Forget what's wrong with Dynasty, what's wrong with...

[Baca Loco]

I would probably qualify the mental aspect like this: It's a rythym of play issue--the pace the game is played at. In a basketball analogy it's kind of like the difference between a half court style offense and a fast break offense. Fast break forces the action all the time trying to create openings that exploit an inability to react. Half court will offer changes of pace, running sometimes if the opening is there, but the goal is to more methodically test and push a defense until an opening appears and then move to exploit it.
7-man and Xball require different rythyms of play.

Plainly the risk/reward is different due to the nature of each format. (But the fundamentals remain the same and the skill set of Xball is definitely a plus.) Also factoring into risk/reward is number of players ( 5 vs. 7) and a given field's layout. In Xball the subtlety and tactics come from knowledge of the game field gained in actual on field prep. You have the opportunity to learn ways to exploit different situations. In 7-man you have a brief window of prep to figure out how to dominate one time, the first time.

Having said that I wonder if a bigger issue mightn't be a roster question. There are a lot more Nexoids this year and no matter how good individually all the new kids are and how well everyone gets along it doesn't make everyone interchangeable cogs. I guess what I'm getting at is a team chemistry question as an added challenge this year.

 

[John C]

Does anyone think that the guns are a factor for Nexus?

In the dynasty thread people are talking about firepower and laying down ropes of paint on the break, and how this may have given alot of teams the edge over Dynasty as opposed to last year.

At the top level paintball games can be decided on tiny things such as that.





Would nexus have had better results so far this year if they had cheater boards and Halos???

 

[duffistuta]

I agree with a lot of what has been said here, but I'lll chuck in another: second season syndrome.

Always happens in football - you get a young player bursts onto the premiership scene, has a cracking first season, then struggles in his second...this can be out down to a combination of factors: becoming a marked man (i.e. people know you're good so they gun for you), believing your own hype and not working as hard, getting temporary burn out, losing self-confidence down to one of the aforementioned factors kicking in briefly, which exacerbates its effects...all of these are equally applicable to Paintball and I reckon that some of the younger guys are suffering from one of, or a combination of, these factors.

And when it happens in the premiership they generally get rested/dropped down to the reserves/given a good talking to, depending on which of the factors is to blame.

 

[sykesg]

Originally posted by Robbo
TJ, I just been thinkin about your post.

If you look at last year's top Euro pro teams, I think most people would have gone for Joy, Ton Tons, Tigers, Russian Legion and Nexus (in no particular order and no disrespect meant to any other pro teams) and yet the three teams who have seen a downgrading in their performances are the very same teams who have been playing in and training for the NPPL.
Even Shockwave have played well below their 7 man potential in the NPPL in trying to play both formats........ is this all a coincidence????
I don't think so now.

The Russkies have gone from strength to strength in only playing XBall and the Tigers have played well above what most people (including me) would have imagined in concentrating on XBall.

The downgrading assessment of Joy, Nexus and Ton Tons with respect to last year has been done in the context of performances in the NPPL as the Millenniums this year have not had the same, or anywhere near the quality (and number) of last year's entries and therefore can't be used in the same way to analyse results.

I could be talkin outa me ass here, Magued, Nick, Buddha, Duff, Gareth, Baca, anybody, any thoughts ?

Hi Pete,

I think there are two distinct reasons for our improvement over the previous years.

1, We were settled at being quite good and did not have the serious drive to become any better. In a strange twist the creation of Nexus was the best thing that could of happened to us. You beat us, we got a kick up the ass and suddenly there was a reason to practice, practice, practice and practice some more.

2, We have set everything up for X-Ball, we haven't practiced once this year at 7-man. We took on fast aggressive young players and said goodbye to some old friends. This was tough as the Tigers used to be a democracy - that also changed. We appointed a coach. We practice every weekend (BIG thanks to Mayhem Essex). On the whole we became much, much more proffessonal. Nick said we used to be too defensive true again, we were very aware of this and did everything we could to change it. Practicing XBall pure gun skills, shooting on the break and movement has done us the absolute WORLD of good. Now we can combine X-ball aggression and old skool 'shootin rabbits' when patience is the only way to win.

Even if EXL dies I think we will carry on practicing Xball as it has improved our skills expoentionaly.

 

[Robbo]

Originally posted by sykesg
Hi Pete,

I think there are two distinct reasons for our improvement over the previous years.

1, We were settled at being quite good and did not have the serious drive to become any better. In a strange twist the creation of Nexus was the best thing that could of happened to us. You beat us, we got a kick up the ass and suddenly there was a reason to practice, practice, practice and practice some more.

2, We have set everything up for X-Ball, we haven't practiced once this year at 7-man. We took on fast aggressive young players and said goodbye to some old friends. This was tough as the Tigers used to be a democracy - that also changed. We appointed a coach. We practice every weekend (BIG thanks to Mayhem Essex). On the whole we became much, much more proffessonal. Nick said we used to be too defensive true again, we were very aware of this and did everything we could to change it. Practicing XBall pure gun skills, shooting on the break and movement has done us the absolute WORLD of good. Now we can combine X-ball aggression and old skool 'shootin rabbits' when patience is the only way to win.

Even if EXL dies I think we will carry on practicing Xball as it has improved our skills expoentionaly.

