I have experienced this when forming basic incarnate trials. We were lacking in support, but had a plethora of +3 incarnates on the team with destinies, lore pets, and judgements. The support on the team was worried to the point of considering dropping, and expressing concern that we were not at a full league for the content. Needless to say, we really smashed through it and the teams did a wonderful job.
I'd chalk all of this up to rediscovering the game after years of being away. Even though it's been a few months, the content still has an unfamiliarity that people want the certainty that comes from the most visibly optimum team builds. As we become more familiar with the game, the less visible components that make up success will be more quickly recognized. We'll get to the point that we recognize teams are more than just the sum of its AT parts.
Still need a million rad and psi users for the Really Hard Way, though.. ;)