Walkthroughs

Walkthroughs are practices where you and/or your team go into a custom match and practice specific sequences or setups. Walkthroughs can be useful to grind specific things out, so your team can get comfortable with preset plays before you use them against human opponents.

How to Walkthrough

Different games have different kinds of available ‘practice rooms’, where you or your teammates can walkthrough specific sequences or set plays. A set play is a prearranged maneuver carried out from a (usually) neutral or winning position. Set plays require full team commitment, as well as everyone being on the same page and practicing a lot. If you can make set plays work, though, you will most likely be able to run through less coordinated teams.

Every time you or one of your peers sees a cool play in a professional match, you should take note of it, and practice it. While everyone else on Earth will have had the same opportunity to see that particular play, few teams will go through with practicing that set play. So, if you find a team unaware of the play, you can go through your playbook and find something that’ll throw your opponents off-balance, giving you a big edge.

Walkthroughs can be mind-numbing and dull, especially for younger students. Try to find a way to keep your players fully engaged by playing music or else by making a mini-game out of executing a set play correctly. To get the most out of walkthroughs, make sure your students understand the task at hand and get as many clean repetitions of whatever you’re practicing in as they can.

Examples of Walkthroughs

Here are some examples of walkthroughs in different team games:

• In Overwatch, going into a custom game and practicing a team set play, such as a Graviton Surge + Dragon Strike ultimate combo.

• In NBA 2K, going into a practice game and practicing a team set play in which you use off-ball movement and ball screens to get a shooter an open look from three.

• In Fortnite, going into creative mode and practicing fast building.

• In Smash Bros, go into the training mode and practice specific combos against a computer-controlled character.