Obligatory TLDR: I feel like I am “stuck” in my pvp “bracket” and Idk how to get “unstuck”. Pretty cool to finally put an face to the name LS. (I’ve been gone awhile so idk if you have already done so.) Anyway, When it domes to sbmm, I am on the side of indifference. Idk enough about it one way or another to say yes or no. What I can say is that in my time playing D1 throughout all 3 years it felt different than any of my combined experiences in D2. Even after watching your vid what you say does not seem like how it feels. I’m not saying you are wrong, I’m saying that to me the “feel” of D2 pvp is different from D1. It wasn’t until you started talking about load outs where it started to make sense. For qp I agree with you that you have to bring your absolute best or lose. I’m not someone who grinds 24/7 to get that perfect armor or weapon rolls. So it’s something that if I have time for I do try to get them, but more often I am grinding out for catalysts. My point is that in D1 I felt like I could hold my own in pvp, (except for ToO I got stomped every game and gave up). What I used was Answering Chord, the Vanguard Auto you got when you finished TTK campaign. Not the best weapon but I still held my own. My point is that in all of D1 it felt like it was fair, even with my potato load out I could still win (but not all) encounters and hold my own. I’d win some games, I lost some games but it still felt fair. Not in D2, it feels like load out vs load out and the better load out wins. It feels like there is no longer a skill gap, but a skill ceiling. It feels like I can only get so good and my gear is what is holding me down. As you said you can check the “meta” from 3rd party sources and it seems like that is the trick to advance. Now don’t get me wrong I’m not calling for buffs or nerfs, I want that to be made very clear. I’m saying that it seems like no matter how much I “tryhard” to “git gud” It seems that I have hit some sort of plateau and to break over it I need a better load out. It just seems to feel that way, maybe it’s just me idk. Maybe it’ll be different with IB this week now that I am 750, at least the power handicap is another factor I can check of the list of what to do to break through my current pvp wall. In conclusion to bring it back on topic, Idk enough about sbmm to support or resist it. What I do know is that the overall feel of D2 pvp is by far the most difficult Destiny pvp experience I have ever had and idk why.