Mooclan
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Mooclan’s MCSG and PvP Guide
Please note, this Guide is designed with legitimate fights in mind. Fighting a hacker is much tougher, and this Guide is not intended to cover such fights.
2. Strafe! No matter what people say, strafing is an excellent technique, assuming you can do it correctly and efficiently. One way to strafe is by moving left and right. Circle the opponent, get behind them. Doesn’t matter how you do it, as long as you can avoid the opponents’ hits. Sometimes you can just walk right through them, turn around, and knock them around. An effective tip for strafing is to stick close to the opponent. Don’t make large loops around them, because it will give them more time to aim at you (And hit you). Circle them in small, tight loops, so that you can easily confuse and get behind them.
3. Stun them! There’s rumors that if you can hit the opponent in a certain way, then they will be stunned, and unable to retaliate. This is partially true. If you are able to move fast enough and efficiently, you can accumulate massive amounts of knockback, and they won’t be able to hit you. This can often be confused for Aimbot, however, so beware of that.
4. Block-Hitting. Yeah, yeah. We’ve all heard those people saying “Oh, block-hitting is for noobs.” But it’s really not! It is a tried and tested strategy, and really does help. It lowers the damage you take, if I’m not mistaken. If you hit both the attack and block buttons in quick succession, it deals damage, while minimizing the damage that you take, and is called “Block-hitting”. It will make you move much slower, as blocking makes you move slower than sneaking will. Click the left mouse button, then the right one right after. Make the gap between left and right clicks as small as possible. Some people say to click both buttons at the same time - It doesn’t work that way for me, but feel free to try it.
5. Fishing Rods. (Rumors about Fishing Rods being unusable in 1.7) If you hit a person with a fishing rod, it deals some slight knockback. Enough to stop them from sprinting. If they are good at sprinting, as some players are, it won’t do much, but will still disorient them slightly. One way to use fishing rods is by having the person charge at you, hitting them with the fishing rod, switching to your sword, then just continuing the battle. This will stop them from sprinting, and can effectively stop them from strafing around you. It’s helpful if your mouse is slow and/or you are using a low sensitivity, or are just bad at turning in circles accurately. This also is a form of stunning, and can give you the upper hand. Knocking people into water, towards walls, obstacles, etc. can help, as players will have their movement obstructed. It’s helpful for ending chases.
6. Flint and Steel. Ah, the good old FNS. Flint and Steel, often called FNS or Flint N’ Steel, deals damage. It deals several hearts of damage over a few seconds, assuming they don’t jump into water. It will stop them from sprinting every time they take damage, so it’s a great technique for running away unless the opponent has some sort of sprint hacks. If you’re at a disadvantage, either in armor or weapons, just light ‘em up! It has many great aspects to it, so if you can learn to use it right then you’re just one step closer to getting better at PvP!
7. Altitude Differences. If you are able to get below the opponent, you can navigate into an area that you can reach the opponent, but they cannot reach you. This is caused by how Minecraft works, as "you" hit from your character's chest area. Thus, you can reach only a certain distance below you, and an entire block farther upwards. So if you're underneath, you can sometimes get several hits on the other person before you come into their range. However, it is possible to escape this, if you're the person above. Either by running away or by strafing to the sides, it's possible to reverse the flow of the battle even when above. Also, if you're on a mountain or near a cliff, it's often a good idea to try and knock your opponent off the cliff. It's particularly easy if you're above them, and they're below, if they're the one near the cliff, as you'll be able to hold your ground while they can get pushed off. However, if the roles are switched, either push straight towards them, and try to kill them before you get pushed off, or run away. Depending on the situation, running away can be difficult, and killing them first is unlikely.
