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It seems like there's always a couple of threads with managers asking for advice on how to work their finals effort strategy, so I ought I'd share mine. (As always, take your opponent into consideration since their nature may change things. But, in general, these strategies are likely give you the best possible chances both economically (forcing G3 as often as possible) and in terms of victory.)

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Strategy for the Finalist w/ HCA:
1) Win G1 with the least effort you can
• If you lose G1, your chances go way down because you're forced to use extra effort away (where it doesn't stack with HCA) in G2 (where any effort imbalance a pronounced enth disadvantage in G3). So, avoid losing G1 at all costs.
2) PON G2, unless you lost G1 on equal or +1 effort.
• You'll do better when you can stack effort on top of HCA, so save it for then if you can. If you can't, POCT and force G3. You'll lose the series, but you'll get more money. (You might even consider not dressing your starters, to ensure they don't get injured.) [EDIT: Saving starters is pointless except for trainees who might need to get minutes in a scrimmage, since injury reset happens during the off-season before any meaningful games happen.]

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Strategy for the Finalist w/o HCA:
1) Do the opposite of what you think your opponent will do in G1.
• In all the scenarios, an effort mismatch (either +1 or -1) in G1 plays to your advantage. It gives you better chances of stealing either G1 or G3.
2) Win your home game with the least effort you can.
• In most cases your opponent will PON this game, since they want to wait for HCA to swing back their way. So if you can win on equal effort, PON for the win. *The one exception to this rule is if you won G1 on +1 effort and you are sure your opponent will POCT, in which case you could consider PONing G2 and taking a big enth advantage into G3.*

Last edited by rhyminsimon at 5/28/2013 11:35:37 AM

Ive got a question for you. I was supposed to win in the finals this year anyways, but it would have been close. Now the team that I am playing has an injury to a 57K and a 13K. This cuts out about 1/2 to a 1/3 of his salary in total for his roster. I believed that I could beat him before but now am positive promotion is in sight. What I want to do is force game 3 to get more money coming into D3. Should I:

A) Stay Away From a G3
B) Ask the team that I'm playing to force game 3 and trust him
C) Don't ask him and try to force G3
D) Force G3 no matter what he says

My roster:
http://www.buzzerbeater.com/team/29052/players.aspx

His Roster:
http://www.buzzerbeater.com/team/23243/players.aspx

Thanks for your help!!!

Go C. If your going to force game 3 u want him thinking u want to win so he puts in more effort.

The easiest way to look at it is like this: if your opponent PONs game 1 and 2 and manages to win game 2, is it conceivable you could lose game 3? Personally, as the underdog I'd be very likely to PON both to maximize enthusiasm and hope to steal a win in the home game, and if you think about that as the worst case scenario, it gives you an idea of how much room you have to mess with it.

well... he also went CT in his last two. I asked both the teams he played. I went normal which gives me a huge advantage right off the bat. I dont hink he would go normal in the second game because he is down 0-1 and needs the win in game 2.

So... I suggest you PON G1 with your best roster. Then sit your starters in G2 to force G3 without risking injury. Then rock G3 with your best roster and POCT him.

Thats what I was thinking. Thanks for the suggestions, but should I contact him to ask if he wants to participate in it or not?

I wouldn't

Don't say anything to him. If he thinks he needs to POCT G2, all the better for you.

I will see what happens in G1 and G2 to decide. If I blow him out by 35+ with his full current starters, I will go for the G3. If the margion is less that 25, I will go for the 2 game finish.

well... he also went CT in his last two. I asked both the teams he played. I went normal which gives me a huge advantage right off the bat. I dont hink he would go normal in the second game because he is down 0-1 and needs the win in game 2.

It depends - is his goal winning the series or forcing a third game? I think if he's more interested in winning that he's got to try to give himself the best chance of winning game 3 on the road, and hoping that he can piece together a win at home in game two with the PON. If it's about the economic effects, he definitely puts it all into game 2.

Of course, I'm not sure everyone looks at it this way. I just know that if I lose game one and I can't win game three, winning game two does nothing for me. I'd rather set up to make the best run possible at game three and hope for a little luck at home, rather than go all out at home and hope to pull out the miracle on the road with lower enthusiasm.