How to Win AV - As Alliance

You have no idea what you’re talking about. Alliance want to win, and for a while premade rush was the winning strategy. At the very basic level though, Alliance just want a chance to win.

The problem here is that when we start talking about alliance defense from the start of the game then the game is already over. SHGY is the worst GY in the game and literally can’t be defended. Once lost to the Horde, Alliance is pushed back to SPGY near the very north of the map. At this point, the SHGY and SH bunker act as a choke point that is near impossible to overcome. Game over.

The map is fundamentally broken at this point and cannot be overcome by a pug. Alliance and Horde PUG players more than likely act the same, except that every decision that a Horde pugger might make works in their favor which allows for an all-inclusive strategy:

  • Take SFGY? Good idea! It will prevent Alliance from having a chance at getting south. If I fail, I’m back at our starting cave or IBGY nearby.
  • Take SHGY? Good idea! It will be a forward operating graveyard for a push north. If I fail, I’m back at our starting cave or IBGY nearby.
  • Defend IBGY? Good idea! It will prevent Alliance from having a chance at getting south, LTs, and towers. On top of that, it is the easiest GY in the game to defend.

Alliance on the other hand have a bunch of hard decisions to make that must be made in complete coordination with the rest of the team:

  • Take SFGY? Less risky, but will require the majority of the team to push through Horde to get there since Horde can get to Belinda before Alliance can get to alliance-side SFGY ramp. Leaves smaller team at SHGY which allows Horde capture very quickly. If we fail, we’re back up north behind the the SH bunker choke.
  • Take IBGY? Very risky, requires full team commitment and is difficult to pull off due to the number of 60% mounts that will get cut off on the ride. If we fail, we’re back up north behind the the SH bunker choke.
  • Defend SHGY? Impossible due to the GY choke. Horde can attack from 180 degrees and have good LOS to fall back to. When we fail, we’re back up north behind the the SH bunker choke.

It’s possible to see now that Horde-side allows for a more individualistic approach to AV while Alliance-side requires team coordination. The win rate ratio comes down to the difference in allowable player behavior. The difference in allowable player behavior comes down to map design.

tl;dr Don’t talk about Alliance strategy when you don’t know anything about it.

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