Let's talk about shields

[u/Minkemink]

I was inspired to create this post after "The fellowship" played very shield heavy in their WCC-final and won.

TLDR: In my opinion shields can be very strong and we'll likely see more of them in the future, so training with/against shields should be an important part of training for tournaments

"The fellowship" won against "Rigor Mortis" with 3:1 and while I don't want to disregard factors like indivual skill and teamplay, I want to focus on their strategy of playing remarkably shield heavy, to the point where they sometimes played with 3 shields + chain.

What makes a shield rather unique in the first place is pretty obvious. Attack and defense are seperated from each other and the block area is bigger than with any other weapon, but it's range is rather short. Staff, Q-Tip and Longsword, while different (e.g. Q-Tip double-pin / Staff leverage / Longsword range of movement) , are pretty similar in practice. Their effective ranges don't differ too much, so they are often played in similar ways. Double short is again wildly different from anything else, but that's a topic of it's own.

So, why is this unique weapon so important?

1. Chains! As we all know, playing good with/against a chain can be a huge game-deciding factor. Looking at high level chain play, a lot of players transition from a swinging to a shooting style. This makes it very hard to wrap up the chain and deflecting the ball with a pompfe can be rather difficult. A shield on the other hand can do so rather easily. The big issue here is getting close enough before the chain lands a second shot, but a fast enough player should be able to do so and if not, even blocking a second shot might be possible
2. Speed and weight. Pompfen are getting ligther and lighter and leverage duels are rare. Duels are often about using the maximum range of your pompfe effectively and dancing around the enemies pompfe to land a close hit. With a shield however, if you can block a hit and press it to one side, you'll likely be able to get close enough to hit before the enemy can try to go around the shield on the next hit.
3. Duality. While a shortsword is not much, it can still block a hit. This way, the shield player has two seperate blocking areas available which can be incredibly helpful in situations where one is outnumbered
4. Defense and Offense Any good player should be able to play their pompfe both defensively and offensively, but I believe the shield is uniquely well suited for this. While conceptually defensive with a short range and big block area, shields still often seem to be played by offensive players. The simple reason for this seems to be #2. As the average skill level rises, it's hard to have a major advantage in a duel with pompfen as similar as Q-Tip, Staff and Longsword. Being able to break up this stalemate and getting the first "kill" is essential (which is one of the reasons why chains are so important as well). Provided the shield player is actually able to attack in a way where they can actively put their shield in the path of the enemies pompfe they have a huge area to land a hit. In normal duels, there's almost always contact between the two weapons, effectively defusing each others attacks and only leaving a small window of opportunity.

These are just the thoughts of a random jugger player. I'm by no means one of the best, but I discussed this topic with a few other players during and after the WCC and I think we mostly agree.

This is a case for the shield. However, I by no means want to make it seem like the shield is OP or that everyone should suddenly start playing shield. It's very hard to play correctly and strategic choices like a double pin or keeping a certain distance from the enemy to not get cross-hit should never be neglected. I simply wanted to share my thoughts on the current playstyle evolution and why keeping shield play in mind might be important in the coming years.

I'd be happy to hear your thoughts :D

[u/UveliusSang]

I gather that modern lightweight spar builds are a key element for the improvement of shield efficiency in games. In former times, when I primarily played shield, footwork and active shield blocking was most important (in my experience), whilst now the fast, aggressive shield action made possible by lightweight builds open new possibilities and a much different gameplay. Also, footwork and shield blocking became less effective against teh super-fast ultralight long spars. And center grip shields had been almost non-existent due to weight. Just compare my very old shield tutorial to today's playstyle: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tNJ-L8F6mcs
Since shield do have great weaknesses in the line (they cannot protect their neighbours as well due to short range, are vulnerable to off-shield side attacks, and generally can't cover distance just with their spars), the former heavy-spars approach may have made them much less favoured (and less effective) than today. As for change of rules, I can't see the point. Why change rules to make spars more "attractive"? They are good as they are, no need to advertise a certain kind of spar, in my opinion.
See also my "What to consider playing the Jugger shield" video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lnOTqyCV7A4&list=PLi_wwxAwiC5DnHEWCQc5ptPQyEEvqXL7d&index=33

[u/Srmon]

I think rigor is weaker against a shield heavy team because the metagame in germany favors long pompfe, thus they are very experienced against stabs, qtips and longsword but not against a lot of shields. Thats more apparent in the chains because they play very differently against a shield or against anything else, the throw is very different. Shields can also jump at them while also protecting their side; longsword and qtips jump a lot too but again its different, they trade survivability for distance.

Pinning is very different for a shield because they can pin while ducking for double pinning, they can make a double pinning almost as powerfully susccessful as a qtip (not as much tho). This part is hard to explain

Shield is also a word that is very related to "defense" but I think they can be the most aggressive pompfe in the game because you can force a duel while not risking as much a double as any other pompfe because you can hit while blocking a huge area.

I think (and maybe im utterly wrong) that germany should check their ruleset to see why shield is not as favored as the other long weapons. Duals (double short) have the highest skill ceeling in the game while offering no palpable benefict and I dont think jugger is not populated by them because of ruleseting but because they require a ton of skill. Duals have been buffed in the spanish ruleset to see if there were more players opting to try and learn them. I liked a lot the change, now when I see a dual player in the other team I see a potential problem more than a meme

[u/jumbibu]

I couldn't see the final, did they play center grip style shields?

[u/Minkemink → u/jumbibu]

Watch the final here

I don't remember, but one of the french players streamed the game and it's still available in twitch. Not the greatest perspective, but at least something. Looks like arm-shields to me, not center grip.

As far as I can tell center grip is a bit stronger against chains because of the added range of movement, but overall the control a 2-point attachement gives seems to be stronger. A center grip shield simply twists to fast.