StarCraft II World Championship, Day 2 in Stockholm, Sweden. Source – Liquipedia
In the New Yorker article we read about e-Sports, Ben McGrath brings up the strategic tactic commonly known in the world of StarCraft II as “cheesing”. It’s when a player in the game uses a sneaky, cheesy attack – hence the name – that is often regarded as a cheap shot. Used strategically and relatively scarcely, cheesing can be useful for players and funny for spectators to watch. However, when used too much, cheesing gives users a bad reputation and spectators get annoyed when a player does it. This concept is one not unknown in the world of physical sports; McGrath compares cheesing to on-side kicks in American football and “baseball’s hidden-ball trick”. In my personal experience, cheesing is very easily comparable to volleyball’s roll shot.
The cover of StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty. Source – Deviantart
Let’s face it; sometimes, cheap shots are kind of fun to use. So when the StarCraft II gamer known as Scarlett swiftly defeated her opponent (a previous world champion in the game) in a mere six minutes and 29 seconds, the crowd went wild. The move gave Scarlett confidence, and she beat her opponent in the second round, and the crowd approved overwhelmingly. The announcer stated that Scarlett might be one of the most entertaining StarCraft II players ever to watch. Clearly, the move was a good choice, but had she employed “cheap” tactics more often, the crowd would be annoyed at the lack of competition and other players would dislike her for her sneaky moves. Additionally, if she kept cheesing over and over again, her competition would soon begin to expect it from her and react accordingly, thus diminishing the effectiveness of her cheesing.
Getting ready for the opponent to serve. This team was notorious for roll shotting – and thus was very disliked throughout our league. Source – Myself
The same mindset is held in the game of volleyball. Often, in a fast-paced, extremely competitive game, a roll shot is good move to employ. Instead of the usual full power swing that a hitter will take in order to blast away competition, he or she will approach the ball as if they are going to spike it in order to trick the other team’s blockers into jumping. Then, at the last moment possible, the hitter drops his or her arm to raise the elbow up, then smacks the ball in an upward motion, putting top spin on the ball and causing it to drop quickly. The goal is to make blockers think you’re going to kill the ball, but in actuality you just roll it over the block right behind them. It’s effective when employed correctly; the front row blockers will have no time to turn around and get the ball, and back row defenders have usually “dug in” – planting their legs in a wide base – in anticipation for the ball to come flying at them, so they don’t have time to jump up and get the ball. The result is a slow-moving ball dropping on the floor in the middle of all the players. As a front row player, I can assure you that it’s extremely frustrating to get ready for a huge hit, only to have it roll over my head and watch helplessly as it plops onto the ground behind me. On the other hand, it’s fun to employ, and especially helpful when the game is close; if done right, it’s almost impossible to predict.
While useful, the roll shot is often seen as a cheap shot. It doesn’t take as much skill to employ as a powerful, accurate spike. Furthermore, it doesn’t earn much respect from other players or the crowd. Kill the ball into a back corner of the court and blow away the back row? Impressive. Roll it over the block with a light tap? Not so impressive. Finally, if one uses the roll shot too often, other players will react. Defenders will know to watch carefully for your arm to drop, and if they see it, they’ll rush up from the back of the court, bump the slow moving ball to their setter, who will set up his or her hitter with a great opportunity to spike it at the original roll-shotting team.
In both StarCraft II and volleyball, these cheap tactics must be employed selectively and skillfully. Yes, they’re useful in a tight situation, but repeated use will bring dislike from fans and players alike, something no athlete would ever want. It’s interesting to see how players in each world follow unwritten rules of using cheap and easy tactics. Often, players could use cheap tactics like roll shotting or cheesing more often than they already do and still have them be effective. However, every player knows what it means to use these tactics, and nobody wants to lose respect from their peers and the crowd. Thus, just like in many different worlds, in sports, unwritten rules are known and followed by almost all the players of the game.
Touchdown Theory 