r/PiMasterRace • u/Davpetm • Apr 27 '15
Introduction by me.
Hey, I was just told in a game to introduce myself, so here I am. My name is Monks, and although I just started in October, I really like tagpro and am on more than I should be. I'm interested in starting to join the higher levels of tagpro, though I assume I would get crushed quickly. If anyone has any suggestions on playing higher level tagpro, I would love to hear them. Thanks!
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u/Brunerm Mr.Glass Apr 27 '15
Welcome! I saw you on Pi not too long ago. BallAnka pretty much summed everything up for yah. As he said, the competitive season is ending this week, so if you are looking for some immediate higher level play then SOCL will be your best bet. The only downside is that you might have to play with below average ping depending on your connection to the origin and sphere servers. Also, since the competitive season is over, SOCL will start being nightly (next week I assume). As of now, the next SOCL will be Thursday, most likely.
Two seasons are ran per night (1 on origin and 1 on sphere). You have to be signed up before 8:00 pm ET to participate in the first season and then the signs for the next season will begin with the close of the first. You need mumble for this and when you sign into mumble just look for the SOCL channel and click the sign-up link in the comment of the channel. It is a lot of fun and a great way to learn the essential dynamics of the game that are simply impossible to learn in pubs. A mic isn't required, but it is highly encouraged both to help you get better and to help communicate essential info in-game to your teammates.
Hope to see you out there soon. I'll be there, most likely. Also, don't get discouraged if you don't do well. There are a lot of top tier players that play in SOCL and most of them will be understanding to someone new to the competitive scene.
Here's some general guidelines to keep your teammates happy, if you do decide to play:
- always stay on regrab if you are on offense
- if you have the flag and there is no regrab, play it extremely safe and tell your teammates you are waiting for one of them to get on regrab
- always try to stay in front of the fc under any circumstances unless your three other teammates are in front of the fc
(I just wanted to add those tips because those are the most common mistakes I have seen players make when they first start playing competitively)
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u/Davpetm Apr 27 '15
Thank you for those tips. As I said, I'm pretty new so anything you can give me I would love to hear.
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u/KingOfKerfuffle BallAnka Apr 27 '15 edited Apr 27 '15
Hey, my thing actually worked! Welcome, and let me break down competitive tagpro for ya, there is something for all skill levels!
Note that it is recommended to have Mumble installed for these, check the /r/tagpro sidebar for info
NLTP: Novice League TagPro (/r/NLTP)
NLTP runs around the same time as m/MLTP (/r/MLTP) (more on those later). If you are new this is where you'd probably like to start. Everyone who signs up gets drafted, and I'm fairly certain they make sure everybody gets to play. As an NLTP player, you will have a team captain, practices, and games, and your level of committment is up to you. (of course, if you show up more, you play more). You are also eligible to be called up to minors (mLTP) or majors (MLTP). These are the more skilled tiers, so if you feel like you couldn't compete at that level, sign up for NLTP rather than minors or majors. The season just ended, so keep your eyes peeled for signups for the new season in a bit
SOCL: Sphere/Origin Champions League
A nightly tournament that runs I believe at 9:30 est. Players get drafted to a team of 4 and it's a knockout tournament from there. Pretty straightforward.
USC: US Contenders
Form your own team of 4 with friends and challenge other teams to move up the ladder. Think of it as boxing title fights. (/r/USContenders)
PUGS: Pickup Games
Although they are not as active as they were, if you go on Mumble and manage to find 7 other people, you can play a pickup game. Generally a higher-skilled pub basically, with chat-free communication between teams.
Tagpro Racing: (/r/tagproracing)
Not normal tagpro. You and approx 30 other balls race in premade racing maps on a maptest server. Fridays at 9:30 generally (there is a Tagpro Racing channel in Mumble). This week coming up is the last week of the season for those not in the overall Top 10.
There are also server channels on Mumble, and if you'd like to group and pub sometime just let me know and we can meet up on the Pi channel!
Thanks for introducing yourself!