OK I am glad that the organisers have taken a look at the results again, and re-judged, especially in light of the fact that one of the previous winners broke the rules. Well done indeed to @CaptainMaxwell7 who pointed out that one piece that had plagiarised previous work. I am glad to see that @Volturo has now won in the physical category :) I think that is deserved. I am sad to see however that @nidjo did not make the top 5 for digital entries. I definitely think his piece was a lot better than some of the others in the top 5, but clearly the judges have different judging criteria than me, their contest so their rules I guess. It would seem there must be some significant emphasis on the "Happy New Year" message itself, which is the only criteria that I can see stated more clearly in the top 5 than in nidjo's work. Something to think about for next time, then, for artists I guess. Bro, I really don't think you have anything to apologise for. I mean, it is still beyond understanding how you didn't even make runners up in the original results, when your work seemed to be worthy of winning or at the very least getting somewhere in the top 5. To say your work didn't even deserve a runner's up prize, when it had such high quality compared to many other entries in the winner's category, and that you had clearly put so much effort into it also, seems bizarre to me. The results were unfair, and very discouraging for any future artists - because if you can produce work like that (which takes a lot of time and effort to do so), and then works with much less quality win while you don't even get runner up, that makes me and probably many others think - what is the point in entering these contests? Anyway, looking at the new winners it would seem that the judges must have put heavy emphasis on the New Year greeting message itself, which is the only category I think your work may have lacked in. Although you might have intentionally kept that it minimalist, to draw attention to the scene itself - I don't know what you were going for. The judging criteria is not clearly explained, as @Volturo alluded to, I think for the sake of fairness what the contest is looking for should be more clearly explained in future, so that people don't waste their time working hard on something that the judges are not looking for. As you said to me, you spent 3-4 days working on this piece (and it shows), to get nothing with other entries that seemed of lower quality, and clearly that put in much less work seems unfair. It was me, and others who really made a fuss about the results, because they were clearly unfair - so not your fault at all. Just keep in mind perhaps to put more emphasis on the New Year message itself (in this case, different obviously if they are looking for a different theme for future contests), so keep that in mind if you plan to enter in the future. I used to do art, was my favourite subject at school and I was once planning to be a graphic designer - if I was judging, I would put you at minimum top 3, if not the winner - I also liked the works by Dinulka and Knights_Storm also in the digital category, but I think for your work to not get top 5 is bizarre. The quality of your piece is outstanding, and many of us thought that, as you can see. You definitely have the talent to be a graphic designer - or something along those lines - if you wanted to be :)

Well... congrats I guess :p But why do you want that augment? Is it any good?

Alright, well indeed the increased XP is bad for players below Legend. I made a suggestion in Ideas and Suggestions that we should have an "On/Off" toggle for increased XP and funds - so if you want to sacrifice the increased funds to not earn extra XP you can, that would be perfect for low ranks who want to complete their missions. Alternately, either the extra XP/funds should only be on weekends or bonus XP, or bonus funds should not apply to players below Legend rank. I agree this new system does cause low ranked players to rank up too quickly, if you are trying to stay below Legend. In the current game, you basically have to make plans for what you will do when you reach Legend ASAP. Because it will happen very fast. I agree there are big issues with the game, but I have to say as a free player at Legend, or on my new very low ranked account (just started from recruit a few weeks ago), or on mid-ranked alts I am topping battles and competing with buyers/high Legends just fine. Not having an issue, however I am able to complete crazy weekends regularly on my Legend, which not everyone has the time to do. But once you have a strong garage, those events do take much less time to complete. On my low ranked account, I am swimming in supplies from recruit. As long as I only play daily missions, or special missions, I never run out of supplies (however I am being conservative, and only using Brutus drone for now). One of the big issues for free players is that you can't play much more beyond daily missions, or special missions - otherwise you will run out of supplies. So if you want to play more, you have to have multiple accounts. You can get a bit more playtime with the supplies available at Legend, but still the supply is quite limited. So creating multiple accounts is a must for free players. But if you limit your playtime on each account, I don't see a problem to compete as a free player. If you are having issues, maybe it is because you refuse to use meta equipment - such as Paladin. You can win without meta items, but it certainly is harder. I generally use the best tools for the job - whatever that is at the present time. And if I can afford to, I branch out to other combos - for instance many different ranged turrets are viable in CP, so I would mix it up a bit if I was playing those modes. But in capture modes, a lot of Paladin with the occasional use of Mammoth/Wasp/Hunter if I am going for captures, for midfield or defensive play you have more options.

