thoughout all of the divisions CND and CHN don't deviate much, but height certainly does. so the APs that go to HGT come mainly from STR and AGL, fighters have less STR, they don't need as much AGL. this means at higher divisions there is going to be less AGL, but the same CHN if not less. so overall defence is much lower, INCLUDING stun defence. for this reason KP fighters (KP dancers mainly) had ruled the welter division and higher for some time. in lower divisions where there are much more APs, everyone's AGL is so much higher and fighters can afford the extra 1-2 CHN or 1-2 KP, the KP fighters have some difficulty since their KP becomes less effective because points of KP are more valuable than points of KP. in the lower weights its usually the balanced fighters and endurance fighters that more often find success.
this topic is about winning rounds while slugging, as it is a skill well worth developing. one of the most overlooked ways of winning rounds is with 5B/7/8. in endurance contests when two fighters will likely use 4B/8/8 to remain efficient, using 5B/7/8 will become a great option. 5B/7/8 will usually beat 4B/8/8 on points without sacrificing much efficiency. in a way it is more efficient because once the opponent realises he's losing the fight, he will open up to try get some rounds while you remain very efficient.
5B/7/8 is best used when similar endurance fighters are squaring off. if your fighter has much less SPD then you are wasting your time, one extra AGG isn't going to be enough to win the rounds (but you may tie rounds). if you have much more SPD then 4B/8/8 will be enough to win rounds against 4B/8/8 and maybe even 5B/7/8 too. 5B/7/8 (feint) is a great way to win rounds if you have a small speed advantage.
since 5B/7/8 is only slightly less efficient than 4B/8/8 and 17 CND can absorb its fatigue, it is a primary option. 4B/8/8 is usually used by low SPD or low CND fighters. now we are back to square one, two fighters going 5B/7/8. how do you win the round now? 6B/7/7 has a much larger step down in effciency from 5B/7/8 than 5B/7/8 has from 4B/8/8. 6B/6/8? when AGG = POW you are usually better off not targeting. 5/5/10? now we are straying a long way from efficiency. lets examine 5B/7/8 (feint) compared to 6B/7/7 for a fighter with 17 CND - same fatigue, 6B/7/7 has 12.5% less DEF and 5B/7/8 (feint) will often win the round especially if you have a SPD or HGT advantage. unless the style you use with 6B/7/7 increases efficiency enough to to offset the lower DEF then 5B/7/8 (feint) becomes a good option.
when in a slugging contest the immediate thought is to train AGL to reduce damage, but sometimes training CND is better. CND offers less fatigue, being harder to wear down and higher rest benefits. AGL offers the reduction of sheer damage. to check which is best, sim a fight with 1 extra point AGL and see how much total damage you take and your final endurance level, then compare it to 1 extra point of CND. usually they are very similar, for the most part, if CND <= 16 then train CND, if you plan on using ring or ropes then train AGL (unless CND is low). if you don't plan on using the ring or ropes and you have CND >= 17 then training comes to the simulation and which is best. keep in mind that if you win you may gain an AP permantly, so if your CND is already 17 and rating = status then i wouldn't train CND.
scouting what an opponent does and is willing to do in the last round of a fight is the key to close fights. most opponents will have score based conditionals, some will have endurance conditionals and some may even have both. noticing that an opponent slaps while they are down by one in the last shows they are willing to settle for the draw (some managers have even built a reputation for doing so). sometimes an opponent will slap while up by one to ensure they don't lose on points.
while up by one, i use at only enough DEF to protect me from a 6H/11/3, then enough POW to protect me from 5H/10/5 (allout) and put the rest onto AGG. of course, i modify this according to the managers tendancies and what i expect my opponent to do in the situation. if i EXPECT a 5H/10/5 (allout) then i might target the head, even if it means i'm going to use 7H/7/6. mathematically, if POW is < 5 then it would be best to increase pow by one than target the head.
if you are down by one then you can go for the draw or stun (or better - KD or KO) them. if you are only down by one a KD is perfect. also cheating in this situation is dangerous, i have lost a point for cheating when i KD'd my opponent and ended up will a loss by majority decision. some managers are known for going after the draw, try and stun them. this means you would use 5H/10/5 when you are up by one.
sometimes, intentionally inducing the score can make your opponent do just what you want them to do. this is often used in regionals. many regionals use simple score conditionals and this leads to their opponent knowing exactly what they are going to do. in contenders its a bit harder to know the what they will do exactly, but you can guess what strategy they will use in a certain situation. eg. making sure you win rounds, then once you have a large lead, say 3 points, open up more because you expect them to try and win rounds off you. while down on points some may try and KO, if you know thats what they usually do then while up on points use 6H/7/7 or some variant to stop them from KO'ing you.
