Know thine enemy! If you’ve ever played a sport with someone for a long time, you can appreciate the concept of “knowing” the opponent; you start to have a feel for what it is they will do next and can thus take measures to prevent the success of their tactics. As an individual facing another individual, this comes down to positioning yourself to have the upper hand in face-offs. Knowing another team in Halo means knowing how they set up to accomplish certain tasks, like gaining power weapons, capturing flags, and taking map control.

If you know that the other team requires control of a certain area of the map to successfully capture a flag, use this knowledge to your advantage. Go the long way around and take them from behind. A strong team will, of course, behave fluidly so their game plan cannot be ruined by one individual. Communicate with your team. Relay knowledge of their setup and prepare for a team to take it down. There are many ways to win Guardian Oddball and your opponents will approach the map differently. As you begin to scrim with teams consistently, start to practice techniques that address specific issues you have with certain teams. As you come to prepare for many teams and how they play, your team will have a deep arsenal of tactics to win on a given map and game type no matter the situation.

Nothing gets to the opposition more than predicting their next move. If you’ve truly “mastered” another player, they will start to crumble before you as they feel powerless to out-maneuver you. Staying on top of another player requires intense focus. Once they die and respawn, it’s an even playing field all over again. Don’t expect to win 10 out of 10 encounters, but if you can win six, seven, or even eight of those 10. Try to always have a spot in your mind calculating the opposing team’s next moves as you navigate through the game.