8. Water PvP. Are you being chased, or chasing someone else? Unless they are absolutely terrible, having worse gear is usually fatal. Weapons are the #1 advantage you can possible have. Block-Hitting is really effective if you are being chased, but if you are the pursuer, then it will only slow you down. According to Minecraft Reach Theory, if you are below someone, then you will be able to hit them more. This is because when you are at the same level of someone, you can both hit each other at the same range. If you are above them, then your reach will be shorter, because you are two blocks tall, but don’t hit from the center of your body. You hit from somewhere around your shoulders or head, not the waist or stomach. With that in mind, you have a shorter reach downwards than you do upwards. It’s similar in real life. That way, if you get below someone then you’ll be able to hit them from further away. This is rather useful in maps with deeper water. If you’re chasing someone, don’t hit them with a fishing rod. Go into the water, sprint on the ground, then come back up. That way, you’ll be sprinting, and thus catch up to them gradually. Works best for long distances. If you’re being chased by someone, push them away with your fishing rod. Once you have enough space, then go do the sprint trick. If you have a teammate, you can push each other with fishing rods.
9. Sprinting. This is one of the mechanisms in Minecraft that makes PvP even remotely challenging. When you are hit or hit someone else, you stop sprinting. That’s why you should learn to time your sprinting perfectly and learn to double-tap the “W” key ultra-fast. While this will take several hours of practice (Took me 21 hours, if I recall correctly, to get to my current proficiency) if you can learn it properly, and learn to apply it without thinking, you’ll have a big advantage while fighting. Also, there will be maps with mountains where sprinting is a huge advantage. Getting knockback on your opponent is very valuable, especially if you are above them, hitting them downwards. They’ll be hit off the side of the mountain, and if you’re lucky they will sustain large amounts of damage, from both your hits and the fall damage. If you’re running either up or down a mountain, sprinting is again valuable. If you can sprint in the small gaps of space that it is technically possible, you can slowly inch ahead of your pursuer, or gain on the person you’re chasing. When it comes to small hills or bumps in a road, sprinting can easily be disabled just by hitting a block because you mis-timed your jump. If that happens, an opponent can cross a surprising amount of land between you and them in the time it takes the average player to re-sprint. If you learn to time your jumps and sprint faster, this will be less of an issue. Again, if you’re the one chasing them, then the opponent can escape further away. Using a sprint-training map can be especially helpful, like a timed parkour map or something similar.
10. Knockback. When you’re sprinting and hit an opponent, you’ll “Knock” them back. This can be used to stun opponents, and give them a delay. If done 100% correctly and perfectly executed, which is rare, then you can in fact escape a fight completely unharmed. Learning to combine sprinting with fishing rods and whatnot can be extremely valuable, as it can stun opponents very, very effectively. If YOU yourself are stunned, then your best bet is to retreat and try and charge again without getting stunned, unless you know how to recover from a stun quickly. Knockback can also be used to hit people into traps, off edges, and into walls. If you hit them into a wall, they will lose their sprint and will go slower.
The first group is on most servers, but “MCSG” and “The Hive” are more official, custom-coded, and professionally-run. For the first type, tiers are randomized. All I can really say is to get as many chests as you can. Perhaps study the map a little bit, and find a good route.
The Hive has chests that are sometimes not there, and thus you need a longer route for. I personally don’t play it often, so I can’t give many tips aside from what I can say from my experiences in MCSG. Learn what items you can and cannot find, and how often. Try to develop methods, even if it means copying YouTubers.
Onto the Minecraft Survival Games:
This can also partially be applied to the Hive and just about any other Survival Games server.
First Stage. in the Survival Games is the Lobby. You might think it’s unimportant, but it actually can make a difference. How? That’s where you make allies and foes, of course! Avoid angering people who might target you (Who knows? They might get a stone sword off of the Cornucopia.) Make allies, if you want. If you’re confident in your solo abilities, then that’s fine. But some people prefer to play in a team. Either call over some friends from Skype/Clans, etc. or team with someone who’s in the Lobby already.
