Baca's Mailbag: WCPPL #2 part 2

Have you noticed that the layouts for PSP-style Race 2 events have trended toward encouraging wire side confrontations? Each point often becomes two battles down each wire for control and dominance and success on one wire or the other often leads to the game closeout. I mention it here for two reasons; as a reminder not to get so caught up in your wire war you forget about the few good crossfield opportunities there are, and as an example of how elements of the game (layout) influence how we play often without us noticing.

I'm going to begin today with the orange T. It is a useful primary or secondary (bump from Home.) It is, in fact almost a second Home. OTB it offers some versatility for your laners (and more cover and visibility than the Home CK) and it also functions as a transitional hub. A prop you can use to make secondary moves to any other part of the field. It's little to no use for snake contain and of limited use in controlling D wire rotations but when coupled with another prop and working in tandem it's not a bad choice given all the options the player in the orange T has as the point develops.
It's worth a note here that I left the D side lane blocking Can out of the breakdown altogether. That isn't because it isn't playable or a decent alternate temporary bump when making an inside out move; ie: orange T to D1 or D2, for example. The concern is that except the xbox the blocking Can is the most exposed prop to S1 and for many teams taking the snake OTB will be a consistent option and if they make it more often than not they will take the blocking Can out of play.
Moving on to the green props--as mentioned yesterday their strength is they can be played effectively both ways. (Although this is less true of the D side CK it's a safe prop OTB with good options for the next rotation up field as well as a couple of good lanes to play early in the point.) Most common combination is likely to be the snake side lane blocking MT paired with the D side T. Communication between the two shouldn't be an issue and between them they can take turns as necessary working their contain lanes to either side of the field--and both props are positioned to give ready access to the two wires (or center) as the points transition from mid-game to close or it's necessary to replace eliminated teammates.
The blue MT is almost a must play prop. It can contain movement wireside between the doritos and deny your opponent the ability to wrap. And if your opponent is in their blue MT you have to match them otherwise it creates a distinct advantage for them/disadvantage to you. Additionally the blue MT has excellent nearly all field vision and can put paint on a lot of different props. The blue MT can also be played on the inside--even if there's an S1--if it's played low and provides a good position from which to bump into the doritos.
Tactically what you're going to want to keep in mind is that if you can keep your opponent out of the snake feed TCK you isolate any snake player and pin their support in positions you can effectively attack from the cross. Which means that D2 should be a high priority prop you want to get into asap--and at the same time use the large exposed gaps between the green T and blue MT and D1 and between D1 and D2 to pin your opponent in D1. If they can't get out of D1 you blunt the whole D wire attack and pin their support/insert players in the back.
As always the first ten seconds OTB will often be critical to your success or failure. There are good lanes to be had. Find them, figure out to use them and you could make quick work of your opponent. Have fun.