Blitzball

Blitzball is basically an underwater version of Rugby. If you don't know what that is, it's a mix of North American football and soccer. The basic goal is to use your techniques and various players efficently enough, to send the Blitzball right into the other guys net. Simple enough? Here's where it gets tricky. All the players have different stats which enable them to do different things, and suit them for different positions. Keepa for one, has good CA stats and bad stats for everything else until level 99, so he is best suited for being a goalie.

The Stats are:

Stat	Use
HP	Your Hit Points. They go down as you carry the ball. They restore as you don't carry the ball. When poisonned, they go down faster with the ball, and don't change without it. Using abilities is based on your HP. If you don't have enough, you can't use them. If you do have enough, you lose that much HP to use them
SP	A hidden stat, speed is visible only on player status menus off-game. Their speed determines how fast they can move around with the ball. The Al Bheds generally have the fastest, while the Ronsos have the slowest.
EN	This is the players Endurance. It determines how much a person can be tackled in one encounter and still hold onto the ball. This is a must for offense players, as they will be tackled quite often.
PA	PAss score. This determines how far a player can pass. The Center and Defense players should have the highest passing scores, because they will need to throw the ball to the forwards so they can do their share of the work. BL reduces PA
SH	SHooting score. This determines how far a player can shoot without missing the net. Once at the net, the SH will drop approximately what the goalies CA is, and if it is still above 0, GOAL!!!
AT	ATtack score. This determines how much damage a player can do in one tackle. It is an average, as the player does not always tackle with the same force. Nice for defense, but not necessary if you have a good goalie.
BL	BLock score. This determines how much a player can block passes and shots during an encounter. It is an average, and sometimes the player will miss the ball, and their BL does not affect it.
CA	CAtch score. This is a must for goalies and only goalies. Most players who aren't built as goalies never get over 20 in this area. This determines approximately how much the SH score will be reduced when the ball reaches the net. If the SH is above 0, SCORE!!!

Encounters: You saw them mentionned above. Whenever a player is blocked by 1+ opposing players, an encounter begins. The offender will choose how many Defenders to tackle him before passing. After they are done, the offender can dribble (if he let all the defenders attack), shoot, or pass. Certain abilities like the Jecht Shot will get rid of players, so remember you don't have to remove all of them.

Statuses:

Poison: The player's HP will remain constant without the ball, and drop rapidly with the ball.
Sleep: The player will be unable to do anything until the ball is passed to him/her (or shot at him/her for goalies) where they will fumble the ball and wake up.
Wither: Certain stats will be reduced. I personally don't like this status, as more often than not, you will not wither the good stats.

Tech Copy: While choosing your players, be sure to choose a mark that has abilities they can learn. Also, use each player once and only once for each mark. Two players against the same player will not learn Techs. Now during play, whenever the marked player uses a tech, if you can learn it, TECH COPY will appear in the top left. Hit the X button before it goes away to try to learn the tech. Depending on level, or key techs, you may not be able to learn the tech.

Key Techniques: Key techniques are techniques which a player must learn in order. Only after they learn all their key techniques may they learn certain techniques. Tidus for one, can't learn the Jecht Shot 2 until he has all three key techniques.

Technique List

Technique	HP Cost	Effect
Anti-Drain	10	Prevents Drain half the time
Anti-Drain 2	50	Always prevents Drain
Anti-Nap	40	Prevents Sleep half the time
Anti-Nap 2	210	Always prevents Sleep
Anti-Venom	5	Prevents Poison half the time
Anti-Venom 2	50	Always prevents Poison
Anti-Wither	30	Prevents Wither half the time
Anti-Wither 2	200	Always prevents Wither
Auroch's Spirit	600	SH+10, plus original Auroch's SH
Brawler	10	Chance of participating in farther encounters
Drain Tackle	30	Low chance of Draining defender
Drain Tackle 2	150	Medium chance of Draining defender
Drain Tackle 3	500	High chance of Draining defender
Elite Defense	5	Automatically play better defense
Gamble	300	Chance of Randomizing stats after waking
Golden Arm	30	SH and PA decrease slower
Good Morning!	80	Power up after recovering from Sleep
Grip Gloves	30	Goalie can hang onto the ball more often, rather than knocking away
Hi-Risk	300	Doubles EXP but halves Stats
Invisible Shot	220	SH+10 Blitzball MAY disappear on the way to the goal
Jecht Shot	120	SH+5 Knocks away two players
Jecht Shot 2	999	SH+10 Knocks away three players, invisible
Nap Pass	40	PA+3 Small chance of knocking defenders to sleep
Nap Pass 2	200	PA+5 Medium chance of knocking defenders to sleep
Nap Pass 3	510	PA+7 Always puts defenders to sleep
Nap Shot	45	SH+3 Small chance of knocking goalie to sleep
Nap Shot 2	80	SH+5 Medium chance of knocking goalie to sleep
Nap Shot 3	350	SH+7 Always puts goalie to sleep
Nap Tackle	40	AT+3 Always puts offender to sleep if EN reaches 0
Nap Tackle 2	90	AT+5 Always puts offender to sleep if EN reaches 0
Nap Tackle 3	180	AT+7 Always puts offender to sleep if EN reaches 0
Pile Venom	30	Poison effects accumulate
Pile Wither	70	Wither effects accumulate
Regen	50	HP recovers faster when not handling the ball
Sphere Shot	90	Random ammount of extra SH
Spin Ball	30	Harder for goalie to catch the ball. Usually blocks it instead
Super Goalie	30	Chance of adding random ammount of extra CA
Tackle Slip	40	Higher tackle evasion rate. May be disoriented after
Tackle Slip 2	170	Very high tackle evasion rate. May be disorianted after
Venom Pass	40	PA+3 Small chance of poisoning defenders
Venom Pass 2	120	PA+5 Medium chance of poisoning defenders
Venom Pass 3	250	PA+7 Always poisons defenders
Venom Shot	20	SH+3 Small chance of poisoning goalie
Venom Shot 2	35	SH+5 Medium chance of poisoning goalie
Venom Shot 3	100	SH+7 Always poisons goalie
Venom Tackle	30	AT+3 Small chance of poisoning offender
Venom Tackle 2	70	AT+5 Medium chance of poisoning offender
Venom Tackle 3	160	AT+7 Always poisons offender
Volley Shot	10	Small chance of double-playing shots fumbled by the goalie
Volley Shot 2	40	Medium chance of double-playing shots fumbled by the goalie
Volley Shot 3	250	Player always double-plays shots fumbled by the goalie
Wither Pass	40	PA+3 Small chance of withering defenders
Wither Pass 2	180	PA+5 Medium chance of withering defenders
Wither Pass 3	440	PA+7 Always withers defenders
Wither Shot	30	SH+3 Small chance of withering goalie
Wither Shot 2	180	SH+5 Medium chance of withering goalie
Wither Shot 3	390	SH+7 Always withers goalie
Wither Tackle	8	AT+3 Small chance of withering offender
Wither Tackle 2	80	AT+5 Medium chance of withering offender
Wither Tackle 3	250	AT+7 Always withers offender
All stat changes only occur of the target is hit. If for instance, Tidus uses Wither Shot 3, if he scores, the goalie will not be withered. You must hit the target.