fighting from behind usually means you are trying to wear them out, after all, if you are not scoring rounds you better be wearing him down. i don't like fighting from behind unless i know i can wear him down then slap to victory or KO him. some managers even work the body for the first 6-7 rounds and then start going to the head to win rounds by stunning then scoring a couple of KDs as the score gets close and the opponent opens up.
the score should be kept close and in the late rounds work the body hard while the oppenent has opened up to win the final rounds. now that you have a large endurance advantage lines like 10/3/7 should win rounds while dealing a fair amount of damage to a tired opponent. alternatively, you could go for stuns instead of dancing but there is a little more risk involved.
for the most part, world title fighters are balanced variants. when i say balanced i refer only to STR, SPD and AGL ratio (CHN and CND are purely manager preference...or random APs). fighter types, as i have previous described them, starts to break to down as we see how similar but different these variants can be to each other.
basically these variants have slighty more or slightly less of one stat than having STR = SPD = AGL. AGL is commonly the highest and SPD is rarely the highest. not many fighters are purely balanced at this level, they are always looking to have an advantage somewhere so they can use a style to increase their number of APs.
even if you have one of these fighters, you have to know how to use them. you must balance efficiency with point scoring. even fighters with 20 STR, 28 SPD, 28 AGL will use 5B/7/8 for a the most of a fight dispite not being that efficient. however, he has a good SPD advantage and by using 5B/7/8 he gaurantees the opponent has to go at least 6B/7/7 to win the round with maximum efficiency. by using 6B/7/7 he getting 1 extra fatigue (CND dependant) and using one less DEF. the opponent could also use 4B/8/8 to stay efficient as possible, take no fatigue and open up later. forcing the opponent to open up later is a great advantage, you just have to open up more and take the couple more rounds you need to win. alternatively, knowing he has to open up, a few 4B/10/6 rounds will cut down the endurance advantage he worked so hard for in the first few rounds. this variant is a dancer varient - best at scoring.
another common variant are fighters similar to 23 STR, 23 SPD, 30 AGL. agility balanced fighters will usually ring because they usually have higher AGL than their opponent. at times they can even use ropes. they are much more efficient than the dancer variant (11% more efficient in example fighters). with higher AGL, you will also receive fewer ips. 5 AP SPD difference makes a large difference in point scoring. another advantage is training (floating APs), they can train STR, SPD or AGL equally well for a fight. the dancer variant wouldn't likely train STR or SPD that often. the agility balanced variant can train SPD to close the SPD gap, since they are fairly efficient they can use less DEF and more AGG to take rounds and be equal on damage. AGL and STR can be trained to increase efficiency and increase style advantages (or decrease opponents style advantages). very flexible.
another common variant is the speedy agile slugger kind. for example, 27 STR, 22 SPD, 27 AGL. their efficicency advantage is deadly among other balanced variants. 22 SPD is considered lowish at this level, so they can have problem scoring rounds, but IP fears will send opponents that know whats best for their careers into hiding. the agility variant would use the ring with tactics like 5B/6/9 to win rounds and keep total damage low while not sacrificing too much efficiency. this variant has a STR advantage however, which is probably the worst advantage to have in short supply since clinch and inside have big negatives. it is a good idea for this varient to have one extra CND so they can go 4B/10/6 (inside) early, to get both fighters tired. the CND advantage provides more endurance and less fatigue. the extra cond will also come in handy if choose to use extra AGG to get the win on points. IP dealers.
the other common variant is a staggered balanced type. example, 21 STR, 25 SPD, 30 AGL. speed good enough to dance, high agility to stop damage and be able to use ring often. enough STR and efficiency make fighters second-think inside. they don't have much on the dancer variant but has a small but significant speed advantage over the other two mentioned so far. in tandam with high agility, these are just as good as the other variants.
another highly viable variant is (for 76 APs in STR, SPD and AGL)
30 STR, 23 SPD, 23 AGL. balanced clinchers.
i have seperated these into variants but in the end they are pretty much the same. it all depends on what the differences in the fighters are. as a general rule, SPD shouldn't solely be the highest stat for balanced fighters, it sacrifices to much efficiency.
basically you will usually have and advantage in one stat and the other guy will have the advantage in another. a small SPD advantage means 5B/7/8 (feint) makes it difficult for the opponent to win rounds. a small AGL advantage means you can use the ring to increase defence. a small STR advantage will usually make the opponent worried about IPs, you will have a psych advantage, or at least the pleasure of making their hard earned career much shorter.
KP fighters always have the potential to win as long some managers think 11 chin is enough. 12 chin is safe, those who use less either are nieve and think 11 chin will save them from 8 KP, or think that they have enough skill to negotiate with powerful KP fighter while putting that AP somewhere else they deem more useful.
for this section, KP fighters does NOT include flashers. KP fighters with 14 or more CND is what i'll be discussing. fighters with KP ranging from 3 to 10 have won many titles in the past. you will need the appropriate chin to make full use of the KP, personally i like 11 + KP/2 (rounded down) for all contenders fighters (not just KP guys). the amount of chin you need is dependant on your AGL. the for KP <= 5 you can use 13 CHN and fighters with KP >= 8 will need 15 CHN. high KP needs more CHN because they have lowish AGL.
