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Re: 2039 off-season thread

By Blondie1977
2/21/2022 9:40 pm
Cjfred68 wrote:
I just love the randomness on offense and just use my play matrix to set the percentages.

I only have 2 rules on offense

1. 4th down rule

2. Run rule when leading in the 4th

Everything else is defensive rules


I don’t use many rules on offense. A few...4th down, kill clock, etc.

My entire defense is done through rules. I just don’t trust the matrix on defense especially when trying to scheme against a specific opponent.

Re: 2039 off-season thread

By dangalanti
2/21/2022 10:34 pm
Cjfred68 wrote:
I just love the randomness on offense and just use my play matrix to set the percentages.

I only have 2 rules on offense

1. 4th down rule

2. Run rule when leading in the 4th

Everything else is defensive rules


Interesting. I figured the top players like Fred, Smirt, etc. who had high powered offenses in 4.5 and continued to roll in 4.6 were succeeding because of lots of offensive rules to overcome the limitations of the engine. I thought I was doing it wrong by having more defensive rules than offensive rules.

Re: 2039 off-season thread

By Smirt211
2/22/2022 4:06 am
Blondie1977 wrote:
Cjfred68 wrote:
I hate the single play defense...this game/sim wasn't designed for that...I'm a firm believer JDB should have set minimums for offensive and defensive plays selected (just like he has maximums for each.)

I know rules can funnel specific plays or at least sets but every team should have to call a variety of offensive and defensive plays so the randomness of the game can evolve.

My success on offense is the fact I have no idea what play will be called at just about any point in the game which makes it nearly impossible to scout and defend against it.

I get burned on some defensive play calls but hey, that's football!


That’s essentially my offensive philosophy in MFN as well. I have a base offense and scale according to down and distance, but nothing is pre-planned.

I do have a few rules that are designed to throw different looks if my base offense isn’t getting it done.


I was too over-produced when I first entered into v4.6. The engine didn't give a f*** about key flip attempts. Previous version I had a deeper scheme with mouse traps for GMs who peer in. (i.e. a HHH or a Tarquin, per se - page sitters)

Want to know what the most dangerous GM (prototype) there is in MFN? The one-leaguer GM. They'll peer in and know all their chess pieces deeply + will alter over-rides each game and then on my side I feel guilt because I don't want to end their one and only season.

My structure has been pulled back dramatically on offense. Previously, it was a tangled web of a road to nowhere in v4.6.


Re: 2039 off-season thread

By Smirt211
2/22/2022 4:25 am
Latest example:

My man Will tried to Sitting Bull me in Big Data and I'm thinking to myself 'man, what are you trying to do.' I took that to the deepest pissed off level ever to get me to a place not to lose the game, competitively.

Homie wouldn't get off the Big Data page our entire game length lead up time.
Last edited at 2/22/2022 4:26 am

Re: 2039 off-season thread

By raidergreg69
2/22/2022 6:13 am
dangalanti wrote:
Cjfred68 wrote:
I just love the randomness on offense and just use my play matrix to set the percentages.

I only have 2 rules on offense

1. 4th down rule

2. Run rule when leading in the 4th

Everything else is defensive rules


Interesting. I figured the top players like Fred, Smirt, etc. who had high powered offenses in 4.5 and continued to roll in 4.6 were succeeding because of lots of offensive rules to overcome the limitations of the engine. I thought I was doing it wrong by having more defensive rules than offensive rules.


I generally only use a 2 minute warning first half rule, 2 minute warning end of game rules (run only if winning, pass only if losing), deep in my own territory rule and 4th down rules. Some leagues I also have rules for 1st through 3rd rounds but those just mimic the play matrix.

I don't funnel particular plays in my rules, just set run/pass ratio and personnel formation percentages. I like to be able to run any play anywhere on the field.

My most successful offensive team in 4.6 is my USFL team https://usflwfl.myfootballnow.com/team/31 and that is one with rules for all 4 downs, though I suspect my offense would stay unchanged if I deactivated the rules as they are set exactly like the matrix. I would explain their success by pointing out I have a deep set of playmakers at RB and WR plus 1 pretty good TE. My QB set a league record for TD passes our last season using 4.5 and while his stats have gone down since we started using 4.6, he's still the most prolific QB in the league.

Defensively I use the same 13 rules for all my teams. Those are set like the matrix as well but the run/pass ratio is determined by my opponent.

Re: 2039 off-season thread

By raidergreg69
2/22/2022 6:20 am
I have to add though I spent a lot of time honing the plays I use there. I haven't done it recently but when 4.6 first started, I changed a lot of offensive plays. Every 2 or 3 games I would go through and see what plays were and were not working and edit accordingly.

That's pretty much what most people do I suspect, I know that's also how CJ approaches his offense. You still need speed at RB/WR and you need a good TE in 4.6. Defensively, you can pretty much have a just a guy defense and still do OK, as long as they have some speed.

Re: 2039 off-season thread

By Smirt211
2/22/2022 7:16 am
You'd be happy, Greg. I just took a deep playoff L to Mitch with the late game KO Touchdown. He played right to my level, though and I've held him down too much - he deserved it but the AI worked on me in that one with a ton of missed FGs etc to set up 'The Moment!'

Yeah, I cull through my O plays deeply. Very tricky. Example: you almost need a poison pill with the FL Hitch to have it get off. (PA Fullback Pass and ..poison pill PA Outside Curls) ...to trick it into allowing you to hit off the FL Hitch and not have the engine signal it to be shut down with every usage.

Otherwise, I go through each formation 1 by 1: what do I want to accomplish here and I make it as deadly as possible, whether run - pass or both. But, wait, all I care about is speed. Bill Stein, MFN Guy will attempt to scientifically break down how I don't know sh*t! LOL j/k

Re: 2039 off-season thread

By Cjfred68 - League Admin
2/22/2022 2:53 pm
Now that I've managed to get myself out of the mess, I can share how I nearly destroyed my team.

Free agency 1, I submitted 2 max contracts to 5th year MLB Graham and 5th year CB Depaz hoping to land 1 of them....and I got both!!!

To add insult to injury, I won bids on 15 other free agents which sent me like 25 million over the cap.

To fix my Cao issues, I had to cut 10 players including 5 of the free agents I had just signed. Lol

Then I had to trade all my draft picks this season for future draft picks or some players.

Finally, after a few trades today, I'm 2.5 million under the cap with 48 players under contract. I should be able to add a few more minimum contract players and get my roster up to 53.

Good news is my roster is loaded, bad news is my depth is scarce...should be fun.

I've never landed practically every free agent I tried for ever in any league

Re: 2039 off-season thread

By Blondie1977
2/22/2022 3:40 pm
I do this all the time lol. I always put in way too many offers thinking some might miss, then get stuck with a bunch of players I have to cut.

Re: 2039 off-season thread

By Smirt211
2/22/2022 4:03 pm
I'll read it in full in a second but yeah I saw when you said about how we could now go multiple max contracts with no fear. I thought 'no, but kept quiet' since in FA you want to lay low and not talk strategy.

I got a tactic for FA but I could see the multiple max bid concept when you have like 3...experience: 5 mega stars out there and you know all will be bidding for them. Beyond that, yeah, dangerous.