, it is Stick 'Em Up. At least, that is my personal opinion. Which is all we really have here in this thread. On that note, some people really need to learn the difference between presenting their opinions on a matter, and stating something as a "fact" when it really isn't.

What has changed? A lot of things have changed. For example, there are tools today that reduce the skill gap in the game. Like Big Tipper. What else has changed? 5, 7, 10 and 15 years ago, when you only had “builds”, the top teams outscored the lower teams by 15-20-25 goals. Then someone decided to release a game for €100, created on crack. Today you can see games where a much inferior team scores 7 goals in 4 shots, and the game is ruined even before it has started. I'm not exaggerating when I say that I see this every day when I watch matches or play myself with various teams. It's a bit like playing CS with aimbot - good for the stats, but no fun for anyone. There is a reason why in other games where similar abundance of accessories and weapons are available, like COD, in competition they chose to ban 90% of the weapons and accessories available in normal multiplayer. Precisely because these accessories and weapons early in the start of a match can control the outcome and the result without skill or cooperation in the team affecting the direction the match should go towards. I can think of an argument for a division that competes for money, that that division should be a division where the competition is decided on the combination of pure skill and a developed and good team play. To see an Elite match decided because someone gets 3 early lucky bounces with big-tipper is just humorous. It is downright 💩 to have such conditions in a league where you first have to be ruined to even participate, and once you have emptied the month's savings on this, you then have to compete for the money in a product when the game on a good night can do half the job for you. You asked what had changed. This is what has changed since I started competing myself 15 years ago. Did these discussions exist then? No, of course not. Back then, the discussions were about how to actually defeat your opponent who was better in terms of skill and teamplay.

Using different builds wouldn't change top tier gameplay at all, most teams would just go with snp-ply-od as forwards and pmd-twd as defensemen, so do you really think that makes a difference since the builds are almost identical in terms of size and speed, 99% of viewers wouldn't notice any difference between the builds and if the only reason to have this rule is just for the sake of variety, it already fails at that.

I have to ask why it will never happen? Every X-Factor is kinda silly in their own way, some being more stupid than others obviously. Anyway, now when EA "removed" Elite Edges, this should be the perfect spot to just ban them all from competitive gameplay, and end this f*cking stupid shitshow circle happening again year after year. No? If I would need to choose, I would go with "ban all" or "don't ban nothing" at this point. I have to agree with message above 100%. I take Kenus side with the decision they've made. He clearly informed 5-6 weeks ago they will probably go with "no-bans" if enough people doesn't stand out. Players saying it was "off-season" is just poor take for me. I understand that, but it's just not enough. Should SG have reminded us about this article? Yes sure, but it's still impossible to blame SG about it or attack towards them. Current situation is our fault and some self-reflection could be made here and there. What makes me the most tired are the toxic messages with zero value on this topic. Don't overreact, sit down, deep breath, analyze the shit and write your thoughts as respectfully as possible and the most important thing, justify your sayings. I rarely take part in conversations in this scene nowadays, and that's mostly because of the quality of the conversation and "cheap shots". Maybe I'm getting too old. And for SG, I also suggest to not make things harder what they really are. And with that I mean, if majority wants fe.; Big Tipper to be banned and no-one is against it, SG should have some balls to make quick LA decisions inside week or two. It's not that hard after all. We don't need 2 or 3 months long "testing ground" season to see if the shit is brown when we clearly know the answer already.

Red Bull Munich eSports In: @Laiitinen @Tiltsson @GreekFreak Out: @LeMalkin71 (Good luck and have fun in the future, thanks for the last 3.5 years! ❤️ )

Absolutely agree on this one. I think if certain abilities need to be banned it is Big Tipper. Truculence does not seem to be as strong as in the previous games. Can't say too much about Unstoppable Force, also because of the "Meta Builds" which rarely include that ability. Also want to bring one more idea to the table which has been stated several times by a few players during the last couple of years: That each Playertype can only be used once per team. That would also bring some kind of variety to the Gameplay experience.

