Breakout Theory

Breakout Theory

The below field is the Chicago 2009 field. On every field, there is several possible breakouts, but for this article I am focusing on just 1. The green lines represent running routes of 1 breakout. The goal of a tournament is to win, and to do that, a team must win games. A critical portion of winning games is taking valuable bunkers, and a good breakout is key to that. Paintball is a game of angles, with the steepest angles obtained from taking the ‘50’ bunkers and beyond being ideal.

Keeping an opposing team from taking critical bunkers is another key component of winning games. The below breakout is designed to take the snake on the break. The snake player runs up the middle of the field using the Medium Dorito as a blind to hid the players movement safely. His goal is to shoot in his mirror, (the opposite center Medium Dorito) if there is one, and diving into the snake in one swift motion. This must be done in the first 5 seconds of the game, as the opposing 2, or center back Small Dorito is most likely laning high for corner runners to the small Dorito.

The probability a cross field shot from the back can bunker is low, because the can player will most likely be laning for a back corner runner, or at his mirror. Shooting for the snake run is a wasted resource of a lane to shoot every game, because this play will not be run every game. This play is a trick play, designed to catch a team off guard. Additionally, a fast snake runner should be able to beat his lane; the opposing can player will be running, and the lane is long.

The Maya player uses the pills as a blind, shooting at the opposing pills, and laning the corner runner. His secondary is the large Maya tower, which is a short bump and a powerful standup bunker, as it shoots effectively at the Dorito side, protects the snake player, and can bump into the snake if needed. This player is hard to lane on break, as he doesn’t run through open, lane-able ground. The center back player can lane either side, and then has four options: fill the small Dorito corner, fill any players who have died, move up the center to the center Dorito, or stay in the back center small Dorito. This last option is the least desirable, as the two is a small bunker, and doesn’t have many shots later in the game. Additionally, moving up the field is key, as (obviously) moving up the field leads to better shots on opposing players. My position in this tournament was to lane, and then to move up the field to the Dorito bunker, and to lock down the Dorito side. This was extremely effective, and allowed our Dorito side players move up (relatively) uncontested., with the exception of the opposing team following the same play.

The can and cake players move shooting out to the their bunkers. The corner cake bunker is small, but relatively hidden. On this field there is a few crafty shots from it, it is the corner, and the widest point on the Dorito side. This player will need to move up to the Maya or Dorito side Aztec quickly, as moving later in the game will likely result in the players elimination. The can player can shoot the snake side, or, most likely assist the cake player and moving up the field. Once in the fifties, the Dorito and snake players can pinch out the remaining opposite team players.

This is only one play for this field. A good PSP team will have several plays they use to win games. Using the same play repeatedly against 1 team will result in a counter, leading to the loss of the match.

Salvatore Santamaria