CBXL Event #2

Seems some of our Canadian friends are feeling a bit left out when it comes to breaking layouts down. Despite the fact I'm finding the process a bit tedious of late how could I turn our bros from the Great White North down? (At least this time.)
I'm going to do this one a bit differently however. The diagram indicates the basic snake side Home shooting lanes and on the opposite side of the field some different pathways are defined in four different colors; light green, dark green, light blue & dark blue. Given the CXBL plays traditional xball at 15 bps--and there are some wide open OTB lanes--I thought it might be worth taking a comprehensive look at a variety of ways of getting into the snake (alive, that is.)

Before we get started a couple of general comments. The
snake corner rockets (MTs) do not have complete control over the snake(s) [tall players excepted perhaps] but will end up battling each other hard. In addition the MT has dominating wraps on the snake side primaries and is also capable in a pinch of contesting the D-wire rotation from the opponent's 40 MD. Which reminds me, the snake isn't great (until you get past the 50) but neither is the D-wire. The only mitigating factors are the placements of the Cans and TCKs on both sides of the layout which are more susceptible to getting pinched but probably have to be played.

Let's get started. In one respect taking the snake (as is the case with any other possible primary) is pretty cut & dry, either the move is made OTB or some amount of time after the breakout. Since it's a contest there's usually some urgency. I'm going to focus here on the options that rely on changing sequences and use delays to misdirect your opponent. One quick reminder first: Remember, the distance between running lanes can be critical to regular success. A direct run to the back of snake 1 is generally the best in combination with a deep baseline run to the corner. (The counter from your opponent is to use the lane inside of the Can where the spacing between the snake & corner runner is closer and both will still be running upright. It is also a more difficult lane to shoot as it needs to be on target a "second" sooner than a wide lane.)
Looking at the light green paths you will see go right to the snake while the other delays somewhere around the TCK. There is a relatively effective Dead Zone past the TCK (moving outward toward the wire side) and behind the Pins. This area can be used in a number of ways. The light green path represents taking the snake OTB. The Dead Zone/TCK delay is one of a couple of related options. Version 1 a corner runner trailing the snake runner delays to shoot back at opponent's home and disrupt lane. Version 2, that player is a designated edger who will play the TCK as primary leaving it to Home shooter to take the corner after shooting the OTB lane. In either case an attempt is made to assist the snake runner by counter-laning back at Home. Looking at the dark green paths they could represent precisely the same sequences but don't. In this variant the corner runner leads. (And is also gunning back at Home.) The snake runner delays, either doubling on Home or zone shooting for an opponent running wide, prior to taking the snake. The alternative is the snake runner is also running & gunning but from a trailing position that offers the opponent(s) just enough time to focus on the lead runner but not enough to re-adjust as the trailing (snake) runner heads for the snake. The dark blue paths and one of the light blue paths indicate intermediate primaries (TCK, Pin, Can) that are launch points for taking the snake on inside-out rotations and are done in conjunction with a corner player. Where the difference in time with a trailing runner is perhaps a second and a runner on the delay is a bit more but ideally still less than two seconds there is no time limit on secondary moves into the snake. (Simple rule of thumb for delay runner is as soon as an opponent has moved through your lane it's time to go.) From any of the inside-out launch primaries the basic manuever is to use your Home shooter to keep opponent's widest guns from wrapping while your corner takes the opponent's Home off his lane. This leaves the player making the move into the snake with one or sometimes two (a crossfield shooter?) to check off/and-or deal with in order to make a successful rotation into the snake. If you have any follow-up questions post 'em up in comments.

There are a variety of creative ways to get a player into the snake quickly. These are some of the common options. They require coordination and teamwork in order to execute them effectively. Best of all perhaps they will apply to virtually any field layout you might play that has a snake, not just CXBL #2.