Calling it Right: LAN

Posted by: DLight

It can be tough work calling plays on the fly for a team, particularly when there's big money on the line. Knowing just what direction an offense should take, or what defense is best warranted under a given situation can be a daunting task for even the most cerebral of leaders, and as a result we rarely see teams compete on a regular basis with a high volume of plays. Quite frankly, it's just too difficult to know what to call. Even if you've practiced every play a hundred times over, that doesn't necessarily mean you can pick the right one out of the crowd, just as you may have a great relationship with dozens of friends, but still find it hard to recant all of their names on the spot without a point of reference.

Building a comprehensive and organized playbook holds an important role in effectively recalling strategies, but it's merely the groundwork of a team's true remembrance tool -- the play chart. Strategists on all levels of team sports have been utilizing play charts for decades, but rarely do we see the same level of ingenuity in Counter-Strike, or any team-based competition game for that matter. This is likely due to the seeming complexity of the game -- after all, the playing field is uneven and often changes, creating an impossible feel to categorizing plays across maps. But just as we've discovered with offensive and defensive terminology, that's a problem that is way over thought, and quite simple to overcome.

The key to developing a situational play chart for a team lies in the understanding that you don't need a one-size-fits-all play chart -- conventional sports teams do not list every play possible on their sheet, but rather a set portion of plays they have prepared for the situation. This same philosophy can apply directly to Counter-Strike with ease; simply by understanding each map will require a different play chart, as well as differing organization.

To give you a short example, let's say you have two play charts -- one for Inferno, and one for Train. For train, you may want to include offensive play categories such as "Push Counters," "Passive Ivy" and "Passive Mid." These categories would list plays you have already drawn up, that seem to best-fit the description -- that is to say, plays that help counter aggressive defenses as a whole, or more specifically abuse strategic holes left by the defense such as a free walk in Ivy and an indirect defense of T-middle.

For Inferno, one would be well-served to categorize plays by names such as "Passive Halls," "Passive Window" and "Passive left/right mid." Exactly how you organize your plays is entirely up to your team's level of creativity, but the more location-specific you are, the better one could perceive the results. If you're in a more generic mood, or simply want a more robust list of plays, simply flip your chart over to reveal a listing of all your plays for that specific map, organized using the same method you developed by Naming Your Offense. This way, you will have both a situational chart based on the defense with a handful of key plays, and an entire listing of your offensive possibilities.

The same thing can be done on defense by utilizing the Cover XA/XB terminology learned from previous articles. Simply list out your scheme types, and fill in the gaps. For situational defenses, try organizing by those that push and where, whether the play baits a player on purpose, or if the strategy relies on pre-set counter-flashes. What's a good defense for a fast-B attack or a 3-2 split A? Be creative in how you organize things. You'll be at a great advantage if you make the right call, because you're working with plays that you feel specifically address the focal point of the offense.

Remember that this is not your playbook, but rather a quick-glance reference sheet. A clear understanding of all plays still relies on developing a cohesive terminology. Another important thing to remember is that play charts are not easily readable in the dim rooms of many competition sites, so a little bit of ingenuity is in order. Simple portable lighting devices such as the LightWedge Mini, or similar products would appear to be viable solutions, but it depends entirely on the physical size of the play chart you've developed. Speaking of which, what are you waiting for? Creating a play chart for your team can be done as quickly as the time it took to read this article.