KP dancers- once a dominant force in WeBL, they are still strong and capable of winning WTs. after the simultaneous change to inside and outside they lost much of their dominance. now managers are training extra chin to combat them anyway. KP dancers with 3 KP are pretty much dead, only exception being cruisers and heavies. KP dancers with 4 KP are the ones that require most skill, they have to get their opponent to open up so they can flash them, they can't just force the flash. KP dancers with 5 KP is where the WTs are at IMO. enough KP to force flashes, but with only 5 points in KP and only one extra chin than other dancers, they only lack in STR, so their SPD and AGL is similar to the opponents. 5 KP also means you don't have to be a light build anymore. you don't want a height advantage, you don't want to use counter. counter is no longer effective for 5 KP fighters because 1. counter favours low STR fighters; 2. higher STR means less HGT advantage; 3. more STR means less SPD.
balanced KP fighters- i have had much success with these fighters where KP ranges from 6-8. fighters 21/7 with 25 SPD and 22 AGL, or 24/8 with 20 SPD and 24 AGL are balanced fighters. the former, has more SPD than many in his divison and can slap dispite his huge STR and KP. his low AGL means he doesn't want to be apart of a endurance battle - thats where the huge KP comes in. 7 KP is enough to flash an opponent outright in the first round even if they are using 4B/8/8, so theres another way to avoid IPs. they slap against high chin, KO those without it. opponents with high chin are going to cause less total damage anyway. the later example fighter has more KP and is more efficient, this stun damage efficiency allows him to flash opponents expecting a flash. alternatively he can start off an endurance battle by slugging when they are using 1/1/18 or 4H/6/10 expecting a flash in order to get a small endurance advantage or points advantage. he can then flash them in a later round.
KP sluggers- there have been KP fighters with 9 or more KP win WTs recently, so it is possible. with 9 points taken away from STR, SPD and AGL they almost need to flash. so sacrificing the huge chin top get a more well rounded fighter is often a better way to go. the less chin the less chance allout will succeed. 14 chin would be a minimum but an extra two SPD is invaluable. with only 14 chin they win normally need to stick to inside but with 9 KP inside can sometimes be enough. they tend to flash a lot and when they fight other KP fighters, they get in trouble because their AGL is not up to par. with so much invested in KP and chin they have problems with most fighters capable of surviving the first round. dispite having 16 or so CND it gives them only a couple more options than flashers. these would be the least versitile and hence most unlikely to win more than a few WTs.
something to think about- 4 fighters have won 28 or more WTs, two of them had 7 KP (+/-1).
webl in an ecology. groups of fighter types that thrive on certain matchups and die in promenence of others. many elite managers get all their titles at once, then they dry up, quickly. there are several reasons for this. 1. a managers success arrives because their prefered fighter type just became and dominant fighter in the ecology, this means more favourable matchups than usual throughout the career. 2. once a manager reaches success, they feel they have the winning formula and they don't need to change. but webl is an ecology and as dominant fighter type swings, their fighters get more tougher matchups without the manager realising and they all of a sudden have more ips and losses than usual and their champs are all too old to make comebacks.
the ecology is cyclic. to use a simple example, say the dominant fighters are kp fighters, then non-kp fighters get higher chins to combat them. the number of kp fighters decreases to match their effectiveness. as the number of kp fighters dwindle and the number of high chinned fighters escalate, the number of low chin fighters begins to increase. as the low chin fighters gain dominance over the number of high chin fighters, kp fighter become viable again. there are factors other than just the chin/kp factor; speed and efficiency have their own cycles. this makes the complete cycle three dimensional and this finding the next dominant fighter type difficult to predict.
although webl ecology is cyclic, rules changes to styles affect the balance too. during the kp dancer era, kelm and gg won most of their titles, close to 80 a piece. the inside/outside change occured and it offsetted the balance. the change made outside weaker and inside stronger. making outside weaker meant it was less useful to be tall, this hurt kp dancers directly. inside was made more resistant to the affects of counter and ropes, this destroyed counter and ropes - the kp dancers main weapons against inside-using fighters. ultimately inside was more viable and thus fighters were optimised to make full use of inside instead of clinch. outside, counter, ropes were made weaker, so kp fighters got shorter so they didn't have to use the height styles. kp dancers got shorter my being heavier builds and using more kp, thus giving birth to kp balanced fighters. the cause of all this was a simple rule that no one could possibly foresee the outcome of, but it something to be aware of.