Second Stage. Pregame and the first few seconds. Don’t start sprinting with several seconds left, but rather, start sprinting just before the timer runs out. The system won’t have enough time to teleport you back, and you’ll get a little bit of a head-start. Small, yes, but everything counts. If there’s only a few chests on that map in Cornucopia, then go straight for the one in front of you. If there’s a large number of chests, then you can try heading for a chest slightly to the side. You’ll grab some loot from that chest, and there’s a larger chance that the chest in front of you is still untouched - It works for me sometimes, and I’ve gotten gear like full-iron armor and a diamond sword in the first two minutes that way. However, if there’s multiple chests, then some of them might be tier ones.
Third stage. Assuming you live this long, then try running towards your chest route. If you don’t have a chest route, then pick a cardinal direction, such as North, South, East, and West. You can find them using F3, a compass, or you can just go straight ahead in one of the directions (It’s pretty obvious how to go straight.) Keep your eyes open for both enemies, traps, and chests. Traps are rare, but if you get caught in one then you will probably die or be stuck for the rest of the game unless someone sponsors you an enderpearl, or you get hit out using knockback, etc. Grab any chests you see, but make sure no one else is near either the chest or you, because when you’re looking in your inventory, someone can run up to you very easily and get a head-start in any fight. Make sure to keep note of any good chests, and where they are - Tier twos especially. That way, you can return to them in future games for a slight head-start. At this stage in the game, taking risks by fighting is a bad idea. It’s recommended that you get at least 5 armor bars, and even then don’t take on a person with better gear than you, or a team (Unless the team has minimal equipment.) Target players with less armor, and do your best to avoid people with good armor, weapons, or a high amount of wins (If you know from previous knowledge.) If you do end up getting involved in a fight, then see what gear they have. You’ll either have to stand and fight, or run. Make good use of your various weapons, location, and anything else you might have.
Fourth Stage. The stage where you’re fighting, chasing people, and being chased. If you’re in this stage, it means that you either have an iron or diamond sword, or really good armor, like 7-7.5 armor bars, or both armor and weapons. Make sure you have enough food in your hotbar to last a dragged out chase, and arrows to snipe from afar. Never waste your arrows on someone extremely far away, unless you’re confident you can kill them. They’ll be able to regenerate their health by the time you get close to them, and you will have wasted or given them your arrows. If you’re fighting someone up close and melee, then use tactics. Make sure you see what kind of armor and weapon they have. Bows aren’t for melee, but some people like to bow-spam once they have a few blocks between you and themselves. It’s not recommended unless you have enough space and a lot of arrows to spare, because it’s not a very efficient way to deal damage, unless they’re next to a cliff, but then it’s always better to just run up and knock them off. Fishing rods can deal knockback better than bows, but bows also deal damage, so it’s up to you which to use. If you’re completely immersed in a swordfight, then make sure not to be drawn towards edges or obstacles, unless you’re the one drawing them there in order to use it to your own advantage, but make sure not to be caught in your own trap. Once you have a few blocks of space, if the person is still chasing after you, then try and light them on fire. Don’t blatantly hold out your flint and steel, but switch to it a split second before using it, then switch back to your sword immediately. This will catch them by surprise, and deal a goodly amount of damage, as well as stopping their sprint. If you yourself are caught on fire, from either the enemy or your own fire, then just fight. You won’t be able to run away, UNLESS the opponent is also on fire. If that is the case, then you can probably maintain your distance. Perhaps try and re-light them, taking care not to do yourself in, too. After a second fire, the main priority is to either fight or run, and flint and steel becomes less effective, since they will anticipate another fire. Fighting is pretty simple. Use tips that are written above, in the PvP section, to help you. If you’re in a chase, then try and anticipate where they will turn. Don’t anticipate too much, because they might see you and go the other way. If you can lead them into corners, traps, etc. then that’s great. Make sure you have enough food in your hotbar for a long haul, and think about saturation and how many food bars it replenishes. If you’re the one being chased, then take unexpected turns. If they’re right behind you, then you can stop, do a 180 turn, and go straight through them - Depending on how experienced they are, 9/10 people will miss you entirely if you execute it well. Make sure to avoid losing your sprint, and don’t turn around to set them on fire unless they’re much too close and you have a nearly guaranteed chance of actually catching them on fire.