You are probably right, definitely if we take into account the total time used by all accounts, with all paints Green could well be in the top 2. As I say, in addition to what you say - older accounts will have used Green a lot of more since paints were less accessible back in the day. I played a few games today on a very low ranked alt account, and one or two players were using Green. The vast majority were using paints that they had probably obtained from containers, the challenge silver tier, or even the very cheap Garage paints. Players transition out of Green very fast these days, so I would be curious to see also the top paints used in 2021, if it is still in the top 2. It could well be, however. Apart from RIDDLER_8, I see Green almost never at Legend :p But maybe players do use it sometimes, haven't paid very much attention really lol.

Super fun/tense ASL game on my recently created alt account WeldedWarrior, came down to the very last flag :) Decided to go slightly off meta and use Wasp/Freeze instead of Paladin/Freeze, as I had an overdrives mission - and it actually worked really well. Wasp is still a very strong hull in ASL attack, got several great multi-kills with the bomb after flag delivery, and cleared out the defenders for my team. Nothing like getting a capture, while killing 4-6 tanks and taking out a Titan dome at the same time ?

Fair points, well perhaps in terms of actual time played this mission is not too hard, but all the same not everyone can play every single day - especially over a busy period like Christmas. Players such as @wolverine848 missed the missions because of that, and so did many of my friends. And yes the 54k score mission is excessive - no idea why it is that much when we have had 20k or at most 30k for all previous holidays, never as much as 54k. For those of us able to do it though, the 2000 tankoins is an amazing reward, for a not a lot of in-game playtime. But not everyone can play, or is willing to play every day during a holiday like this. Might be better to have something like top-3 in the winning team, but only requires 12 completions across the 17 days - so it is equally hard, but fairer for those who can't play every day. Yes, I do think the requirements for the Christmas missions are rather excessive. I wish the tankoins one didn't require daily play, and the score requirements for the main mission was reduced. I do think what the developers have asked of players, during probably the most important holiday of the year for many, is too much. However, the rewards for the tankoin mission if you can complete it - is pretty awesome - and also the special modes have so far been really good. Plus for Legends, 2x exp and 2x crystals for this long is a really large benefit. I do like many aspects of the game, and as a free player there have been many changes which are helpful - for instance the new weekly containers (much better crystals/supplies at low ranks), easier to complete challenges now with epic tier augments and paints in silver tier, 100k and fast upgrading brutus drone, and regular events offering ultra containers. And the easily accessible 4th module which many free players, including myself, were able to get in the recent Tanki fund. On my main account, and even on a newly created alt account which I started from recruit, I am doing well and having fun in battles. However, I am willing to use meta equipment such as the old Hopper, or the current Paladin - many players are not. I can win without such items, but there is admittedly quite a bit of imbalance currently. Overall I don't feel quite as pessimistic about the game as you clearly do. I would not like to see missions like we saw at Christmas again, I hope 54k score requirements and so on will be an exception rather than the rule. And I do hope for some balance changes to clearly OP items such as Freeze/Paladin in the near future. If Paladin is nerfed, I would also like to see 14v14 CTF/RGB/ASL removed from matchmaking, as Paladin is the only thing which makes those matches playable - without it, they will be almost unwinnable. Many problems with the game, but you can compete as a free player, and have fun too in the current state if you know how to manage your account, and are willing to use meta equipment - that's my experience anyway.

Don't forget Freeze deals x4 damage on criticals, and ignores modules - and therefore does this during the supercharge effect from Hornet's overdrive. Hornet Freeze is fast (as fast as Juggernaut if you use Trickster drone), and deals similar damage to Freeze with Viking overdrive thanks to the supercharge mechanic - infact it probably deals more, if the Juggernaut is wearing a Freeze module. Viking is still great against Juggernaut, but Hornet Freeze is definitely dangerous. When I am Juggernaut, a good few of my deaths have been to Hornet Freeze, often ones with Trickster. Another potent anti-Juggernaut combo is Crisis and Paladin + Cyclone Striker, of course - for big buyers. I agree, the missions these days have far too strict requirements. Requiring you to play every day, without missing one, especially over such an important holiday as Christmas and New Year - or earning 54k score is - is too much to ask of players who have a life outside the game. Tanki seem to be taking more of a hardcore approach to missions.

That is a good point - Holiday is of course going to be among the most popular as I agree. Green will be used by (almost) everyone for even a small amount of time, however one thing going against it is that players are able to get other paints very early on now thanks to crystals being so much easier to get at low ranks, and containers/challenges. It is used a lot at the very low ranks, but almost never at the high ranks. Certain commonly used Garage paints could perhaps therefore, be more popular overall. However because of older accounts, some of which would have used Green a lot (as paints were less easily available in the past) Green still might make it to top 2. But if we took the most common paints used across all accounts in 2021 (if that were possible), I would not be confident that Green would make it to top 2. Because it is got rid of early by most players, and then never used again.

Well I don't know which overdrives they will allow to counter Paladin, or how that will work, but yes something like that could be possible :) They could easily reduce the radius of Paladin's overdrive, and allow Hunter to disable it - which would make Hunter a viable counter to Paladin.