Do you really think top players aren't aware of the differences in builds? The reason the top players use the builds that they use is because they are the best builds, atleast for the ways top teams like to play, if you think you can outplay top teams with power forwards or any other non meta build, i wish you good luck. Regarding the world finals the builds NA players used weren't much different than eu builds, apart from using gold one tee and 1 inch shorter builds to get "better animations", the bigger difference was in tactical approach to the game, where Tunnel vision had a much slower play style where as Entourage played much faster and it had nothing to do with the builds. So change od for twf, woah what a difference

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Why don't we just ban all the abilities and x-factors? In my opinion those have always been a bit unrealistic and "fantasy" type of things, one-tee is like everyone can shoot one-timers like Ovechkin (with better aim) and so on, it's a bit too much in my opinion. When these x-factors came to chel some years ago, my instant reaction back then was like why, why EA brings some fantasy traits for players, we don't need these kind of things. Without abilities and x-factors, there would be more options on how to put skill points on builds and because of that there might (yeah, just might) actually be more personalized builds, weight etc would matter more. Like it was back in the days. But like some others have said here, ban all or ban nothing, I would go with that if I had to choose. Yes, gold big tipper is waay too overpowered, but so is gold one-tee. In my opinion silver truculence is not too op, it has been nerfed for 2 years in a row and as I have been playing with and without it now in NHL 25, it just doesn’t give anything too op. Bumps don’t work with or without it (sometimes yes but not constantly) and as the hitting is harder in this game, only when you can make a big hit (which is not that easy imo) with trucu then the opponent loses more energy and takes some time to get up. But skating full speed your head down with 72 kg player and getting hammered on high speed might sometimes do that, no? But I can live without trucu, no worries. So after all, my opinion is that let’s ban all x-factors and abilities and play with skill points only, or at least try how that would work out. Playing without abilities would make this game “most realistic” as there would not be any fantasy skills etc and it would be fair for everyone. Let’s not just pick some abilities away and make this a floorball simulator, because this is hockey right? More than happy to hear your feelings and opinions on this one, let’s discuss about this. Toxic messages are taking all this to a wrong direction, for everyone. Thanks and sorry!

"Do you really think top players aren't aware of the differences in builds?" At no point in my post did I insinuate this. The reason the top players use the builds that they use is because they are the best builds, atleast for the ways top teams like to play, But that's... exactly the point I was trying to make? So, we agree with one another? Look here, this is what I wrote, word for word: Yes, for a team of five top-tier Elite players, maybe the 4 PMD's + 1 PLY is the absolute best setup possible to maximize their skill, but that doesn't have to hold true for everyone else. One does not have to copy everything from the top teams, even if I understand the psychology behind it (Hint: The top teams are top teams mainly because of their individual and team skill, not their player builds). I was mainly talking about everyone else, not the 7-8 best teams in Europe, or the 50-60 players that play on these teams. My point was that the Meta these teams create, does not have to be the Meta everyone else uses, as very few teams can match the pace, style and skill of the absolute top teams. if you think you can outplay top teams with power forwards or any other non meta build, i wish you good luck. At no point in my post did I insinuate this. What I did insinuate was that the lower level teams, which from your perspective would be every team below Elite, might (and I am saying "MIGHT" here, not "WILL") have a better chance to keep up with the top teams if they decided to break free from the Meta that's been specifically created by the top teams to match the way they like to play (like you yourself said), and instead tried to build their own meta with player types, builds and a style that better suits their strengths. I also said I personally would enjoy watching an Elite broadcast if a team decided to break free from the typical Meta and play something like a PWF with Gold UF. But that was just my personal opinion (in this case as a viewer of the product). Regarding the world finals the builds NA players used weren't much different than eu builds, apart from using gold one tee and 1 inch shorter builds to get "better animations", the bigger difference was in tactical approach to the game, where Tunnel vision had a much slower play style where as Entourage played much faster and it had nothing to do with the builds. That's fair, I respect your perspective. You obviously competed at the same level as teams involved and would know what to look for. What I would argue, and this is more of a general argument, is that the fact that they did use Gold One-Tee and 1 inch shorter builds (something very, very few EU teams if any did at this point), played a major part in why they decided to use the faster play style. It's like arguing what came first, the chicken or the egg. I would argue that these two factors (the different traits/builds and the playing style) at the very least had an impact on each other. Saying "it had nothing to do with the builds", I would argue is incorrect.

