With another Iron Banner week upon us, I thought I'd do a little post with some tips. I'd love to hear from all of you as well; if you've got any other pointers, please feel free to post them!

I've uploaded 4 videos to use as references. I'll post the full videos here in this thread, and I'll be linking to specific time codes throughout the post.

If you watch 1 full video, this is the one that best exemplifies the tactics I'll be covering in this post.

I'll embed the other 3 reference videos at the bottom of this post.

1. Kill stuff, don't die

I'm borrowing a catch phrase from the best Crucible player I know: Cyber. While it might not sound like particularly helpful advice, it is actually the most important lesson to learn. We all know that "Kill stuff, don't die" is the basic idea to any PvP game mode, but few of us actually take it to heart in our moment-to-moment decision making. I'm just now starting to get the hang of playing more thoughtfully.

If I see 2 teammates rush a capture point and die, my instinct is to rush in after them and see if I can do better than they did. But in most cases, that is a horrible decision. They went in together and got wiped out... why should I expect to do any better?

The temptation to treat death in a PvP mode as "no big deal" is strong. We just respawn a few seconds later, right? But every single time you die, that is a more points for the enemy team, and more points that you didn't get. I am a naturally aggressive player... often too aggressive. But ever since I started prioritizing self preservation (thank you, Trials of Osiris) I've been amazed by the results. My K/D has shifted from averaging 1.0-1.2 up to anywhere from 2.0-5.0. I now finish at or near the top of the score board more often than not. Here's why:

Map control is incredibly important when it comes to success in the Iron Banner (more on that in a bit), but if you are constantly dying and respawning it is impossible to maintain control. Check out the video above. I start the match by establishing a point to control (note that this is not neccessarily a capture point, but any advantageous position on the map). My first death happens at the 5:30 mark (a surprise Nova Bomb, but I still managed to take the bomber out with me). In the remaining 5 minutes, I die 6 more times, often because I am struggling to retake the position I originally held. More importantly, watch my team's score. We go from a 1700 point lead at the time of my first death to a neck-and-neck finish, even falling behind a few times. All the time I spent trying to get back into position was time I could have spent getting kill after kill. That is why staying alive is so important.

TL;DR - Make staying alive a priority. Play less recklessly, be smart about choosing when to push and when to retreat. Maintain your positioning.

2. Put yourself in the action

I was originally going to call this section "Be aggressive", but that tends to imply lots of "rushing forward", which is not what I'm talking about here. Try to think in terms of "with my skills, gear, and abilities, where on the map can I make the most impact?"

Check out 0:34-1:15 of reference video 1. The great thing about the control gametype is you know where the enemy is going to go, and you know the direction they are going to be coming from, all based on who controls the various capture points. In this example, I set up shop next to the C point and wait for the enemy to come to me. I'm not hiding, or playing sneaky. I'm standing in plain sight, but at a range where I feel confident out-gunning anyone who comes at me (given my choice of weapon). I'm still following my natural aggressive instincts by putting myself right in the middle of the action, but I'm being thoughtful about by placement and sight-lines. This is the essence of map control. Think about where the enemy is, and where they want to go. Put yourself in the best position to engage them as they move. This rarely means sitting on a capture point.

3. Don't let yourself get sandwiched

Part of knowing how to hold a position is being able to defend it when you get pressed. You will very often be in situations where the enemy is trying to flank you from multiple directions at the same time. Holding your position against impossible odds doesn't do much good. The better option is to pick one of advancing enemies and attack. A series of 1v1 fights is always preferable to a 3v1 pounding (if you are the "1", obviously).

Check out 3:56-6:18 of this video. This was a brutal match against a well coordinated team. Watch how I constantly dart in and out of the "B" room to intercept attackers before they are able to get the jump on me. This is what allowed us to capture B at all; if we had just sat on it hoping for a quick capture, we would have been crushed and the enemy would have retaken it as soon as we died. Instead, we focused on keeping them out of the room all together.

There is a ton more I could possibly cover, but I think these 3 key points are some of the most important things to keep in mind as you play Iron Banner. Hope this is helpful. Again, please feel free to respond with any other tips or suggestions!

Here are the 3 remaining reference videos in full. Some fun gameplay in there... worth watching if you have the time.