According to the TWAB, Trials will now take number of wins (no matter how many cards, Flawless or not) into account for matchmaking

So get to the Lighthouse early or get fucked as you get wins on non-Flawless cards.

Yeah, I'm not too fond of this one either. Seems like waiting until Sunday or Monday is still the play, but it puts a lot of pressure on that first card. I figured they would change something up now that all I need is the Confidence Card flawless run for the Title.

I wonder if it’ll lead to anyone throwing early card games that don’t seem like they’ll be wins.

Played a bit over the weekend, and fell at the gates of the lighthouse last night. I had 7 total wins prior to starting that card. I did have some really fun and competitive games though, with some actual back and forth in different rounds (this map is great). As long as your teammates don't get instantly sniped in the first 10 seconds of the round you have a lot of options. I may try again tonight.

Played a bit over the weekend, and fell at the gates of the lighthouse last night. I had 7 total wins prior to starting that card. I did have some really fun and competitive games though, with some actual back and forth in different rounds (this map is great). As long as your teammates don't get instantly sniped in the first 10 seconds of the round you have a lot of options. I may try again tonight.

Ended up managing a flawless card last night, then played a few games on the card after that. Matchmaking times were really long on the 7-win card for whatever reason. All in all, my experience with the supposed total-win-based matchmaking wasn't that different than the flawless pool weekends.

Here's a wild sudden death round from a critical win I got along the way:

So what’s the lighthouse like this time around? And how does it exist given mercury is supposed to be gone?

So what’s the lighthouse like this time around? And how does it exist given mercury is supposed to be gone?

It's cool, but not as mysterious. Saint-14 shows up there to congratulate you and prattle on about the joys of competition and playing more Trials. It's specifically noted as Simulated Mercury now, Saint-14 even has voice lines about that.

I really enjoyed watching that