As @Incorpsaid, getting the 2022 tankoins reward requires being on the winning team once per day, you don't need to complete the other score-based missions for that. As for Rugby battles, well yes playing against Paladin can be painful. You could always use Paladin yourself? Or use Mammoth trickster, and try to time your overdrive to be used just on the outside of the Paladin overdrive radius. Or use Crusader. The helper Spy confirmed that the developers intend to introduce some more overdrive based counters to Paladin very soon, in one of the upcoming patches. Overdrive based counters would be like, where Hunter destroys Titan's dome, or how Titan's dome cancels Ares' overdrive. See the following post:

Yes, it is only available for the lucky ones - pretty nice to be able to have no problems with Paladin when using that combaintion. Well then if you aren't fortunate enough to have Mammoth Jammer Immunity, use Crusader with Striker/Shaft. Or just Crusader. But yes, Paladin needs toned done - Spy confirmed already that some more overdrive based counters (and probably nerfs too, I'm guessing) are coming soon for Paladin.

Oooo, Crusader overdrive is heavily bugged you say? Well in that case, that is a problem then. I can't speak of mobile bugs as I don't play the mobile version, and I also have only recently purchased Crusader on my main, other than that only have a small amount of experience with it on my alt accounts. So you know more than I do about the bugs, sorry to hear if that is the case. As for the immunities, congrats :) I don't have a single Paladin immunity right now, all I have is heat resistance. Would be nice to get one! I said Mammoth/Jammer Immunity in my post - THAT counters Paladin very well. With Jammer Immunity you can get as close as you need to Paladins and then use your overdrive and kill them, very effective. Especially so with Trickster or Defender - and you won't lose your drone effect with Jammer Immunity either. Mammoth also has a reasonably fast charge time too. If you didn't have Jammer immunity, you could still use it with Trickster if you activated your overdrive at just the perfect range - but it would be less effective for sure. Fair point about Viking, however if Viking is using its overdrive at a given time, any Paladins will surely go down. When I use Paladin those are generally some of the few causes of death - Viking or Crusader overdrive, or a heavy hit from a Shaft - still haven't met anyone using Mammoth/Jammer but I know it would be very effective, for those that have it (such as myself, luckily enough). Yep its all about the damage - as long as you have Boosted Damage up, you should be able to take down a similar MU Paladin in one shot. Probably the most effective counter to Paladin that there currently is, other than Mammoth/Jammer Immunity which is also very effective, or just by using Striker/Shaft (if they don't have protection).

Do you now have all immunities for Paladin, also =O? "All immunities for all hulls". Well grats, Paladin immunities are super valuable (until the nerf of course). Also, Crusader's OD trash, you think? Hmm, have to disagree there :P One of the best overdrives to counter Paladin, besides Viking or Mammoth/Jammer Immunity. And it has reasonably fast overcharge, with good damage from range.

Slightly late post, but thanks to the Christmas/NY sales I finally managed to get a full set of Mk7 modules (besides Armadillo) :) With Rico/Thunder/Vulcan the final purchases: Also in fact managed to get a full Mk7 garage with these sales, while I have Brutus/Driver/Defender at 20/20, with Booster and Trickster also getting close. Pretty happy with that as a free player at Legend 30-ish, finally have the modules to compete in battle against buyers/high-rank Legends - and with a full Mk7 garage I can now make use of any new augment that comes out of containers, and be safer from patch notes. Being able to choose an ideal combo for each situation is not bad either :)

Thanks :P This is surely a critical and most urgent matter, how will we survive if we do not know the most common paints! ? Lol.

Interesting :p That information could well be outdated however, as Forester is surely not in the top 3 for common paints these days - given that it is not available through containers, few players probably bother to buy it, and fewer still to wear it. Even Green I wouldn't be too sure about any more (as long as we are going by the number of hours players wear it, as against how common it is in the Garage - as Green/Holiday are obviously paints that everyone owns automatically), of course most players at the very low ranks wear it, but it is quickly replaced and not often seen at Legend. Holiday however, is definitely pretty commonly used.

