The WIP 12 podcast had a good episode with the host Headchime and special guests Lobo and Khavrion, talk about the infamous Alpha Strike in Infinity. They are all well known in the competitive scene and it was a great discussion. It is Episode 134 and is available here: https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aH...DktMzE5MC00MjVjLTgyYmUtNTAzMzYwY2FhMWE0?ep=14 What did everyone think?
I loved the discussion. I only wish they would have talked a bit about alpha strikes on a more meta level as well. Is it a good thing? Should it be made less prevalent, and if yes, how? That would have interested me the most.
Good discussion. Lobo and Khavrion are top players, as well as great guys to play against. I've had the pleasure of having my butt kicked by both of them on quite a few occasions. They did a good job of capturing the key point: what we call "alpha striking" is really just "playing first turn." Second player in Infinity has the advantage of playing last. That's an advantage in any mission, and the scoring mechanics of some missions increase that advantage. To overcome second player's advantages, first player has to leverage the one advantage they have: the opportunity to strike first and make second player play their first turn with diminished resources. If first player doesn't do enough damage on turn 1, the game will be decided in favour of second player. If first player does excess damage on turn 1, the game will be decided in favour of first player. In between those extremes, if both players are playing with roughly equal skill, then first player will do a moderate amount of damage and it will still be anyone's game going into turn 2. Lobo is an acknowledged master of the turn 1 attack, and Khavrion pretty much wrote the book on the unique way to do it with Steel Phalanx (which they discuss near the end). They do a great job of giving an overview of how to do it, within the limitations of the podcast format of course. I'd love to see one of them write a more in-depth piece with diagrams. I'd also have liked to hear more about how to defend on turn 1 as second player, but maybe that's a topic for another day. My hat also goes off to them for completely avoiding the whining about alpha strikes that some Infinity players like to engage in. If I play chess against Kasparov, I expect to lose in the opening. If I play Infinity against Lobo, I expect to lose on turn 1. It wouldn't be much of a strategy game otherwise. I would, however, suggest that Infinity needs two things to mitigate the Negative Play Experiences (NPE) that can be associated with alpha strikes: Infinity needs a concession mechanic If I lose a chess game in the opening, I resign and say GG. Conceding is also normal in casual Infinity games, but it's currently impossible in tournament games because of the way scoring works. The losing player has to keep playing for another 1.5 hours so that the winning player's score can be determined. That sucks. Getting crushed on turn 1 by superior play isn't an NPE, it's a natural feature of any strategy game. Having to slog through 5 more turns after already having been crushed on turn 1 is absolutely an NPE. This really needs to be addressed because I do think it turns off new players a lot more than losing quickly and cleanly would. Infinity needs a matchmaking system I love losing to Khavrion from time to time, but if he were my only opponent, I'd get discouraged pretty quickly. The best games are the games we play against opponents of comparable skill to our own. Those are also the games where we learn the most and improve, so that eventually we can face the top players. Most serious games have matchmaking systems to pair opponents against players of similar skill level. Infinity tournaments have a very limited form of matchmaking through the Swiss system, but it's not enough and it's only in tournaments. We really need better ways to organize games so that players can face their peers, for better experiences of both attack and defense.
