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Sending Bowling Pins Flying!


aqualizard

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Hello and Good Day!

I am playing GDL for the first time, and the caliber of play is higher than I have ever played, and I am getting killed! And I love it! Really impressed with what some guys can do. Like they have some secret buttons or something that I don't have access to, and I am under the gun the whole game.

But here is the most impressive thing I have seen, and I would credit only 2 or 3 guys that really make me feel this way: I cannot knock their guys down, even with solid checks (B or C) and yet when they graze my guys, they go flying like they are bowling pins made of flypaper.

What is the secret?

I am mashing on B buttons (and sometimes C) doing poke checks all the time, and sometimes they work (mostly not). But what are the sensei-masters doing? Is it machine gun button pressing - ratatat!!!! -- or is it perfectly timed B-checking (or C checking or CB checking) done sparingly but precisely? Or is it an angle thing? Or maybe it is usually done with one master checker they always use? (I don't think this is the case; seems like they can all send me flying.) (I wish in some of the youtube videos I have seen of guys like Kingraph and Plabax that somehow their button pressing was displayed in real-time, too.) Seriously, sometimes the puck touches me for 1/1000 of a second, and then I am grazed by the opponent, and my guy goes flying like he was shot? Makes me feel like there is a secret X-button that they have and I don't. And I could swear sometimes I don't see a checking motion, just the most fleeting of contact, but maybe I am seeing things due to game induced post traumatic stress disorder?

Any thoughts from anyone -- victims or killers -- are appreciated!

Edited by aqualizard
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I'm also a victim, but mainly it comes down to weights. My team is full of fatties. I just have a bad team, mainly due to draft position. I get murdered most of the game. Creative skating is the only way I'm able to get around it. I'll be lucky to get 10 wins this season, which I knew going in. Tough to win a lot of games with my roster and that's fine. It's probably the same for you.

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GDL is absolutely the toughest and most competitive league, with Classic being a distant second IMO.

Skill is the obvious difference, but also the best players know who they are playing against. When they are flying down the left wing, they already know who the defender is and how much he weighs. They've calculated the odds of being hit and if that chance is too high - they dish the puck before you hit them.

If you feel like you are getting hit too much, you are probably holding onto the puck too long.

The thing that frustrates me more, is how hitting can be so one-sided - and yet the team getting hit seems to take more penalties.

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I'm pretty good at checking (mainly C/CB), it's something people have told me for a while now. Here's my two cents, maybe it will help you (to each their own though):

B-check is the ultimate equalizer. Good b-checkers (plabax, kgman, IceStorm, TomKabs) time their checks right and usually wait for their opponents to come to them, vs chasing. Sounds weird, but it works. I don't believe they mash B. However, mashing B works great as well, when you have a group of guys bunched up and/or right after you lose a faceoff (see Lupz, Uncle Seth).

Players with high stick handling attribute can "toddle" instead of fall down after a b-check, which is a huge advantage. If you have those players, it's best to carry the puck with them.

Also, your b-check will work better when properly positioned. So to the extent you avoid skating straight up and down, it will be harder for your opponent to line up the b-check.

C checks work great when you have a player who is about 2 or more weight lower than the person he is checking. Nothing magical about it, just line it up and press C once (never mash). I think what you'll find is the best checkers are good at predicting your moves. So when you perform an outlet pass, I've already anticipated the pass and started moving my defender to the puck. So what happens is you will get the puck for one second and then get checked! There's no easy way to avoid that, you'll have to just be a step ahead of your opponent. Similarly to b-checks, a c-check is most effective when lined up properly. If you graze someone, they likely won't go down as much as a direct check. Unless the weight difference was really great. And forget about the boards...everyone gets smashed there, I don't care what the weights.

CB is just like C, but reversed. Use this when you have a heavy guy against a lighter guy of 2 or more weight. Having said that, I do believe there is an additional advantage in that CB seems to be more effective at knocking people down with equal or 1 difference weights than regular C. CB requires a quick 2-button press (C to check, then B to switch off the guy), but after some minor practice, it really becomes second nature, and I don't even think about it.

When you have a team of mixed weights (my GDL has guys like LaFontaine - weight 5 -- and Al Iafrate -- weight 11), you have to remember which check will be more effective against your opponent. B-check anybody, but perhaps try C/CB against 5stk opponents. Remember weights! You have to know your player and your opponents all the time.

Hope that makes sense.

