The Altitude Ball Player's Handbook

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I've decided to write a guide covering the basic concepts and strategies of ball. After giving some advice to a few players who were new to the competitive ball scene I decided to compile a rather large amount of advice for players just beginning to play in ball ladder and those looking to join the competitive ball scene. For now I'm providing the outline and following Sky League (when I should have more free time), I'll flesh it out and fill in areas as they are written. The outline should show what I am trying to accomplish and it also gives me more incentive to finish it as now I've stated I will in a public setting.

I. Opening

1. General Strategy
- Grabbing Power-ups
- Prevent The Easy Goal
- Three Basic Approaches (The Rush/The Counter/The Grind) *First Draft Posted 3/2*

II. Offense

1. Without The Ball:
- Meaningful Kills vs. Whoring *First Draft Posted 3/7*
- Assisting the Push (Sacrificing For the Greater Good)
- Creating Spacing With Passing Lanes

2. With The Ball:
- Running A Lane And Benefits (Bottom/Middle/Top) *First Draft Posted 3/29*
- About To Die: "Death Drop" or "Bury?" *First Draft Posted 3/29*
- When To Delay And When To Rush

III. Defense *First Draft Posted 1/13*

1. General Strategy:
- Never Fall Behind/Overcommit
- Prevent The Pass/Clear

2. Situational Strategy:
- Goalkeeping When Outmanned
- "Killing The Ball"

IV. Participating In Competition

1. Communication (Calling Out Power-Ups/Respawns/Number Advantages) *First Draft Posted 3/16*
2. Research The Opponent
3. Map Choice

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The 3 Basic Openings in Ball:

The opening in ball is usually unorganized chaos, often featuring a mad dash by loopies and randas to get first possession. While there are a few clans that experiment with established openings, the opening of a point is still the least analyzed part of the game. Still, there are three general types of openings.

The Rush - The most popular type of opening, a rush strategy depends on a randa (in rare occassions a loopy) to get to the ball first by afterburning hard and hoping the enemy reacts too slow or makes positioning mistakes. The rush is most viable if the carrier has cover near the ball spawn point, such as the platforms in planepark. Open maps are much more difficult to run a successful rush: too much firepower can get to the carrier.

While a rush can sometimes lead to a goal for the carrier, the key benefit is that opponent who went mid usually have to turn around to get to the carrier, exposing their tail to offensive support for easy kills. A quick rush that leads to a numbers advantage from these kills can then regroup and have a high probability of scoring.

The Counter - A counter opening gives possession to the opponent in order to get in an ideal position to defend against a rush. The biggest weakness with rushing is that the carrier begins by pushing far ahead of their teammates in an attempt to force the defense into a fast pace. This means their support will be late in a situation where they are outnumbered in a lane.

Also, in most rushes you'll see the offensive whales move to control midfield or even further ahead to keep the carrier moving forward, so a quick kill of the carrier and a fast push can leave a rushing team in terrible position to react, leading to easy goals.

A counter opening must also deny opportunities for power-up pushing. Nothing will ruin a backed-up defense more than a well-timed wall or a shield leading a train. Because of the level of trust and situational awareness required for a good counter, it's not used too often outside of league play.

The Grind - On a team with great killers and a carrier that is experienced in evasion and stalling, a grind is a very effective opening. The concept is that the carrier misdirects and decieves opponents into taking bad lanes and risks that the offensive support can turn into kills. Typically you'll see the support group up in front of the carrier to clear the lane of any possible threats.

It's a steady and solid push but must be quick enough to beat enemy spawn times and careful to avoid letting the carrier get flanked. Wait too long and the weakened offense can get massacred by a fresh defense. A grind also needs to be aware of power-ups, especially walls that can close out the planned route and cause disarray.

For a grind to be successful a priority should be placed on taking out enemy whales and loopies because of their crowd control abilities. With those planes out of the way a train can then lead a trail of destruction straight into the goal.

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Meaningful Kills vs. Whoring:
Ever since I started playing ball there's been discussion on how valuable kills are in a ball match. Killing is clearly not the main objective in ball, the only way to win is to get 6 goals. It'd be suicide however to think you could win a match without a decent amount of kills. A better way to analyze how a team is doing is if they are making meaningful kills.

First, we should take a look at what a kill gains us: it's a numbers advantage for a short amount of time, emphasis on short because of the small respawn time in ball. A kill total says nothing more than "I removed x amount of players for x amount of time." . While a high kill number looks good and usually has a positive effect on the game, the game doesn't separate bad kills from meaningful ones. Yes, there are bad kills: a mistake made way too often by beginning players is that they get an opportunity to get a kill on a player and they chase, completely ignoring the ball carrier and removing themselves from the actual play. There is never a situation where a kill is worth giving up a goal. This is an example of "whoring" : it's going for kills just to make the individual look better and not contributing to the objective of scoring goals. It's certainly possible to focus on killing and contribute to the team, but each kill needs to be meaningful and followed up with defending or attacking with the ball.

