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Positions in KartRider (in Team Speed games)
WintermintP
KartRider: Drift Rep: 110
Posts: 7
Member
The reason why this is not in the Feedback sections is the fact that this position system already exists in KartRider and I'm only here to educate the rest of the community on how a professional KartRider team uses this system to help their players work as a team to achieve as many points as possible as a team. Team Speed mode isn't about getting first place. The higher up you place, the more you score for your team, and it's ultimately the team score that determines who wins. Usually a league match is a Best of Five for Speed, followed by a Best of Five for Item, and a team's goal is to either win both Speed and Item sets OR win one of the sets to take the game to a single Ace map decider where one player from each team play the one final map to decide which team ultimately wins.
There are a number of ways that a team can win a Speed map.
If the players that placed first and second respectively are both from the same team, that's called the "one-two" which wins them the map.
If the player that placed first is on one team but the next three players are from the other team, that's called the "two-three-four" (or 2-3-4) which gives the win to the latter team.
If a team has a player in first, another player in fifth, and a third player placing either third or fourth, that's called "one-three-five" (1-3-5) or "one-four-five" (1-4-5) respectively, both giving them the win.
A "one-three-six" (1-3-6) also works the same way, having one teammate place first, another third, another sixth, and the last player placing either seventh or eighth.
One of the rarest forms of victory is called the 2-3-5-7, which requires each teammate to place second, third, fifth, and seventh respectively.
A slightly more common form of this is the 2-3-5-6, which requires the one from behind place sixth instead of seventh.
There are also two forms of 4-5-6 wins, where three teammates place fourth, fifth, and sixth, and then the one teammate places either first or second (1-4-5-6) or (2-4-5-6).
There's also the 1-4-6-7, which, you get the idea at this point.
So what are the positions?
Most of the professional KartRider players can be classified as either of the two common positions.
Runner (RN): the one that tries to stay out front and finish as fast as possible, scoring the team the most points they can
or
Sweeper (SW): the one that focuses on causing collisions to knock the opposing team's Runner or Speed Ace (more on that later) down several places from the race
However, obviously there are four or five players in a team and each player has to contribute to more than just the Runner role or the Sweeper role.
First up are the Lieutenants for the Ace positions.
Middle (MD): the Lieutenant for the Speed Ace, they hold the middle positions and need to do either running OR sweeping whenever situation calls
Hybrid (HY): the Lieutenant for the Item Ace, they need to be good at both Speed and Item modes and are the second-in-command for the Item sets.
Both the Middle and the Hybrid can be better at handling the Runner position or the Sweeper position, but the Middle has to be pretty good at both, as the Middle has to not only fend off the opposing players from the teammate Runner but also if the teammate Runner is falling behind, they probably need to do the running themselves.
Pretty much any player that is skilled at both Speed and Item can be referred to as Hybrids and the reason why these types of players are sought after by many teams is that three out of the five players on the team still have to be able to play both Speed and Item modes and only the two outliers are able to switch places with each other between the sets.
Please bear in mind that a professional team can have any combination of these positions up to this point, but there is bound to be one Speed Ace and one Item Ace on the team. Some professional teams prefer to only field four players in which case they all have to play both Speed and Item modes with no one to switch with (TERRIBLE IDEA!). In that case, the very likely case is that the Hybrid is often the one that acts as the Item Ace in a team that doesn't have an Item Ace.
Now the Ace positions.
Item Ace (IA): Most professional KartRider players are Speed users, and the Item Ace is usually the one Item user on the team that works as the IGL for the Item mode with the Hybrid, if there is one as the second-in-command. In the current 2019-onwards format, there have been a number of Item Aces that have played in Speed mode, but usually they sit out of the Speed mode and wait until the Item set to switch in with a Speed-only player.
Speed Ace (SA): This is the most coveted position in any KartRider team. Much like the lead guitarist in a band, Speed Aces are dime a dozen, and thus it's rather commonplace for the most popular player of the team to achieve the Speed Ace position while everyone else ends up relegated to lesser positions such as Middle or Sweeper. Originally, this position was meant for the player that is the most skilled at the Speed mode, but due to the politics in the KartRider leagues this is very rarely the case. Much like the Item Ace, the Speed Ace's task is to be the IGL of the Speed sets.
Again, there are Sweeper-style Speed Aces and there are Runner-style Speed Aces. The common conception is that a Speed Ace has to be good at both, but in actuality, it's either that the entire team is built around what the Speed Ace is unable to do (e.g. three Runners and the Speed Ace in which the Speed Ace is pretty much the Sweeper; or three Sweepers and the Speed Ace in which the Speed Ace is the Runner), or the Speed Ace is the one that's meant to fill in the missing piece of the puzzle. Some Speed Aces who are only good at being a Runner or Sweeper and not both do exist, but it helps if the Speed Ace is capable of both. In lesser known teams, the Speed Ace is often the one switching places with the Item Ace and sitting out of the Item sets, but in the big-name teams this is not so common, as Speed Aces there are mostly just players with the biggest name/branding rather than the best Speed player in the team, and because of that, they are often Hybrids themselves, and are thus just as capable in Item as they are in Speed, and what's more common in the big-name teams is that they don't field a fifth player on the team at all, forcing all four players to play both sets.
