Week Two - Task #05. - “Team Strategies"

[Mia Fountain]

Instead of a Quidditch match, where everyone will be flying around on brooms, this match is to primarily test your ability to strategize. Each team will devise their strategic plays to take place at regular 15 minute intervals during the match. The organizers of the match will determine who they thought won the match depending on the strategies used. As the captain of your team, you have to devise the strategies your team will use.

You are sitting in the team's locker room, reviewing past strategies used by Quidditch teams around the world. You think you have created a strategy that will bring your team to victory during the next match. The upcoming match is not a Quidditch match played on brooms instead it will test the strategies you have devised against the opposing team's strategies. Each team will submit 5 plays, that will take place at regular 15 minute intervals during the match. The strategies used by each team will be compared and used to determine the winner of the match.

Task:
Record the plays you have created by completing the logic puzzle below. Alternatively, research a Quidditch tactic/move and write about it and how you would use it in a match in 100 words or more.

1. Of Play 1 and Play 3, one takes place at the 15 minute mark, the other involves aiming the bludgers to break up the chaser play.
2. There are 5 plays: Play 5, the play that takes place 30 mins in, the one where the bludgers are aimed primarily at the seeker, the play where the underhanded pass is used, and the play where the bludgers are aimed at the highest scoring chaser.
3. Of play 4 and the play where the Porskoff Ploy takes place, one takes place at the 60 minute mark and the other is where the bludgers are aimed at the Keeper.
4. Play 4 is used 15 minutes before Play 2.
5. The second play used was Play 3, which took place 30 minutes into the match.
6. The last play used, which took place at the 75 minute mark, used the underhanded pass.
7. Play 5 took place before Play 4, but after Play 3.
8. Of the Play that used the Hawkshead Attacking Formation and the play that used the reverse pass of the Quaffle, one took place 30 minutes in, and the other focused on aiming the bludgers at the highest scoring chaser.
9. Of the play where the bludgers are aimed at the team captain, and the play where the reverse pass to chaser Quaffle tactic is used, one takes place at the 75 minute interval and the other is used in Play 1.
10. The rebound to chaser tactic is used in the play where the bludger is aimed at the seeker.

If you choose to complete the logic puzzle, please send your answers by private message to Mia Fountain and Prof. Sindor Aloyarc. If you choose to complete the alternative writing task, please post it below or send in by private message to Mia Fountain and Prof. Sindor Aloyarc.

Completing this task will earn you 10 beans and sapphires. You can earn an additional 10 beans and sapphires if you complete all of the Week Two tasks. This task is due November 30 at 11:59 PM HOL time.

[Janne Halla]

If I were a Chaser, I think that I'd attempt to use a Finbourgh Flick at least once per match. This is a move where a Chaser attempts to use their broomstick to hit a Quaffle into the goal in midair.

I think it's a very useful move to know if you trust your broomstick and your ability to hit a ball midair. It's a good misdirection move, you feint a pass to your teammates and if any opposing Chasers follow you they might be tricked into going that direction, while you use the opportunity to score instead.

The element of surprise in employing this move can catch opposing Keepers off guard, potentially leading to an unexpected score.

Plus, I think it kinda looks cool too, so extra points for entertaining the crowd.

[Viviana Kingston]

Hm, I’d definitely suggest that the starfish & stick tactic to be used as much as possible, it means the keeper should hang in front of the hoops, stretching two of their limbs out as much as possible while using the other two limbs to grab ahold of the broomstick. It is an effective defence technique covering as much area as possible in front of the quidditch hoops. It used mostly to block the quaffle though I do advise the keeper to wear a helmet at least in case the quaffle decides to hit them in the face. Not only will it be excellent defense, but it also be quite a spectacle perhaps even distracting the opposing team as well. Plus it would be awfully entertaining to watch in play.

[Evie Figg]

The Hawkshead Attacking Formation, is a move in which all the team's Chasers fly together towards the opposing team's goalposts. The move is intended to intimidate the other team, forcing them aside, allowing an opportunity in which to score.

This move would be perfect for my team, the Appleby Arrows. Not only does it prove effective in aggressively seizing an opportunity to score points, but the formation which the Chasers must create is in the formation of an arrow! This could possibly be used as a famous move performed by the Appleby Arrows. Imagine the entire crowd roaring as our Chasers form an arrow, and soar towards the goal posts and score. So exciting!

[Dibyarup James Potter]

In this essay, I will be talking about a Quidditch tactic called Parkin's Pincer.

Wigtown Wanderers was a Quidditch team founded by the children of Walter Parkin in 1422, based in Wigtown, southwest Scotland, that played in the British and Irish Quidditch League. Parkin's Pincer was named after the four sons and three daughters of Walter Parkin, who founded Wigtown Wanderers and were believed to have invented this tactic.

To perform a Parkin’s Pincer, two Chasers would close in on an opposing Chaser, hemming them in, and then the third Chaser would fly directly at the trapped, opponent Chaser, thus committing “blatching” which was a common Quidditch foul that consisted of flying towards another player with the deliberate intention of colliding with them.

In my opinion, a Parkin’s Pincer when done completely, is an illegal move, so instead a partial Parkin’s Pincer might be much more effective in a fair game. It would involve everything that a complete Parkin’s Pincer involves up until the point where the third Chaser commits blatching. For the partial move, the third Chaser would fly directly at the trapped, opponent Chaser, but during the last few seconds, they would dive down or pull up instead of making contact. This way we won’t be committing a foul, but there would be a high chance that the trapped Chaser would get intimidated and drop the Quaffle, and we would catch it when they do.

[Adeline Morior]

The Quidditch Technique I have decided on is called the Bludger Backbeat. This is a very hard technique to pull off in the middle of a match and is usually performed by a team beater. The technique is basically described as hitting a bludger with your bat. The difference is that it needs to be hit with a back-hand swing.

When a chaser or beater is closely being chased by another player and they need to get the player off their tail, they would wait for a bludger to approach them directly and then they would surprise the player chasing them by doing a back-hand swing instead of forward hit on the bludger. Sending the bludger directly into the player behind.

If I use this tactic, it needs to be extremely well timed otherwise the bludger can hit me on my side or my arm.
I would also need to position myself so the other player is slightly more to my right when chasing behind me so the bludger won't just pass by them.

[Scarlet Robloutain]

In the world of Quidditch, the Sabryn Steal stands as a cunning manoeuvre employed by Chasers. Named after the famed Chaser Sabryn Zynnel, this move involves the leading Chaser deliberately feigning a pass to a teammate while retaining possession of the Quaffle. The art lies in the deception, tricking opposing Beaters and Keepers into anticipating the wrong trajectory. As the faux recipient draws defenders, the actual intended recipient surges forward, catching the true pass unexpectedly. The Sabryn Steal is a strategic dance of misdirection, turning a routine play into a calculated spectacle that keeps adversaries on edge. Using this tactic, creates an element of surprise into offensive plays, confounding opponents and enhancing scoring opportunities.