Hello, I would like to try 6vs6 games, there has been some time when I have played these actively, but I think I might still be ok. I have played 6vs6 games a lot sometimes NHL11-NHL19 in Xbox/PS4 and participated 6vs6 tournaments back then. Mostly C/RW/RD/LD in that order. Mostly in recent years I have played HUT and VS in NHL 23-25 and some drop in games in EASHL. Doesn't really matter what position but mostly I like to play C, RD, RW, .. Also LD and LW is possible. Goalie is not possible PSN: Mauksteri

Omaa paskuutta on turha selitellä -JohtajaTheGreat why this same whine happen every year, just shut Up n play, this is no proffesional for anyone, we dont get 50k per year for playing NHL , this is just hobby which cost us some coin’s, past 15y everytime game n gamepaly Has been broken someway, so what has really change in 15y ? Always some ppl are unhappy no matter what u do, has been last few thousand year, so what has really change ?

Basing your team's playstyle around Big Tipper deflections requires exactly 0% hockey IQ and creativity. It's lame, boring and extremely overpowered. So, if SportsGamer wants their on-ice product to be borderline unwatchable for viewers and not enjoyable for the players, go on ahead and keep Big Tipper allowed. To summarize: BAN IT.

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You tried to ban nothing - people went nuts. You tried to ban a few - people went nuts. You haven't tried to ban everything - try it, people might go nuts. There was a sauna-cup a while back where everything except elite edges was banned. No idea about the feedback but some of the players who participated in that tournament have suggested it so I can only assume it wasn't that bad. My opinion: Ban everything or nothing. If i had the power to decide, i would go with ban everything just to try it out.

I asked myself, what could possibly be worth reviving this topic for? The answer is this video. Everyone, we bid you... Welcome to Falun. Put together by Coal Miners co-founder Pontus @LastMandalorian Duvefelt, with the utmost respect and admiration for the hit FX show 'Welcome to Wrexham' ⛏️🥰 Don't forget to sing when you win

As a Dman imo onetimers are easy to defend. Just keep your guy and intercept that incoming pass 🤷 if you give that space and allow those onetimers and they go in, its mostly your/your team fault because you defended badly. Like as a goalie you can say like close quarter is too OP, but first you need to think what went wrong before that goal. How that opponent was free/able to shoot, why no one wasnt keeping him out, why no one didnt blocked that shot etc. And that was just example. I mean there is nearly everytime some kind of reason. But with big tipper i have personally saw it too like there is no matter how many guys there is defending that tipper guy, somehow he is able to score most of the time. So imo tipper should be banned. Personally idea to play without any traits/x-factors could be fun too, then no one needs to cry about those. The most important thing is that like we should discuss everything with good atmosphere. For some reason it feels like this scene is nowadays so toxic. There is too much offensive acting and speaking on/off the ice even you havent ever like spoke or played with someone who is doing that kind of sh**. Where is that good old community where everyone was valued and where was fun to play, no matter how old are you, where you play etc. Lets make this community great again! Sincerely Savi from that bullshit and maybe most hated Tiki Talk (from some reason)

I agree. We tried it yesterday against teams that defended it with several players, but it still went in at an insane percentage. I'm sure most teams can agree with me on this: the Big Tipper is the most broken ability at the moment. Personally, I don't like Truculence, but the Big Tipper is so overpowered, it's ridiculous. I understand Sportsgamer's perspective, but this ability is so broken it's not even fun anymore. I don't think anyone realized how overpowered it would be when Sportsgamer originally announced that no abilities would be banned for the first ECL (on September 6th). I highly recommend the Gamer Staff reconsider banning this ability. If not, all teams will just abuse and spam it constantly. This ability changes the way teams play so much that it alters the entire game.

