User blog:Epikart/In-Depth Analysis: Control Effects

Just a general comparison of all different control effects in the game, made as if being read by a beginner. I may do something like this for other effects, but right now, it can't really be much simpler to understand than that.

But first, a basic analysis of control in general. Control Effects are specific status effects that are meant to make a monster lose their turn, whether it be by making them Recharge instead of using their moves, making using their moves useless, or even just plain removing their turn. Control Effects are extremely popular in the competitive Monster Legends meta, as making your foes lose their turns is essential to keeping your own monsters from going down. Control Effects are most commonly used by a category of monster called a Denier or Control monster, though it's not uncommon to see Attackers, Cursers, or Supports wield these effects as well. Each different Control Effect has a similar function, usually lasting just one turn and immobilizing the foe, but all of them have certain differences from each other, and most Deniers tend to specialize in one or more of these effects. So now, how about we actually see what said differences are?

Stun
The first ever Control Effect in the game, it doesn't get much more basic than Stun. It doesn't do anything fancy, no special gimmicks, it just removes a monster's turn. This is one of the most common Control Effect in the game, though it has recently begun to fall out of favor over more flashy, interesting control effects. Nonetheless, in most cases, it's still very reliable.

Pros: Cons:
 * Has a Mega variant, which lasts for 2 turns
 * Reliably removes an enemy's turn, with no potential to go wrong
 * Can be applied by Random Control Effect moves
 * Has a Hater effect associated with it
 * Applies Recently Stunned after taking effect, which makes the foe immune to Stun for one turn
 * Blocked by Control Immunity and Artifact
 * 3 other Traits prevent it from being applied (Stun Immunity, Mountain, & Celestial)
 * Hard-countered by Warmaster Gortak, whose trait gives Stun Immunity to his entire team
 * Only normally lasts for 1 turn

Freeze
This Control Effect is very similar to Stun, but has its share of differences to set it apart. Freeze removes the affected monster's turn, and also removes 2% of their Life when in effect. This one, unlike Stun, is rarer in general, but seen much more frequently in competitive play.

Pros: Cons:
 * Has a Mega variant
 * Reliably removes an enemy's turn
 * Deals small damage as long as it's in effect
 * Can be applied by Random Control Effect moves
 * Has a Hater effect associated with it
 * Applies Recently Frozen after taking effect
 * Blocked by Control Immunity and Artifact
 * 2 other traits prevent it from being applied (Freeze Immunity & Mountain)
 * Hard-countered by Warmaster Thalassa, whose trait gives Freeze Immunity to her entire team
 * Only normally lasts for 1 turn

Possession
This Effect is a much, much more gimmicky effect than the two above, and is extremely popular in competitive for it. Possession does not remove a turn, but instead makes the affected monster target their own teammates with a random move they can currently use, or your team if they use an ally or team support move. The affected foe may also simply Recharge.

Pros: Cons:
 * Has a Mega variant
 * Makes a foe act against their own team (they can even use Special skills)
 * Has an exclusive version, Corrupted, that is rarer, but goes through regular Possession Immunity
 * Foe's stamina still goes down if a skill is used
 * Can be applied by Random Control Effect moves
 * Applies Recently Possessed or Corrupted after taking effect
 * Blocked by Control Immunity and Artifact
 * 3 other traits prevent it from being applied (Possession Immunity, Abomination, & Gravedigger, and the latter 2 also block Corruption)
 * Hard-countered by Warmaster Necromancer, whose trait gives Possession Immunity to his entire team
 * Only normally lasts 1 turn
 * Affected foe may use a self-support move, which will not change target, making the denial moot

Time Stop
This Effect is basic in effect, but a lot more exotic than the other three above. Time Stop is effectively identical to Stun, simply removing a turn from the target, but it's more special than it looks, thanks to how it interacts with other traits and such.

Pros: Cons:
 * Has a Mega variant
 * Reliably removes an enemy's turn
 * Not blocked by any special trait or positive effect
 * Applies Recently Time Stopped after taking effect
 * Blocked by Control Immunity and Artifact
 * Only normally lasts for 1 turn
 * Extremely rare (Used by only 5 monsters, and only 1 of them uses it as primary denial)
 * Cannot be applied by Random Control Effect moves

Baby Reversion
The most recently released of all Control methods, this Effect is almost completely unused as an offensive denial, but is still a Control Effect anyway, so it gets a mention here. Baby Reversion removes the affected monster's turn, and also makes the monster unable to be targeted by any move, both from their teammates and from you.

