Id like to take this opportunity to point out an observation of mine when it comes to top tier balance, based on data provided by Statshark.
If we take a look at monthly heat map for ground battles, russian top tier winrate was:
February: 49.4%
March: 51.2%
April: 52.8%
May: 52.9%
June: 45.4%
July: 40.4%
August: 42.6%
September: 49.3%
The player count for ground battles at BRs of 12.0 to 12.7 shows following player counts:
February: 117k to 166k
March: 116k to 208k
April: 112k to 189k
May: 147k to 152k
June: 138k to 168k
July: 123k to 160k
August: 107k to 142k
September: 105k to 155k
So, we can conclude two things - top tier russia playerbase remains relatively stable at absolute top tier ground. And there was sharp decline in russian top tier winrate between june and august, before jumping back in September
So what couldve possibly caused this if the top tier playerbase remained relatively stable?
Well it just so happens that the sharp drop in top tier russian winrates coincides with the release of Leviathans update, and the return coincides with the Tusk Force update.
Before Leviathans, top tier russian winrates were second only to Japan. After Leviathans, they fell through the roof, being the worst for three whole months, while Japan remained relatively stable in regards to winrate.
I think its safe to conclude it was the release of SLM and other next gen AAs, which ended the Kh-38MT dominance; a clutch if you will on which top tier russia relied to be carried.
Now, with Tusk force update, which saw only addition of next gen AA to russia with no new tanks, but with addition of LMURS and LDIRCCM on Mi28NM, winrates climbed back up.
Shame we wont get October data on Statshark due to recent drama, but if i was to make a bet, id say we would see top tier russia reaching winrates similiar to Japan, if not greater.
I really dont have conclusion to all of this, just felt like something I wanted to share.
tl;dr continue spamming LMURs.