***If you’re a hardened veteran of Control, most of this is not especially informative, and need not be perused, unless you think my witticisms are the cow’s tits. If you find yourself becoming chafed with disagreement, consider enjoying some cow juice to calm your nerves.***

If, like me, you play Blind Watch (not by choice, of course), you may experience one of the great mysteries of the physical universe: after catching a sniper bullet in the teeth while your team holds B and C, you spawn over at A. Bleary eyed, the sun blazing around you, you wander about in the desolate climes of A, while your team loses B and C simultaneously, and the cascading momentum change leads to a landslide of despair and a heaping portion of snide derision from that Shaxx bloke.

You’ve fallen victim to that whimsical bastard again: the dreaded spawn flip. The mechanics of the spawn flip are frequently confused with those of the zone capture, and if you make the hasty mistake of confusing the two, you might find yourself living this nightmare again and again. So listen up! These next few words just might save you from further derision. And your teammates.

Don’t Cap A!

You might hear this little refrain parroted around the boards here, but the reason for it can be misunderstood. Capping A (or the wrong zone on a given map; it's not always A) isn’t in and of itself the wrong action here: it’s just the only way your team knows how goddamn out of position you are.

We’ll stick with Blind Watch for this example. Say you spawn Bravo (you lucky devil!) right on top of C, and your team quickly caps C and B, and shuts down the other team’s first feeble attempts to cap another point. The persistent jackanapes come in a second time and your team sprays their brains all over the walls. You’re fired up! You run out the side of B, hop through the ceiling with some buddies in tow, and run towards A to shoot some fools as they spawn. Suddenly, one or two of your teammates are spawning in to join you. What happened? You didn’t even touch A!

What you did do is get too close to the spawn point behind A. The spawn ‘flipped’; with too many of your team near A, the other team began spawning at safer spawns elsewhere: specifically, on top of C, which they quickly capped and fortified. This is why you now find yourself running through a meat grinder trying to recap B, only to find you’ve spawned on A, far away from the action. Capping A isn’t the reason for the spawn flip; proximity to the A spawn is the reason for the flip.

The Spawn is More Important than the Zone!

I hear you in the back. “Duh Banana, everybody knows about the spawn flip.” Nice attitude. And you knew that capping A doesn’t guarantee that spawn flip, didn’t you? Let’s move to the Doctor’s favorite map, Shores of Time. What’s great about Shores of Time? The fact that the most important place on the map isn’t obvious: it’s the exact point where Alpha team spawns. Why is this place so important?

When I spawn Bravo on Shores of Time (the worst spawn ever), I immediately sprint my ass off through the circular stone room, next to C. I whip a quick grenade on top of C, then run out the B side of the stone room and go stand on the spawn point where Alpha team just started. Usually Alpha is busy eating my grenade on C or capping B; occasionally I have to nuke a sniper or mop up C, but a lot of times, I can run to my spot completely uncontested. With a teammate or two, this is extremely easy. Then I watch as my minions start spawning in around me.

Capping C won’t achieve this result. Even if you manage to kill everyone on C, most of the time they’ll still spawn back where they spawned before: a nice short jaunt to zone C, from Alpha spawn. This is because somebody on your team will die immediately. It’s Shores of Time. If you spawn Bravo you will choke on big, beefy nachos until you cap C. And if you aren’t spawning behind C, and the other team is, you will not be flipping the spawns, you’ll be perpetuating them. Since you keep spawning back at A, the enemy can’t spawn there. They can only spawn back at C. You need to make that Alpha spawn safe enough for your teammates to start spawning there instead; and zone C isn’t the best place to do that at. Enjoy those nachos.

Every map has this crucial point, and while it’s usually close to where the best zone to cap is, it isn’t the exact same spot. Many times in control, it is more effective to stand in the location of this spawn than it is to cap the zone. Not only will it flip the spawns, but it also won’t alert the enemy to your presence near the best zone to hold, which would lead them to sprint back to your location. Remember, if they’re sprinting back to your location, they’ll not only keep the zone by drowning you in queso fundido: they’ll also deny your sneaky spawn flip.

Use the Flip to Your Advantage!

“Alright Banana, that’s great. But how do I know where the damn spawn is!?” That’s the million dollar question. You’ll need to play a fair amount of control to get familiar with each map's ideal spawn and zone to control; I’m not going to tell all of them to you (I'll give you a hint: it isn't always behind zone C. It just usually is). You’ll also need to get familiar with the safest routes from spawn to spawn, because a good deal of the time, the best time to flip the spawn is at the beginning of a match. Remember, use the buddy system! Always practice safe crucible and bring a buddy.

