Many factors are required to make a team click. Main slayers, power slayers, objective players, and the often misunderstood “glue” players. Some players fit into multiple categories, but all of these must work together in perfect harmony to pull out a win against an equally-skilled team. No one play style is necessarily more important than another. While the design and pace of Halo 5 had slightly eroded the lines that clearly defined different play styles, they’re still important.
The most recognized play style are the slayers. What do these players do and how do they affect the team? Let’s find out!
Main Slayers are the bread-and-butter of any team. If you can’t get any kills, it doesn’t matter how good of an objective player you are. If you’re getting spawn-killed in your base, it won’t make much difference how fast you can run a flag. These players will typically be the kind to get a perfect kill on you in every gunfight. Their magnum shots usually stand out and can tend to be very frustrating for other teams as it seems like they never miss. Main slayers will pick up every one-shot player that is called out, making sure players who try to dipsy-doodle (Thanks for that, Strongside) away don’t get very far. Very few of these players stand-out as solely Main Slayers, as they cross over heavily with Power Slayers.
Roy of Evil Geniuses. Courtesy of ESL.
Examples of Main Slayers:
Aaron “Ace” Elam (Str8 Rippin)
Justin “Roy” Brown (Evil Geniuses)
Dan “Danoxide” Terlizzi (Free Agent)
Ryan “Shooter” Sondhi (Inconceivable)
Paul “Snakebite” Duarte (OpTic Gaming)
Braedon “StelluR” Boettcher (Team Liquid)
The other (and often more recognized) subclass are the Power Slayers.
Is the Sniper Rifle gone? Or the Rocket Launcher? How about the Shotgun? Chances are, a Power Slayer has them. These are the guys who you usually see highlight reels from. These players have two jobs: get the power weapons on the map and use them to kill the enemy team as much as possible. A Power Slayer with a Sniper and good positioning can accumulate all of the simultaneous kills needed to capture a flag or get total control in Strongholds. Since their job is often to get control of power weapons and being able to kill other players who want them, they typically are also Main Slayers.
Snip3down. Courtesy of Eric Wrona.
Examples of Power Slayers:
Kevin “Eco” Smith (Team Liquid)
Zane “Penguin” Hearon (Team Liquid)
Mathew “Royal2” Fiorante (OpTic Gaming)
Eric “Snip3down“ Wrona (Team EnvyUs)
Tyler “Spartan” Ganza (Team Allegiance)
Cuyler “Huke” Garland (Team EnvyUs)
Slayers, while being simple in concept, are the backbone of any Halo team. They are also the players who most frequently leave the jaws of the audience hanging open, and that’s something any fan can appreciate. However, they’re not the only thing enabling championship teams to win. When a flag or stronghold needs capturing, Objective players are the ones to do it, and we’ll be taking a look at them next time.
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