adamts01, on 22 November 2017 - 06:41 PM, said:
But 90% of the time pushes don't happen till the match has already been decided. You'd be better off in a medium that could trade and deal damage throughout the match. Whack-a-mech is the be all end all tactic.
I would disagree, I've had several matches where the game started as a push or had several throughout the game.
However I'm the kind of lunatic that will push in an LRM boat if it would be advantageous.
A push is always dynamic there are several prerequisites that need to happen before one happens.
From most to least common: (not a complete list)
* An enemy gives ground, this is what we commonly refer to as nascaring it's a push that goes nowhere. Usually causes more problems than advantages. However in following examples it can be very effective so long as you don't give the enemy the same advantage you took by cutting off their reinforcements. Never go full Nascar.
* The enemy team is split, if half of their team is chasing a squirrel a decisive push mops up the other half.
* A combination of the first two where the enemy team leaves their assaults behind, this splits up their team and you can take advantage of it this can happen several times throughout a match.
* A high value target is killed from range, a LRM boat on an open map gets taken down or their Annihilator / Assault gets taken out. When this happens there is a huge power vacuum where a heavy or a medium suddenly becomes the gatekeeper as everyone else runs away from the flank, this is a prime time to push.
* The enemy makes a tactical error, one person over extends, an enemy push is started without a follow up, or the enemy goes out into the open when this happens the whole team responds creating a numbers advantage that leads into a snowball.
* A light causes chaos in their backline, this is a small moment to take advantage of and requires a suicidal light to pull off. However hitting the enemy in the back while they are paying attention to the light can quickly snowball a match and requires perfect timing.
* The enemy over commits to a single target be it your LRM boat, sniper or light out on the flank, when they over commit you can take advantage of it by taking down the people that stayed behind effectively trading one mech for three.
* The enemy is pinned down, this happens when you gain an advantageous position before your opponent or through the use of LRMs or sniper fire. A balled up immovable enemy is suspect to air strikes and being surrounded, a push on one side leads the rest into a killing field.
* Your assault is about to die and has nowhere to go, this is a desperation push and can go either way as it can lead your team into over exposing or create momentum that breaks their front line.
* An assault becomes tip of the spear this doesn't happen often because usually a team will not follow an assault into an enemy team or the assault just wont do it. This is because of how fragile assaults are but every now and then you get an assault with a wild hare up it's coolant shoot. This can happen when your team is in a bad spot and nothing short of a desperation push will get you out of it. These are the things that turn games around or just accelerate the inevitable. This is a dangerous gamble as it can throw a game just as easily as it can save one.
* An opportunity for a counter push presents itself. This happens when the enemy assault becomes tip of the spear, goes in first and gets his face blown off leaving the rest of the team out of position. Doesn't happen too often as usually people will run from a push (or their assault won't become tip of the spear) but when your team stands their ground you can turn a push from the enemy into your invitation to push back. This is why it's a dangerous gamble to let your assault go in first where they might miss a smaller target your assault is going to get hit. If you lose 100 tones before it can effectively contribute more than being a medium's meatshield you can throw a game.
* Lastly a push that everyone commits to at the same time, this is so rare that you almost never see it but it is always a thing of beauty. When everyone snipers, boats, brawlers, lights and the lot all push together. This always causes the enemy team to scatter creating the range for the snipers and boats. The caveat is that you don't have a long wind up it needs to come on as a sudden unexpected rush of aggression. When this happens the entire match is a push.
A game is a series of small pushes that are repulsed until one gains ground hence your take on it only being at the last 10% of the game. Pushes often are decisive, when one does finally get a foothold its usually over fast. That ignores the first 90% where the game ebbs and flows with small pushes where each team probes the defenses of the other. This is also why group ques often dominate pug matches as when an advantage is seen it's usually taken with a faster reaction time by a higher percentage of the team than a group of pugs can effectively coordinate.
The whack a mech playstyle is by far the most safe but the matches that end decisively and quickly are the ones that take the advantage those ranged mechs make and forge it into a push.
The problem is that the game is much more weighted towards offense than defense. This is due to a lack of armor where back in the day a push could be stopped by an Atlas and a team confident enough in that Atlas to stay with him. Now mobility is king and when that push happens sorry about your luck Atlas we're outta here cause you ain't lasting long. Sometimes albeit rarely you get a team that will back up their assaults and it can go the other way. Depends largely on what kind of assaults they have as anything less than an Annihilator or King Crab it's time to run.
Ranged damage has been slowly ramped up over the years first with the introduction of the clans, new chassis boating ranged weapons, increased team size, MRMs, heavy weaponry, ect. The slow assaults have not gained armor adequate enough to deal with all that creep in ranged power. Brawling and by extension staying power in assaults when faced with a push is at an all time low. Its all about range, aggression, mobility, and poking. Assaults right now have enough armor for a push where the enemy scatters but not enough for when they need to hold their ground. This is in my estimation why matches are such one sided stomps, there isn't enough armor for counter play too much offense and not enough defense.
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