This idea comes from Mike Flores' "Who's The Beatdown" article, which was written for the card game Magic: The Gathering in 1999. But the advice can be applied to a wide range of competitive games and has stood the test of time. It will help you figure out who plays what role in a matchup and find roles to win in situations that seem impossible to win.
The theory states that there are three main "role" to playing any games: Beatdown, Control, Rush.
- Beatdown focus on building up strength in early game until it can crush its opponent in mid/late game with overwhelming strength.
- Control aims to defend against opponent's attacks efficiently and slowly accumulate advantages until it can wear out its opponent.
- Rush aims to surprise and cripple its opponent early for a quick victory.
Each role has its own advantages and disadvantages over other role.
- Beatdown has an advantage over Control because Control has to waste resources early in the game to defend against Beatdown, who is just building up his strength. In the middle or late game, Beatdown can be too strong for Control to handle.
- Control is better than Rush because it can handle Rush's early, weak attacks and counter attack Rush when it is weak.
- Rush has an advantage over Beatdown because it can surprise and overwhelm Beatdown when it wasn't focused on defense in the early game.
As such, the three role has a triangle relationship:
Beatdown
⬈ ⬊
Rush ⬅ Control
Once you recognize the presence of "roles" in your game, there are numerous implications. To begin, you must be prepared to play multiple roles. Second, you must determine your opponent's role early on and adjust your role accordingly. When you master this, you will be able to play the appropriate role at the appropriate time. For example, if you are a Rush and your opponent is a Control, you can rapidly switch to a Beatdown role and get an advantage over them. If you and your opponent are both Beatdown, you must decide who is the stronger Beatdown. If your opponent is stronger, you may want to rush them. If you and your opponent have the same role and strength, your mission is simple: kill him faster than he can kill you.
"Missassignment of role = game loss." ~Mike Flores, Who's The Beatdown