those are mostly oversights with simple fixes i.e. pld cover. SMN has always been strong in in frontlines even going back to when they had dots like bio 1/2, miasma and shadowflare. They excel in choke points which a lot of maps have like the middle node of hakir. I think visibility of which are friendly and which aren't would be nice. Like if the bahamuts were colored by their respective GC i.e. mael = red, flames = black, adders = yellow. Atm I can't tell which is firendly and which isn't and I walk into one that I thought is friendly but turns out it it isn't.

I've seen alliances get shut out of the middle in cartenau when the nodes spawn by three bahamuts and a few slipstreams as they come up the ramp for easy kills. With a full party of 8 SMN with LB's you can easily block both alliances by playing the LB's on the rams going up the mid and any survivors are just picked off.

I think fundamentally the 3 alliance design is creating animosity because most, if not all, matches are basically picking on one alliance be it either adder or flames. I honestly dread whenever I get put into those GC's for a queue. Doesn't mean I won't try but its one of those situations where its frustrating enough to lose that I usually turn off the game for the day and not bother with it. Just no fun to get ganked and they need to stop with the three or maybe introduce a fourth like Ishgard GC. Stick to only two teams and keep it simple.