We’ve covered Shores of Time, but Blind Watch is worth revisiting (it’s fertile territory for this subject). Specifically: if your team has A, do not, for any reason, go through the far left doors at the top of B. Do not enter the building that B is in. There will be 2 or 3 enemies there, and they will be waiting at the choke points with some summer sausage for you to choke on. It simply isn’t a productive engagement point. The same goes for the side of B; a smart opponent will be sniping from the hallway leading to C, and they will pick you apart as you go down that hallway. Unless you really, really cannot get enough of those cheesy nachos, you need to avoid chokes.

Above the roof to the right as you approach C isn’t a great option, and going below it isn’t either. But with a buddy, you can be on top and underneath at the same time (nice). There’s wide, open space going across there, and you won’t be in a choke point. Throw a grenade, hop down, and jump up on the short building behind C. Shoot enemies camping the hallway above B heavy; one of you can cap C if you want, but the other should go up there and try not to die; I would recommend you both go up there, and don’t let the enemy know you’re there by trying to take C. When your team starts spawning back behind C, then you can let them cap C; but first, flip that spawn! Now all your enemies will be spawning on A, out of position and far from B and C. But why is it so important to hold B and C?

Asymmetry is a Bitch.

Deductive reasoning goes hand in hand with familiarity; what good is knowing the maps if you don’t know how to apply your knowledge? The Colonel didn't invent fried chicken in a day!

Spawn flips primarily apply to the more asymmetrical maps of Destiny. This stuff doesn’t apply as much to maps like Asylum or Twilight Gap. On a map like Blind Watch, though, it can be invaluable. Here’s a general rule to recognizing asymmetrical spawns: if two zones are closer together than the third, you want the two that are close together.

Let’s look at Firebase Delphi, a symmetrical looking map that is in reality about as symmetrical as Gary Busey's face. At first glance, you might not think it was asymmetrical (the map, not the Busey-face), so let’s reason it out.

Zone A and Zone B are almost as far apart as Zone B is from Zone C; but the spawn behind A is much closer to Zone B, and has less choke points leading to B, then the spawn behind zone C does. Bravo team will rarely win on Delphi, because the paths from the A spawn are wider and faster, and the paths to C are longer and require you to jump through the worst window, ever. When you spawn at C, you’ll find you have to run for a while, and then you’ll choke on some meatballs, and then you have to run for a while again.

Likewise, if you attempt to run from C directly to A, you won’t flip the spawn right away; I’ve often killed two or three enemies defending A on my way there, only to have them rush in on me from the A spawn while I try to cap A, after which they have a tea party. My solution has been to run to the Alpha spawn itself and shoot enemies from the back of A; not only do most opponents prefer to engage on A and are thus confused, but when you kill them you send their sorry ass all the way to C, which they will cap, because they love meatballs.

Here’s a general rule with preferable spawns that is easy to remember and can help solidify your process: if you find yourself running for a long time after you respawn without seeing an enemy, you have the wrong spawn. Think about where you’ve spawned in the past on the map, where you didn’t have to run so far. And then go stand there.

Those Pesky Randoms

Now I know what the last thing you’ve got to say is. “Banana! What does it matter what I know about spawns when the paste-eating random on my team keeps running to A to sniff glue?” An excellent question. Here’s where the existence of zone A can save your life.

You’re back on Blind Watch again, and this time when you spawn Bravo, you know not to get all John Rambo on the situation. You cap C, cap B, and set up shop popping those fat marmots that come gunning through the top of B like lemmings. Then you see your team start to cap A. What do?

Remember back to earlier: capping A doesn’t guarantee that spawn flip. You can still deny that flip if you move fast, or at the very least, shut it down. Be smart: go run to the C spawn. It’s likely there will already be enemies on that spawn coming straight for you, so be ready for them. And don’t run straight to C! More than likely, your opponent will grab C and go straight for B. Avoid contact if possible, but be ready to stomp them chumps. You should already be up top on the shed behind C, and you’ll have position.

Denying this spawn is all about awareness of your teammates’ actions. Know where they’re going; if you see them running for A, skedaddle for C spawn! Zone A is a beacon, a warning letting you know that some squib on your team is a big fan of nachos. You may be able to deny the spawn flip in the first place, and send all your opponents somewhere weird, like under the roof leading to C. Then it’s just a turkey shoot for you as they all come for C, not seeing you up on your blind. Play the spawns right, and you can turn the most expensive FPS ever made into a really cool looking version of Duck Hunt. Everybody loves Duck Hunt. On second thought, just go play some Duck Hunt.

Doctor Banana does not hold a doctorate in any field and is not an actual expert on anything, especially multiplayer gaming. His advice should not be followed and will probably give you cancer. If you found this informative Dr. Banana has some snake-oil you simply have to try, it will do wonders for your congenital Busey-face. Crucible should be played for entertainment purposes only. Void in Canada, see rules for details. Do not under any circumstances play Blind Watch; Duck Hunt is a much better enterprise to spend your time on, consider playing that instead.