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MarkShot's STK/EAW Guide
by Mark "MarkShot" Kratzer
Table Of Contents Download/Print PDF Version
Topic: Why I Extend Away on Low Altitude Defense on 08/31/00
I often extend away from my opponents in between fights where I was the victor of the prior fight. I generally have two goals in 1v1 fights.
- Win the immediate fight.
- Maximize the kills achieved with a single plane. (Personal record with one Spit9 is 13 kills; counting causing my opponent to crash too; however, more than half were with gun shots.)
By extending away from Ground Zero (the respawn area), I accomplish the following:
- Allow my engine to cool off from the previous fight.
- Gain sufficient altitude to give me options in the next fight.
- Prevent an opponent from performing the Settling Attack against me. As stated elsewhere this is very difficult to defend against.
- It generally puts my opponent approaching from my six.
- This puts me in a good position to generate a rapidly and radically changing angles situation at the appropriate time when I cut back into him and at the same time to be heading exactly the opposite way in order to rapidly achieving separation again.
- It psychologically puts my opponent at ease to the extent that he does not perceive me as being dangerous. However, if my opponent makes a wrong move, I can be very be dangerous as I head back into him and immediately after it our passing.
Topic: Winning the Slow and Low Turning Fight on 08/31/00
Often I find myself in a low altitude (500' or so) slow (120-150mph) turning fight (one circle) where the two planes start fairly neutral. In many cases, I end up out turning my opponents and with them being unable to figure out how it happened. In reality, it is a very simple formula.
The opponents who get out turned generally attempt a number of low yo-yo maneuvers trying to improve their angles situation. This is a reasonable approach, and, in fact, would work if I simply turned flat (level). This would allow them to cut a across the circle and use the acceleration of gravity to gain angles.
As you may have guessed, I am not simply turning flat. Instead I am slowly spiraling up on the edge of a spin/stall. This accomplishes two things:
- Although my opponent quickly grabs an angles advantage, he still needs to climb back up and even higher to use it in order to gain position in the turn. However, the reality is that what he gains going low in the yo-yo is always lost on the way back up. In fact, he tends to fall a little behind where he started. This happens because his additional maneuvering and higher speed turning costs more energy than if he had turned flat.
- I am slowly spiraling up. So, while he is going for angles, I am maintaining a decent turn rate and at the same time building up my energy state.
So, the turning fight is initially neutral. However, through about 6-10 turns I have managed to cause our relative energy states to diverge with myself getting the greater of the two. At which point when I have maybe a 30-45mph advantage with some vertical separation, I roll back into the fight and spiral down. This tends to gain me the angles to I need to get on my opponent's six.
Topic: The Sinking Merge on 08/31/00
Sinking merges have become a fairly popular style during the initial merge of a fight. Although it does seem that its popularity peaked in June of 2000; now, it appears to be falling off somewhat. Basically, your opponent is rapidly descending as they head towards you. Your opponent may either be fast and at full throttle or throttled back.
The main goal of this technique is to grab a quick angles advantage. This can happen in one of two ways:
- If you do not sink on the merge, then you set yourself up for a vertical lead turn. A lead turn is when your opponent uses the uncontested separation which you provide to obtain an angles advantage. In this case, the separation is in the vertical dimension.
- If you do sink on the merge, but are much faster than your opponent and try to engage in a tight turning fight, then he will turn inside you and get a shot at you.
I generally handle this merge by sinking along with my opponent while maintaining maximum throttle. This accomplishes two things:
- I deny him the opportunity for a vertical lead turn, since I do not permit any separation.
- If he is foolish enough to have reduced power, then I have him where I want him. I am going to turn in the vertical following the merge. If he reduced his throttle, then he is already at an energy disadvantage. Now, if he had dropped flaps too and turned hard, then I should acquire his six in the next 2-3 turns of the fight.
If he did not reduce power and turns in the vertical also, then the fight should be pretty much neutral for the next few turns.
© This STK/EAW Guide is Copyright 2000 Mark Kratzer. All Rights Reserved.
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