A meaningful kill on offense typically accomplishes one of these things: it removes an opponent blocking a potential passing lane or a shot to the goal, it destroys an opponent attacking the carrier or it prevents an opponent from grabbing a power-up. On defense, a meaningful kill should do one of these things: take out the carrier, destroy an opponent trying to create a passing lane or stop the opponent from grabbing a power-up to assist a push. There are other situations where a meaningful kill can be made but these are by far the most common. Perhaps the simplest way to summarize it would be this: a meaningful kill is one that limits good options for an offense/defense. Less good options means more predictability and more chances that a player might take a risk on a bad option.

Once the opponent isn't a threat, move to the next threat. An example of this is a loopy that hits a successful emp and sees that their opponent is stalled out and dragging on the ground. They should fly away if the action is midfield or at top. This doesn't mean completely ignore the opponent: if they become a threat again, address them again. Do not waste time however when it could be used more efficiently.

Some may question this and point out the incapacitated opponent could grab a full health pack and come back into the play. This is actually an even better result than killing them in most situations: now the opponent has spent time to recover their plane which might not be all that much shorter than the respawn time and they have taken a health pack which might've been more useful to a player currently involved in the action.

This is how teams with lower kill totals can win games. They keep the objective of scoring in focus and make more meaningful kills than a whoring team does.

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Communication
Smart and active communication can take an average team and greatly improve their cohesiveness. For example, in Sky League 4 Aces High unexpectedly placed third, challenging ball in the second round and beating tVo in the fourth place match to face ball (and lost) in the third place match. Smart communication in mumble was not the only component to the play-off run, but it was certainly a large component.

Many teams use the Altitude mumble channel and consider it a valuable part of competing, sometimes requiring clan members, at the minimum, listen in Mumble. Adjustments to the flow of the game can be made on the fly and coordinated much easier than through team chat. Besides making quick substitutions or team plane composition changes, players should provide as much information as possible on the gamestate to the team. Are any power-ups respawning? Have enemies picked up power-ups, who and what? Are opponents clogging up the bottom lane so the middle or top are clear? Have they changed their plane composition? Do any opponents have bars? There's a lot of valuable information that most players aren't going to be able to see half the time, so it's important that teammates let them know.

There's a lot of ways Mumble can be used, but a small tip is to call out respawning. A player who just recovered the ball in front of the net could have a choice. Our gut reaction tells us to go down since it generally is the quickest way to move the ball. However, if we have a few teammates spawning in the top lane we could have an opportunity for an aggressive push in the top lane.

Some high-level players have told me conversation in Mumble raises their game not only by the information teammates can provide but because it helps them to focus. Once conversation begins about the game it can be a reminder that it's time to zone in and perform. Make sure conversation stays on the game though; stray into other topics and that focus can be diminished.

Research The Opponent
Knowing a player's tendencies can reveal weakness and strengths that a team can capitalize on. Unfortunately the structure of most ball leagues and tournaments makes it difficult to scout a team by spectating, so the next best option is Altitude Ladder. Yes, the statistics are somewhat skewed but currently it's the best we have available. I gain confidence after I research an opponent because I know what they're capable of, if they appear to be in a slump or red hot, what maps they've excelled at or struggled with. It might not reveal any obvious weaknesses but the confidence I gain from the research itself is worth the time.

Map choice can become a tactical decision instead of a gut feeling. Check the opponent's winning percentages at maps in the pool: there are players who struggle with certain maps and picking their weaker maps may benefit. Perhaps a map with chokepoints like funnelpark would be a wise decision against a team that moves the ball well but doesn't kill much. Of course, this information is only valuable if they've played a significant amount of games at that map.

When spectating in ladder you can also use your time to focus on opponents and jot down notes about their tendencies. Do they *always* clear down on defense or do they vary it up? How do they like to move in the opening? Do they run full speed or do they delay sometimes? Knowledge is power: find out what you can and plan.

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Offense:

Choosing the Right Lane and Carrying the Ball

Often when you get control of the ball your lane choice is forced by the positioning of opponents and the location you pick the ball up. However, there are times when you have the space and time to make a decision. Experienced players tend to divide a map into top, middle and bottom routes and each have advantages and disadvantages.

The bottom route is the most commonly used in carrying the ball, since self-passing is easy and it's far away from respawning enemies. It does suffer from being an easy target for walls and explodet missiles causing crashes, and it is a predictable path. The middle lane has the most flexibility in terms of passing and clearing options but also is easiest route for enemies to flank. The top route is the least used since gravity tends to keep play to the middle and bottom lanes, plus the spawn points being right above the lane makes it a mixed bag. However, a well-timed push in top lane when teammates have just respawned can be an exellent move at times.

Switching lanes can create some great opportunities. One trick carriers can use is to head towards the center of an obstacle, fake one direction and then head into the other lane. Sometimes defenders trying to cover the carrier will overcommit on this and head down the wrong lane, forcing them to make either a slow, tight turn backwards to try to stay in front or make the long route around the obstacle to chase the carrier.

About To Die: "Death Drop" or "Bury?"

Even at the moment of death and with nobody to pass to, a carrier has a decision to make. Do they throw the ball forward and around opponents or do they die without passing (known as a "death drop")?

