Hey Sako! Great video as always. Just have to mention a mistake: The DM33 is a license copy of the M413, not the other way around! The 105mm versions of the DM23, DM33 and DM63 are based on the Israeli M111, M413, and M426 rounds respectively.
@@SAKOSNIPER well they are very very experienced with war so i would expect them to have figured some stuff out. Israel has proven to be pretty innovative at making weapons of war.
@@cookiecracker2 That's not why they have such good technology. It's because they steal US military secrets. They even have secret information exchanges with the Chinese. All of the bright minds in the US develop tech for Israel.
Fwiw the Shot Kal Dalet is an optional alternative rank VI premium. It’s probably nowhere near as good, but it does fit into a pretty decent 8.3 lineup… which has the amazing perk of avoiding 9.7 and 10.0 nightmare uptiers.
I take a few HESH rounds in tanks with the NATO 105, very useful since the overpressure mechanics got added. 3-5 rounds at most and they come in handy for light vehicles and feel a bit more useful over HEAT imo in some situations, but its preference.
To be honest, i love playing the merkava 2D, propably not for eveyone, but if someone likes a bit slower gameplay its good tank. Sure its slow and armor on paper is nothing to brag about, but i discovered, that its good while playing hulldown using -8 of your depresion of a gun. If you expose only turret, its hard to actually kill you, cause it can withstand 400-450 pen APSDFS rounds (there are weakspots ofcourse but its trollish armor cause there is externally added composite armor). Upper plate can bounce stuff too at this angle. To add to the survivability, engine eats a lot of shrapnell too, often eating entire shell if shot was in a "bad spot" or shell was gaijined. Yes engine can be pennetrated, but you have high chance to survive some shots. DM33 is quite enough to deal with eveything you face, but you neeed to know weakspots.
One issue that few people have been mentioning is that the engine on all Israeli Merkava Mk1s and Mk2s spalls right through the spall liner… this should not be happening and it significantly reduces survivability - the one thing it was literally designed for
I hope they fix all Merkavas, It SHOULD bounce way more with such a slick turret and the Engine infront doesn't work properly either, In 2nd lebanon before Trophy system came out, Those beasts Mk3/Mk4 took ATGMS/RPG hits like breakfast, Only 4-5 Mk3's being fully destroyed.
Israel has a little more uniqueness than the chinese tech tree at the moment, but the way Gaijin handles the Israeli tech tree is nothing short of abysmal. Israel has a ton of unique vehicles to add, both in higher tiers and lower tiers, but Gaijin chose to completly skip the lower tiers and add only copy and paste. Through the entire year Israel was in the game, the Zachlam TCM-20 is the ONLY unique vehicle Gaijin added through the entire year (not to mention they did not add a single aircraft). It is honestly depressing to see it in this state.
@@M4_Soppi_2 Yea, exactly. Israel has so much vehicles to add but Gaijin is lazy and adds only copy&paste (and makes a shitton if naming mistakes). Rank I-III Israel would be glorious.
Yea I was surprised that it went up to 9.3, new ammo, or not! Its not like there aren't any DM33 on 9.0 (or even lower), the mobility is just "not there" ,the optics are barely average, and the armor isn't good enough for 9.3 and onwards, against MBTs, and i doubt this tank saw that many downtiers in the past. Also with so many premiums around I implemented the "I only spawn in a max +0.3 BR games than me" rule to all game modes, on most BR brackets! (try to play any stock high BR stuff nowadays... and when i do play MY premiums - even the ones that are not available for a while - I instantly get mocked of being a walet-warrior/gold noob; ... sure assholes don't mind that i brought a full lineup on the same BR, besides i only have 278 premiums ATM do to my 9.5 years in game, and events)
The Merkava 2D doesn't need a better shell, it just needs a complete rethink of where it sits BR-wise. I'd rather they just put it to 8.7 and remove M413. It's not like a hulldown tank that's in a meta of Facefuck-CQC constantly is going to be good in maps mostly around facefuck CQC.
