Match types

[Boltinho]

I've been wondering a lot about match types.

I haven't used them that match over several iterations of the game because they've always felt like penalties that I had to use sometimes.  And left me disappointed. 

But I'm thinking that's probably a missed opportunity for me.  And Id like to use much more variations than every match being regular except for the one Storytelling match per card I have to do.

So I'm looking for [lots] more info on what they all actually do.  And therefore when i should use them.

I found this nice Reddit post on them:

...but nothing very much here on GDS.

So I'd love to hear thoughts.

Which ones do you use?

Do you never use any beyond regular?

What do they do?

What do workers need to make them work well?

 

[alpha2117]

Recent changes mean that Eye Candy no longer gets heavily penalised if you use Men.  It means you can use Rick Rude style guys in that way now which opens up new ways to cool crowds a bit.  You would still be capped on just how high those matches can rate but you can now use pretty boys or Exoticos as well as pretty girls to give the crowd something a little different.     

Comedy still seems to be pretty heavily penalised even when you have excellent Comedic workers.

 

[Self]

I like having forced match aims in my products, because otherwise I'd end up ignoring them completely. Half the time I don't pay attention to stipulations, let alone the aim of a match.

So I like the handcuffs. Recently my owner changed my company's product to something that required Technical Masterclass, which I'd never booked before, so that was fun. I usually put it on second, when the crowd would be but warm but not hot, and hired new wrestlers who could specifically work long, technical matches. Some proved themselves worthy of going further up the card. Others didn't... but it's the second match. Who cares if it's garbage as long as there's a lot of wristlocks and counters?

In the early months of my still-going 2020 diary, I put some self-imposed handcuffs on myself. I had to book a Comedy match on every show. I tended to put it just before the main event, using at least one guy with an Attribute that lends itself to comedy, and usually involving wrestlers with high charisma. Much like the technical masterclass, the goal isn't to be good. It's just to be. Existence is the only point. 

I will sometimes use Work the Crowd for the opener, if I have two charismatic guys in it. Comes from my time on the indies. If I was on first, my job was to teach the crowd it's okay to clap and make noise. To boo. To cheer. Then take one or two bumps and lose to a super kick. 

[GrindhouseArts]

I play deathmatch products, so my most used aims are Hardcore, Deathmatch, Wild Brawl. They use Brawling/Hardcore/Impactful and the hardcore-related attributes to calculate quality. In other products, you might use High Spots (same thing with Aerial/Flashy) instead. Due to the 'hard on the body' style, I need to balance stamina and injuries a lot, so my deathmatch division doubles as tag team division and everyone has at least one dedicated partner or a stable. These factions feud together and I can keep the storyline going if someone gets injured. For tag team matches, I use Regular and Storytelling most. Whoever is in the worst shape after a hardcore-based event gets a tag team match with an aim that's easier on them next. Since I like variety, I usually have also have a singles division that doesn't do any hardcore (unless you count ladder matches, but I book those as High Spots). Sometimes that's a lightweight division, other times a technical/MMA-influenced division. They do Regular, High Spots, Technical Masterclass/Spectacle, depending on card position.

The backbones of my roster are always hardcore workers than can switch back and forth between the divisions if needed, be it due to high psychology (for Technical Masterclass/Spectacle) or attributes that let them do Comedy as well (for long events where I want to do something silly like Ultra Softcore deathmatch parodies, not a random 'Calm the crowd').

I use most aims relatively frequently, except Eye Candy, Mayhem (holds back high psychology workers for some reason, so I use Wild Brawl instead), and Once in a Lifetime.

[MikeSc]

As long as you pay attention to the tooltips in game regarding placement (i.e. this burns out the crowd, so don't put it on right before the main or the crowd can't be hot going in, so put it early on the show) you can puzzle out where to fit them in a show.

If you don't like match types go ahead and make a Modern Throwback style fed for yourself.  No match type requirements.  Just need main eventers with cardio is all.

Alternately, if you are looking at a promotion with a Technical Masterclass requirement you will definitely need an assortment of technically minded workers who can go 15 minutes.  Same for if you do a TCW game, hang on to quite a few brawlers.  If you know what you need to have around it's not so bad.  In my 2020 TCW game I found at least 4 different card structuresthat worked really well for the Wild Brawl placement.  I could use enhancement or main event guys in that match, so it was not in any way a handcuff.  Story Telling seems pretty easy to use too, just don't put it directly in front of your main event or Wild Brawl.  Use it as almost a crowd heat reset 2/3 of the way into the card and build back up from a squash right after is the best way I found.