Blitzball Strategy and Tips
This guide assumes that you have read through and understand the basics of the game. There is a refresher available within the game though if you would like to start with the basics. Find a Save Sphere and select the “Play Blitzball” option. Navigate to the “Tutorial” option and you will find basic explanations of the concepts and mechanics behind Blitzball.
Movement Modes
There are three movement modes available that you can choose from. Press the Triangle button at any point during the game to switch between game modes.
- Auto: The game takes care of all player movement automatically
- Manual A: The player controls the ball carrier only
- Manual B: The same as Manual A except that the controls are based off the camera view instead of the Overhead Map. There is no reason to use this mode as Manual A is much more intuitive and useful.
Formations
As you progress in levels you will be given access to alternative team formations. These formations include:
- Normal formation: Players will stay in their assigned areas based on the position they play and will attack the ball carrier when close
- Mark mode: Each player will guard and stay close to an opposing player
- Right or Left Side: Team members will focus on one side or another
- Center Attack: Players will stay near the middle of the playing field
- All-Out Defense: All players will stay back near the goalkeeper
- Flat Line: All players will line up and charge down the field including defenders
- Counter: Brings the defenders up near the action
Building the Team
The key to winning is ensuring that you have enlisted the proper team members and built a strong team with appropriate stats for each position. Tidus is the obvious choice but who are the best Blitzball players to build a team with? Navigate to the Recruiting Players section using the link below for more information on the best Blitzball players and where to find them:
Techniques
Learning techniques can be a bit of a pain. You have to learn key techniques for each character in order to allow them to learn and Techcopy other techniques. You can also earn certain techniques by earning them as a reward during League and Tournament matches.
Keep in mind that, when using a technique as an attack, this will quite often raise the attacking players Attack (AT) statistics. You will need to note this when you are being attacked by an opposing player. For example, if you have 24 Endurance (EN) while an attacking player has an Attack (AT) statistic of 20 they may be able to bridge that gap by using a technique. In this instance you would want to be careful about attempting to try to “break through”.
Jecht Shot
The key technique that makes Blitzball ridiculously easy is Tidus’ Jecht Shot ability. Tidus can learn Jecht Shot during the scene on the S.S. Winnow traveling to Luca.
What if I did not successfully complete the Jecht Shot mini-game? What if I missed Jecht Shot? Can I get Jecht Shot later on in the game?
You can reattempt the Jecht Shot mini-game later on if you did not successfully complete the mini-game on the S.S. Winnow the first time around. You will need to take a ride on the S.S. Winnow again after you have obtained the Airship. Travel to Kilika or to Luca and travel to the other destination and find the Blitzball sitting on the upper deck. This note about the mini-game is taken from the Kilika section of the walkthrough:
The Jecht Shot Challenge will begin after a short cutscene involving Tidus and Jecht in the past. The practice mode will teach you how to complete the mini-game. You have to press the directional pad buttons as well as X depending on where the prompt appears on the screen.
It will be little boxes showing you what to press in the practice round (as shown above), but in the actual mini-game, the buttons to press will correspond to where the text appears (what the game refers to as a ‘memory’). It looks like the screenshots below:
Be prepared so that it doesn’t catch you off guard.
Jecht Shot is an insanely powerful (if not overpowered) move which allows you to take 2 opposing players out of the picture while shooting. Jecht Shot removes them temporarily so that their Block (BA) stat and Catch (CA) stat no longer impact Tidus’ shot on net. This means that if you have two or fewer players standing between Tidus and the goalkeeper when you select “Shoot” you should not try to ‘break through’ either of them. Jecht Shot will remove them from the encounter. Trying to break through them just increases the risk that one of the opposing players will get lucky with a technique and take the ball away.
Another interesting thing to note is that Jecht Shot does not add much Shooting (SH) power to a regular shot on goal. Its strength lies entirely in its ability to remove opposing players from an encounter. Because of this it is more beneficial to use Sphere Shot instead of Jecht Shot if there are no defenders between Tidus and the goalkeeper.
Speed of Players
One important factor that isn’t typically looked at when scouting for players is their actual Speed (SP) while on the field. Certain players are incredibly slow (including most of the Ronso team members) while some players are fast enough to out swim the competition.
Brother is a perfect example of a player who is incredibly fast. This makes a huge difference for two reasons:
1) He can outrace competitors and swim around them if need be
2) He can quickly jump into an encounter with other players swinging the odds over to your favor
Pay close attention to a characters speed when making your roster selections.
Tournament and League Prizes
You can use soft resets to reset the prizes you see for tournaments and league matches. Save your game at a Save Sphere and then hold the following buttons at the same time:
R1, R2, L1, L2, Select and Start
This will cause the game to reset. This can be a huge time saver if you are only playing Blitzball for the sake of obtaining Wakka’s Celestial Weapon (World Champion) and his Overdrive abilities.
