What Safe and Smart Players Don’t Want To Hear
I'll start with a rather bold statement: The only way to improve in Rocket League is to play the ball. Pretty bold, right? But more specifically, it's all about being in the play. Long are the days when you can position and patiently wait for your opportunity, although that strategy will work at times. I've been playing Rocket League since 2016, previously competed in the top 48 RLCS and Rank BPLUS 6Mans, and served as a head coach in the top 16 RLCS for several years. I say this because I've had the pleasure to watch this game evolve for over eight years. And let me just say it one more time: Long are the days when you can position and patiently wait for your opportunity. You're either beat or demoed. That's just what it is. However, that doesn't mean a safe, smart, and defensive playstyle used to support and highlight teammates is thrown out the window. It just needs to be adapted, which is what today's video is about. There are so many ways to support your teammates in Rocket League, from positioning to solo play to demos to, dare I say, ball chasing. The whole point of support is to manage risk for your teammates, and you can do this defensively or offensively on or off the ball. In today's video, I'm reviewing a Diamond II player competing in a Minor League Esports (MLE) match, which is a very popular casual-competitive league. My major issue with their gameplay was that they were autopiloting their rotations and too spaced out from their plays, which then reduced their time on the ball. They mostly play a defensive 2nd man, and that's something I wanted to build on, but they also submit replays to be put through a higher-level lens. A lot of players don't like to play 2v2s because it closely resembles ball chasing, but that's just what it is. 2v2s is a lot of rotations around the ball and your teammate as opposed to rotating off (or away from) the ball or to a position in 3v3s. That doesn't mean positioning, demos, or big-boost grabs are not viable; they're just less frequent because you have one less teammate on the field, meaning if you leave the play, then you're putting your teammate in an immediate 2-on-1 situation. So I encouraged this player to focus on their rotations and spacing, specifically rotating through small boost pads or down the center of the field and then spacing 3-4 car lengths or a quarter-field's amount of space from their teammate. I wanted them to be closer to the play. I wanted to stress their decision-making. I didn't necessarily want them to play every ball, but I wanted them to be in the play where they're given the option to do so. Once they're in the play, they can decide to control, use their mechanics, 50/50, fake, shadow, or position for backboard or back-post defense. I primarily wanted them to avoid their super spaced-out autopilot defensive tendencies, which was reducing their impact on the field, as their positioning was directly controlling what they could play for. Through all this, I hope they'll get more time on the ball to improve their mechanics. I also hope it will allow them to better support their teammates. And let's just be clear: Just because they're in the play doesn't mean they have to go for it. Have a great day, car ballers.
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Timestamps:
Getting Into the Game – 0:00
Being In the Play – 2:41
Rotations and Spacing – 8:37
Good Example (Have to Fake) – 12:40
Wrapping up the Review – 14:08
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