Soccer Battle - Tips for Winning

Soccer Battle (Android and iOS) is a fun well developed game that perfectly executes all aspects of a great modern game. It's got multiplayer, up to 3 players vs 3 players. Each game only takes 3-4 minutes to fully play, so its perfect to fire up for a quick game. If you have more time, try tournament mode. The game does not overly emphasis in-app payments, and anything you purchase help collect more of the 7 battlers. Advertisements are minimal and NEVER required... you must opt into watching each ad for faster progression of battlers.

Not that even though the excels when you play with other human players, it's possible in non-tournament battles to play against AI bots. That's why tournaments are so much fun!

Learning the game is super easy. There are two joysticks (left and right). Use the left joystick to control the direction of your battler. And use the right joystick to either pass, shoot, or slide tackle. From there, practice to perfect your pass and shots and win every game. I've even read that some games get some intense that some advanced players use Finger Sleeves for Gaming to reduce sweating and highly sensitive to the touchscreen.

The Battlers

Each of the battlers have their own specialties and talents. The description below are strictly my own opinion and very high level. Overall, my favorite players is Swish, then Slam.

1. Joe - He's all around average. You start with this player and learn to play with the game. (Is it a coincidence that the lead developer's name is also Joe)
2. Bolt - She's fast with and without the ball, but her slide tackle and passing range is rather short. Her slide tackle pass is incredibly powerful.
3. Slapshot - She's not the faster battler, and gets even slower when she's got the ball. But her pass is incredibly powerful and long.
4. Swish - He's almost like a slightly upgraded Joe. He's better in almost every category, and I feel he's fairly well rounded.
5. Chlorine - She's average speed, and her specialty is a long slide tackle range. She does do a slight hope before the tackle begins and takes awhile to stand up after slide tackling. Her slide tackle shot is pitifully short.
6. Rome - He's fast, but his real power is in his tackle. It's an average range tackle, but is powerful (meaning the opponent will stay down longer). His pass/shot is only average.
7. Slam - She's also fairly well balanced, has a slightly longer pass/shot, but is quite slow with the ball.

Each battler also has their own Recovery and Damage score, which can be slightly upgraded as each battler wins more trophies. The higher the recovery, the faster the battler gets up after getting tackled. The higher the damage, the longer an opponent will take to get up after getting tackled.

Battler Skills

As you play the game, you'll slowly (very slowly) begin to hit different achievements to unlock different battlers. For the most part, everyone will get access to Bolt, but the rest of the battlers seem to come randomly. Not all these skills are explicitly ranked, but pay attention during the game.

• Player speed without the ball - This is important, especially for players focused on defending
• Player speed with the ball - Fairly important if you're on offense, trying to score a goal.
• Rotation speed (how fast can the player spin) - Helpful everywhere on the field. In defender position, you'll often times want to redirect the ball away ASAP. On the other hand, as a midfielder, you may want to quickly pass the ball from your goal and up the field.
• Speed of Pass/Shot - Important because if the ball is moving fast, it has a smaller chance of being picked up by a nearby battler, especially at a close range shot. Also, the ball moves faster right off the foot, and slows down towards the end. Therefore, its easier to defend in the goal when the ball is moving slower.
• Pass/Shot Prep Time - Some players take a long time before their shot actually leaves their foot. This can be a huge disadvantage, especially if you're defending.
• Distance of Pass/Shot - Some players have the ability to score a few steps off from mid field while others need to be nearly in front of the ball.
• Tackle distance - Bolt has a very short tackle, so that's not her main skill.
• Tackle speed - Though most players are the same, I feel that Chlorine's tackle moves ever faster. Makes it more difficult to get out of the way.
• Tackle recovery - Some players take forever to get up after slide tackling (not to be confused with getting slide tackled). This can put you out of the play in a poorly time tackle.
• Slide tackle ball speed - Important because it's often times safer to slide tackle a ball (either to avoid getting tackled or because two players are both going after the ball). But if the slide tackle ball doesn't go far, its not super effective at moving the ball down the field.

Every Type of Award

As you play, you're awarded points as you play. There are trophies, tokens, bags (various types), and virtual cash. All are gained as the more you play, and win, games.

