AI Defensemen Issue

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@Spawnessj wrote:

@KidShowtime1867Hey what defense would you run if you had two bot AI dmen while waiting for the rest of your team to get online. Really curious and thanks for the help in advance

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When it comes to World Of Chel without human defenders:

Offensive Zone Bias: Sit-back

Forecheck: 1-2-2 Passive. This ensures if you still have a CPU winger, they don't get too deep and keeps the D-Pairing high at the blue line.

When you go up a goal or two, change this to 1-2-2 Agressive. Your strong-side D will pinch and the wingers will work to force a turnover. You'll only have 1 D back though in the event a turnover happens, so always be aware of that.

Neutral Zone: 1-2-2 Red. Your defenders will engage at the Red line. This allows your forwards time to backcheck and disrupt more passing lanes. 

If you need to be agressive, change this to 1-2-2 blue, but keep in mind your D will be trying to apply pressure at the blue line, which leaves lots of acceleration time & space for your opponent should they squeak a puck by your D.

It seems like most people leave strategies as is and I think the default is 1-3-1. This is a terrible setup unless you're up a goal or two. Three players try to line up at the blue line while a D tries to apply pressure to the puck carrier navigating through the neutral zone. This is a perfect recipe for constant odd-man rushes because more often than not, your opponent is cruising through the neutral zone with speed and by the time the A.I. gets set-up, the play has already evolved. 

For the D pairings, set them to Collapse and Protect Net. This ensures your D will be there for rebounds and to (hopefully) give some serious resistance to anyone trying to traverse the net-front-slot area. 

Also, ensure your humans are playing positionally sound. If they're out of step and out of position, CPU D will not hesitate to jump up and take over an abandoned winger position.(Please EA, give us a slider for a.i. tendency to adjust coverage) When they do this, they're expecting the misplaced forward to cover for THEM, but more often than not - the misplaced forward neglects this responsibility and instead goes towards the net.. leaving 1 D back and alone to defend an odd-man rush.