I know I’m in the minority here and this is a controversial statement, but I loved Iron Banner Rift. Sure, there were glitches, but I largely didn’t experience them. Playing primarily in the freelance playlist on Xbox, I mostly dominated my games. It was rare that a game went back and forth, but even when I was on the losing end, I really enjoyed the game mode.

I love playing Iron Banner and PVP activities. I’m unfortunately not sweaty enough for that Unbroken title, but I am SO CLOSE to Iron Lord. With the extra XP, I capitalized on the most recent week of Iron Banner and I expect to finish the title when it returns in the coming weeks. Actually, if I didn’t delete my other characters and actually leveled them up, I probably would’ve finished this title already.

I started playing as a nova bomb, but quickly realized nova warp was where it was at. Roaming supers were perfect with the 10 second revive cooldown. I was able to clear rooms and then dunked the spark myself on multiple occasions. There was nothing more satisfying than wiping the team and resetting the playing field.

It was also so satisfying using it to defend my team. When the opposing team is swarming in to dunk, it can feel hopeless, but a well-timed nova warp can bring it all to a grinding halt. It worked so well that I even unlocked a medal that I’ve never received before.

I literally have so many videos of me busting out a nova warp and deciding the fate of a spark run. I was cheering and laughing. Sometimes, it was risky, but when it paid off, it was incredible.

Aside from wanting the title, I had to get this super cool wolf emblem. I have serious regret over not getting a past wolf face emblem, so I wasn’t going to miss this one. Since claiming it requires you to essentially get halfway through the second reset, I just went ahead and did both resets needed for the title. All of the experience bonuses made it well worth grinding it out.

Now that I’ve leveled up my Hunter to qualify for the challenges (you need to be at least 1520 to see/earn the pinnacle rewards), I’ll be able to finish my Iron Lord title this season. I will say the freelance playlist was a much better experience for me. The games did not go as well when I joined up with my boyfriend and brother to face off against mixed lobbies. PC PVP players are another beast. I think I’ll stick to freelance on console.

So what did you think of Iron Banner? Are you in the minority with me or do you hate it and wish they’d bring back Control? Don’t get me wrong; I love Control… but Rift… Rift was good! Let me know your thoughts in the comments below.