15-16 was the renaissance era for NW. Had the largest player pool w the most amount of talent, activity, and events. 17 had good moments too, but it was on its way down. Ever since 18 its been the same 100 (if even that) recycled players farming each other. Of course the average player skill is going to rise when the pool is so empty. By 16 every player who was worth anything knew about blockchambers, stuns, and mechanical meta. Only thing that you could maybe make a claim for advancement in tactics and skill is groupfighting.