Gareth : Am sooooooooo glad to hear the creation of Nexus was the spur that resulted in you beating us at XBall, makes me feel kinda warm inside
I think a balance has to be struck (Ref posts : Nick, Bud and yourself) between all out aggression and control and once that has been effected, an overall improvement naturally occurs.
Perhaps I need to get my players to concentrate a bit more on control rather than aggression but what is lurking in me ole brain is a similar situation that happened in the mid nineties where the All Americans were moppin' up with aggressive play against lesser teams and counter punch play against their peers. The likes of Aftershock and Ironmen (all out aggressive teams) could not break them down for a while but they stuck to their guns and just ended up refining even more aggressive tactics to undermine such All American strategies.
Hmmmm....I ain't sure which way I am gonna jump on this one coz I am loathe to change the style we have adopted tho equally, I am not prepared to let this level of under-performance continue.
Am looking forward to Oslo Gareth, let's hope we bash heads once again (metaphorically of course).
Cya there !

JohnC : The guys on the team would have undoubtedly said something to me if they were being outgunned in the EXL, they have not; the Nexus EBlade is one of the quickest markers out there and we are extremely happy with them.

Baca : It's not chemistry mate as the 7 man squad is basically the same as last year's.

 

[Mak D - Nexus Eclipse]

Originally posted by John C
Does anyone think that the guns are a factor for Nexus?




Would nexus have had better results so far this year if they had cheater boards and Halos???

1. Our guns are not the factor dude its something else, you ask any1 who has played Nexus before how much paint comes at them as soon as game on is called and how fast its coming in, when we get those E-Blades singing there's no way we're getting out-gunned!

2. Maby we would have who knows, but thats not what Nexus is about, we want to beat everyone and win because we were the better team and no-one could step to our game, not because some crazy scientist chucked sum mad **** in our gats!

Mak Daddy

 

[Manning26]

As Darren brought up earlier, look at Infamous dropping in for two straight wins in the NPPL right out of X-Ball. On the other end of that, check out The Men (LA Ironmen) scores from Denver. The obvious difference is that Infamous is loaded with former 10-man all-stars, guys with experience aplenty that easily translates to 7-man, so they not only can retro-fit back into 7-man, they know what it takes to win. The LA Ironmen are full of young, inexperienced killers, trained to play X-Ball.

Nexus was buit for X-Ball, then played their rookie year in 7-man, THEN while still in it's infancy, the team splits its focus. Nexus is now fighting a two-front war with a bunch of greenhorns. The talent's there, that's irrefuteable, but it does take a team effort to have consistency. We know 10/7-man developes different instincts in a player than that of X-Ball, did the Nexus chemistry get shaken in this shift? Have the younger players suffered as a result?

I've been able to watch Nexus all season over here, so I've seen 'em smash teams as a perfect swarm of paint and cleats, but more this season than last, I've seen 'em drop sure victories as they attack piecemeal like a bunch of stand-ins in a Bruce Lee movie. Now, we all know that's going to happen, but it's been noticeable, starting with their losses to lower-ranked teams in Huntington, even with numbers and position advantage (all the while winning their pro games... what the crap?).

The EXL may have not only slowed, but pushed back Nexus' team development this year.

Huh? Yeah? Maybe? Wha'?

EDIT: Okay, Nick posted his while I was hunt-and-pecking on my keyboard, sorry for any redundance.

 

[gaff]

Originally posted by Buddha 3
Xball requires a wholly different frame of mind. Moves that can win you the game in Xball may well be the dumbest thing to do in 7 man paintball. Swinging back and forth between these formats may be too much to do on a regular basis. Just when the mind has adapted to one format, you have to play the other again.

i think this quote above summerises the problem for all teams that are struggling with both formats!

those gaps between bunkers in 7man are bigger and the two extra guns on ya mean 25bps in the air more than in X' when ya bust a move!

the 'risk vs reward' point has been mentioned already, but i would like to emphasise that this is XBall all over, and definately not good in 7Man against a defensive "shoot ropes of paint at nothing and wait for players to move into it!" teams! when i played for Storm in Paris Open XBall, we tried that approach and got raped! sitting still gets you shot in X' simple as that!

 

[Craigy]

I have an idea

Take this for what you will, I agree with 99% of what is being said.

Here is a factor for you to cosider, with the format changes all factor in, do you change styles according to whom you are playing? I mean trying to make a Bunker against a lower ranked team as to oppose to a top level team is a big diffrence. Take this for what you will but watching certain teams play on the diffrent fields helps a lot and we adjust our game plans. In other words you guys may not see the Infamous guys as much as we do, therefor maybe you dont know their style on diffrent field set ups? I know these guys adjust. I still have live by your front guys kill their front guys your mid guys kill their mid guys because I know my back guys are better then theirs. (from Bob Long) I agree with the be aggressive first! But you cant be full throttle all the time. I dont think one style fits anymore, not like the old days.

Newer teams you can be aggressive against, but if your too aggressive against a top team they are going to eat you alive! In my opnion

Take this for what you will my team is in the same spot Nexus was last year. Next year at this time I may have the same issues they have now..

 

[Mak D - Nexus Eclipse]

I have an idea

Originally posted by Craigy

I mean trying to make a Bunker against a lower ranked team as to oppose to a top level team is a big diffrence.

I dunno man, in Toulouse I made the 50 snake of the break on the evil field against an Amature team from Scotland on the friday, then did it again against Dynasty and Arsenal on the following 2 days, cant get more top level than those 2

Mak D