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February 17, 2006
The Art of Warsong Gulch Defense
I've been doing a lot of Warsong Gulch lately. My plan is to hit Revered before I level out of 20-29, due to the frequency of games, and the amazing skill of a fair number of players, this should be possible.
After a couple matches yesterday, I had a disagreement with another player about the art of defense. I've played a tonne of Warsong Gulch with three of my characters. I'm hitting Friendly with this character (Firaxii) after one or two more matches (depends if I win or lose ;) ). I'm honoured with my lvl 60 warrior (Airazel), and friendly with my lvl 60 Priest (Prixy).
I did a fair amount of leading Warsong Gulch teams with Airazel, comprised of several friends, Towel, Zzigg, Vahayek, Treader, Vivd, and others.
Back on the second Warsong Gulch Holiday (the Second ever), we dominated the top horde teams, Wartorn (now Rival), and Stormfist. So I have a fair understanding of what leads to success in Warsong Gulch, with respect to strategy and tactics.
I often find myself leading PUGS in the 20-29 bracket, as I only have a few friends in this bracket (currently, that list is growing though). I had some strong success early last night playing Warsong, but I wasn't leading. When you aren't leading Warsong Gulch, listen, don't lead.
Anyway, this leads me into what you'll hear in every single Warsong Gulch pickup group ever, "We need more D(efense)".
Defense is an important aspect of a Warsong Gulch match, but it isn't a winning strategy, nor does it setup a win. Defense doesn't capture a flag. Defense is a part of a winning strategy, but not the winning strategy.
You can't have an evenly sized Defense and Offense team either. All you're doing is guaranteeing that one of your teams will get steamrolled by the opponent. However, you disadvantage yourself because you will not know which. This is why I strongly promote min-maxing. If you have a 3-7 or 2-8 split between defense and offense, you'll know which group will be outnumbered, and you can change your tactics accordingly.
A two man defense team doesn't keep the flag in the base, so much as it slows down the runner, or reports where the flag is going so the offense team can return it.
A seven or eight man defense team keeps the flag at home.
Any other situation just opens up the door to uncertainty. If you have four people on Defense, you can't say whether you'll keep the flag, or report where the runner is coming out, and you won't know if your defense, or offense team will be able to return it.
The art of Defense is knowing what your goal is, and coordination with the Offense team. As Sun Tzu often says, "The best Defense is a good Offense".
Posted by mrh176 at February 17, 2006 10:20 AM