Fifth Stage. This is near the end of the game, when there’s maybe 5 people left, and you have to hunt for a few minutes to find anyone. Make sure your inventory is clear, grab only what you need, and toss unnecessary food such as raw meat, watermelon slices, cookies, etc. Make sure you have enough Flint N’ Steels to last you in a 2v1, just in case, and arrange them in your hotbar. Keep ample food in your hotbar, as well, keeping in mind saturation for drawn-out chases. Watch your sides and back at all times, and spin around every once in a while and make sure no one’s chasing you. Always stay within a regenerating amount of food bars, in case someone suddenly drops down and surprise-attacks you. Just hunt down or be hunted by the other players, and if you play it safe and fight well, you should make it to Death Match. Refer to the PvP section for specific combat tips.
Sixth Stage. DeathMatch. The final countdown, and you’re released. Try and get a single arrow into an opponent. If they have full, or nearly full, iron armor, then don’t aim at them, but rather the weaker opponent, as the stronger one will take less damage and regenerate their missing hearts sooner. Don’t charge in recklessly. Whether you’re in the middle or on the side, try and run away. Play defense, and don’t sign your death-wish. Let the other two fight, and when one is dead, come in and cleanup the remaining player. If that’s not possible, then shoot the remaining player a few times before running in to ensure they have low HP. If you have really bad gear, then try and sneak up behind them, grab some items lying down from the kill, and run away. Equip it when you have some safe distance, and don’t fuss over organization. Time is running out. Shoot them if you need, and if they have decent gear then don’t bow-spam, as it won’t do much but slow them down. Fire is your friend, as long as you can avoid it. Lay traps and place it right next to where they’re headed, or under them if they’re not moving. Knocking them back into it more than once is great, as it’ll deal extra damage and prolong the flame damage. If, for some reason, the remaining two are a team or both chasing you, then use flint n’ steel as much as necessary. Don’t use it to the point of catching yourself on fire, but slowly draw down their HP. Dodge arrows and blows, and stay on the edge of their range, where you can hurt them but they are unable to affect you. Don’t get drawn into a corner, and maintain open space where you can run away. Just kill, kill, kill, and the clock will tick until you actually kill.
Seventh Stage. The fireworks! Dance, light yourself on fire, and if you’re extremely happy, say, “Good Game!” Go have a steak, a cake, or make a flake of, uh, I ran out of words. But congratulations, you won the Survival Games! Don’t forget to give Mr. Mooclan a hug for his super-duper long Guide that he wrote between the hours of 12 and 4 AM. But don’t kiss him, cuz he’ll either smack you and run away or faint.
Updates:
12/6/13:
It is not completed, and never will be. Minecraft PvP constantly changes, as new techniques are developed and old ones fade.
It is written based on my opinions, strategies, and experiences. I know people don't all fight like me, and I know some people might disagree with me. But hey, at least I took the time out of my life to write this. I wrote it, hoping to help players get a little bit better. If it helps, then hooray. If it confused you, then I apologize, and recommend that you look at a different guide.
Please give your opinions, comments, questions, suggestions, (constructive) criticism, and anything else. If you have anything you want to say in private, you can PM me or something, doesn't matter to me.
I hope to continue writing such guides for all the aspiring MCSG'ers out there. Feel free to give people a link to this Guide if it helped you, and you think it might help them.
By now I'm really, really rambling, so I'll sign off.
~Mooclan
Please note, this Guide is designed with legitimate fights in mind. Fighting a hacker is much tougher, and this Guide is not intended to cover such fights.
~PvP~
PvP in general, regardless of server.
