West Coast Open Breakout(s)

Here's last month's West Coast Open layout and the basic breakout concept we used. Looking at the primaries though doesn't really cover the actual breakouts used because of the options built into the basic breakout.

The red lines represent run options and were used at the players' discretion unless I otherwise requested a particular path be run. (I do this sometimes if I'm concerned about falling into an unintended routine or if I have an expectation of what the other team is more likely than not to do. Normally I prefer to accommodate the players' preferences simply because more comfortable players are often more confident players.) The dashed blue line reps what I tend to think of as a delayed primary option.

This relatively rudimentary breakout offers nearly everything you'd like in terms of flexibility while maximizing the number of guns up and rolling off the break. For example, in the group of four players playing snake side plus the forward center MT the variations possible make it very easy to mix up your breakouts while continuing to achieve your basic breakout goals. Any of the four positions can be held back as the home snake side laner. Two even can be kept back. This allows for a breakout that one times hits the snake and corner together. Or trails the corner while the snake is taken OTB. Or the corner taken directly and the snake taken incrementally by staging from the MC or Brick. Lots of different ways to shuffle those four basic positions in order to keep your opponent guessing. To a slightly lesser degree the same applies to the D-side as well. The end result should be guns up, eyes up and people in position to do damage or quickly threaten to do damage.

Btw, in practical terms this breakout was a failure pretty much all day but it really had zero to do with the breakout and its potential. It was a failure all day not because it didn't work--we seldom lost bodies off the break or gave up significant field position--but because of a failure to execute both individually and as a team effectively enough to be successful. (Only Arsenal thumped us and that was in part due to the unlikely combination of a gun going down at the same time a player suffered a brief fit of temporary blindness.) And that was largely due to a lack of practice and some attitude issues that have since (hopefully) been adjusted.

If there's any questions--this was very cursory--don't hesitate to ask. Sadly I actually enjoy talking about this stuff. Tomorrow I'll post the breakout that won a game in under a minute during the same event and explain a little bit about how and why the turnaround.

And on Saturday and Sunday I'll see about posting some breakouts and results from the DC Challenge.