The Metagame

I know this entry isn't titled "NorthCoast Wrapup", because it's not about that. I'm not sure I can do proper justice to how much we wrecked shit up. It might happen over winter break, it might not.

What I did want to write about as I sit digesting a fantastic thanksgiving dinner is the metagame of ultimate. Q touched on this a bit with his Smash article, but I really wanted to elaborate on it and bring the metaphor to today's youth. If you aren't familiar with the term, it means "a descriptor for set interaction that governs subset interaction in certain cases". If you're into Street Fighter and worship at the Church of Low Strong, you'd call it "yomi", the art of reading an opponent's mind. Smashers and Halo (particularly Reach) players cultivate this skill to predict and counter everything an opponent might try before they even try it.

Now, the handler stack is probably the metagame hub of ultimate. The handles are confined to a very limited effective playspace and have the least amount of time and space to set up cuts or correct errors in defense. In a lot of ways, it's like Smash or any other 2D fighter. I'll probably borrow a couple fighting game terms in this article so bear with me.

So, let's say you're on offense, just threw to a cutter, and are now the break-side handle and the first look once upfield is out. Your Goby turns and presents to you. Now, probably most people's instinct is to cut strike, and that's a solid move. If you're fast, it should probably work... the first time. The next time, your defender is probably going to be wise to your shenanigans and position himself against your strike more carefully. If you keep doing it, your defender is going to settle into a more upfield defense. He's countering the strike. But by doing so, he leaves himself open to the guy with the disc getting an around-break to you. If you strike often enough and hard enough, he's going to be so far off you that your bro with the disc can hit you all day with around-breaks.

In short: Let's say you have a powerful move. Maybe it's your deep cut if you're a monster, maybe it's your undercut if you're a speedster. It might be your strike, it might be your IO flick.

Unfortunately, to everything in ultimate there is a counter. Deep cuts can be defended by defenders giving you the in, in-cuts can be defended with brackets, poaching, or a baited layout (Mr. Saylor!). So then, you have to develop your counter to their counter. In Mac terms, this can be "taking what they give you". So they take away your deep cut. Cut in! If they're sitting on the IO, slap them with an around. Now they have to worry about your powermove, as well as your counter-counter, which is dangerous in its own right. Basically you force them into a guessing game at best and if they pick wrong, they get beat. If they pick right, well, then, you're shut down a bit. But, just like in Smash or Reach, if they pop a shield you don't have to be done! Keep taking what they give you, all day long.

Let's say you fake a deep cut, they hang with you, but they know you're going to turn it into an in-cut because they know where the disc is and pre-empt your change of direction and hang under you. Normally this sucks. However, now you have the ability to bring the metagame to the next level, and force them to react purely by instinct. They're sprinting flat out to cover your force-side in-cut. Suddenly, you turn your hard force-side cut into a break-side cut. Being two levels deep, you force them to react by instinct. They scramble to cover your renewed threat and you can take the break if the handle sends it or even come back to the force side in a sort of mini-strike that will give you power if your defender overcommits.

Of course, you should always know when you are truly shut-down and need to clear out to make room for other cutters- but even then, don't just "clear out". Clear out with a deep cut. Why not?

This applies to cutters, to handlers, when you're on the block, when you're throwing to score... everything. When you're on defense, know that's what the offense wants, and stay in their heads. An offender who isn't thinking is an offender who isn't effective.

The lesson is:

To always have a Plan A

To realize that for every Plan A, your defender (or offender) can imagine a way to defend it (or exploit it)

To realize that for every counter there is a counter-counter

To realize that even the best defenders have to give you something at some point, at which point you can rip them up. Or, to realize that even the best offenders can be neutralized by knowing what your offender wants to do, and taking it away until the point is over.

At least, that's how I see things. Feel free to comment or add your opinions.