Mattius
Joined: Sep 03, 2006
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 Posted:
Dec 11, 2018 - 23:06 |
 
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| JellyBelly wrote: | Vampires are an interesting and challenging team. I don't have much experience with them - only played about 30 games in total - and I'm having some trouble getting them to work properly.
It seems to me that the biggest challenge with them is on their offense. When they're on D, the strategy seems fairly clear-cut: use the hypno gaze to strike at the ball carrier whenever you can (ideally every turn). Either you get the dice and nab the ball or you don't and end up out of position and/or losing too many players to be effective.
However, offense to me seems a lot more challenging. It seems like they should be trying for a quick TD, because they lose players too quickly to stall or hang around, but it's really not easy (or very safe) to try for a 2-turn TD, with their blanket MA6, as it would involve several gfis and passes. I'm finding that if I try to push down one side with a couple of vamps, it's fairly easy for my opponent to shut down that side. The vamps don't then really have the speed or passing skills to effectively switch sides, and before I know it I end up getting bogged down, losing players and getting caught.
So, does anyone have any advice on offensive strategies for vamps? Especially at low-mid TV, before you've got a lot of skills or +stats. Do you try to push down one side aggressively, or try to switch sides to catch the defender out? Or, do you stay central, to try to keep your options open and stay flexible?
Interestingly, I haven't found much advice around about vampire offense, even though it seems to be their biggest weakness. There don't seem to be any existing threads about it here, and there is very scanty advice in both the strategy guide on here and in Plasmoid's Vampire Playbook. Very interested to hear any thoughts from some experienced vampire players  |
Or just this 
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JellyBelly
Joined: Jul 08, 2009
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| Posted:
Dec 11, 2018 - 23:12 |
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| gamelsetlmatch wrote: | Think of your drive as the letter Z.
It is in your best interest to force your opponent to seal off the side you head down first.
This leaves them with having to try to seal off the back side.
HG allows you to cut right through them, which is why I like to play with 6 Vamps so that i can stand toe to toe in the middle of the pitch knowing that even if they pop the ball ..you are in good shape to continue your drive.
Keep heading to the opposite side.
On the back end, now, if you throw in a Frenzy Vamp ..you can try to surf a player or two.
..if you want, you can split your team up a bit to hunt down and surf/foul players that are going to be a headache for the game. |
This seems like a good strategy to try. I guess this would probably become the default 'plan B' strategy, if the opponent did succeed in shutting down the side of the initial push. I've found that it can be quite tricky to switch sides with vamps though, given their copious lack of speed. |
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JellyBelly
Joined: Jul 08, 2009
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| Posted:
Dec 11, 2018 - 23:27 |
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| Mattius wrote: | | *Have one vamp with mighty blow, i find it very surprising how few teams utilize this. Makes offense a lot easier in many games. |
This seems like a very good idea, given that vamps have S access on normals. With a MB (+tackle) vamp, it might be well worth just having a hack at something, on a turn where there isn't much else worth doing. The issue I see though is that there are so many other skills they need badly as well (Blodge + Pro is so crucial), plus the possibility of rolling some +stats that would delay those skills even more. Where would you prioritize MB in their development?
| Mattius wrote: | | *Don't panic, sounds silly but once i started to calm down on offense and not feel i have to quick score, got a lot easier |
'Don't panic' seems like pretty good advice for most situations, but I see what you mean. I think the risk though, if you don't score fairly quick on offense, is that you go from 11 players to 10, 9, 8 before you know it. It seems to become exponentially harder to score with them as they lose players, which is what gives me the sense of urgency.
| Mattius wrote: | | *Kick first when you have 14/15 players. You then have max chance of a steal. |
Sounds like good advice too. However, what would you do if you have no bench (say, starting with 2 loners)? Would you still kick first, if possible? I have seen some strategies where the vamps hang back deep in their half on defense for most of the drive, to try to minimize injuries/bloodlust rolls.
| Mattius wrote: | *If you split up the field then you might not be able to box, but, it can allow you to have a 4 on 4 situation. Given how strong vamp players are, this will often go in your favor.
*On defence, even if you have a chance at the ball, if it requires many BLs and gazes. Sometimes better to let it go for another turn. Recommend playing conservatively until T6. Unless of course you have an AG5 leaping monster... |
Yup to both of those. I definitely agree that it's worth choosing carefully when to dive in, although again, I feel like the clock is not in the Vamps' favor, regarding player numbers. |
_________________
"Opinions are like arseholes, everybody's got them and they all stink." - The protagonist, Fallout 2
"Go for the eyes, Boo! Go for the eyes!!" |
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JellyBelly
Joined: Jul 08, 2009
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| Posted:
Dec 11, 2018 - 23:33 |
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@Mattius: good meme, btw!  |
_________________
"Opinions are like arseholes, everybody's got them and they all stink." - The protagonist, Fallout 2
"Go for the eyes, Boo! Go for the eyes!!" |
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Mattius
Joined: Sep 03, 2006
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| Posted:
Dec 12, 2018 - 00:15 |
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| JellyBelly wrote: | | @Mattius: good meme, btw! |
In future I'm putting mb as 1st or second priority across the team. Block + mb on its own is great on S4. With mb skills up quickly. Clearly I don't think more than 2 mbs is optimal however. |
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