bolding and underlining stuff so you can skim and not have to read this whole mess but still get an understanding of what i'm saying, non bolded and underlined are explanations and extra details that can probably be skipped if you just want the general message
nerfing tacticooler isn't that necessary, but pencil most definitely is. it completely kicks out every other backline and almost every other cooler support. and if every backline got buffed to be as good as viable as pencil right now, that would not be good for the game (although i been playing chargers recently and will gladly take undeserved buffs). pencil deserves nerfs as much as trizooka
also, did we forget about inkjet meta..?
the whole reason that became a thing was because crab got toned back, and inkjet got a massive buff. after inkjet got toned back, trizooka got a massive buff and now that's the meta. it's a cycle that we have seen throughout the entire game. i'd also like to mention that tacticooler was most healthy during the inkjet meta, it was used as an option to make dying to inkjet less devastating, allowing your team to fight through it and have dying not be a huge loss. but now it is absolutely necessary on your team because of the buffs that it got and just the way it works. tacticooler can use some nerfing too, but it isn't as necessary as trizooka and pencil, because it can still enable weapons and there are multiple options for cooler support once pencil gets nerfed.
triple splash won't come back, maybe i misinterpreted what you said though and it's just that you don't want a similar situation to triple splash, but that can only happen if things get buffed too much, not if the best options in the game that are dominating every other weapon are nerfed. i'd also like to point out that crab meta was a period of time where the game was still being figured out, it hadn't been released for that long, and discoveries like stamper being strong were being made. people had to get creative to find workarounds and other viable options and i think that's cool. today, we already know what's good because the game has been out for so long and we been dealing with this meta for so long. also, i remember crab being extremely extremely dominant in NA but seeing teams in japan still run things like tetra dualies and then hear NA teams talk about how much faster they are and how much quicker they discovered what was good. that last part i think happened more towards the end of crab's reign, but still.
buffing the weaker options will absolutely help the game be a lot better, but they still won't get their opportunity to shine if other stuff is too good, unless they get buffed to that level, which would be too much. also, looking at the last balance patch, it is nice that they are taking a look at weaker weapons, but it was not enough and specifically they are not giving buffs that those weapons really needed, only small things that are somewhat helpful but don't really change much. i think in general they have been a bit too safe when it comes to balance patches, but at the same time they were willing to nerf and buff things unnecessarily (sorry but machine was slightly deserved though a bit too harsh, at least they gave a good reason for it though) and raise or lower points for special on stuff that don't deserve it. it's very strange. also remember, it doesn't matter what we hope for or what we need in terms of balance changes, it's going to be something that they ultimately decide is best for the game and something we will just have to deal with. i don't think any of us are having any conversations with the dev team, talking about decisions they should be making for 1 aspect of the entire game that they are making right now.
i still hope for more and better changes because i think we will get them, if not now, maybe at the end of the games life like they did with the last 2 games
small unrelated bit: does bolding and underlining make it easier to go through? sometimes i yap out way too much and am really afraid of it being completely terrible to read and basically incomprehensible and incoherent and just a bunch of ramblings