First of all, thanks and kudos to all you guys who take the time and make the effort to keep this updated. IMHO, Formations without supporting tactics are meaningless and most definitely go hand-in-hand. Perhaps for the noobs reading the thread, as a reminder, the formations most generally apply for teams of equal strength - perhaps a bit of a difference as well.

And of course your own set tactics have to be taken in context of what your opponent is using. Opposing formations are easy to see. Opposing tactics most likely to be used, can only be "guessed at" by looking at the opponents historical games and player stats.

Game level: what formation did he use, against what formation, possession / shots at goal potentially indicates passing type, number of tackles / fouls indicate tackling & pressing settings
Player level: Who scores, where do the most assists come from, player form (trend) and if you really REALLY REEEEALLY have time on your hands - player to player skill comparisons - your defense Vs his attack, vice versa...

Example: Your defense in general has a better marking /tackling skill to his forwards dribbling / passing AND you pretty much have a better speed rating down the wing ...I for one, would set to defensive mentality, own half press (make sure I have a wing based formation), and go for the fast counters.

But like I said.... also depends on how the forwards rate against his defense :-) ... no magic answer, just know from experience that it ALL matters and in context of everything else. Have explained away some of what I initially thought were troll results as well.

Doesn't always work as the tactical guess is just that - a Guess! I do know however, that barring unequal teams, bad guesses and a reasonable percentage of Game-Engine related variables (perhaps programmed extra posession / shots for weaker teams), theres pretty good reward for time spent by a thinking manager.

Sorry about the long post, agree / disagree, right / wrong, whatever ... REMEMBER ... I did start this message with IMHO ...:-), so if you do disagree or have a different opinion, please do state it and done be coming down on me like a ton of bricks.











Quote Originally Posted by Incredipede View Post
Hello,

as our great member "July Fourth" decided to edit the starting post of the old Table of Counter Formations - What to use? Thread, I decided to inofficially continue the thread.

All given information on this thread is subject to change. New formations and counter formations will be added by the time going. Please note that the given information in this thread is not always correct and that you can still lose against your opponent even though you are using a counter formation.

Credits to July Fourth for creating and maintaining the old thread.

Formation Counter Formation
3N-2-2-2-1 Butterfly 4-2-2-2, 4-3N-2(AML/AMR)-1
3N-1-2-1-3 4-1-3N-2, 4-5-1V
3N-1-3W-1-2 Dandelion 4-5-1V, 4-4-2, 4-1-2-1-2 Wide Diamond
3N-1-3W-2(AMC)-1 4-5-1V
3N-1-4-1-1 4-1-2-1-2 Narrow Diamond
3N-1-4-2 4-5-1V
3N-2(DML/DMR)-2-1-2 4-1-2-1-2 Narrow Diamond
3N-2(DML/DMR)-3N-2 4-1-2-1-2 Narrow Diamond, 4-5-1 Flat, 3-5-2 Flat
3N-2-3W(AML/AMC/AMR)-2 3-2-2-2-1 Butterfly, 4-4-2, 4-1-2-1-2 Narrow Diamond
3N-3-2W(AML/AMR)-2 4-3N-2W-1
3N-4-1-2 4-1-2-1-2 Narrow Diamond
3N-4-3 4-3N-2(AML/AMR)-1, 4-4-2, 3-5-2
3N-5-1-1 4-1-2-1-2 Narrow Diamond
3N-5-2 Flat 3N-2-2-2-1 Butterfly, 4-3-2(AML/AMR)-1
3N-5-2 V-Style 4-3N-2(AML/AMR)-1, 4-2-2-2 Hexagon
3W-1-3N-1-2 4-5-1 V-Style
3W-1-3W-1-2 3W-2(DMC)-3N-1-1 Tower, 3N-5-2 Flat
3W-1-3W-2(AMC)-1 4-5-1 V-Style
3W-1-4-1-1 4-5-1 V-Style
3W-1-4-2 4-1-2-1-2 Narrow Diamond
3W-2-3W-1-1 Maple Leaf 4-5-1 V-Style
3W-2(DMC)-2W-1-2 3W-5-2 V-Style
3W-2(DMC)-3W-1-1 Maple Leaf 3N-1-4-2
3W-2(DMC)-3W-2 3W-5-2 Flat
3W-2N-2N-2W-1 4-4-2
3W-4-1-2 4-1-2-1-2 Narrow Diamond
3W-4-3 4-2-2-2 Hexagon
3W-5-1-1 4-1-2-1-2 Narrow Diamond
3W-5-2 Flat 4-5-1 V-Style
3W-5-2 V-Style 3N-2-2-2-1 Butterfly
4-1-1-2N-2 4-5-1 V-Style
4-1-1-2W-2 3N-3W-2-2
4-1-2-1-2 Narrow Diamond 4-5-1V, 3-5-2V
4-1-3N-1-1 3N-5-2 V-Style
4-1-3N-2 4-3N-2(AML/AMR)-1
4-1-3W-1-1 5-1(DMC)-2-2
4-1-3W-2 4-5-1 V-Style, 4-4-2 Classic
4-1-4-1 4-2-2-2 Hexagon, 3W-4-3
4-1(DMC)-2-3 4-1-4-1
4-2-1-3 4-5-1 V-Style, 4-3N-2W-1
4-2-2-2 Hexagon 3N-4-1-2, 4-5-1 V-Style, 3-4-3
4-2(DMC)-1-2(AML/AMR)-1 5-2-2(AML/AMR)-1, 4-4-2 Classic
4-2(DMC)-1-2(AMC)-1 3N-1-4-1-1
4-2(DMC)-3W-1 3N-2-2-2-1 Butterfly
4-3N-1-2 4-3N-2(AML/AMR)-1, 4-5-1 V-Style
4-3N-2(AMC)-1 3W-2(DMC)-3W-1-1 Maple Leaf
4-3N-2W-1 4-4-1-1
4-3N-3 4-1-4-1
4-3W-1-2 4-1-4-1, 3N-1-4-2
4-3W-2(AMC)-1 3W-2(DMC)-3N-1-1 Tower, 4-5-1 Flat
4-3W-3 4-4-2, 4-5-1 V-Style
4-4-1-1 3-5-2 Flat, 4-5-1 V-Style
4-4-2 3N-4-1-2, 4-5-1 V-Style, 3N-2-2-2-1 Butterfly
4-5-1 Flat 3-5-2 Flat, 3-5-2 V-Style
4-5-1 V-Style 3N-2(DML/DMR)-3N-2, 4-3N-3
5-1-2-1-1 Narrow Diamond 3N-5-2 V-Style
5-1-2-1-1 Wide Diamond 3N-5-2 Flat
5-1-3N-1 3N-5-2 V-Style
5-1-3W-1 3N-5-2 V-Style
5-2-1-2 X-Style 3N-1-4-2
5-2(ML/MR)-2(AMC)-1 4-2-2-2 Hexagon
5-3N-2 3N-4-1-2, 4-4-2
5-3W-2 3N-4-1-2, 4-4-2
5-4-1 4-4-2, 3-5-2 Flat
- -

  • "W" = Wide
  • "N" = Narrow
  • "V-Style", "Narrow Diamond", "Wide Diamond" etc. = How the formation looks on the field or a special name for the formation.

You can ask your questions about the formations in this thread. Feel free to post your successfull experiences and results against other formations in this thread. You can also suggest new formations and new counter formations.

I'm sorry if there are a few old formations missing, I got those formations from the most current Google Cache of the old thread.

Regards,
Incredipede