Winning a tournament is like playing a game of chess. It is very strategy oriented. Even in beginner level competitions, if your team doesn’t have a plan or some kind of working strategy, it’s very likely that you won’t even make it past the first round. While there are many different strategies used by very successful players, the best advice is to practice several and stick to what works in most situations. The variable is not knowing what the other team is going to do and you should be ready to switch to another plan very quickly if you find your original strategy isn’t working.
For a 3-man event, your number of weapons is fairly limited, but it will be important to spread as many as possible around the field from the whistle. It is best to try to open up in the field. This means trying to send at least one player to a corner bunker or a bunker on the side of the field as quickly as possible. The corner works well, or the first snake bunker (snake 1) or even the snake insert bunker. The reason for this is to expand your team’s base of fire to make it harder for the opposing team to get close to your side without getting through the crossfire. This is called a ‘delay pause’. An example of this strategy would be to have 1 player occupy the snake side of the field, 1 player on the dorito bunker field side, and the third player in the snake insert bunker or in the corner. Players would then shoot steady streams of paintballs while trying to copy their opponents’ movement, moving into the same (but opposite) bunkers as them.
Delay rest is beneficial because it will allow your team to move around without being seen. When opponents slide behind their bunker, the player will make an equal move towards the mirror bunker. Since the opponent will slide into his bunker, he will not see the player move to his bunker. This means that when the opponent leans out of his bunker to shoot at the player, he will be shooting at the wrong bunker. This tends to leave the opponent overexposed in their current spot, which will allow the player to take an effective shot. If the player misses his shot, he should become smartly aggressive with an immediate forward move. However, the aggressive move should only be made during windows of opportunity. The player will shoot the opponent, which will make the opponent stand behind their bunker, then it will be safe for the player to move to the next bunker. This will give the same effect as delayed rest. The opponent will come out shooting into the wrong bunker giving the player the opportunity to make a more effective shot at their opponent.
If the player finds that he cannot shoot his opponent, he must communicate the opponent’s position to the rest of the team. The team must also communicate where the other 2 opponents are on the field. Once all the positions of the opponents have been expressed to the other members, the team must “cross the field”. This means that players on the left side of the field will shoot at players on the right side of the field and vice versa. However, players on the right still need to pay attention to the right side of the pitch and vice versa. Don’t get stuck tunnel vision looking at the opponent you’re aiming at. This is a common distraction and can lead to the destruction of this strategy. By ‘crossing the field’ with fire, it often causes opponents to lean too far to the opposite side of the bunker they are hiding behind. For example, if a player on the left side of the field shoots an opponent on the right side of the field, he will cause the opponent to lean further to the right side of the bunker, leaving an opportunity for the player on the right. field side.
When any opponent has been eliminated, the communication to the other team members is an alert for the team to start moving down the field behind the remaining opponents. In a three-on-three game, when one player is eliminated, the odds are very high against the remaining two. A clever three-man full team will turn up the heat and aggression to quickly try to corner the other opposing players. Trying to group them into a tight group of two is a great strategy whenever possible, though difficult if the remaining two are far apart. When you practice, set up situations like this and assign each player a specific role. Make sure the other players know each other’s jobs and can take another spot in case one gets eliminated. With such small teams this is a key point and needs to be done very quickly when a player goes down.
For a three-man team, the different roles include the Delay Break Player, Home Player, and Runner. The runner’s job is to move as fast as possible towards a predetermined bunker; he will not blow the initial whistle but will immediately run to his place. The Delay Break Player will provide covering fire for the runner on the opposite side of the field from the runner until he reaches your spot. Once the runner makes it, the Delay Break player must move to the mirror bunker opposite the runner. Outside of halftime, the home player will provide covering fire on the same side of the field as the runner until he reaches his bunker position. Once this happens, the home player must constantly communicate to the other players everyone’s positions, as well as information about the movement of the opposing team. However, communication is not just the job of the local player; the best teams communicate information as they receive it, no matter what position they play.
While there are many movement variations and nearly endless scenarios to practice, these are just a few of the strategies used in 3-man events to start the thought process. The best strategy is to be prepared by practicing several different plays so that you are ready to switch gears when needed at a moment’s notice. Knowing how to read your opponents comes with experience, but it will be an important part of making adjustments to your strategy on the spot. Find a strategy that works and stick with it. Once you find several strategies that work, use them until they don’t; don’t fix something that isn’t broken or make sudden new changes at the last minute that you haven’t practiced. Experienced opposing teams will know you’re flying through the seat of your pants and will immediately take advantage of it. It’s best to stick with what you’ve practiced and make notes about what worked and what didn’t. Changes must be made during practice sessions and not in the middle of a competition.