Mutual PIC

[akickku]

The team I play in my league match on Sunday asked me for a mutual PIC. We both managed to get into round five of the cup. I play Baystars, and according to HAM, if he puts out the teams he's been playing in the cup the last couple matches I should have another excellent chance to keep the cup run going. The league situation has my club in third with six points and his club in first with nine points. I'm playing away and if we played the game 100 times, he'd probably win 50 of them, I'd win 35, and we'd tie 15. He has an injury to his 6 star striker, and he may or may not play in his league match as he's at one week. If I win this match, my chances of winning the series would be very good as I'll play my toughest matches at home for most of the rest of the season. I probably would agree to the mutual PIC except for the fact that my coach has wretched leadership. Any suggestions?

[BillyNYC]

Some upper level teams tend to phase in starters as the Cup rounds go on. So if Baystar is using a totally different lineup in Cup as in League, he might begin to alter that (especially if you're viewed as a threat).

In my own case, I used a starting D and starting striker today, which I hadn't the first few Cup rounds.

Not saying he WILL, but don't necessarily count on his past "Cup lineup" as being his future one.

[Mr. Wednesday]

Use Hatstats to figure out how Baystar has played the cup in the past. You should be able to get an idea as to whether he typically continues to run out his "B" squad until he gets knocked off by somebody halfway decent, or if his match ratings start to rise as he adjusts his squad's skill upward to match the opposition.

If you've got a decent team leader (semi-clown or clown) and you have a match later in the season to save TS for (e.g. for an anticipated qualifier, or an end-of-season showdown for the title, etc.), your coach's leadership shouldn't put you off PICing; you can hold TS even when you're out of the cup, and if you plan on extending your run it's all the more important to you since you can use it (or build on it further) in your next cup match.