• Trophies are awarded to each battler. At certain trophy counts, you can "upgrade" your battler. The upgrade is fairly minimal, as everyone gets the same upgrade, which only improves your Recovery and Damage score. You need to use your virtual cash for the upgrade, but I've never run out of virtual cash.
• Trophy Track - Along the same lines as trophies assigned to battlers, the sum of all your trophies across all your battlers can also award you bags, tokens, and virtual cash along the trophy track. Battlers are also awarded via the Trophy Track (Bolt and Swish).
• Virtual Cash is gained when you play games. It's primary used to upgrade your battler (based on trophy counts). But since I always have leftovers, it can also be used to purchase a All-Star bag at the Shop.
• Bags award cash and battlers (a certain percentage). There are three different types of bags. Game Bag, All Star Bag, and MVP Bag. The game bag is the most common kind where MVP Bag is the most rare. The more rare the bag, the better the awards. A majority of the battlers are awarded via bags. Bags can also be obtained by winning 1st, 2nd, or 3rd place in the tournament.

Pro Tip: If you have every battler, you're better off saving your bags for when Soccer Battle releases a new battler. The main point of the bag is to unlock characters, as slight increases in Recovery and Damage don't drastically change the outcome of a game.

More on Trophy Awards

You gain Trophies when you win, and you lose Trophies when you lose. The battler will always gain 6 trophies when you win. However, you lose more trophies when you lose and your battler has more trophies. For example, if your battler doesn't have any trophies, you're likely to only lose one trophy if your battler loses. If your battler has has over 500 trophies, then you may lose 5 trophies when you lose.

So, if your goal is to progress through the Trophy Track (possibly to unlock Swish at 2000 trophies), it's much easier to split the 2000 trophies equally along all the battlers you've unlocked. It is nearly impossible to get a battler past 700, as this would mean you need to win every game.

Pro Tip: Use each battler equally to more quickly increase your total trophy count.

Tournaments

These are fun! You'll need to form a team of 3 to participate. For the most part, this ensures you're always playing against other human players (instead of bots). Winning or losing in a tournament doesn't affect a battler's trophy count. You have more skin in the game, as your performance is ranked against everyone. And each of your wins will dictate if you continue onto the next stage. Win the tournament (either 1st, 2nd, or 3rd place), you'll get bags! Bags won in a tournament must be immediately opened after the end of a tournament. You'll also win TP (tournament points), but other than for tournament ranking, it doesn't offer much more.

Tournaments happen every hour. Some times can have multiple tournaments happening at the same time, possibly with different levels. There aren't any gating requirements to join the tournaments.

Pro Tip: To improve your chance of winning, play during less busy times. It's much easier to win in the Top 3 when only 5 teams are playing when compared to 20 teams.

Soccer Dynamics

Soccer Battle is has a similar dynamics to real soccer, though its nowhere near the same. Though some of these tips are better deployed when playing with friends, some tips can be used when playing with strangers (or AI bots). Here are some tips:

• Don't Slide Tackle too Much - Slide tackling puts you out of position. If you have the ball, you can try a bait a defender into slide tackling for an easy goal.
• Defense Wins - If nobody stays to defend and you leave your goal open, then a breakaway leads to easy goals. Therefore, its wise to leave someone back on defense.
• Kill the Clock - If you're up by one point, you may want to focus more of your efforts on defense to prevent a goal.
• Last Second Offense - If you're down by a point and the game is almost over, you may want to pull one last full court press (similar to pulling the goalie in hockey).
• Don't Bunch Together - Bunching together is self defeating, only one person can have the ball at a time. Try to stay apart and utilize passing to open teammates.
• Know your Opponents - If your opponents are all Bolts, you'll know their passing range will always be short. However, if you have all Slapshots, they'll have a power shots.
• Know your Teammates - Similar to the benefits of knowing the defending and offensive capabilities of your opponents, it's also beneficial to know the defending and offensive capabilities of your teammates, which will effect your gameplay tactics.
• Slow Down Opponents - Depending on your teammates and opponents, it may make sense to slow down your opponent by positioning your battler in a position which makes them believe you'll slide tackle. If you slow down your opponent, it gives your teammates the time to get back on defense.