I don't understand why people think this is circumventing the mechanics. If that's the case, we shouldn't be killing any node at all since it locks ADS from being able to use that ability.

What about parties that kill all the nodes? ADS wouldn't use rot anymore (at the cost of a haste buff I believe). Is this an exploit? Some people trade which abilities to lock are they exploiting by choosing which they want to lock and not follow a black and white knowledge base?

You're trading one set of mechanics for another (which you could lock anyway) so in the end, who cares? Why would you care anyway? Did the 0 click strat break up your marriage or something? Is your immersion being threatened? "Bads" are able to pass T2, but do you really think they will be able to pass T4?

I mean, really, why do we gotta worry about what other people do? Gotta let it go (besides, T6-10 are due shortly where you can lord over all the "casuals" or "bads" by clearing before them).