by JR Cook - 8 years ago     show comments

A Shot Caller is the person in charge of calling the plays for their team. They decide when their team engages, when they take a mercenary camp, when they defend, and when they push. Whether they know it or not, every team has a Shot Caller.

On competitive teams, it is easy to know who the Shot Caller is. It is a clearly defined role that someone is specifically assigned to. Everyone knows who is calling the plays, and the other players are conditioned to react to those calls. On many teams it is the Tank who calls the shots, but on other teams it might be the Support player or a Carry. Who calls the shots isn’t as important as the fact that everyone acknowledges who the Shot Caller is, and follows their direction.

Even when you play with your friends, it isn’t hard to figure out who the Shot Caller is. While you may not go so far as to specifically assign someone to this role, there is probably a person in your group who naturally takes charge, and the other players follow their lead.

When you are a solo queue player it is much more difficult to know who the Shot Caller is. You might know who you want it to be, you might even know who it should be, but it doesn’t mean that is who is actually calling the shots. The sooner you can determine who the real Shot Caller is, the better your team will do.

Sometimes this is easy. You get that Alpha personality who immediately takes control as soon as the game loads. They are giving lane assignments, reminding people when the Objectives spawn, or pointing out who on the enemy team needs to be targeted first. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing provided they don’t take it too far. Having this type of person on your team can work out quite well if everyone else is content to follow their lead, which they often are.

Other times you might not end up with a clear leader in your group, but everyone understands their roles and responsibilities, and plays accordingly. Everyone waits for the tank to start the engagement, they retreat when the healer says they are out of mana, and they rotate as needed when someone pings. This is more of a Shot Caller by committee approach, but it can also work because everyone understands the need to follow someone else’s lead when necessary. In groups like this these is still a Shot Caller, it just changes throughout the game.

Not every Shot Caller actually intends to call the shots. Some do it by mistake. This is especially true when you are solo queuing. You run into trouble when it is unclear who is calling the shots, or when not everyone follows the lead of the person who thinks they are calling the shots.

A good example is that Kerrigan who continually dives into the enemy back line at the start of every fight, without waiting for the tank to engage. No matter how much that tank might want to be the shot caller, the reality is that Kerrigan is calling the shots whether she means to or not. You can trying asking Kerrigan to wait for the tank before engaging, but that is more likely to devolve into a chat war than it is to change how she plays. You could abandon her to her fate and let her die over and over, but then you just end up playing most of the game with four players versus five. Rather than try and fight it, your best bet is to recognize that Kerrigan is the real Shot Caller and adjust accordingly. She’s going in regardless, you need to be ready to go with her.

Sgt. Hammer is another good example. When you have a Hammer on your team you have to recognize that they are essentially calling the shots whenever they siege up during a team fight. Not only should your team protect the Hammer, but they should also fight within that circle that represents her range. Chasing or overextending once a Hammer has taken up a position often results in either you or the Hammer getting killed.

The last example involves someone wanting to capture a Boss. We have all been in those games where your team is in complete control when someone pings the boss. You get that sinking feeling in your chest because everyone is alive on the enemy team and you know the easiest way to lose this game is with an inopportune boss attempt. It is called the Throw Pit for a reason. You can try pinging Danger or telling them not to in chat, but once the Boss is engaged you have to recognize that the call has been made. Regardless of how bad of a call it may be, there is no going back. Commit to helping and hope for the best. Five people doing something questionable is better than three people doing something questionable with the other two saying I told you so when it doesn’t work.

When you are a solo queue player it is important to be able to figure out who the Shot Caller is. While you will occasionally get someone who steps up and takes charge on purpose, more often than not the Shot Caller is going to be someone who is inadvertently calling the shots thru their play. This is part of what makes solo queuing so difficult, but being able to identify and adjust to these players will lead to more wins. You can’t change what they do, but you can change how your react to it. Remember who is calling the shots can change as the game goes along, so always be conscious of which player you should be taking your cues from.

Don’t be afraid to take charge if your team needs direction. Even a little extra coordination can give your team a big advantage. Take a less is more approach though, and focus your shot calling to key situations. While people are usually willing to respond to occasional direction, they don’t want to be micro managed. Don’t be a dictator, and don’t fight for control if someone else tries to take charge, or if someone isn’t following along. You aren’t likely to win those battles, and all it does is distract from the game at hand. As a solo queue player, it helps to be able to lead when  it’s necessary and follow when it isn’t.