Also, while it's not the absolute rule for the Speed Ace to enter the Ace match on behalf of the team, the Speed Ace doing so is rather commonplace.
The way positions work in KartRider is much like the way positions work in Call of Duty. Just like there are two AR players and two SMG players on a team in Call of Duty, there are often two Sweeper-style players and two Runner-style players playing in Speed, with one of the Runner-style players holding positions 2 or 3, which is comparable to the Flex in Call of Duty while the main Runner is comparable to the Main AR role. The two Sweepers often try to send the opposing Runner/Speed-Ace players to the lower positions while the Runner has to hold the top position, or the Speed Ace has to take this job if the team doesn't have a Runner on the team. The Runner, due to a bad start, can sometimes end up starting in lower positions like 6, 7, or 8, in which they would have to use their running skills to get themselves back up to at least a middle position and act as the Middle. Just because a player has a Runner position it doesn't mean they only have to focus on their running. If situation calls, there can come a time when even the Runner has to do some of the sweeping, and vice versa.
There are a number of ways that a team can win a Speed map.
If the players that placed first and second respectively are both from the same team, that's called the "one-two" which wins them the map.
If the player that placed first is on one team but the next three players are from the other team, that's called the "two-three-four" (or 2-3-4) which gives the win to the latter team.
If a team has a player in first, another player in fifth, and a third player placing either third or fourth, that's called "one-three-five" (1-3-5) or "one-four-five" (1-4-5) respectively, both giving them the win.
A "one-three-six" (1-3-6) also works the same way, having one teammate place first, another third, another sixth, and the last player placing either seventh or eighth.
One of the rarest forms of victory is called the 2-3-5-7, which requires each teammate to place second, third, fifth, and seventh respectively.
A slightly more common form of this is the 2-3-5-6, which requires the one from behind place sixth instead of seventh.
There are also two forms of 4-5-6 wins, where three teammates place fourth, fifth, and sixth, and then the one teammate places either first or second (1-4-5-6) or (2-4-5-6).
There's also the 1-4-6-7, which, you get the idea at this point.
So what are the positions?
Most of the professional KartRider players can be classified as either of the two common positions.
Runner (RN): the one that tries to stay out front and finish as fast as possible, scoring the team the most points they can
or
Sweeper (SW): the one that focuses on causing collisions to knock the opposing team's Runner or Speed Ace (more on that later) down several places from the race
However, obviously there are four or five players in a team and each player has to contribute to more than just the Runner role or the Sweeper role.
First up are the Lieutenants for the Ace positions.
Middle (MD): the Lieutenant for the Speed Ace, they hold the middle positions and need to do either running OR sweeping whenever situation calls
Hybrid (HY): the Lieutenant for the Item Ace, they need to be good at both Speed and Item modes and are the second-in-command for the Item sets.
Both the Middle and the Hybrid can be better at handling the Runner position or the Sweeper position, but the Middle has to be pretty good at both, as the Middle has to not only fend off the opposing players from the teammate Runner but also if the teammate Runner is falling behind, they probably need to do the running themselves.
Pretty much any player that is skilled at both Speed and Item can be referred to as Hybrids and the reason why these types of players are sought after by many teams is that three out of the five players on the team still have to be able to play both Speed and Item modes and only the two outliers are able to switch places with each other between the sets.
Please bear in mind that a professional team can have any combination of these positions up to this point, but there is bound to be one Speed Ace and one Item Ace on the team. Some professional teams prefer to only field four players in which case they all have to play both Speed and Item modes with no one to switch with (TERRIBLE IDEA!). In that case, the very likely case is that the Hybrid is often the one that acts as the Item Ace in a team that doesn't have an Item Ace.
Now the Ace positions.
Item Ace (IA): Most professional KartRider players are Speed users, and the Item Ace is usually the one Item user on the team that works as the IGL for the Item mode with the Hybrid, if there is one as the second-in-command. In the current 2019-onwards format, there have been a number of Item Aces that have played in Speed mode, but usually they sit out of the Speed mode and wait until the Item set to switch in with a Speed-only player.
Speed Ace (SA): This is the most coveted position in any KartRider team. Much like the lead guitarist in a band, Speed Aces are dime a dozen, and thus it's rather commonplace for the most popular player of the team to achieve the Speed Ace position while everyone else ends up relegated to lesser positions such as Middle or Sweeper. Originally, this position was meant for the player that is the most skilled at the Speed mode, but due to the politics in the KartRider leagues this is very rarely the case. Much like the Item Ace, the Speed Ace's task is to be the IGL of the Speed sets.
