PSP MAO '10

First I want to commend the PSP for taking the risk of putting out a seemingly unconventional field when they know there will be some vocal internet backlash and participation is down--at least in the Race 2-2 divisions. In fact the field isn't all that unconventional as this post will demonstrate although it will, in some perhaps critical ways, play differently for those players and teams who try to push the envelope a little bit. (Fortune favors the bold, it's just the referees who can't make up their minds.) Otherwise, frankly it will play like a mediocre conventional field.

Let's begin with diagram 1, the perimeter. (Btw, I'm reproducing these diagrams in small but you can enlarge them with a click, or two.) I've blocked out all the interior mid-field props so you can see the basic field layout minus the clutter and "out-of-place" bunkers. Viewed this way it's not all that unconventional at all--in fact, perhaps the most unconventional aspect may be the dearth of playable props on the D-wire. There may be lots of bunkers in the middle of the field but it's easy to see where teams & players will go most of the time OTB.

Diagram 2, Home lanes & DZs, show that while there are a few clean lanes to be shot they are, by and large, just gaps (with a couple of exceptions) and the significant amount of DZ space affords a lot of guns up opportunities--particularly in light of the real limitations in terms of the number of bunkers feeding the wires.

Diagram 3, crossfield lanes, highlights the relative ineffectiveness of the crossfield wire shots from the snake and the doritos. Those limitations are matched by a lack of shots that can eliminate wire positions. When this characteristic is a feature of a field's design one result is the field tends to play in halves; D-wire battles D-wire and snake battles snake. (The unique midfield will modify that tendency to some degree but how much will be completely dependent on the teams & players.) In purple, this design also features corner props as widely placed as any other wire props. Coupled with a lack on interior placements for wire control the corner props will be near necessities much of the time and reinforce the (expected) heavy wire play.

Finally, both wire 50s are virtual full stops. The A is begging to create officiating problems (as will portions of the midfield) and the "sub" section of the snake actively discourages interior play by offering few shots and a high degree of exposure to elimination. The purpose of this post was to illustrate that in many ways this design is both conventional and slow. How a team chooses to play or not play the midfield could make a decisive difference and, of course, since we will be competing on this layout I won't be discussing ways to incorporate midfield play into your game plan.