Strategery

[SquanchingInHere]

I don't know if this is the best place to put random strategy-related thoughts, but let's give it a shot...

#1 Communication

We've already discussed this during a few different games, but we should work on communicating information better. We're doing a decent job calling out the position of weapons (and the usage of specials), but we need to be faster and more consistent.

This will definitely improve once we all get familiar with the zone names for the various maps (here it is, in case anyone missed it: http://squidboards.com/guides/tournament-map-pack-2-0.103/).

We should also work on calling out any patterns we're noticing (e.g., weapons consistently taking the same routes, camping spots, etc.). Right now, this happens off and on during our games. If it was more consistent, we'd all be more informed... and we'd be more alert about recognizing opponent patterns.

Finally, we should provide more information during the respawn delay. When you die (and I'm basically talking to myself at this point since I die *a lot*), it's a great time to update the team on a) what you're seeing from your killer's perspective (if it's useful), b) how many team members are dead (so crazy people like me don't try to charge in without support), c) what the game objective looks like (e.g., time left, current score, etc.), d) anything else I'm forgetting.

#2 Roles

We've played together long enough to kinda sorta know how everyone likes to play, but we still haven't really identified our roles (even on a game-by-game basis). Nate is our only charger/splatling (to my knowledge) so he's a natural anchor.

The rest of us don't really have well-defined roles at the moment. I don't think the roles need to be super inflexible (because in-game situations will require flexibility -- at least temporarily), but I do think they should be more descriptive than, "short range" or "long range" (or whatever we've been doing up to this point).

I also realize a lot of this will be map/game-mode dependent. But we should at least start fleshing that out.

#3 Everything Else

Honestly, I just don't want to type anything else right now. And I have real work to do. ;-)

So... hopefully someone else will pick up this conversation and run with it.

 

[AmericanJackalope]

I'm glad to see that we've played enough together now that we aren't satisfied with ****ing around any more. If we can find a consistent time in the week when we are all able to play, we can go into private battles and practice our strategies and ideas out on each other then take those into the "real world."

 

[Brickmastr]

I think the biggest thing we need to work on as a team is just playing smarter, not harder. I think we keep losing our territory in part because we all have a habit of over extending ourselves. If we could practice just securing the center and not pushing into their side too much, we should do a lot better. Also, like Steve said, we need to know when it's best to fall back, even if that means losing the zone or tower while the team regroups. I posted it on the main page of our group but this guide talks about all of these mistakes we're all making. It's a really good read if you can make it through the whole thing.

 

[SquanchingInHere]

It feels like we're starting to develop roles (for TC, at least)...

Nate -- boss anchor that acts as the last line of defense... and consistently picks people off at a ridiculous rate.

Ben/Kielly/Steve -- defense or offense, depending on the current game conditions; closer to Nate when the tower is moving in our territory and closer to Sal when we're making a move into enemy territory.

Sal -- always near the tower (on it, ahead of it wrecking people, etc.) and almost non-stop offense.

Those descriptions make it seem like we're really spread out, but last night we were able to stay within about 2 zones of each other at all times (i.e., we advanced together and we retreated together).

Call me crazy, but I think we made a lot of team progress last night. (I probably just jinxed us, but I don't give a fuuuuuuuuuuuuck.)

 

[AmericanJackalope]

I like it! And I agree, we're starting to move and communicate more like a unit.

 

[Brickmastr]

I agree, we just need to get Austin and Oli on more so we can see their play styles more!

As far as SZ, we'll want to make sure we're more defensive. There's not much value in pushing the enemy side too much.