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2011-05-10 04:57:38
25 votes, rating 5.6
25 votes, rating 5.6
Lessons from the WO Final
First off, I'd like to thank Brainsaw for a fun and exciting match! I hope everyone enjoyed specc'ing it as much as I did playing it.
So, its pretty clear why my CR is mid 160s and Brains is in the 170s. He played a flawless match and took advantage of every opportunity. Me...not so much.
So I thought I would offer my lessons in case anyone wants to learn from the agony of defeat :)
1. If you've dedicated a player to be your deep safety, for god sake's don't blitz him forward unless you're damn sure you've got the positioning to accommodate it. Around T4 of the first half I had my safety Vox Scarbeast blitz a vulnerable witch elf thinking another KO/cas would be worth the risk. ERRRNNNHHH! Unfortunately it left me badly out of position. The worst part, I knew it when I did it. Overconfidence had struck and Brain made me pay.
2. I wasted most of my 2nd half blitzes clearing my ball carrier. In hindsight, the ballcarrier coulda simply blocked the mark and I could used my blitz on the one-turner. I had plenty of time and wound up spending 2-3 turns stalling out but the witch was safe by then.
3. Regardless of my oversight regarding my kicker (who may have kicked the ball out of bounds anyway given my tendancy to kick more aggressively with him), my last turn setup SUCKED BALLS. You always see teams with 3 los and the rest spread out deep to defense a OTT. With my ST adv I could have, AND SHOULD HAVE, played to prevent the pushes in the first place. Nothing stops a OTT like preventing your oppo from getting those critical pushes. I'm sure I could've setup in such a way so as to make 2 pushes virtually impossible.
So there you have it. First time major, obv first time major final, and a couple of critical lapses of judgement vs a quality coach cost me the match. The Crushers shoulda won this hands down, and I failed them. Lessons learned and I'll see you in the UI.
So, its pretty clear why my CR is mid 160s and Brains is in the 170s. He played a flawless match and took advantage of every opportunity. Me...not so much.
So I thought I would offer my lessons in case anyone wants to learn from the agony of defeat :)
1. If you've dedicated a player to be your deep safety, for god sake's don't blitz him forward unless you're damn sure you've got the positioning to accommodate it. Around T4 of the first half I had my safety Vox Scarbeast blitz a vulnerable witch elf thinking another KO/cas would be worth the risk. ERRRNNNHHH! Unfortunately it left me badly out of position. The worst part, I knew it when I did it. Overconfidence had struck and Brain made me pay.
2. I wasted most of my 2nd half blitzes clearing my ball carrier. In hindsight, the ballcarrier coulda simply blocked the mark and I could used my blitz on the one-turner. I had plenty of time and wound up spending 2-3 turns stalling out but the witch was safe by then.
3. Regardless of my oversight regarding my kicker (who may have kicked the ball out of bounds anyway given my tendancy to kick more aggressively with him), my last turn setup SUCKED BALLS. You always see teams with 3 los and the rest spread out deep to defense a OTT. With my ST adv I could have, AND SHOULD HAVE, played to prevent the pushes in the first place. Nothing stops a OTT like preventing your oppo from getting those critical pushes. I'm sure I could've setup in such a way so as to make 2 pushes virtually impossible.
So there you have it. First time major, obv first time major final, and a couple of critical lapses of judgement vs a quality coach cost me the match. The Crushers shoulda won this hands down, and I failed them. Lessons learned and I'll see you in the UI.
Comments
Posted by JigerJones on 2011-05-10 06:08:57
From what I saw of the match(and I'm also a 160ish coach and never made the main draw of a major) you spotted the errors. The 50ish specs were mostly wanting the one turner taken out for sure. As for the T16 setup, after the quick snap not sure it would have mattered anyway. Gratz on getting so far, and you have a very good team there.
Posted by jimimothybodles on 2011-05-10 19:45:41
i think personally (as a crap coach, and interested spectator) that the elves should have won, so they can get come Chaos style mutations... you don't need those. you'll get them anyway... but with all those +ST players, i'd like to see you do well at every other tournament :D just not this one vs elves.. sorry!
Posted by Marcellus on 2011-05-11 00:00:22
I was a spec in your match. I am also not the worlds greatest coach (and I like to play odd theme teams) but I think you nailed the game right on the head. I agree that you certainly had victory within your grasp and that this was a great learning experience (for me certainly). The mutations on the DE should be interesting. ;)
Posted by Jeffro on 2011-05-11 04:23:23
Those are excellent self-aware criticisms. Congrats on getting as far as you did with an awesome looking team. I think I can apply all three of those tips to my game and have it help me... so while I wasn't able to see the match live, the lessons you learned will be passed on to (at the very least and possibly more than) me... in hopes of crushing the dreams of dirty dark elves everywhere.
;D
;D