I think this is a great idea, would improve the usability of Mammoth's overdrive in my opinion. The healing could perhaps work like this: - Upon activation, Mammoth gains 10% of its total HP, and a further 10% of HP every second until the overdrive finishes. With a 9 second long overdrive, this would mean Mammoth would regenerate an effective total of 100% of its HP over 10 seconds - or 400 HP instantly, and then a further 400 HP/second at Mk8. One of the problems with the current Mammoth overdrive is that you are "punished" for activating the overdrive when you are at high/full HP, since you waste the healing - but many times you would want to activate it when at high health as a you see a good opportunity to get kills. This change to the overdrive from a one-off heal at the start to a heal over time would solve this problem, if you want to use the overdrive for healing that is still possible - but if you want to use the overdrive at high HP you will now be less punished for doing so. Also, as @yellowghetto mentioned, of course when you activate your overdrive you are a target - and so this would make the overdrive overall more effective as you would now have some healing, and a be a little bit harder to take down. With 400 HP/second Mammoth would not be unkillable (especially given that remember - there is no critical damage protection, as Paladin has), but it would be harder to stop for sure. If it was too powerful it would be easy to adjust other parameters - for instance by increasing overdrive charge time, reducing the number of ways Mammoth counters other overdrives, or even by reducing the healing (e.g. 8% per second, or less). Overall, I think this would be an improvement to the design of Mammoth's overdrive, preventing the conflicting choices you often have to make with its overdrive right now such as "do I waste the healing potential and use it now for kills?" or "do I use it for healing now, and waste the opportunity for kills?". Much better, I would say.

What post? Also on this topic, I must say I have encountered AP Teslas in battle and the augment seems very balanced - one of the most balanced Ultra Container augments. No changes needed that I can see, great job by the devs :) True, it can still be applied pretty easily for them. You still have to wait for that last shot though, or purposefully run around with the last shot in the magazine and then wait for the next clip to reload before firing your next. So still a little harder to apply than for the Tesla augments, which get a status effect at the start of the fight for free, with no delays in damage.

Well yeah, Tesla gameplay seems to change a huge amount with each of the different augments - fast/slow ball in Garage, and the super-fast ball augments from Ultras. I think Tesla AP and EMP are so OP because you can apply those status effects more easily than for (MOSTLY) other augment in the game, while having relatively few downsides. The ball still does reasonable damage, and you have the strong standard damage of Tesla behind it. All together, it makes for a formidable combination. With EMP Gauss, for example, you have to land a charged up shot successfully (while the enemy can go behind a wall etc to avoid) or for Hammer augments you have to either crit or wait for the last shot. Tesla EMP or AP literally just clicks, and you have a status effect applied instantly. Freeze AP/Jammer also applies status effects very easily - although it has considerable downsides, and the new Twins augments also apply effects easily (although they have signifcantly reduced projectile speed). It remains to be seen if the new Twins augments will be as OP as the Tesla ones - with what I see from EMP Twins, it might be the case, or close.

The unfortunate exception to the nerf rules for Ultra Container augments might be - if the lead developer comments a post relating to your new imba augment. In this case, a nerf may be expected within 24 hours - rather than around 1 year after release, as would usually have happened :P

I think he might be safe, as looking at the history of OP Ultra Container augments - nerfs generally don't seem to happen :P Or if they do happen, it takes around a year, and the developers do a nice "still viable" nerf (see EMP Gauss for example) instead of a nerf to the ground, as they usually do to Garage items. Even in the case of Hammer Blunderbuss, it was buffed even when it was already OP (although Hammer itself was recently nerfed). Big nerfs only apply to Garage augments, of course. The only way such augments are really going to be nerfed is through a nerf to the turret itself, and I don't really see that regular Tesla needs a nerf currently - so it seems unlikely.

I must say it is kinda funny how there was an official announcement about how the thread for new Challenges would be removed, and now what do we have but... a new thread for Challenges :P It is the right thing to do though, it is obvious that we will need a thread for Challenges. Perhaps an updatable thread like this is better, given that challenges are a regular occurrence.

This is a good point, however unless there is a box where you must submit your age when entering the contest (perhaps there is? I don't know), I don't see how it is possible to work out such things. If someone is unskilled at art, or hasn't practiced much or at all since they were young, the art work of an older person could well be mistaken for the artwork of a child, or teenager. On the other hand, the artwork of a very talented youngster could be misinterpreted as being from an adult. That would surely apply, especially, to digital entries. In any case, as @nidjo pointed out, I think if this is the case that should then be stated in the rules for the contest. Also, looking at the results from the Russian contest, it would seem that the best works won, and there was no attempt to raise the ranking of potentially younger artists, if such a rule was applied to the EN contest (which I wonder if that is indeed the case - just seems pretty random overall). The Russian judging seems to have been much fairer. And another helper amazed by this piece :P So how come this guy won absolutely no prize, even runners up?? We have many people here and multiple helpers commenting how good they think his work is, far more than for any of the actual digital entry winners, and yet not even a runners up prize for this guy. He needs to receive a prize, come on @Marcus :) How did he win nothing, it is not right.

The grind was wayyy too excessive for Christmas, but congrats :P ! That is arguably the joint-best augment in the game right now, so congratulations in advance on winning most matches you play from now on :)

Agreed with everyone, the Juggernaut mode is great :) Map is pretty good for Solo Jug, and SJR always works interestingly with explosive golds. Both the special modes for this event have been really fun so far.