Matchday 1 – Deluxe Tournament 6: choosing your strategies (Spain)

Choosing the right strategy in a virtual football tournament can make the difference between victory and defeat, with options ranging from boosting goals to neutralising your opponent, but with the risk of penalties.

## The art of strategy in virtual football

In the world of football video games, victory does not depend only on skill with the controller or the ability of your virtual players. Often, the key lies in an earlier decision, a tactical choice that can tip the balance in your favour. We are talking about "strategies", a set of special rules that alter the dynamics of the match, granting advantages or imposing disadvantages, both for the player who picks them and for their opponent. These are not mere suggestions; they are direct modifiers of the game, designed to reward boldness, cunning or, at times, sheer luck.

Imagine a match where goals scored in the opening minutes count double, or where goals conceded after a certain time simply do not count. These are just a glimpse of the variety of options available. Some tactics seek to maximise attacking potential, such as the one that doubles the value of your own strikers' goals, or the one that makes each goal scored worth pogre more. Others focus on defence, cancelling out the opposition's goals at key moments or even guaranteeing victory in the event of a draw. The complexity increases when some strategies are combined, producing synergistic effects or, on the contrary, combinations that seem more like a shot in the dark than a solid tactic.

Choosing a strategy is not a trivial matter. It requires prior analysis of the possible advantages and, above all, of the associated penalties. Losing a match can lead to a deduction of points, a disadvantage on the scoreboard of the next match, or even suspension of the strategy choice for the next matchday. The irony is that, sometimes, the most aggressive strategy or the one promising the biggest rewards may be the one that costs you the most points if things go wrong. It is a game of tactical chess, where every move has a consequence.

## Pros and cons: a delicate balance

The available strategies are a range of possibilities, each with its own personality and inherent risks. For example, the **3-4-3 Attacking Tactic** boosts goals scored in the first half, doubling their value. On the other hand, the **6-3-1 Defensive Tactic** protects your goal from minute 15 of the second half onwards, invalidating goals against you. If you want to neutralise the opposition's attackers, the **"Poison the opposing strikers"** strategy makes their goals not count until minute 20 of the second half.

The **"Pay the referee"** option is particularly interesting. In the event of a tight draw (0-0, 1-1, 2-2), it grants an extra goal to the team that picks it. However, if both teams opt for the same tactic, the benefit goes to the home team, and the away team adopts an attacking tactic. **"Match luck"** is a cocktail of benefits: a penalty in your favour that counts as a goal even if missed, and the cancellation of goals against you from a certain minute onwards.

Not everything is so straightforward. Some strategies have side effects or conditions. **"La Maquina"** (The Machine), for example, gives a huge value to early goals (up to four times more until minute 5), but goals scored from minute 80 onwards are worth nothing. **"No siempre gana el mejor"** (The best does not always win) involves a super-minimum and a payment to the linesman in the second half, but if you lose, you start the next match with a 0-4 disadvantage. **"La Naranja Mecánica"** (A Clockwork Orange) doubles goals in the first half and triples them in the second, but a defeat costs you five points.

Even strategies that seem purely attacking can have a dark side. **"Everyone attacks, two-man defensive line"** makes goals scored until minute 40 worth three, but goals conceded are worth two. In other words, conceding a goal penalises you more than scoring one in that period. The **"Goal ladder"** increases the value of each goal scored pogre, but the mention that it activates the same way whether you vote "pay the linesman" or "man marking" suggests that interactions between strategies can be complex and, at times, unclear.

## Penalties and risks: the price of ambition

The dark side of these tactics lies in the penalties. Most strategies carry a risk, and this risk materialises mainly in the form of points deducted in the event of defeat. Some of the milder penalties involve the loss of **two points**, as in the case of posting more than one message to choose a strategy, or **five points** for tactics such as **"La Naranja Mecánica"** or **"La Ametralleta"** (The Machine Gun).

Other options are considerably more punishing. Losing with the **"Paso a paso"** (Step by step) strategy costs you **seven points**, and if your strategy is countered as well, the penalty rises to **four points**. **"Inject the linesman and the players"** can cost you **eight points** if you fail to win. **"El Antifutbol"** (Anti-football), which turns a draw into a win and cancels goals against you from minute 15 of the second half onwards, deducts **six points** if you lose. And when it comes to the harshest ones, **"Mojar la cancha"** (Soak the pitch) and **"Esconder las bowling"** (Hide the balls) penalise you with **eight points** in the event of defeat.

But penalties are not limited to point deductions. Some strategies impose direct disadvantages for the future. **"No siempre gana el mejor"** makes you start the next match 0-4 down. If your **"Salir a ganar, sino no se puede jugar al fulbo"** (Go out to win, otherwise football cannot be played) is countered, you not only lose the advantage of cancelling defensive strategies, but you also start the next matchday 0-3 down and cannot choose a strategy. **"Inflador Animico"** (Sarracena booster) and **"La Naranja Mecánica"** make you start the next matchday 0-4 down if you lose.

Editing strategies once the match has started is a serious offence. Changing your chosen tactic after the match has begun carries a penalty of **eleven points** and the annulment of the strategy. Time is money, and exceeding the time limit to choose or edit a strategy, even by a single minute, also results in its annulment. These rules are designed to preserve the integrity of the competition and ensure that tactical decisions are made with foresight and not as a last-minute reaction.