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I may not be a super-pro or even a kinda-pro, but I love playing classes that rely on corner-play and figured I'd write a guide for it as it's such a valuable tactic for many mechs.
So, what is corner-play_ Corner-play is the tactic of using (usually) indirect fire and dodging around corners and edges to juke and damage your opponent without giving them the opportunity to return or dodge damage.
I'll start with an example.
This is the most basic example of corner-play. As you retreat around the corner, "leave" your projectiles so that they hit the enemy pursuing you. With your indirect fire weapons you have to think of it as "leaving a gift" for your pursuer. Timing with some weapons is more difficult than other, but grenades, mines, and emp/isf are pretty easy to use in this manner.
As you can see you have retreated around the corner, giving your opponent no opportunity to damage you, but leaving some damage for him in your wake.
Next I will discuss how to counter this tactic.
As you can see here, the pursuer, instead of simply following around the corner dodges out from the corner, giving him a longer period of time to acquire the fleeing mech and fire at it, dodging the projectiles "left behind" at the same time.
Next example is a little different.
Here, the enemy foresees the corner-play and decides to go around the other way. All the fleeing pilot has to do is quickly fire some projectiles in the other direction and dodge back towards the original location.
In order to counter a pilot that can corner-play in multiple directions the pursuer would either have to find a way over/under the obstacle, outspeed the fleeing mech while taking a few hits, or simply give up the pursuit. The mechs that the runner/pursuer are using make a huge difference in how viable the strategy will be.
I've included here a "tier" list of mechs regarding corner-play.
Implementing corner-play:
Tier 1 - Infiltrator, Scout, Grenadier, Predator, Raider
Tier 2 - Incinerator, Rocketeer, Berzerker, Vanguard, Reaper
Tier 3 - Brawler, Bruiser, Sharpshooter, Assault, CR-T
Tier 4 - Technician, Raider-G2, Assault-G2
Countering corner-play:
Tier 1 - Infiltrator, Predator, Raider, Scout, Berzerker
Tier 2 - Reaper, Sharpshooter
Tier 3 - Rocketeer, Vanguard, Assault, CR-T, Incinerator, Assault-G2
Tier 4 - Grenadier, Technician, Raider-G2
Tier 1 are the mechs that are the best at corner-play because of multiple factors. The Infiltrator has mostly indirect-fire weapons, as does the Grenadier and certain Scout/Raider builds. The Predator is all about laying traps and can corner-play amazingly with Breacher/EOC and clever utilization of stealth.
In terms of countering, the Infiltrator and Predator can stealth, be patient, and cause the fleeing mech to make a mistake or miss their shots due to unpredictable movement while stealthed. The Scout, Raider, and Berzerker are all fast and have immense close range damage to overpower the fleeing mech.
Best weapons for corner-play:
The EOC-Repeater is potentially the best weapon for corner-play, giving the ability to lay down an area of damage in the path of a pursuer or set up an insta-kill trap in conjunction with other weapons such as the GL or EOC-Predator.
The Flak/T32-Bolt/Breacher are all decent for counter-play as well, as the fleeing mech can wait until they can just see the front of the pursuing mech, fire a burst, and dodge behind cover (hopefully before the pursuer can return fire).
The Hellfire Missles can be decent as well, as with a quick lock-on the fleeing mech can dodge behind the wall and still fire the missles, arcing them around the corner.
Both Sabot rifles/slug rifle are decent for the same reasons as the Flak/Bolt/Breacher.
This guide has been pretty basic, but should give new players an idea of what corner-play is about and how it can be implemented and countered. Stay tuned for a more detailed and complex part 2.