Sako is you intro made of the your favorite vehicles in the game and please do a review on the MIG 23BN in the German tech tree because I grinding for it and want to know if it's worth it
Hi, I'd like to play Israeli tree. But after they increased the BT on Merkava 2D to 9.7, is it still worth buying it for quick tree research? I don't know if it will be competitive and if with tanks on BT 9.3 the rest of my tanks won't suffer. Because there's no other way to put it together.
Keep the hood safe H Good review mate. I have this tank and i had like 4 nukes with it when it was new. I basically grinded a crafting event and sold everything on the marked and then bought this tank instead :D So, a free premium. Did the same with the SU-25K lol Yea, like you said, the new round makes this thing better. the M111 is pretty terrible. even for 9.0. Oh, and trhe reload... It stays the same even with the Mk4M/4B.. Its terrible. I have the Mk4B/4M with an ace crew and its not cool sitting there with a 6.7 sec reload. But i dont know why everyone always says that the Merkava is only good against HEAT and stuff. espacially frontally. There is the front plate, fuel tank, engine and the transmission and anotheplate for spalling or what ever. that like 2m or more of shit thats in the way. i dont think a APFSDS is able to cut through this. But i dont know lol
Hell yeah i buy Merkava and non premium Shot Kal Gimel.. I was f...... shocked what Gimel can do. Pene for medium range super with M111 ammo. But its slow. Dalet is my number two on my WT wishlist
I honestly regret getting this thing, every shot I take either goes right through my engine and kills all my crew or hits my turret ring, and the damn things stupidly fucking tall, its just pure pain, oh and its reverse doesn't help either
So, the Merkava got a shell and an increase in BR. Problem with that is the bad armor of the Merkava, because even early APFSDS can punch through the front armor(even though with some luck). Imo, this was more of a bad decision than good
It's been almost a month now and it works alot better with the round at 9.3 most weapons above 8.7 can one shot or completely cripple the merkavas in one hit. I've had shells go completely through my entire tank before .
@@kalashnidoge the turret has a bunch of weird shapes so it can bounce alot of rounds below 9.0 unless they hit the commander area which they always do. Lmao and that's the only person in it with actual zoom
LFP on all Russian MBTs with auto loaders are completely unprotected and can be penned even with heatfs. Shooting LFP also ammo racks almost always with apfsds
I was a turms noob when I bought it during spring break. Since then and especially over the summer, I learned my weakspots. Drivers hatch area and lower glacis are 2 places I always rely on for killing T72s
Hey Sako! Great video as always. Just have to mention a mistake: The DM33 is a license copy of the M413, not the other way around! The 105mm versions of the DM23, DM33 and DM63 are based on the Israeli M111, M413, and M426 rounds respectively.
My bad - cheers for letting me know. I wonder why Israel was so world leading with their ammunition designs
@@SAKOSNIPER well they are very very experienced with war so i would expect them to have figured some stuff out. Israel has proven to be pretty innovative at making weapons of war.
@@cookiecracker2 That's not why they have such good technology. It's because they steal US military secrets. They even have secret information exchanges with the Chinese. All of the bright minds in the US develop tech for Israel.
@@Dwight511 source? Or do you even have one?
M413 is literally based on the US one
Fwiw the Shot Kal Dalet is an optional alternative rank VI premium. It’s probably nowhere near as good, but it does fit into a pretty decent 8.3 lineup… which has the amazing perk of avoiding 9.7 and 10.0 nightmare uptiers.
to improve merkava mk 2D's mobility i remove mine protection which adds 3tones of excess weight for protection under the tank
Same
Thanks for the tip, didnt know this
?? In WT you can some protection
Just got one and enjoying the hell out of it. It is a beast that will perform for a competent player. It a a good value for the money.
I take a few HESH rounds in tanks with the NATO 105, very useful since the overpressure mechanics got added. 3-5 rounds at most and they come in handy for light vehicles and feel a bit more useful over HEAT imo in some situations, but its preference.
To be honest, i love playing the merkava 2D, propably not for eveyone, but if someone likes a bit slower gameplay its good tank.