1. Do not use any performance-improving mods or hacks! Learn to play legitimately, and you’ll do well on any computer, assuming you have a standard keyboard/mouse or trackpad, whichever you’re used to. Computer-improving mods, such as Optifine, are good. When I say “Performance-improving”, I mean things that would give you an advantage over the other players, such as Better Sprint Mod, Aimbot, ForceField, Etc. You will be looked down upon by players that play legitimately and are still good. If you can learn to fight well without any of these, that’s great!2. Strafe! No matter what people say, strafing is an excellent technique, assuming you can do it correctly and efficiently. One way to strafe is by moving left and right. Circle the opponent, get behind them. Doesn’t matter how you do it, as long as you can avoid the opponents’ hits. Sometimes you can just walk right through them, turn around, and knock them around. An effective tip for strafing is to stick close to the opponent. Don’t make large loops around them, because it will give them more time to aim at you (And hit you). Circle them in small, tight loops, so that you can easily confuse and get behind them.
3. Stun them! There’s rumors that if you can hit the opponent in a certain way, then they will be stunned, and unable to retaliate. This is partially true. If you are able to move fast enough and efficiently, you can accumulate massive amounts of knockback, and they won’t be able to hit you. This can often be confused for Aimbot, however, so beware of that.
4. Block-Hitting. Yeah, yeah. We’ve all heard those people saying “Oh, block-hitting is for noobs.” But it’s really not! It is a tried and tested strategy, and really does help. It lowers the damage you take, if I’m not mistaken. If you hit both the attack and block buttons in quick succession, it deals damage, while minimizing the damage that you take, and is called “Block-hitting”. It will make you move much slower, as blocking makes you move slower than sneaking will. Click the left mouse button, then the right one right after. Make the gap between left and right clicks as small as possible. Some people say to click both buttons at the same time - It doesn’t work that way for me, but feel free to try it.
5. Fishing Rods. (Rumors about Fishing Rods being unusable in 1.7) If you hit a person with a fishing rod, it deals some slight knockback. Enough to stop them from sprinting. If they are good at sprinting, as some players are, it won’t do much, but will still disorient them slightly. One way to use fishing rods is by having the person charge at you, hitting them with the fishing rod, switching to your sword, then just continuing the battle. This will stop them from sprinting, and can effectively stop them from strafing around you. It’s helpful if your mouse is slow and/or you are using a low sensitivity, or are just bad at turning in circles accurately. This also is a form of stunning, and can give you the upper hand. Knocking people into water, towards walls, obstacles, etc. can help, as players will have their movement obstructed. It’s helpful for ending chases.
6. Flint and Steel. Ah, the good old FNS. Flint and Steel, often called FNS or Flint N’ Steel, deals damage. It deals several hearts of damage over a few seconds, assuming they don’t jump into water. It will stop them from sprinting every time they take damage, so it’s a great technique for running away unless the opponent has some sort of sprint hacks. If you’re at a disadvantage, either in armor or weapons, just light ‘em up! It has many great aspects to it, so if you can learn to use it right then you’re just one step closer to getting better at PvP!
7. Altitude Differences. If you are able to get below the opponent, you can navigate into an area that you can reach the opponent, but they cannot reach you. This is caused by how Minecraft works, as "you" hit from your character's chest area. Thus, you can reach only a certain distance below you, and an entire block farther upwards. So if you're underneath, you can sometimes get several hits on the other person before you come into their range. However, it is possible to escape this, if you're the person above. Either by running away or by strafing to the sides, it's possible to reverse the flow of the battle even when above. Also, if you're on a mountain or near a cliff, it's often a good idea to try and knock your opponent off the cliff. It's particularly easy if you're above them, and they're below, if they're the one near the cliff, as you'll be able to hold your ground while they can get pushed off. However, if the roles are switched, either push straight towards them, and try to kill them before you get pushed off, or run away. Depending on the situation, running away can be difficult, and killing them first is unlikely.
