a) because I’m dumb
b) because I’m scared of A block
c) because I’m scared of losing them and not recurring
I suspect that’s the key to why I’m 1-6 in this MU though!
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Just keep in mind that running into A block should be a minor inconvenience to Gloria most of the time, compared to other characters. Her ability to heal means that with BS up, she’s HP stable. Her healing and her array of 2.2 speed attacks means she can pretty freely bully Arg while Blowfish Spikes isn’t around. You definitely had some rough hands in those games, but they were exacerbated by large Arg life leads, and lack of combat wins to accelerate your draw in the early and mid game.
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Just a quick add-on to your discussion(s) on why 
beats 
:
One aspect of the MU that I think most do not give enough credit to is the two characters’ attack speeds. ALL of Gloria’s face cards effectively beat any attack from Argagarg except AA. In most match ups, Arg’s 2, J, and most importantly Q, act as fairly good keep-away tools. However, this is definitely not the case with Gloria.
Arg’s fastest non-AA attack is Q, at 2.2 speed and 9 damage. Note: ALL of Gloria’s face cards are 2.2 or faster. Now, if Arg Q clashes with Gloria J, Gloria still gets to heal and return it to hand. Sure, she technically still takes 5 damage that round, but that’s fairly little. If she does healing touch afterwards, that number goes down to just 1 damage, before Hex. More importantly, though, she gets the J back (while Arg loses Q forever) and, if she has spheres up, still gets to activate them. Advantage: Gloria.
If Q clashes with K, both characters take 9, but Argagarg is then knocked down (very bad for him), and Gloria can still do Healing Touch, meaning she really only takes 5 damage. Advantage: Gloria.
Her Q just cleanly beats Arg’s Q.
All of this is to say, I would argue that her healing is not necessarily the biggest obstacle Arg faces here. The bigger problem for Argagarg in this MU is that he usually loses any attack clash or throw clash.
This is an even bigger problem because he absolutely needs to be aggressive. Bubble Shield can’t really be relied upon to shut out attacks like in most MU due to Gloria’s healing, so Arg must be on the offensive here. But, Gloria effectively has the dominant throws AND the dominant attacks. It doesn’t help that she can recur them. Arg either has to simply Be Right a lot, or he has to catch Gloria on a particularly awkward hand (i.e.: a hand with few or no face cards) and manage to efficiently exploit it.
This is also why generally, I think Arg should not counter Healing Sphere and instead should counter Gloria’s Jacks whenever possible, especially non-hearts Jacks. Sending those into the discard goes a small way towards getting rid of her oppressive attack options.
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Man now that I have posted that wall of text I realize that it probably no longer qualifies as a “quick add-on”.
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Out of curiosity, which matchups would you folk say is the most balanced? I love Yomi but the concept of the 20xx Carousel and hard counterpicks depresses me somewhat, especially coming from a designer whose ideology involves not “losing before the game began”. I enjoy being able to freely pick a character that interests me and master its unique playstyle against other people and characters, not being forced into specific, repetitive picks to avoid an almost certain doom. (I understand that no game can be perfectly balanced and that Yomi’s matchup numbers are already superb compared to other games… but it is oh so easy to get used to luxury).
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First off, if you’re interested in raw numbers, you can check out this numerical MU chart compiled by @Phrawger:
It combines MU scores from several notable players’ own charts to try and gauge a sort of consensus average. You can also page through and look at each individual chart as well.
As for your actual question, I’m not sure which ones I would definitively say are “most balanced.” Otherwise, I would generally say that any MU that isn’t one of the high-profile lopsided MUs (
v 
, 
v 
, 
v 
, etc.) is close-enough to balanced as to be a non-issue.
If pressed to give a specific answer, I think that 
versus is close to even and very fun to play, provided the player knows what they are doing.
Of course, none of that changes the reality of the carousel. If that’s ultimately your worry, your choices are:
- Give in and play the carousel.
- Play a non-carousel character and make up for it in player skill.
- Sign up for @mysticjuicer’s 19XX tournaments.
Anyways, maybe someone else can do a better job than I of outlining the most balanced MUs 
.
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Basically every Grave match up is balanced.
Grave is a good pick if you want a decent chance in every match up.
As for if he’s good enough? ClanNatioy has won at least one tournament with him, probably more.
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“MORE ACES THAN YOUR BODY HAS ROOM FOR!!!” is a great thumbnail caption.
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MORE SILENT TPOS DRAWS THAN ANYONE SHOULD EVER HAVE IN A 4-GAME SET
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Sorry for not getting to do the duo commentary, variable. I’ve been trying to find time to do the recordings at all, and didn’t want to do them out of order. 
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Thanks MJ for commentating the match! I was initially afraid of playing characters with whom I have no experience but I ended up enjoying the match anyways. LLL is like trying to remove a triple hook bra for the very first time! (and still look like you know what you’re doing)
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Some of them have THREE hooks? What madness hath man wrought?
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