Pros: Cons:
 * Reliably removes an enemy's turn
 * Prevents support moves from affecting the monster, meaning it cannot be NERed
 * When applied to a monster with Taunt or Mega Taunt, Baby Reversion takes priority, meaning you can attack the monster's team freely
 * Not blocked by any special trait or positive effect
 * Affected foe cannot be targeted unless the attacking monster has Pierce
 * Blocked by Control Immunity and Artifact
 * Only lasts for 1 turn
 * Extremely rare (Kronx is the only monster capable of weaponizing this Control Effect; while Gurlik can also apply it, he can only apply it to himself)
 * Cannot be applied by Random Control Effect moves

Cooldown Activation
More commonly known as CDA, this Effect is a very interesting case when it comes to denying, and is one of, if not the, most popular of all of these in competitive play. Cooldown Activation works not by applying any sort of effect, but by activating the cooldowns on all of the affected monster's moves, as if they had used all four of their moves at the same time.

Pros: Cons:
 * Can deny an enemy for up to 4 turns!
 * Not blocked by Control Immunity or Artifact
 * Cannot be NERed
 * Only one trait / positive effect prevents it from being applied (and said trait / effect is exceptionally rare)
 * Effectiveness is based on the monster it's applied to, and several monsters may not even be fully denied if they have any moves with no cooldown
 * Cannot be applied by Random Control Effect moves

Total Blind
This Effect is a very...interesting one in how it works as a control effect. Specifically, Total Blind lowers the affected monster's accuracy by 100%, meaning that all of their moves are guaranteed to miss.

Pros: Cons:
 * If the affected foe uses an offensive skill (for some reason), their stamina will still be wasted
 * Does not apply a Recently effect after taking effect
 * Not blocked by Control Immunity
 * Blocked by Artifact
 * 1 other trait prevents it from being applied (Blind Immunity)
 * Hard-countered by Warmaster Elvira, whose trait gives Blind Immunity to her entire team
 * Only lasts for 1 turn
 * Useless if the enemy's target(s) has/have Guard Down
 * Support moves have no accuracy, and are not affected by Total Blind
 * Cannot be applied by Random Control Effect moves

Total Damage Reduction
This Effect, just like its brother Total Blind, is a very odd effect, and some debate if it even counts as a Control Effect. I do, however, so it gets a mention. Total Damage Reduction lowers the affected foe's damage dealt by 100%, meaning that their attacks will deal no damage.

Pros: Cons:
 * Does not apply a Recently effect after taking effect
 * Not blocked by Control Immunity
 * Not blocked by any special trait or positive effect
 * Blocked by Artifact
 * Only lasts for 1 turn
 * Very rare (Out of all monsters that can use it, only 6 of them are used in competitive, and only 3 have a move that applies it to all foes)
 * Does not prevent effects (making it nearly useless against certain monsters)
 * Support moves do not deal damage, and are not affected by Total Damage Reduction
 * Cannot be applied by Random Control Effect moves

Stamina Drain
This effect is strange, not in how it works, but how it's used. Stamina Drain works exactly as one would think; it drains the foe's stamina, bringing them closer to a point where they will have to recharge, or cannot use certain moves with higher stamina costs. Most cases of this come in the form of 100% Stamina Drain, though, which is meant to guarantee a recharge, and most of these pros/cons will assume you're using 100% Stamina Drain, or are using it at a point that the foe will be brought down to 0 stamina.

Pros: Cons:
 * Not blocked by Control Immunity or Artifact
 * No monster in the game is immune to it
 * Can be assisted by several negative status effects (Curse, Nightmares, Drowned, Stamina Leak)
 * Only stops taking effect when the foe recharges or otherwise regains their stamina, meaning it can be stacked with other control effects
 * Foe will be left with a limited amount of stamina after recharging or otherwise regaining stamina
 * Nullified by Stamina Regeneration, which restores stamina every turn before a monster moves
 * Doesn't work against monsters with moves that cost 0 stamina
 * Cannot be applied by Random Control Effect moves

Control Effect Ranking
Now, which control effect is the most useful of these? That's what this little list at the bottom of this blog post is for; ranking all 9 of the Control Effects from best to worst. This list does not take into consideration the rarity of these effects, by the way, so that's why Baby Reversion isn't #9.

1. Cooldown Activation

2. Baby Reversion

3. Time Stop

4. Freeze

5. Stun

6. Possession

7. Stamina Drain

8. Total Blind

9. Total Damage Reduction