With my best Mr. Miyagi impression I will try and teach you the art to winning online in a very unorthodox fashion. All this by first teaching you how to lose. To understand what it takes to lose, you will hopefully learn what NOT to do when trying to win. The techniques to losing are, for the most part, easily avoidable, so lets go ahead and make those clear as day.
How to lose from the start? Don’t take the draft seriously.
Don’t pay attention to the positions you’ve already filled and draft players off of favoritism instead of analytical thinking. Taking the draft lightly sets you up for a team that is:
-poorly balanced
-lacking in key positions
-below average
This is definitely an easy way to lose. When you give up before you start, losing becomes extremely simple. How to win with this information: the draft is not timed, take it slow and pay attention to positions of need.
How to give your opponent the edge? Give up easy scores.
Blitzing all out or playing cover three zone defense the entire game. Both great ways to walk your opponent hand-in-hand into your end-zone. Blitzing every play leaves you open to deep man coverage pass attacks and 3-deep zone allows the run game to walk down the field. Being predictable on defense allows the other player to guarantee your loss. Play calling becomes very easy when you know exactly what you’re up against. How to win with this information: mix your defensive schemes, find what works and just when you think the offense has figured you out, switch it up again.
How to limit your opportunities? Turn the ball over.
Run head first into the linebackers without protecting the ball. Throw passes into double and triple coverage. If you can’t score a point then you will never win a game ever, best case scenario is a tie. So turning the ball over before you have a chance to score is your best move when trying to lose. Don’t listen to these tips Madden gives you if you want to lose:
-Press RB/R1 to cover up the football before a big hit
-Click in RS to throw the ball away when coverage/pressure is strong
-Press A to secure the catch
DON’T do any of these if you want to lose. How to win with this information: read the defense, be proactive instead of reactive, throwing the ball away or taking a sack is ALWAYS better than throwing an interception.
How to play into the defenses game plan? Cater to their strong suit.
Does your opponent have a brick wall for a defensive line? Go ahead and run the ball. Are the ball hawks drooling waiting for any pass in their direction? Throw up a lob in their vicinity. Losing this way is very simple. It is just like traveling, if you had to go over water, you wouldn’t do it with a car, if you had to travel by air you wouldn’t do it with a train. Â How to win with this information: attack their weaknesses once you have found out their strengths, football is the ultimate team sport and where there is weakness there is opportunity.
These sarcastic tips should be the best indication of what not to do in online play. It is much easier to lose than it is to win, but this is a clear blueprint on how to best raise your win probability.
“No such thing as bad student, only bad teacher. Teacher say, student do.” –Â Mr. MiyagiÂ
So go out and DO people! It’s game time on Madden Online Play and I will see you on the gridiron.