Map Chat I
One of the most important but difficult to explain parts of the game is what some people call “game-sense”. This can refer to big picture things like knowing where everyone is in the maze, who is winning, and what strategic calls to make, but equally important are those quick split-second decisions we make on attack and defence. This is often referred to as “base play” and is often the main skill separating top tier teams from the next level down.
In this series I look at hypothetical scenarios in the maze and analyse the optimum second-by-second decisions that the players should be making. This is a great way to study a map with your team and if your team map talks don’t already incorporate this sort of analysis, I suggest you give it a go.
This week’s scenario is a simple 2 verses 3 at red base in Dunedin. To help me out, I asked a few players from the community to give their first opinions on how it should play out. I asked each player the following set of questions. Feel free to have a think about this yourself before reading on.
Normally in a 2v3 defence, the defenders have the advantage. Every so often though, if the attack is playing well, they can create an opportunity and get a base. I set this scenario up so there is a split-second opportunity for Green here. Let’s see what our reviewers thought.
Question 1: Who has the advantage here?
Xeta (Joel from Dunedin, C player, has played this maze): Green
Puzzles (Margie’s little sister, E player, has not played this maze): Green
Mumin (Top tier Swede from Feydakin, A player, has not played this maze): Green
Ibo (Maroon, famous zone caster, A player, has not played this maze): Green
vDark (Cobras, A player, has played this maze): Green can get a base here
Summary: It looks like everyone has spotted the advantage for Green. It was nice of vDark to point out why they had the advantage but for full marks I would want him to mention that Green’s advantage will only last about 8-16 seconds.
Question 2: What should green do?
Xeta: Player D needs to take out player C in 6 seconds, then move up on player A. Player E should keep player A distracted. Players A and B should be taken out pretty close to each other. If it works out, Green has 4 or 5 seconds to take the base, as long as they look out for player C.
Summary: Xeta wants to take out the two outside players again before going for the take. Assuming the inside player doesn’t interfere and they both win their spawns, this is a good idea because it converts a 3 second window into a 6 second window. The risk is that something may go wrong and they might end up missing the window altogether. Xeta plays Nexus where this strategy is usually safe, but I would not recommend it on Helios.
Puzzles: D should run to the door and shoot A once they’re up. They should then move into the base and watch out that same door for C while E takes.
Summary: Pin the defender on the L then come in both sides.
Mumin: Make sure the defender is looking at E while D shoots A in the back. Both Greens go in and D takes the base while holding his angle. E holds off on his side.
Summary: Pin the defender on the L then come in both sides.
Ibo: Use player E to pin defender A in the L and either green D or E can clear the base depending on which side of the L A tries to take. There is plenty of time to take the base clean.
Summary: Pin the defender on the L then come in both sides.
vDark: On all systems/timing sequences this should get a base here:
T=1: Player E moves to the close door to pin player A.
T=2: Player D moves to shoot player A.
T=3 > 5.4: Player E takes the base.
Once player A is deactivated, player D needs to mark and call where player C is coming from to ensure C doesn’t deny player E. If this maneuver is executed perfectly, player E will be able to finish the base before player C spawns. However, there is only a 0.6 second margin of error so it is likely that player C will get a chance at a deny if player E is open.
Summary: Although this looks complex, it’s actually the same concept that Mumin and Ibo explained. The key difference here is where vDark recognizes that the take window is tight and so details how green should play to minimize the chance of getting denied.
What can we learn from all this?
It was interesting to see how everyone came up with more or less the same plan. This scenario is pretty simple and setting up both doors is one of the most common strategies to get into a base but there are still a few lessons to learn.
- Communication is key: Note that D and E have to work together closely to get in here, but they can’t see each other. D needs to know to move forward but it’s not really safe to do so until B has been deactivated. If E wasn’t calling his door then this take wouldn’t be possible.
- Patience is a virtue: A common mistake people make on attack is making a play for the base as soon as they win a spawn. In this scenario, E could make a play immediately (and might even get the base out of it) but the take chance is much higher if he waits for D.
Question 3: What Should Red Do?
Xeta: Assuming everyone knows what’s up, player B should move to where player C is to defend player A from the front.
