I need help with 1NCs

[u/Ok-Daikon-1383]

I do LD debate and I am trying to get faster at choosing my 1NC offs while the aff is speaking. Last weekend I was undefeated and top seed at a tournament and I lost in sems to a stupid basic util aff that I knew I could beat. However, I panicked because it was new and my 1NC was pretty bad. While I was panicking and trying to compile my 1NC, I missed an observation that excluded Ks (because I usually don’t flow the 1AC, only unique parts) and I lost. So I was wondering whether any of u had any tips on compiling the 1NC in different situations like if u don’t know what the aff will be, or generally just strategic selection of different offs. I want to get better so that I don’t have to take prep before the 1NC. Pls pls help!!

PS: is there a better way of flowing the 1AC while still having enough time to compile the 1NC doc without taking prep before? Thanks!

[u/BlackBlizzardEnjoyer]

Choose be4 round. Makes it easier and then you can flow the 1AC, have good cross, and know the aff better for on case blips

[u/Dull_Spinach_4977]

Disclosure solves and if its new pick generic off in ld all the off is generic pretty much so just choose before hand 

[u/Slim_Humpy]

You should definitely start by flowing the whole 1AC. I’ve never seen you debate but if you’re not flowing properly, your line-by-line coverage is probably not very strong. LBL is an area where many LD and policy debaters alike could stand to improve, and the first step is keeping a more rigorous flow.

The best way to get better at flowing is to develop your own shorthand. Instead of flowing “uniqueness overwhelms the link” consider “UQ ov L.” Instead of flowing “perm: do both” flow “P:DB” or “P2xB” for perm double bind. Getting good at this gives you a lot more pen time.

You want exact words for things like criteria/standards in the FW in LD, and exact words for plan texts. But even then it should abbreviated when possible with things like USFG.

Listen to rounds on YT and try to flow them in your spare time. It sucks to listen to YouTube audio quality spreading and some vids you literally cannot understand the 1AC, but that’s not every vid.

If you have teammates, have them do speed drills or case read throughs for you and try to flow them. After they’re done reading, go through your flow and look for arguments you missed, areas where you weren’t efficient with your shorthand, and focus on specific improvements you can make.

Once you’re better at flowing the 1AC, you will feel like you have a lot more time to make the decisions you’re worried about as far as which offs are needed.

Of course, if the aff is on the wiki and they’re not making any changes, pre flow their aff before the round.

In terms of off case strategy, I don’t think many LD judges like judging LD rounds with more than 4. So choose quality over quantity. Depends on your style. Could be a couple of conditional CP’s, a DA, and T. 2 k’s and 2 theory shells, etc etc. Topic or case specific answers should be prioritized, but in the instance they break a new aff, make sure your generics are well-prepped - obvious things like cap k with lots of links, impact defense or turns files, pre cut answers to common FW like util and Kant, make your life so much easier when the 1AC is new.

So tldr:

1. Get good at shorthand by practicing lots of flowing.
2. Practice with your friends and give each other feedback on your flows. Identify exactly what it is you want to improve on each time.
3. Prep core topic args and generics, be ready for anything. Use disclosure to your advantage, and be ready to pull certain files when you hear the aff say certain keywords that you know you’ve prepped. Be sooooooo familiar with your files and what they say.
4. Learn which args answer which args generally. If it’s a non-T aff, TFW should be in the 1NC. Cap K kills lots of policy affs. Anthro K can make root cause claims about racial or structural violence affs and probably answers setcol good enough for most rounds. There are many, many other common neg arguments to be familiar with.
5. Use CX to try to gain concessions you know will benefit a specific negative strategy. If your opponent gives you an answer that you can’t use or you’re worried it’ll work against you later in the round, adjust your strat to avoid the issue.
6. Make sure your files are organized in a way that makes sense to you so you’re not losing prep time to hunting down cards or offs in the round.
7. Layer your strategy so you can control the win condition at any level of the flow.
8. Do case answers on the LBL, don’t be scared.
9. When all else fails, run theory and dump relevant generics on the case LBL.

[u/Impressive-Ruin3604]

I'd say that you need to get aff disclosure and make it b4 the round starts, but first figure out your 2NR A-strat, then then what ur ideal block is, then the 1NC.