Sure its slow and armor on paper is nothing to brag about, but i discovered, that its good while playing hulldown using -8 of your depresion of a gun. If you expose only turret, its hard to actually kill you, cause it can withstand 400-450 pen APSDFS rounds (there are weakspots ofcourse but its trollish armor cause there is externally added composite armor). Upper plate can bounce stuff too at this angle.
To add to the survivability, engine eats a lot of shrapnell too, often eating entire shell if shot was in a "bad spot" or shell was gaijined. Yes engine can be pennetrated, but you have high chance to survive some shots.
DM33 is quite enough to deal with eveything you face, but you neeed to know weakspots.
One issue that few people have been mentioning is that the engine on all Israeli Merkava Mk1s and Mk2s spalls right through the spall liner… this should not be happening and it significantly reduces survivability - the one thing it was literally designed for
I hope they fix all Merkavas, It SHOULD bounce way more with such a slick turret and the Engine infront doesn't work properly either, In 2nd lebanon before Trophy system came out, Those beasts Mk3/Mk4 took ATGMS/RPG hits like breakfast, Only 4-5 Mk3's being fully destroyed.
I bought this thing and the ZTZ96A Prot, using gaijin coins during the sales. Great tanks both of em.
07:05 this one came from the heart LOL
The problem with Israeli tech tree, it's way more copy paste than the Chinese tech tree, they need more unique and fun tanks
Israel has a little more uniqueness than the chinese tech tree at the moment, but the way Gaijin handles the Israeli tech tree is nothing short of abysmal. Israel has a ton of unique vehicles to add, both in higher tiers and lower tiers, but Gaijin chose to completly skip the lower tiers and add only copy and paste.
Through the entire year Israel was in the game, the Zachlam TCM-20 is the ONLY unique vehicle Gaijin added through the entire year (not to mention they did not add a single aircraft).
It is honestly depressing to see it in this state.
Lol.......at least Israeli modifie the tank before to use it....China just change the name
China is full of copy and paste xD
@@M4_Soppi_2 Yea, exactly. Israel has so much vehicles to add but Gaijin is lazy and adds only copy&paste (and makes a shitton if naming mistakes).
Rank I-III Israel would be glorious.
@@ofekk213 waw first time I find a person who doesn't call Israeli "china 2.0"
I have no problem with the copy paste, my problem is the armor especially at 11.0 and 10.0
Yea I was surprised that it went up to 9.3, new ammo, or not! Its not like there aren't any DM33 on 9.0 (or even lower), the mobility is just "not there" ,the optics are barely average, and the armor isn't good enough for 9.3 and onwards, against MBTs, and i doubt this tank saw that many downtiers in the past.
Also with so many premiums around I implemented the "I only spawn in a max +0.3 BR games than me" rule to all game modes, on most BR brackets! (try to play any stock high BR stuff nowadays... and when i do play MY premiums - even the ones that are not available for a while - I instantly get mocked of being a walet-warrior/gold noob; ... sure assholes don't mind that i brought a full lineup on the same BR, besides i only have 278 premiums ATM do to my 9.5 years in game, and events)
Bro u gotta coach me😂 my skill level at war thunder is below zero
The Merkava 2D doesn't need a better shell, it just needs a complete rethink of where it sits BR-wise.
I'd rather they just put it to 8.7 and remove M413. It's not like a hulldown tank that's in a meta of Facefuck-CQC constantly is going to be good in maps mostly around facefuck CQC.
Sako is you intro made of the your favorite vehicles in the game and please do a review on the MIG 23BN in the German tech tree because I grinding for it and want to know if it's worth it
Hi, I'd like to play Israeli tree. But after they increased the BT on Merkava 2D to 9.7, is it still worth buying it for quick tree research? I don't know if it will be competitive and if with tanks on BT 9.3 the rest of my tanks won't suffer. Because there's no other way to put it together.
The merkava premium is still a good tank; but as you say, it is a little lonely at BR 9.7
Keep the hood safe H
Good review mate.
I have this tank and i had like 4 nukes with it when it was new.
