Multi Player Strategies

How to Beat Mino 1v1 with Yamato

By Blitz

To anyone that cares, here is a great lil Yam strat that will beat Mino boomers all day long. It is only viable on a large 1v1.

Basically granary first, cut stragglers till 120 wood then pit by sea. Get the pit by at least 3 sf and another 1-2 in medium walking distance. Have all but 1 sf. If it is a shallows game send vill 6 after he BE to other side of shallow. If no shallows send vill 10 after he BE.

Anyway, get 500 food and hit Tool between 16-20 ttl vills (5:40 at latest). Once you hit Tool button you rebalance your economy. You can put all on wood and have your forward(s) place 2-3 docks by enemy docks and be killing fb's by 8:30 (usually I will do this if the sf are used up). Second option is to do a land attack. Build a rax or two and make some Clubbers. Immediately entering Tool do a Stable and make a few Scouts. Your land attack should start no later than 8:30.

Whatever option you do first, you need to do the other attack immediately after your initial attack. Always boom from TC upon entering Tool, and boom from docks once sea is secure.

This will kill the typical booms of 38-45 vills with 12-13 minute Tool times all day long.

Yam should be faster than Mino getting the first dock up, and "should" Tool faster than Mino most of the time.

Yam is a great teaching tool for students of the game. You "have" to take advantage of your early navy win and turn it into a bigger Bronze army to defeat Mino and Hittite players. Anything you send at them, they are better equipted, so you have to overpower them with more units.

Iron Age brings a bigger gap in tech trees with Mino and Hittite so you have to have them on their deathbed before they Iron.

Shang can outboom Mino and be faster through the Ages. Having said that, they lack navy bonuses to help against Yam, Mino, and Hittite. Their Bronze army is inferior to Hittite and Mino. Shang requires you to take advantage of their speed to defeat the big boys. BTW I am undefeated still on the Zone when I can pull off a 50+ Villager -12:00 Tool and I can only do this as Shang.

1) I haven't done the maths, but Yams have more wood due to walking rates. I can notice the difference when playing the two.

2) The faster walking rate helps in getting to the shore faster for docking.

3) The HP bonus, combined with increased woodpile due to walking rates gives Yam an edge over Mino.

4) Yams should be able to Tool faster than Mino.

5) A Yam Scout rush still remains the most devastating Tool attack in the game. There is nothing you can do against a good player's Scout rush on little notice. The cheaper Scout is a huge advantage that some players gloss over. If you are not 100% walled or dock blocked it is game over.

A few things to use as a guide when you rush on a Medit map are:

1) Speed--- you have got to be in Tool while your opponent is in Stone long enough to at least equalize economies (worst case scenerio). Against good players you are in the danger zone if you aren't in Tool at the 8:00 mark.

2) Exploration--- this is combined with speed. You have got to find their docks and/or woodies and have docks/rax up by the time you Tool to take advantage of your quick time.

3) Tool Age navy--- you need to eliminate fb's as a top priority. Keep your navy in a group and keep booming navy until the sea is secure and you have Scout Ships line of sight uncovering all coast areas to prevent opponent from sneaking back on the sea.

4) Tool Age army--- kill all woodies, then guard all gold piles (when you play gold civs). I like Scout rushes myself. Five Yam Scouts fully upgraded cleans anybody out. They don't have time to wall, build ranges/rax, or run to sea for protection. Once they are all dead have one Scout stand at TC and kill anyone that is born. Have others search the map continually looking for camps getting set up.

5) Tool Age economy-- boom Villagers non stop once entering Tool. Boom fb's once sea is safe. Keep your economy always growing so even if opponent Bronzes, you can afford to keep large groups of slingers and Bowmen massed.

I have my forwards do all of my housing after the house for 16 vills. I really don't use them for scouting, I just leave a trail leading from my base to yours usually. That is enough to make lots of players nervous.

As for Scout rushes, they can only be countered if you already have those units made. A handful of upgraded Axers have to be standing in the middle of your woodies to be effective. Most Scout rushes end with a Tower under construction, 1-2 archeries under construction, and dead Villagers all over the place.

Yam is better than Mino if you are gonna Tool rush. If it is a 1v1 Yam vs. Mino and the Yam is sf and stops at 20 vills... what is the Mino going to do?

If the Mino stops making fishing boats before 7:00, there won't be much of an economic bonus used. If he booms he dies in Stone. In Tool Yams have cheaper Scouts, better Scout Ships, and faster vills that give Yam a big advantage.

Mino will die a fast death.

Now I'm not saying this strat won't work if you used Mino. It would work just fine against most players. Just don't try it against expert players if they pick Yam.

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