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For B checks you have to get the timing and the angle right. You have to line it up so that your stick is going inside of them (kind of like your punching the opponent). My B-checks are done with just one press (no mashing). Everyone can B-check the same, so you don't need a master checker. The B button can also be used for poke checks, which will poke the puck away if the blade of the stick of the B-checker hits the puck. This animation can also be used to gather loose pucks and as an intercept button.

The puck can also be knocked away similar to a poke check if the blade of a defender's stick hits the puck when it's in possession of the opponent. This is done by simply controlling your player and using your coordination to try and line the two up.

Not everyone can C check the same, so here you may need a "master" checker. For me, it's Brian Bradley. C checks are based off of weight for the most part. A player will be able to successfully C check if he is at least two weight points lighter than his target. The CB check is a cool technique that allows a player to check a target he wouldn't be able to with a normal C check. If a player is against the boards, they can be C-checked OR B-checked into the boards by ANY player, regardless of their weight. Players with at least a 5 in stickhandling can occasionally resist C and B checks with a special "toddle" animation that appears as if they are trying to stay on their feet.

The last defensive technique is the hook, which is activated by pressing the A button on defense. This is a good technique as it freezes the target and makes them unable to act. The hook technique can also be used as an intercept, but the puck can't be going too fast (I think) and it can also intercept pucks that are in the air, while the B button can only intercept pucks that are on or very close to the ground.

As for not being able to knock others down, some coaches are just good at avoiding contact.

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Thanks everyone for the replies and info. Bu especially Kingraph and Plabax, who are two guys that definitely send my guys flying and overwhelm me from the drop of the puck. :)

(I should also be noted, however, neither denied the existence of a special X-button, or rather, KO-button, that sends all opponents of any weight flying! j/k)

Kingraph mentioning "...your b-check will work better when properly positioned. So to the extent you avoid skating straight up and down, it will be harder for your opponent to line up the b-check..." really hits home because I have been skating straight up with speedy Ronning (and likely getting clobbered).

And Plabax talking about intercepting pucks with B and even A is some high level stuff I have never heard of before!

Thanks, guys!

Edited by aqualizard
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yeah, it's homework until you know all the player weights and can recall instantly what that means for your reaction.

in SNES those matter enough less that you more worry about your own positioning when receiving a check to give you an edge. I don't recall it working well for Genesis, but aiming 180* away from the momentum of a check or turning off of it or something like that is key for SNES.

basically, do your homework and practice recognizing players and recite their ratings and know what the ratings mean for your ability to lay 'em out like quilt.

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tbh don't really worry about knowing the weights. I have the world's worst in game awareness, so understandably I don't know who weighs what.

Just use 90/10 as a rule of thumb. 90 percent of the time you should use B check, and 10 percent use C checks.

Unless you're seth, then just CB CB CB CB CB CB CB CB CB

Edited by TomKabs93
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The key to the B check is to imagine that you are punching the guy in the nads. If you miss the nads, he won't go down.

(can a B check succeed if it's just the stick, like a trip? I always do it when the players are really close, so I don't know because I'm landing the nad punch)

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The key to the B check is to imagine that you are punching the guy in the nads. If you miss the nads, he won't go down.

Ok, to be clear:

1. the ball punch is with my stick, so it is more of a spear, right?

2. the ball punch will only work when the players are facing (or almost facing) each other (since you can hit someone in the balls from behind, after all)?

I am trying to clear this up because I have been mashing B with no precision, but for me to do surgical strikes I need to know what I am doing more clearly.

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Ok, to be clear:

1. the ball punch is with my stick, so it is more of a spear, right?

2. the ball punch will only work when the players are facing (or almost facing) each other (since you can hit someone in the balls from behind, after all)?

I am trying to clear this up because I have been mashing B with no precision, but for me to do surgical strikes I need to know what I am doing more clearly.

Nope, forget the stick, you want to punch the guy below the belt. The closer the better. The stick goes through the guy, the hand hits him. If you can punch right through him, even better. If you're close enough, it'll look like a headbutt.

But actually it doesn't need to be head on. Punch him in the hip, the butt, whatever.

The sure-fire way is, the players are right beside each other, and you press B so that you poke check right through him and headbutt him.

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Nope, forget the stick, you want to punch the guy below the belt. The closer the better. The stick goes through the guy, the hand hits him. If you can punch right through him, even better. If you're close enough, it'll look like a headbutt.

But actually it doesn't need to be head on. Punch him in the hip, the butt, whatever.

The sure-fire way is, the players are right beside each other, and you press B so that you poke check right through him and headbutt him.

Thanks for your details... I think I got it now. Or at least I know what to try and do. (Until recently I was a B-masher with mixed success. Now I see my approach was off.)

Thanks!

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