Well, all kinds of things are possible … just hear me out here. Maybe … just maayyyyyyybe … there could be a variety of win conditions for different types of characters. More variety than just reduce enemy’s health to zero. This is supposedly Marvel PUZZLE QUEST, not Marvel MATCH-3 KOMBAT … even if we do have hue-shifts a “costumes”.
It only took how many years for “puzzle” gauntlet to be introduced?
Some characters are strikers, some are tanks, some are varius kinds of supports. Characters have a variety of signature effects. Tailor 1v1 victory conditions to a character’s design. Show off what the character can do, incentivize players to use a characters as intended, rather than pile on boosts, slap on a support and a stack of TUs, and force ALL characters to be strikers / tanks, regardless of their design.
The list of possible victory conditions is … well, not endless, but long. WE already see a range in the daily, weekly, seasonal quests and various puzzle gauntlets. Matching tiles, matching certain color(s) or tiles, collecting AP, collecting ### of color(s) of AP, generating AP, stealing AP, draining AP, dealing damage, tanking damage, reducing damage, (burst) healing damage, stunning opponents, or allies, sending people away, sending people airborne, firing active abilities, triggering passive abilities, creating various kinds of tiles, destrying various kinds of tiles, buffing tiles, flipping tile colors, flipping tile types … blah, blah, blah.
Every match, particularly 1v1 matches which should be demo’ing / showcasing one or both of the characters involved, being the default “reduce enemy health to 0” is lazy, unforced error, missed opportunity.
Maybe after another decade those behind the game will realize this.