Again, there are Sweeper-style Speed Aces and there are Runner-style Speed Aces. The common conception is that a Speed Ace has to be good at both, but in actuality, it's either that the entire team is built around what the Speed Ace is unable to do (e.g. three Runners and the Speed Ace in which the Speed Ace is pretty much the Sweeper; or three Sweepers and the Speed Ace in which the Speed Ace is the Runner), or the Speed Ace is the one that's meant to fill in the missing piece of the puzzle. Some Speed Aces who are only good at being a Runner or Sweeper and not both do exist, but it helps if the Speed Ace is capable of both. In lesser known teams, the Speed Ace is often the one switching places with the Item Ace and sitting out of the Item sets, but in the big-name teams this is not so common, as Speed Aces there are mostly just players with the biggest name/branding rather than the best Speed player in the team, and because of that, they are often Hybrids themselves, and are thus just as capable in Item as they are in Speed, and what's more common in the big-name teams is that they don't field a fifth player on the team at all, forcing all four players to play both sets.
Also, while it's not the absolute rule for the Speed Ace to enter the Ace match on behalf of the team, the Speed Ace doing so is rather commonplace.
The way positions work in KartRider is much like the way positions work in Call of Duty. Just like there are two AR players and two SMG players on a team in Call of Duty, there are often two Sweeper-style players and two Runner-style players playing in Speed, with one of the Runner-style players holding positions 2 or 3, which is comparable to the Flex in Call of Duty while the main Runner is comparable to the Main AR role. The two Sweepers often try to send the opposing Runner/Speed-Ace players to the lower positions while the Runner has to hold the top position, or the Speed Ace has to take this job if the team doesn't have a Runner on the team. The Runner, due to a bad start, can sometimes end up starting in lower positions like 6, 7, or 8, in which they would have to use their running skills to get themselves back up to at least a middle position and act as the Middle. Just because a player has a Runner position it doesn't mean they only have to focus on their running. If situation calls, there can come a time when even the Runner has to do some of the sweeping, and vice versa.
Comments
There are multiple ways to go about solving this problem.
For example, the infamous 2020-1 season's Afreeca Freecs created a composition of basically two runners (RN) and a middle (MD) and then a Speed Ace and an Item Ace.
In this instance, the Speed Ace will have to be the main sweeper while one runner does the main running job and the other runner runs right behind the main runner to set up a nice formation. It just so happened to be that their Speed Ace was the type of player that liked to play like a sweeper so it technically worked, but they didn't go very far.
Likewise, the 2020-2 seasons's Seongnam ROX created a composition of three middle (MD) players with their Speed Ace and Item Ace.
In this instance, their Speed Ace wasn't very known for his teamfights but was rather known for his running capabilities, so he was basically their runner while the other three players focused on either teamfighting or holding their positions instead, and they were able to make it to Grand Finals.
If I were to form my own team, I would set it up a similar way, with myself as the runner-type Speed Ace and having four sweepers, including an Item Ace that is actually capable of playing the Speed mode. That way when the Item Ace is on the team, he would be playing both sets while I play Speed mode exclusively, and then the player that has to sit out of Speed mode would be whoever's turn it is to do so rather than the weakest Speed player, which I would hope that there isn't one. I'd basically build a full-on Speed All-in team with all five players signed up for Speed rather than just four, without thinking about Item mode at all. That will allow us to just lose the Item set and get us to the Ace match where I would be the one to play and win the matches that way for us. I would argue this is the most ideal setup for players like me, who are kind of known in real life for having really bad luck. If you have really bad luck, just ditch Item mode altogether. You know Item mode sucks anyway.
The 2020-2 season's winners had a bit of a more traditional team composition, having basically one of everything.
They had their Speed Ace, who was known for basically anything and everything, their Runner, who was one of the two rookies at the time, their Hybrid, who just happened to be one of the best sweepers of his time and this was when he was at his prime, their Middle, who was the other rookie that was capable of supporting the runner, and their Item Ace. In this particular season, it's rather worth noting that the Speed Ace, the Item Ace, and the Hybrid were all on the same team together several years ago and they were known as the strongest Item mode trio of their time. For Speed, both the Speed Ace and the MIddle were great at both running and teamfighting equally, so the two of them just did whatever they were in position for, making them essentially Flex players, while the runner was the runner and the sweeper was the sweeper.
Again, unless it's one of those political teams that just assign their Speed Ace position to whoever their star player is, a Speed Ace tackling Item mode is rather a rare sight. The 2021-1 ROX team was known for having their Item Ace run Speed mode in some matches, and the 2022-2 Liiv Sandbox team actually did have a five-player squad for one day and their Item Ace actually played both the Speed and Item sets, albeit an Item Ace on any team playing Speed mode is even that much harder to see.