8. Water PvP. Are you being chased, or chasing someone else? Unless they are absolutely terrible, having worse gear is usually fatal. Weapons are the #1 advantage you can possible have. Block-Hitting is really effective if you are being chased, but if you are the pursuer, then it will only slow you down. According to Minecraft Reach Theory, if you are below someone, then you will be able to hit them more. This is because when you are at the same level of someone, you can both hit each other at the same range. If you are above them, then your reach will be shorter, because you are two blocks tall, but don’t hit from the center of your body. You hit from somewhere around your shoulders or head, not the waist or stomach. With that in mind, you have a shorter reach downwards than you do upwards. It’s similar in real life. That way, if you get below someone then you’ll be able to hit them from further away. This is rather useful in maps with deeper water. If you’re chasing someone, don’t hit them with a fishing rod. Go into the water, sprint on the ground, then come back up. That way, you’ll be sprinting, and thus catch up to them gradually. Works best for long distances. If you’re being chased by someone, push them away with your fishing rod. Once you have enough space, then go do the sprint trick. If you have a teammate, you can push each other with fishing rods.
9. Sprinting. This is one of the mechanisms in Minecraft that makes PvP even remotely challenging. When you are hit or hit someone else, you stop sprinting. That’s why you should learn to time your sprinting perfectly and learn to double-tap the “W” key ultra-fast. While this will take several hours of practice (Took me 21 hours, if I recall correctly, to get to my current proficiency) if you can learn it properly, and learn to apply it without thinking, you’ll have a big advantage while fighting. Also, there will be maps with mountains where sprinting is a huge advantage. Getting knockback on your opponent is very valuable, especially if you are above them, hitting them downwards. They’ll be hit off the side of the mountain, and if you’re lucky they will sustain large amounts of damage, from both your hits and the fall damage. If you’re running either up or down a mountain, sprinting is again valuable. If you can sprint in the small gaps of space that it is technically possible, you can slowly inch ahead of your pursuer, or gain on the person you’re chasing. When it comes to small hills or bumps in a road, sprinting can easily be disabled just by hitting a block because you mis-timed your jump. If that happens, an opponent can cross a surprising amount of land between you and them in the time it takes the average player to re-sprint. If you learn to time your jumps and sprint faster, this will be less of an issue. Again, if you’re the one chasing them, then the opponent can escape further away. Using a sprint-training map can be especially helpful, like a timed parkour map or something similar.
10. Knockback. When you’re sprinting and hit an opponent, you’ll “Knock” them back. This can be used to stun opponents, and give them a delay. If done 100% correctly and perfectly executed, which is rare, then you can in fact escape a fight completely unharmed. Learning to combine sprinting with fishing rods and whatnot can be extremely valuable, as it can stun opponents very, very effectively. If YOU yourself are stunned, then your best bet is to retreat and try and charge again without getting stunned, unless you know how to recover from a stun quickly. Knockback can also be used to hit people into traps, off edges, and into walls. If you hit them into a wall, they will lose their sprint and will go slower.
~MCSG~
Survival Games is a much broader topic than PvP in general. As such, first I’ll split it into three groups: Regular hunger/survival games, The Hive, and the Minecraft Survival Games.The first group is on most servers, but “MCSG” and “The Hive” are more official, custom-coded, and professionally-run. For the first type, tiers are randomized. All I can really say is to get as many chests as you can. Perhaps study the map a little bit, and find a good route.
The Hive has chests that are sometimes not there, and thus you need a longer route for. I personally don’t play it often, so I can’t give many tips aside from what I can say from my experiences in MCSG. Learn what items you can and cannot find, and how often. Try to develop methods, even if it means copying YouTubers.
Onto the Minecraft Survival Games:
This can also partially be applied to the Hive and just about any other Survival Games server.
First Stage. in the Survival Games is the Lobby. You might think it’s unimportant, but it actually can make a difference. How? That’s where you make allies and foes, of course! Avoid angering people who might target you (Who knows? They might get a stone sword off of the Cornucopia.) Make allies, if you want. If you’re confident in your solo abilities, then that’s fine. But some people prefer to play in a team. Either call over some friends from Skype/Clans, etc. or team with someone who’s in the Lobby already.
