Hold your ground soldier! In every Halo 3 map there are desirable positions to hold. While you can never just sit still, often controlling space may just mean holding tight and being patient. Many experienced veterans amass huge kill counts just by waiting for the other player to blindly turn a corner. Controlling space can mean maintaining a powerful position, such as the Sniper Tower on The Pit, perhaps, or making the best of the place you find yourself on the respawn.

Certain weapons change the areas you should control. For example, if you have a rocket launcher on The Pit, you’ll be able to dominate the area known as “green” that surrounds the Rocket Area. On Construct, a Rocket Launcher can make quick work of anyone coming up a lift. When you get control of a power weapon, ask yourself how you can position yourself in a way to do the most damage with it and then try to control that spot.

Obviously the space that must be controlled changes depending on the game type. In Oddball and King of the Hill it shifts constantly, so a strong team will develop strategies to hold all of the hill locations and also have many different spots to get some extra seconds out of a ball hold. Similarly, perhaps you’re forced in to running a flag a different direction than your preference, but this can work if your teammates are controlling the area around you enough to clear a smooth path.

As you come to learn all the maps and game types in Halo 3 MLG settings, you will start to know the spots that must be held to control a map and win. But beyond this, controlling space means understanding the game enough to know your opponents and outsmart them. This goal can be achieved by hiding in a strange spot, holding your ground longer than expected or coming at an enemy in a powerful position from an angle he or she would never suspect.