@SportsGamer How hard can it be? Start a poll for Elite and Pro. React with a 🏆 if you want to bann Truc, UF and Tipper. (Or other abilities) React with a 👍🏻if you want to play ECL with all abilities available. Only for players that played in ECL Elite and ECL PRO in ECL Spring Democracy is a good thing

Capetown Kings Looking for backup D and F or allrounder who can play both positions both handed, You will have game time. Allso looking for 50/50 G. Contact me or @Beeoo here or PSN. We will play in core or lite only nhlgamer knows🤷

What if we ban any D-build in offense? So u cant use PMD, OD, TWD or DD on the wing? I know this sounds really strange and for someone really stupid🤔😁

Yes, I really think it would make a difference. And yes, I really think viewers would notice a difference. I also think there'd be a lot more variety than you'd think. We haven't seen anyone try something like this yet, so how would we really know, right? Best we can do is make assumptions of how it would look. You are arguing this hypothetical rule would fail at creating variety, I am arguing it would be successful in creating variety. Chances are neither of us will ever find out if we were correct. However, I get where you're coming from. And I think you can see my point as well. Anyway, the main point of my entry wasn't to argue this "rule" NEEDED to happen, it was to pitch the idea and also to encourage teams to actually try using different player types, builds and playing styles instead of being beholden to a Meta that is pretty much exclusively set by 7-8 teams at the very top. For an example of how "using unusual builds and playstyles" can create a new and different viewing experience, one need not look further than the World Finals, where the NA Meta - which was quite different from the EU Meta - made the World Finals a lot more fun to watch than the 6v6 EU finals right before that. At least in my opinion.

I have to ask why it will never happen? Every X-Factor is kinda silly in their own way, some being more stupid than others obviously. Anyway, now when EA "removed" Elite Edges, this should be the perfect spot to just ban them all from competitive gameplay, and end this f*cking stupid shitshow circle happening again year after year. No? If I would need to choose, I would go with "ban all" or "don't ban nothing" at this point. I really like this take and i think it would be the best way to go forward. But the only thing i know for sure is that there can be no big tipper in competitive leagues.

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I just dont get why do we have to go through this conversation again, atleast 80% elite players want to play without truculence, tipper, uf. Ppl are actually paying money to play in this league so why dont you listen the majority? Just because LA have decided so? Jesus just make a poll and just making it easier for you choices to be like "BAN EVERYTHING" "BAN TRUCULENCE, TIPPER, UF" and "DONT BAN ANYHTING" for elite 😪

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This has been added to the above article: "When searching, leave the Grudge Match setting off."

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Big tipper needs to be removed, it has nothing to do with competetive play… From what i have seen in the past few days, no one wants it to be allowed so I dont see why it cant be instantly banned as the backlash from the community has been very very clear. I dont even think there is anything to ”debate” or discuss, the public opinion is clear and that should be enough.

Appreciate all the discussion and valuable feedback! As a reminder - and I know it takes work - it would be extremely valuable if we could get a bunch of videos of Big Tipper being OP (or whichever argument you are making), as I can forward them directly to the Vancouver Gameplay team.

here you go, this is highlights from ONE draft game!

Thanks for your perspective. People must have missed the original communication (1, 2) which stated the starting point is that there are no bans (quote below). Either way, we urge people and teams of any and every opinion to share their thoughts and discuss their opinions. Don't assume that one or two people sharing your opinion (whatever it may be) is enough to make a mark. Also, I want to emphasize that we are not only having this discussion for our community and ECL season, but any details and videos you can provide regarding why you think trait X is broken, we can share those with the gameplay team at EA and hopefully make a difference and see improvements in the game. This is one of the reasons I keep emphasizing the importance of the constructiveness of the conversation, aside from making yourselves understood in the right context.

Fun and enjoyable games ahead, lets gooo!! nhlgamer mafia behind this decision..

GOONS (Elite Q) looking 50/50 or backup -> G for the upcoming tournaments. If you are interest, send me message here or psn/dc: tkantola I will check all messages!

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