Summary: B moves over to where C and D are. This won’t help at all against the immediate take threat but might help if Green doesn’t go for the take. Also note this does counter Xeta’s take strategy for Green, but not the strategy proposed by the other players.
Puzzles: B should call that they’re down but green is up. And let A know when Green tries to enter. C should have already made a call but should let A know when Green goes for the door and how long Green has till they spawn (if they know). A should stay where they are, focusing the currently up player, and only cry if necessary.
Summary: A has to defend this by himself, so the outside players need to make good calls to maximize their chances.
Mumin: A should try and take out E but it’s not easy. He will be attacked in the back so he needs to dodge a shot from D. B can’t do much since the base will be down before he wakes up. C should go for the far entrance since he will be expected to attack the near entrance.
Summary: If A can take E out the base will be saved. C should switch to the other side and prepare to go for the deny.
Ibo: If Green are good, there’s probably not much Red can do FROM this point. They could have been positioned better previously but aside from that the only REAL chance A has of defending the base from a competent attack is to lunge at the right hand side door to take out E and cover the bottom door from the spot E is pictured, pinning D where he is. Red B then activates in and rotates inside filling the empty spot (with a 2 out, 1 in defense in this base, I wouldn’t play the L, but move from door to door on the inside of the base)
Summary: Like the others so far, Ibo has identified that A needs to do something to prevent this base going down. Instead of staying where he is, Ibo thinks the best chance is to make a big play against E before D arrives. If successful, the base will probably be saved. I also like that he is thinking about what Red could have done differently to avoid getting into this pickle. Playing proactively on the inner wall instead of on the L would allow the inside defender to 2v1 anyone spawning by the doors and prevent one winning on each side.
vDark: This take is going to be marginal for Green. Unless they execute their attack sequence perfectly, player C will get a chance to spawn. However, he will be marked by player D and unlikely to actually get the shot on the player taking the base.
The first step Red should take is to buy a couple of extra seconds at the start of this sequence so that player B would spawn before the base goes down. One option for this would be for player A to make sure player E has to shoot them (rather than player D). They should wait until just before they are in sight of player D, and then make a dynamic play to try take out player E. If successful, the base will be saved. If not, it buys extra time from player E who has to deal with the move before shooting at the base.
Player C needs to make sure they are available for the shot on the taker if they can. If the attacker’s timing or position isn’t right, it’s likely they could get a deny out of simply moving to the right spot. On ZLTAC Helios timing, if they have sight of the player taking the base when they turn on, they will get the deny 90% of the time.
If the red team has successfully bought enough time so that player B will be up before the base is finished going down, player C should prioritise:
1) If a shot is available on the shooter, take it.
2) If not, try win a duel against player D and then go in both doors at once with player B.
Summary: This is a bit of a combination between Mumin’s strategy (set up the deny) and Ibo’s plan (make a play before both doors are set up). It also introduces the concept of stalling before making your play, to minimise the take window and hopefully set up more options for your team mates.
What can we learn from all this?
The common theme here is that even though everyone agrees Green can get a base out of it, there are still lots of options Red can take to maximise their chances of stopping the take. I also like the analysis of what Red did wrong to get themselves into this position. This also came through from several people in the “any other info” question.
- Be ready to exploit mistakes: In this scenario, if Green plays perfectly they will get a base. Red’s best option is to try and force Green to make a mistake and be ready to take advantage if they do.
- Sometimes a “bad” play is the only play: The player trapped on the L has a disadvantage if he moves forward on the player waiting at the door. However, if he does nothing he will get shot from the other side anyway. It’s better to make the big play and have a chance at saving the base than wait and lose it for sure.
- Post-game analysis is important: If you work backwards, you can see that Red made several mistakes to allow Green to get this set up. Red should look at this after the game and work out what they could do differently to prevent this set up. In 2v3, every take is preventable.
Next time
Huge thanks to everyone who contributed to this. I actually had three examples but the write-up was too big to fit into a single post so the next two will include analysis from the same people. If you’re interested in this type of analysis and want to get involved in a future edition, let me know. Happy to have people from all skill levels contribute since it’s interesting to see how players at different levels think.
The next episode will feature a base from the 2017 Worlds arena, Belfort.
