The jockstrap of 2old2playHALO

I had a fantastic run last weekend.  I won 11 of 13 slayer matches and ranked up from a 21 to a 27.  Then, I stank it up for a couple games with Disk8 (sorry).  I'm blaming that on not being warmed up.  Later, I played another 6 or so games with randoms and flipped between 27 and 28 for my rank.  I went positive on those last games, but my team of randoms didn't always.

Anyway, I've been a inspired to get my star.  Actually, I don't care about rank, but its a milestone I have been inspired to deserve.  In pursuit of that goal, I've been looking at improving my mental game.  I'm re-reading the guides by Fetal and Overswarm.  Here's where the blog comes in.  I'm collecting ideas and strategies and I find that writing about them helps me think about them later.  I think I'll put them here in my blog because I post whore enough in the forums and blog entries create more member points (that's good, right?).  I'm not cocky enough to think that I'll actually be presenting game changing ideas for others to follow.  Actually, I hope that I get some critiques and ways to improve more.  When I get a solid base of strategies, perhaps I'll post them in the forums for all to enjoy or flame as folks see fit.  I'll call it "The Jockstrap of Halo, a support player's strategy guide"

The term "support player" gets thrown around a lot but it usually just means "weak player".  I know that's not what it really means but in reality that's what it becomes.  This last weekend I had the chance to play as lead slayer, support player, and something in between with different teams.  I normally play as support, and through those recent games I realized just how important the role is.  When I played as lead slayer, I listened closely to my teammates.  They called out enemy positions and team shot so I was able to rack up some kills.  We beat better slayers by working together.  Then, I happened to party up with a couple great slayers and played some of my finest support games ever.  One guy was awesome with the snipe and I continually baited the enemy into his sights.  It was beautiful.  Later, I had a third team that was well balanced. None of us got a ton of kills but we truly won as a team because we listened and communicated. Three different situations that all resulted in wins.

A lot of the info I’m collecting is detailed but still missing something.  It's mostly old news, but I'm trying to tailor it for the support player.  For me, really.  Many guides and strategies assume that you have a team that works together often.  Sure, that's the best way to win but it’s just not practical for many of us older gamers.  I play often but even I have trouble maintaining a schedule.  So, how does an average player pwn in team slayer without a regular team to play and practice with?  Hopefully, I’ll find out.  If you have any links to good guides, please comment.  If you post tips, expect me to copy them and put them in future blogs.  Thanks!

So, here's obvious but important tip #1:  Get warmed up.  Starting off with a couple very negative K/D games puts you in catch-up mode which is never a good mindset.  From now on I'll be headed into social slayer or BTB before working on my rank.