Since this is getting so long, I've gone to the trouble of striking all the text that I'm directly refuting during my post, for organization's sake.
If all combinations of Demigod were in fact equal, as you've based the majoirty of your argument on thus far, how can you now turn around and call them weak?
A consistant argument is a sign of someone who understands the issue at hand; an inconsistant argument is an argument for arguments sake.
My argument is perfectly consistent and rationalized. In fact I actually enjoy rereading it because its so elegantly valid and sound. Your ability to misunderstand it, and/or purposefully misconstrue it, is however, quite troubling.
I've never said that all combinations of DGs are equally powerful. Some are quite a bit stronger than others, for example most involve at least 1 Sedna and at least 1 Beast. Teams without those DGs are probably worse. Doubled DG teams also belong to the category of teams that are worse than a diverse team that happens to include Sedna and Beast. Sedna and Beast are the metagame.
Assigning a total numerical value to the effectiveness of any Demigod is a pointless endeavour as there are numerous varibles to take into consideration.
Also, I would assume in a team game both teams would be working together against one another. Hence the point of the discussion. Stating that Team work increases the effectiveness of any Demigod on a Team is non-sensical; Team Work normalises the effectiveness of a Demigod due to the nature of the game - however a lack of Team Work decreases it.
The number is just an example, a thinking tool. The point is that whatever tangible power 1 UB has, 2 UBs have exactly double that tangible power - which is exactly what is supposed to happen.
Also, there is such a thing as synergy in this game, 2 DGs often come together to form a whole greater than the sum of its parts by working together. This phenomena is often used by people trying to ban doubles, however, what I'm pointing out is that they forget that the same is true of all DGs combinations.
If you want to think about teamwork as an increase in effectiveness or lack of teamwork as a decrease - whatever.
2 Spits, yes. I agree. Now, lets talk about 3, 4 and 5 Spits. Ranged DOT with the numbers I've already provided as a base point of reference are not able to be reproduced using any other combination of Demigod. Should 5 Nukes be able to deal that amount of damage over time without further input besides 0.3s casting time?
The play style required to maximise the effect of the use of the stacking of the Spit is that of hit and run - UB's intended purpose afterall - and thus the idea is to deal maximum amount of damage with the least amount of risk. Risk, as I've already mentioned, is not increased despite the increase in damage as would be the case with other combinations. This was your issue with Snipe; the target was fighting a momentary Xv1 without a method of preventing such a thing. Through correct play, this can be reproduced with UB to a degree.
In cannot be reproduced by Spit. Snipe's range is astronomically superior, which is what allows multiple Reguli to create their own Xv1 situations. Spit's range is comparatively short. You can see it coming a mile away, so again I repeat, the only way you would ever get hit by 3+ spits is if you voluntarily engage the 3+ UBs in a battle. The only reason you would do that is if you matched their numbers, in which case both sides have the same number of nukes, but with different perks attached to their particular nukes.
So in answer to your question in the first paragraph there - yes, it would be perfectly fair.
You're attacking theory for being theory with further theory. A self defeating point.
The strengths of a primary ability are amplified on a slightly non-linear model, depending on the ability. The careful point to take into consideration is the stacking of those abilities, not the careful and normalised disbursement of such abilities through the course of your average match with a mixed roster.
This slightly non-linear model is what I was referring to earlier as teamwork. 2 Spits together become intangibly stronger than the sum of two individual spits, because they can be applied in focused fire. Pen + Bite are both tangibly and intangibly stronger together than they are as a sum of parts, for their stacking damage amplification and snare, and their ability to be used in focus fire, respecitvely. This argument was meant to show that not only do stacked abilities become stronger in the hands of any combination of diverse DGs, but they often do to a greater degree than they do for doubled DGs - leading to my point that doubles are in general, weak.
The only theorycraft here is your invention of an extra imaginary force multiplier that magically bestows extra synergy to doubled teams. Everything else on my side of the argument and yours are just simple game facts.
And this is why your argument fails. Please provide the example to which 5x is countered so hard under gameplay circumstances that not only warrants no stack control, by rather a buff to Spit because the ability is so terrible that is warrants a capital BAD in it's description.
1. Heal and Shield both completely negate your entire nuke.
2. Effective health stacking + multiple priest minion types heal back most/all of your damage, which your 5x-spit-and-run nuke gives them plenty of time to do.
3. The only way you would get hit by 5 Spits is if you have 5 DGs there as well, in which case you have just as much firepower, in different forms, to fire back at them. I can think of a lot of different 5 DG combinations that would easily crush 5 UBs.
This doesn't warrant a buff to Spit, it just warrants players not be stupid and select a weak combination of DGs.
If a team of UBs is unable to single out an opponent, then they don't really know how to play the DG in question and thus aren't the people who would be the most effective at manipulating a team of stacked Demigods to begin with.
In my analysis I assumed that the UBs would try to single out a single opponent, as would the other team try to single out a single UB. Assuming equal high level play from both sides, the UBs have a disadvantage.
So the problem isn't that the person 'Sniping' isn't at risk, but rather the person being Sniped is unable to pose a threat (interupts, etc) to them while they do so? Did you read this before clicking post? I shouldn't need to detail that the damage component of multiple Snipes is an issue it's the abilities primary function and should go without saying. The Xv1 scenario is a valid point however, and is simillar to the DOT issue I have with Spit; dealing damage without being present. Snipe has counters like Spit does, revolving around Health recovery items and /or abilities, however when either are stacked the requirements to counter become counter-productive.
No. Why is this so hard to understand? The problem is not that the person sniping isn't at risk, but rather that the person being sniped can't get away from the Xv1. This is what makes snipe unique.
The ability to deal damage while either not present or at a very low risk is a very important factor in a game where dying removes you from the game for a period of time as this decreases your chance of death compared to your enemy in a given situation. If you can't appreciate the advantages of spit, and call it's DOT component fairly useless, than I can only summise you don't quite understand the mechanics at play.
You're counters are situational - and this is my point. Instead of any combination having an acceptable counter, as would be the case with a mixed roster, to their enemy team we now have situational counters with requirements placed on more than just their item purchases or play style. Stacking limits gameplay. This isn't "fight stacking with stacking" as you seem to think I mean, rather placing requirements on your opposition to enable them to achieve the highest optimised level of resistance; effort with respect to successfulness to be more precise.
All Hit and Run tactics, including Spit, are horribly owned by Priest minions. Maybe you just don't understand how efficient they are? Assuming the other team is smart enough to use them, we can assume that Spit is fairly useless as a harassing tool. The only way the UB team is going to make progress is to commit to battle and use Spit as a general combat nuke.
If your whole point is that facing 5 UBs requires you to take a Sedna and/or lots of Priest minions, thats pathetic. Sedna and Beast are the metagame, so every team should have one anyways. And buying lots of priest minions is exactly the sort of in-game adaptation that you and I both favor.
Every team has some "highest optimized level of resistance," double or not. That optimal setup will require a certain combination of DGs. Failure to take that combination will mean you have to make do with what you have, probably leading to a solid but not optimal setup, assuming your team doesn't suck - which is perfectly fine and natural. How is all this different for doubled teams than non-doubled? Oh thats right, it isn't.
