A Mastery tier list needs two scores: how useful is the finished Mastered variant? and how practical is the route for this account? Combining them into one letter hides the difference between an excellent upgrade with a brutal prerequisite and a modest upgrade that completes naturally during normal play.
This framework uses the June 2026 community roster and July player discussions as a dated snapshot. It does not claim a complete objective ranking after later rebalances.
Score the finished upgrade
Give one point each for reliable combat value, meaningful mobility, defensive recovery, team utility, flexible control, and a secondary action that creates a real new decision. Subtract for long vulnerable setup, inconsistent targeting, a platform-hostile input, or a benefit that rarely changes an outcome.
Test base and Mastered versions in the same mode. A visual effect or larger model is not automatically mechanical value. A changed cooldown matters only if the ability is useful when it becomes available.
Score the route separately
A completed D-route can still deliver an S-value upgrade. The separate labels let players decide whether the reward justifies the effort.
Role groups to compare
Mobility and ambush: Flash, Phase, Phantom, Acrobat, and similar Masteries should be judged on controllable movement, recovery, and whether the follow-up action is practical on the player’s platform.
Building and territory: Obby, Tycoon, Plank, Fort, and Defense should be judged on setup time, persistence, protection, and value after opponents understand the structure.
Projectile or entity control: Shard, Bubble, Cloud, Hive, Voodoo, and Cherry should be judged on aim, attribution, area influence, and whether added projectiles or entities improve reliability rather than clutter.
Specialist progression: Killstreak, rob, Chain, and badge-linked gloves require the prerequisite cost in the route score. Their Mastered value should not erase the time needed to own and learn the base glove.
Dated community signals
Recent July 2026 discussions named a wide range of “easy,” “hard,” and “best” Masteries, including Tycoon, Brick, Run, Defense, Frostbite, Killstreak, spin, Cherry, Mace, Bubble, Flash, Stick, and others. The disagreement is useful: it shows that execution, owned gloves, and preferred modes strongly affect the result.
Do not convert one poll or post into exact placements. Use it to identify what to test. The maintained index is more useful for task structure, while current player reports are better for friction that a table may miss.
Make a personal tier card
Record glove ownership, base familiarity, task progress per session, allowed server, platform, upgrade role, and three repeatable test outcomes. Then label the route and reward separately: for example, “B route / A reward for mobile control” communicates much more than “A tier.”
Revisit the card after an update. If a task count changes, update the route score. If the Mastered ability is reworked, update the reward score. Do not move both automatically.
What not to rank
Do not rank an unowned glove from a showcase alone. Do not rank an unreleased or admin-only variant. Do not assume an old task table is live. Do not count macro, exploit, or arranged slap-farming output as route efficiency. Do not compare a base glove against a Mastered one without labeling the states.
Practical recommendation
For a first project, select an A- or B-route on an owned glove whose reward fills a useful role. For an endgame project, accept a C- or D-route only after verifying every objective. The Best First guide walks through that selection, and the Mastery List provides the dated roster context.
The primary research source is the community Masteries index, checked 2026-08-08, supplemented by current player discussions. Exact placements remain provisional until tested in the current server build.