“Pre-Game Thoughts:

- Both starting teams with equal RRs. But he has mobility and the dodge advantage. I think I would be lucky to get a draw here.

First Half Thoughts:

- We got the ball I think around midfield with a touchback. I moved to get near the rest of the LOS with all my other pieces. I'm picking up when to consolidate and when to stretch a bit better now.

- I know I tried to base and bully, but it ended up biting me. Some of those 1 die blocks turned into early removal. Maybe next time consolidate and just play a slower cage/screeny game. I guess Im taking away that stand firm/wrestle/fend arent meant to proactively tag everyone.

- I got a score with a blitzer on a catch and 1 die blitz. This play I liked because I recognized when it was time to take the risky play. I usually end up being over-conservative and missing out, but not this time thankfully.

- I left a few turns for my opp to score and he did very well. He moved his caged up, then down, then up the field again and eventually broke out on the top. I think maybe I bit on tagging his pieces too early. I lost more due to KOs and didnt have enough in the backfield to challenge. Definitely outplayed here.

Second Half Thoughts:

- I was more cautious here in speite of my opps block die killing him on consecutive turns. I probably could have been a little more aggressive BUT I was still in the mindset of "lucky to get a draw". I think it was the right choice to be cautious and it may just be hindsight.

- I was able to recognize when the opp rushed forward with the str 4 piece again and this time, worked to isolate here. And it wasnt a factor for a while.

- I saw the opportunity for a 1 die on the ball carrier and it succeeded. I hesitated here becasue I immediately thought, which if this goes wrong? I made sure a few pieces could run back if they needed to, or potentially dodge out in the open so I took the chance here. Sometimes you strike gold.

- Instead of hitting with the BG to hope to get a def down to free the blitzer, I used the blitzer to hit so that the BG could stand next to the ball. I think this was the right choice, again conservative but I was kinda reading the room and seeing this as the way to go.

- Opp failed a dizzying array of blocks early to have me ditch my defensive mindset and go full tag/aggro.

Overall Thoughts:

- I need to work on my short turn defense. I probably should have just columned up and kept a few safeties - gonna try that next time.

- I liked my offense turn for the score - but not exactly happy with how I drove the team down there. I should be venga bussing/caging. Instead I tried to tag and bully - still trying to get used to being more aggressive but this may not have been the time to do that.

Opp played very well. I was lucky for a win overall.

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