Second Stage. Pregame and the first few seconds. Don’t start sprinting with several seconds left, but rather, start sprinting just before the timer runs out. The system won’t have enough time to teleport you back, and you’ll get a little bit of a head-start. Small, yes, but everything counts. If there’s only a few chests on that map in Cornucopia, then go straight for the one in front of you. If there’s a large number of chests, then you can try heading for a chest slightly to the side. You’ll grab some loot from that chest, and there’s a larger chance that the chest in front of you is still untouched - It works for me sometimes, and I’ve gotten gear like full-iron armor and a diamond sword in the first two minutes that way. However, if there’s multiple chests, then some of them might be tier ones.
Third stage. Assuming you live this long, then try running towards your chest route. If you don’t have a chest route, then pick a cardinal direction, such as North, South, East, and West. You can find them using F3, a compass, or you can just go straight ahead in one of the directions (It’s pretty obvious how to go straight.) Keep your eyes open for both enemies, traps, and chests. Traps are rare, but if you get caught in one then you will probably die or be stuck for the rest of the game unless someone sponsors you an enderpearl, or you get hit out using knockback, etc. Grab any chests you see, but make sure no one else is near either the chest or you, because when you’re looking in your inventory, someone can run up to you very easily and get a head-start in any fight. Make sure to keep note of any good chests, and where they are - Tier twos especially. That way, you can return to them in future games for a slight head-start. At this stage in the game, taking risks by fighting is a bad idea. It’s recommended that you get at least 5 armor bars, and even then don’t take on a person with better gear than you, or a team (Unless the team has minimal equipment.) Target players with less armor, and do your best to avoid people with good armor, weapons, or a high amount of wins (If you know from previous knowledge.) If you do end up getting involved in a fight, then see what gear they have. You’ll either have to stand and fight, or run. Make good use of your various weapons, location, and anything else you might have.
Fourth Stage. The stage where you’re fighting, chasing people, and being chased. If you’re in this stage, it means that you either have an iron or diamond sword, or really good armor, like 7-7.5 armor bars, or both armor and weapons. Make sure you have enough food in your hotbar to last a dragged out chase, and arrows to snipe from afar. Never waste your arrows on someone extremely far away, unless you’re confident you can kill them. They’ll be able to regenerate their health by the time you get close to them, and you will have wasted or given them your arrows. If you’re fighting someone up close and melee, then use tactics. Make sure you see what kind of armor and weapon they have. Bows aren’t for melee, but some people like to bow-spam once they have a few blocks between you and themselves. It’s not recommended unless you have enough space and a lot of arrows to spare, because it’s not a very efficient way to deal damage, unless they’re next to a cliff, but then it’s always better to just run up and knock them off. Fishing rods can deal knockback better than bows, but bows also deal damage, so it’s up to you which to use. If you’re completely immersed in a swordfight, then make sure not to be drawn towards edges or obstacles, unless you’re the one drawing them there in order to use it to your own advantage, but make sure not to be caught in your own trap. Once you have a few blocks of space, if the person is still chasing after you, then try and light them on fire. Don’t blatantly hold out your flint and steel, but switch to it a split second before using it, then switch back to your sword immediately. This will catch them by surprise, and deal a goodly amount of damage, as well as stopping their sprint. If you yourself are caught on fire, from either the enemy or your own fire, then just fight. You won’t be able to run away, UNLESS the opponent is also on fire. If that is the case, then you can probably maintain your distance. Perhaps try and re-light them, taking care not to do yourself in, too. After a second fire, the main priority is to either fight or run, and flint and steel becomes less effective, since they will anticipate another fire. Fighting is pretty simple. Use tips that are written above, in the PvP section, to help you. If you’re in a chase, then try and anticipate where they will turn. Don’t anticipate too much, because they might see you and go the other way. If you can lead them into corners, traps, etc. then that’s great. Make sure you have enough food in your hotbar for a long haul, and think about saturation and how many food bars it replenishes. If you’re the one being chased, then take unexpected turns. If they’re right behind you, then you can stop, do a 180 turn, and go straight through them - Depending on how experienced they are, 9/10 people will miss you entirely if you execute it well. Make sure to avoid losing your sprint, and don’t turn around to set them on fire unless they’re much too close and you have a nearly guaranteed chance of actually catching them on fire.