Unless a player knows a teammate is following or going to be approaching from behind, the death drop probably isn't the right choice: it doesn't slow down an opponent's transition from offense to defense to just pick up a floating ball if they're in a good defensive position. A possible situation where a death drop might be a good tactic is if a friendly wall was just placed behind the carrier as it could create a tough corridor for an opponent to try to get the ball out.

If the carrier is near the opponent's goal but a pass or shot won't create any scoring opportunities they should attempt to "bury" the ball. Burying is placing the ball in a location that is difficult to get to or tough to start advancing from (where an opponent has to "dig" the ball out and regroup before they can attempt to make an effective push) and is ideally an easy place to get kills at, so respawning teammates can attempt to come in and progress gained in the previous push isn't completely lost. Behind the opponent's goal, next to a rock and in the corner underneath an opponent's goal are the usual locations. Sometimes crashing into the ground is a good way to bury a ball since it doesn't bounce around as much (of course, only do this if it's clear you'll be dead in the next few seconds).

Creating Spacing With Passing Lanes:

Most Altitude players who have played a sport in their lives usually adjust to spacing in ball quickly, but for those who aren't athletic-minded it's a skill that has to be developed to become a good ball player.

Nothing creates easier goals than spacing out with passing lanes in a push. The best way to think about spacing is this: imagine a two-on-one scenario where two nearly dead offensive players are up against a full health whale. If they head up to the goal right next to each other, the whale can simply kill one or even both at the same time with a single missile. The second plane really makes no difference in moving the ball forward.

Now, picture the same planes, but put a gap between the offensive players about six plane-lengths. Now the whale has to commit to one plane or another and because he has to angle himself, the offense can react. If he fires at the carrier, the carrier can pass to the other offensive player, forcing the whale to turn again with less energy for afterburning and firing.

Give-and-go plays have proven to be really effective in ball, partially because the angle changes can find great shots and it forces the extra energy expenditure by the opponent. A give-and-go is a play where the carrier makes a pass, enters a different passing lane and gets the ball passed back to them, forcing the opponent to change their angles twice to keep in front of the ball. It requires practice to understand how much space is needed and where to pass the ball ahead of the receiver, but once it is learned it can be a great go-to finisher in a push.

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Defense:

General Strategy:

For the most part defense is simple: kill the ball carrier from the front so he isn't allowed to move the ball forward with a shot, clear or pass. A good defense doesn't just limit the options on offense, it forces the carrier to do exactly what they want by coordination, changing from defense to offense in the best position they can create.

The most common example is this: the offense takes the ball and begins to push hard along the bottom of the map until they run into opposition, maybe 1-2 planes (in many cases a loopy or a whale) that stop progress. They know they can't make a clear along the bottom of the map because their opponents have spaced themselves properly to react to a clear attempt. They pass up, hoping that a teammate will catch it. Instead, they play right into the rest of the opponent's planes, essentially passing into a 4-5 plane push right down the middle of the map.

Due to their speed and the strength of the emp as a push-hindering weapon (and acid being a solid debuff), the loopy has a fantastic role as a shock trooper to start mounting a defense. It's such a powerful tool that it's not unusual for loopies to go for suicidal runs on a regular basis to get an emp or acid on the carrier. Then the strong killing planes like biplane, bomber and whale can hopefully take out the weakened and slowed opposition or at least clear a path for the other loopies and randas to block potential clearing/passing lanes and recover the ball. This is the general strategy of team-oriented defense, which takes advantage of the strengths of each plane.

"Killing the Ball":

If at any point in the game the ball isn't picked up for a certain amount of seconds, the game resets to a neutral jump ball. It's important to note this because sometimes when the offense has buried the ball very effectively and seem to have complete control of the middle of the map, players might attempt to "kill the ball", causing the game to reset to a jump ball instead of facing the offense. Usually this is done by picking up the ball and crashing on purpose in a tough to reach spot, then killing the offense while they rush forward to try to prevent the ball from resetting. It's a very situational strategy and many people have different opinions when it should and shouldn't be tried, but there are some concepts that are generally agreed upon.

First, "Killing the ball" should only be attempted on maps that have difficult to reach places. Little nooks like this are rare in ball maps, which tend to have a rounded low route to aid in fast self-passing or clearing.

The crystals behind the goal at Cave is an excellent location: difficult to touch without crashing, nearby walls so whales can cause opponents to crash with missiles should they try to stop the reset and even if they reach the ball, it's still somewhat tricky to get to the goal. The far corner of Lost City might be the best location; the wall in front of the corner makes it difficult to approach to get the ball and difficult to clear out, plus the defensive player trying to "kill the ball" should have time to position it without the chance of getting killed beforehand. The corners of Grotto are less ideal but sometimes used in this strategy.

Second, the defense needs to stay close to the ball to block incoming attempts at stopping the reset but also need to be far enough away that an enemy explodet can't hit them into the ball with a missile.

Third, it shouldn't be constantly attempted over again if the opponents manage to keep touching it to reset it. As mentioned before, "killing the ball" is a situational strategy that shouldn't be relied on as a regular trick. It's a desperation move in a tight spot.

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Reservations 5

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