I basically grinded a crafting event and sold everything on the marked and then bought this tank instead :D
So, a free premium. Did the same with the SU-25K lol
Yea, like you said, the new round makes this thing better. the M111 is pretty terrible. even for 9.0.
Oh, and trhe reload... It stays the same even with the Mk4M/4B..
Its terrible. I have the Mk4B/4M with an ace crew and its not cool sitting there with a 6.7 sec reload.
But i dont know why everyone always says that the Merkava is only good against HEAT and stuff.
espacially frontally. There is the front plate, fuel tank, engine and the transmission and anotheplate for spalling or what ever. that like 2m or more of shit thats in the way. i dont think a APFSDS is able to cut through this. But i dont know lol
I'm curious, do you know why they moved this to 9.7?
Should I get this or the Sho’t kal Dalet for a 9.0-9.7 lineup?
Hell yeah i buy Merkava and non premium Shot Kal Gimel..
I was f...... shocked what Gimel can do.
Pene for medium range super with M111 ammo.
But its slow.
Dalet is my number two on my WT wishlist
9.3 is too much for this tank
Now its 9.7, was it buffed?
I'm still waiting for Gaijin to add the T 62 with blazer and a 105 instead of the 115
Hey sako, Z-10 review next?
I don't really understand why everyone complaining on this tank, it's absolutely beast, i got 6 nukes in 2 days, besides on 9.3 u got a4n...
Why does it now have -23 in reverse, which is pretty insane. 2:10
I really hope people star using Israel its a lot of fun if you aren't try harding
Love the intro
I honestly regret getting this thing, every shot I take either goes right through my engine and kills all my crew or hits my turret ring, and the damn things stupidly fucking tall, its just pure pain, oh and its reverse doesn't help either
Yup since if the Nation is a secondary one.... Gaijin don't care
I have all the Israeli tree and all are paper tank xD
So, the Merkava got a shell and an increase in BR. Problem with that is the bad armor of the Merkava, because even early APFSDS can punch through the front armor(even though with some luck). Imo, this was more of a bad decision than good
It's been almost a month now and it works alot better with the round at 9.3 most weapons above 8.7 can one shot or completely cripple the merkavas in one hit. I've had shells go completely through my entire tank before .
@@MrJarvisful I'm pretty sure it is just me. I can not get a feel for the thing
@@kalashnidoge the turret has a bunch of weird shapes so it can bounce alot of rounds below 9.0 unless they hit the commander area which they always do. Lmao and that's the only person in it with actual zoom
👍. They should have put the 3b. Instead of the 2d in as a premium tank.
Mk.3A might make for a good premium
ENGINE RELOCATION DOES NOTHING FOR CREW SURVIVABILITY IN WAR THUNDER
🥶🥶🥶
Yeah because for gaijin it's "a bug" if the engine stop something
I'm awful at ground, but I really struggle Vs T72s because of the ERA in this. The ERA just eats my rounds over and over
I was going to say skill issue but honestly you just need to learn where to shoot then your experience will be much better
LFP on all Russian MBTs with auto loaders are completely unprotected and can be penned even with heatfs. Shooting LFP also ammo racks almost always with apfsds
Just shoot the left side of the underbelly of T-72s with APFSDS rounds you will usually explode their fuel and ammo.
Shoot at the lower front plate or shoot right below the turret in the drivers hatch.
I was a turms noob when I bought it during spring break. Since then and especially over the summer, I learned my weakspots. Drivers hatch area and lower glacis are 2 places I always rely on for killing T72s
Oh good, if the bullshit black hole armor wasn't strong enough.
Someone tell me how sense I bought this tank I have killed 2 reaper drones without even seeing them or shooting them 🤣
PLUS HELIS HAVE MORE LOCK ON FIRE AND FORGET MISSILES WHICH RUINS WAR THUNDER AS A SKILL BASED GAME
🥶🥶🥶
MERKAVA TURRETS LOOK SMOOTH
😁👍
Muslim children beware 😎
compared to Premium Russian tanks this is shit its so annoying why they give such a ''bad'' premium for any non soviet countries?
Compared to what? Turms? Mb u just cant play it properly?