Fifth Stage. This is near the end of the game, when there’s maybe 5 people left, and you have to hunt for a few minutes to find anyone. Make sure your inventory is clear, grab only what you need, and toss unnecessary food such as raw meat, watermelon slices, cookies, etc. Make sure you have enough Flint N’ Steels to last you in a 2v1, just in case, and arrange them in your hotbar. Keep ample food in your hotbar, as well, keeping in mind saturation for drawn-out chases. Watch your sides and back at all times, and spin around every once in a while and make sure no one’s chasing you. Always stay within a regenerating amount of food bars, in case someone suddenly drops down and surprise-attacks you. Just hunt down or be hunted by the other players, and if you play it safe and fight well, you should make it to Death Match. Refer to the PvP section for specific combat tips.
Sixth Stage. DeathMatch. The final countdown, and you’re released. Try and get a single arrow into an opponent. If they have full, or nearly full, iron armor, then don’t aim at them, but rather the weaker opponent, as the stronger one will take less damage and regenerate their missing hearts sooner. Don’t charge in recklessly. Whether you’re in the middle or on the side, try and run away. Play defense, and don’t sign your death-wish. Let the other two fight, and when one is dead, come in and cleanup the remaining player. If that’s not possible, then shoot the remaining player a few times before running in to ensure they have low HP. If you have really bad gear, then try and sneak up behind them, grab some items lying down from the kill, and run away. Equip it when you have some safe distance, and don’t fuss over organization. Time is running out. Shoot them if you need, and if they have decent gear then don’t bow-spam, as it won’t do much but slow them down. Fire is your friend, as long as you can avoid it. Lay traps and place it right next to where they’re headed, or under them if they’re not moving. Knocking them back into it more than once is great, as it’ll deal extra damage and prolong the flame damage. If, for some reason, the remaining two are a team or both chasing you, then use flint n’ steel as much as necessary. Don’t use it to the point of catching yourself on fire, but slowly draw down their HP. Dodge arrows and blows, and stay on the edge of their range, where you can hurt them but they are unable to affect you. Don’t get drawn into a corner, and maintain open space where you can run away. Just kill, kill, kill, and the clock will tick until you actually kill.
Seventh Stage. The fireworks! Dance, light yourself on fire, and if you’re extremely happy, say, “Good Game!” Go have a steak, a cake, or make a flake of, uh, I ran out of words. But congratulations, you won the Survival Games! Don’t forget to give Mr. Mooclan a hug for his super-duper long Guide that he wrote between the hours of 12 and 4 AM. But don’t kiss him, cuz he’ll either smack you and run away or faint.
Updates:
12/6/13:
- Height Advantages -> Altitude Differences, changed content.
- Altered formatting slightly.
- Changed conclusion section.
It is not completed, and never will be. Minecraft PvP constantly changes, as new techniques are developed and old ones fade.
It is written based on my opinions, strategies, and experiences. I know people don't all fight like me, and I know some people might disagree with me. But hey, at least I took the time out of my life to write this. I wrote it, hoping to help players get a little bit better. If it helps, then hooray. If it confused you, then I apologize, and recommend that you look at a different guide.
Please give your opinions, comments, questions, suggestions, (constructive) criticism, and anything else. If you have anything you want to say in private, you can PM me or something, doesn't matter to me.
I hope to continue writing such guides for all the aspiring MCSG'ers out there. Feel free to give people a link to this Guide if it helped you, and you think it might help them.
By now I'm really, really rambling, so I'll sign off.
~Mooclan
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