Page 25
MarkShot's STK/EAW Guide
by Mark "MarkShot" Kratzer
Table Of Contents Download/Print PDF Version
Topic: The Fallacy of the Evasive Style on 08/16/00
Introduction
This special topic addition to STK/EAW is one of the more difficult sections to write and publish. The reason for this is that I expect it to be highly controversial. So, before I get too far into it. Let me say the following two things.
- I am not the best pilot out there, nor do I claim to be. However, I am confident that I have a lot of flight hours and that I am better than average.
- The thoughts which I put forth are my opinions on certain things. They could be wrong, but it is what I know and believe based on what I have seen. Feel free to disagree and ignore my recommendations.
This topic is about the failings of what I call the Evasive Style (of dogfighting). The reason why this topic will be controversial is that many decent to good players practice the Evasive Style and they are confident in its effectiveness. Energy Fighting which is a different style of fighting is covered in the next topic.
Common Community Styles
The Online EAW Community is group of players who regularly compete against one another. As a community, they tend to manifest certain forms of group behavior. In particular, various styles and moves tend to become popular and get assimilated by a large number of players in a short time frame. This is readily apparent if you play with a large number of players fairly regularly.
I made my entrance into the online arena in the early months of 2000. At that time, the Evasive Style was practiced by a minority of players. Perhaps 10-20% of those flying practiced this style. At the time, I assumed that this percentage could be explained by the normal variation in styles and experimentation.
Now around the middle of 2000, the number of players employing this style are around 50-70% and the number is possibly still growing. It is my belief that this style has two essential flaws:
- It causes its practitioner to fly himself into a disadvantageous situation which is often the cause for his defeat.
- It emphasizes a psychology and the development of skills which put the player at a disadvantage against those who understand and practice Energy Fighting.
I will substantiate both of the above statements later on. The reader may well rebuke me with the fact that they are getting kills with it and getting killed by it. My response to this is that when two players apply the same technique, then, of course, the one who does it better will be the victor. However, that alone does not demonstrate that there is not a different technique which is itself more effective, such as Energy Fighting. Also, I would argue that the victor among two Evasive Style flyers is for the most part the more competent pilot and he could have out flown his adversary without having gone evasive.
The Evasive Style
Let me begin by characterizing the evasive style.
Definition:
The Evasive Style is weighted heavily to putting an opponent on your near six o'clock (within 300' or closer). This is done with the intention of forcing an overshoot or reversal through radical low speed maneuvering. Typical maneuvers which are performed:
- Throttled back break turns
- Gear and flap dropping
- Barrel rolls
- Throttled back zoom climbs with apex gyrations
- Tail slides
- Negative G flying
- Descending vertical scissors with a chopped throttle
- Real and faked spins
- Tight braked spiral down
- Moves/reversals in close proximity to the ground
One thing that most of these moves tend to have in common is flaps, throttling back, and possibly gear dropping. Much of what is done involves the dumping of energy and using the speed advantage of the player at the Evasive Fighter's six against him to force overshoots.
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