2011 WCPPL Battle Royale

First, this is an excellent layout that should be fun for all skill levels while presenting the better teams with a real challenge as well. (Could it bog down? Yes, but only in games where teams are equally matched and equally timid. I'll say timid instead of what I'm thinking.) Team paintball or at least paintball in pairs will be at a premium on this field. (Let me take a second and explain what I mean by paintball in pairs. More often that not typical breakouts see two players committed to each side of the field--even when one stays Home to lane first--while the dedicated Home shooter is usually committed to one side or the other; strong side snake or D-wire. The most effective effort derives from the pair of players working together, playing off each other and the lanes Home is shooting to gain secondary positions and begin eliminating opponents. Too often, even in those basic situations players tend to play in isolation. Playing in pairs can limit the number of necessary gunfights and brings extra firepower to bear where and when its most effective, among other things.)

There's a lot to cover so most of this will be short on in depth details. If you have any questions post them up in comments. More DZ (dead zone) talk on playing the D-wire. Denying rotations on the D-wire or all out attack? Playing the center. When Home is only a TCK. Making the snake. The dominant early and mid-game bunker. Snake side DZ & when to use it. Whew!

The grey shaded areas are approximate zones where either the Home shooter or players wrapping the D-corner aztec of wire MT cannot see ... or shoot. Given that the only insert prop is a mini-race it can make the D-side breakout appear rather daunting. It doesn't need to be. With all the dead space there is no reason not to take advantage of the opportunity to shake thinks up on your opponents once in a while. This can assist in countering the Home shooter and/or allow an extra gun to be up laning. A further advantage is the player gets to "read" the breakout action and respond accordingly meaning the player isn't necessarily forced to commit to a predetermined primary but can "flow" as the unfolding action allows. Learn the field. Once you think you have it start again.

Most of the time the D-side is the weak side. Two players are committed to playing the D-side. A one man attack is high risk but if you want to have a gun in position to deny or slow down your opponents rotations wide or upfield what do you do? The green lanes on the grid show shooting lanes available to a d-side player trying to deny movement. If you push both D-side players to the wire quickly most teams seem to lose the ability to deny movement but it need not work out that way. When you are wide and your opponent isn't instead of having the lead wire player focus on inside and cross field eliminations--which is the norm--and instead have the lead focus on wrapping and denying rotation from an upfield position while the second wire player moves up looking for the inside shots. One standard alternative is to simply get upfield more quickly than your opponent. Some teams and players will attempt to counter with aggressive bunkering efforts, which is fine if you're prepared, but plenty of other teams and players, particularly divisional players, will hesitate and struggle afraid to get too close or not close enough. And the fact you already hold the superior position means they can't.

The center of the field is a must play--at least some of the time. In prepping to play the center however don't simply consider how you're going to get to a particular prop and who you hope to shoot from it. Take a few steps further. The cans can be pinched and the MD can be attacked directly. What do you do when the pressure starts to mount? Hope to get skinny and live as long as you can? Or maybe a better idea would be to move before it comes to that. But where? The other question is when do you use the center? Oftentimes center play can be conditional; shoot a wide runner OTB and move up field to cut down angles and reduce distances.

When Home is only a TCK do not let your opponent get comfortable. A lot of teams will struggle to keep two shooters alive if you attack them with edgers OTB. You should already know it's a fairly safe option from the D-side so what are you waiting for? (See the orange squares.) Teams that routinely keep players inside OTB have to be countered. Force them to change. You may discover they don't know how and one simple adjustment puts them in a world of hurt. (Of course y'all still have to be able to hit something and I've seen plenty of 12 and a half balls per second wizards who are more danger to their teammates OTB than the opponents. Go practice.)

Who can shoot the gap in front of snake 1? The insert TCK but if the paint isn't streaming it won't work because because the TCK can't see most runners coming. And can be pushed off his edge by the opposite corner aztec. How about the Can? (See purple square.) There's a lane but no telling until the field is set up how much of one. And, if you look closely you will see the Can can see the corner aztec but only part of the gap between the corner and snake 1. Struggling to get into the snake? Use the corner--push the Can off his edge--take the snake--and refill.

Why refill? Because the corner--especially when you don't have a mirror--is the most valuable bunker until the end game phase begins. It feeds the snake, can contest its mirror on an equal footing and dominate the opponent's TCK and 30 Can and even blind shoot the insert snake side MT. If you aren't in the corner you're at a disadvantage. Plenty of props offer some utility but not playing the corner puts you in a hole. (On the flipside kill the corner, deny the corner will be a very effective tactic.)

And finally, check out the red square. It's another DZ. Getting hammered by edgers you can't seem to compete with? Giving up the 30 Can all day and the guy never comes off his edge? This wide DZ could be the answer you need. Get out there quick--like you're taking the corner--but come up short, gun up, and shoot some fools. The edger will never see it coming and even if you trade out with the Can player he's no longer pinning your team to the back line.