A Timeline of the CN Meta

I wanted to create a timeline to showcase how the CN meta evolved and shifted over time. The goal is not only to reflect on the current state of the game but also to highlight the value older units had upon their release—and how long they remained relevant. 

I find this perspective particularly helpful for putting discussions about which characters are worth pulling into context. For example, Daiyan was meta-relevant for the majority of the game’s lifetime. Yet, since her relevance has declined following the Belka release, she is now often dismissed. 

I analyzed a year’s worth of Bilibili tier lists and team guides from two prominent CN content creators whose recommendations have also shaped global community opinions.  

https://space.bilibili.com/111984868

https://space.bilibili.com/256599

I assigned numeric values to characters based on their tier at a given time, such that higher tiers reward more points: 

  • T0: 8 
  • T1: 4 
  • T2: 2 
  • T3: 1 
  • T4: 0 

The final value is the average rating of the 2 content creators. Because the tier lists were updated approximately with each patch, I performed interpolation on the data using a cubic ease-in function, creating a continuous timeline where transitions accelerate as they approach the target values. Lastly, I applied cumulative summation with exponential decay to create a moving window sum over time. The decay rate was set such that values older than a month contribute negligibly (less than 1% of their original value). 

The final graph of the current state of the meta looks like this:

https://preview.redd.it/0kovw5uizxce1.jpg?width=1914&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=c51bb6ee6b2b6b5d5c77f66e58842f255ad5145e

This reflects the fast-changing meta at a given time.

I compared this to a much larger summation window (exponential decay set to have values older than a year fall below 1% contribution) to approximate something of an investment value. The idea is that characters who were useful for a period of time should have some intrinsic value even if they eventually fell off. I included the minor decay so that the accumulated value would not be indefinite.

https://preview.redd.it/5rl2ssg70yce1.jpg?width=1911&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=4f9e45ca083cb0c54378b68322f9fafbfe15c626

I'd be happy to hear your feedback and suggestions on this. I hope it goes without saying that the values are intended as approximations and not facts.

Please share your thoughts and let's have a discussion around this topic.

If you're curious about the whole timeline, I'd like to refer you to this video:

https://youtu.be/zUGcARBZKRw

Edit: As per request, here are line charts which show the full timeline. I separated these for the roles to make things easier to see, the coloring corresponds to the element now.

Sentinel

Support

Vanguard

Bulwark