Optimal TST Opening Moves?

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sinewav
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Optimal TST Opening Moves?

Post by sinewav »

I'm new to TST and now that I have a basic understanding of how to play I wonder about what the optimal opening moves are. There doesn't seem to be many, and it appears that two things are critically important: 1) Coordination with your teammate, and 2) Correctly predicting how your opponents will start.

Generally, responsibilities are divided as such:
  • Position 1 "defends" the zone while tying to stay alive as long as possible, as close to the center as possible.
  • Position 2 "attacks" opponents by directly confronting players or disrupting mazes after first helping Position 1 set up.
I've noticed starts for Position 1 fall into three basic arrangements. (See the image below for reference):
  1. Going forward a short distance before turning towards center and defending clockwise (A2/B3, B4, B5...)
  2. Turing toward center immediately then turning left to defend counter-clockwise (A2, B5, B4, B3, C3...)
  3. Less commonly, turing toward center immediately then turning right to defend clockwise (A2, B5, B6, A3, A4...)
I feel like the majority of Position 2 players almost immediately start encircling opponents clockwise around the zone or at least head to the other side to score points. Does the janky way Armagetron calculates player interaction favor this approach? By having your team's trails cover a greater area of the zone?

What I want to know is if it makes more sense for Position 2 to take the opposite side of Position 1 and occupy more space in proximity to each other rather than leaving to reach the other side? For example, Pos 1 takes A2, B5, B4, B3, and Pos 2 takes A3, B8, B9, A4...)

I know you can't predict what opponent's will do, but usually Position 1 will commit to one of the three basic starts immediately when the round begins. Is it helpful for Position 2 to know ahead of time and have a plan to react? I hear people frustratingly complain "what are these starts?" all the time, but I've yet to really hear people describe starts in concrete terms. Maybe it's time to formalize some of them? Would that further the game mode and create an easier way to bring more players into TST instead of this trial by fire approach?
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Nanu Nanu
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Re: Optimal TST Opening Moves?

Post by Nanu Nanu »

sinewav wrote: Sat May 15, 2021 11:30 pm I hear people frustratingly complain "what are these starts?" all the time
Sorry :cry:
Prema wrote:The second match starts, a new beginning,
Nanu and Prema, Sui and Ninja,
versus those same old hoes grinning.
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vov
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Re: Optimal TST Opening Moves?

Post by vov »

With - sylla's video from yesterday's tst up, there was some variations in how teams started. Maybe someone spots some cool tactics there, I've especially seen nanu/magi and deso/olive do some cool coordinated aggressive stuff while playing against them and helping cast the finals. I don't play much pos1 in serious tsts but mostly went and alternated between options 1 and 2 in sine's post depending on what team I'd rather block at the beginning.
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Kronkleberry
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Re: Optimal TST Opening Moves?

Post by Kronkleberry »

TST opening moves are funny to me, because a lot the quality of your start comes at the mercy of the other teams. When a team does an unconventional start (something other than the 3 you drew up), most of the time it doesn't necessarily serve to create more space for their pos 1, but to just throw some surprise into the split. A lot of times these moves leave one of the 4 teams with a lot less space and/or a dead teammate, and can reward and entirely different team with the majority of space. There are some counters to every split, but that has a lot to do with which team spawns where, as well as the pure improvisation that happens in the middle before people rotate out to claim their space. The reward system for these tactics is really hairy and the execution can definitely be questionable sometimes, but it's certainly not boring. I often prefer this variation to the monotony of every team just camping an equal quadrant and having their pos 2 pester everyone else. But ya this is what people mean when they complain
Word
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Re: Optimal TST Opening Moves?

Post by Word »

i suck at mazing, so when my teammate is reliable, i just do a 180 as soon as i can and move out of the zone, then try to attack from outside where I have lots of room I can use to pressure the enemies that seemingly present the biggest danger to me inside the zone and consciously try to make them fight each other in a very small space even if the zone is still very big. i'll take them out if I can, but it's fine if they do it themselves.
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