The Art of GMing

[Grape 528]

The position of GM is one of great importance, and those who hold the position must be able to focus on multiple aspects of the job. Failure in any of these aspects could result in their plan falling apart and the team struggling.

 

The Draft

Good teams are built through the draft, and that’s where a good GM will shine. A quality GM sorts through the draft class, finding those who are active and inactive, seeing the amount of effort those players are putting in in regards to their activity, and looking at their builds. This is especially challenging for VHL GMs, who draft players still in the M, multiple seasons out from seeing the top league. A good amount of luck is involved, as you never know if someone is going to burst in activity or fizzle out. For a novice looking at a draft, one might be confused why some higher TPE players are just sitting on the draft board and players with much lower TPE are going in the higher rounds, but for those who do their homework, that lower TPE player could be the right choice, and those high TPE guys may be full of crickets.

 

The Team

While drafting helps set up the foundation of the team, one does not just stop there. A house isn’t a house until all the walls are built, and a team isn’t a team until all the holes are plugged. A good GM is able to observe the team they have and find the pieces they need to flesh out the roster, may it be free agency or a trade. They are aware of the builds the players are going and are able to smartly construct a lineup that compliments the playstyles of their stars, while allowing for the depth to contribute. It doesn’t matter if you go out and draft the best player on the board; if you aren’t able to build a team around them and create a lineup that helps them produce, you may as well have just thrown that pick away.

 

The Locker Room

A massive thing I’ve stressed is the locker room. This entire thing boils down to people just wanting to have fun. People don’t have fun in a community of crickets. The locker room is arguably the most important part of retention and activity. A good GM is able to create a fun, engaging LR environment that keeps everyone light-hearted and happy, may that be by contributing to it themself and/or bringing in players who help in bringing in the same atmosphere. If the locker room is dead or boring, then players in there, even if they’re trying to spark something, will eventually fade away. On the flipside, if the GM creates a fun, engaging locker room filled with activity, then players are more than likely to stick around.

 

The Builds

The job of a GM isn’t just to sit back after free agency and the draft and let their players run wild. Some people, especially newer players, struggle with building their player in a way that they want them to be built. A good GM is knowledgeable in how the attributes work and how to get the most out of builds, and will actively jump in and discuss with their players about their builds and suggest how to create an effective player. Even with more experienced players, maybe one that decides to just do a meme build, can be persuaded by a good GM to change it up and do something that may contribute to the team in a positive way. There are some attributes that are basically useless or extremely niche, and while there are going to be some people who say screw it and put their TPE into whatever they want, a good GM should be able to convince most players to build the right way.

 

The Negotiations

This aspect is more important in VHL GMs than the M or the E, but still should be found in all quality GMs. In free agency, you don’t just get to pick who you want and they just go there. There are, more than likely, other teams fighting for that player and you gotta be able to win that battle. A quality GM is able to sell their team to a player, convincing them that choosing their team is the right choice. That could be done with promises of ice time, bragging about the locker room, showcasing the competitiveness of the team, showing that you’re willing to go long-term on them, and/or offering the big bucks on a player you wanna convince will be the guy or at least one of them. The ability to negotiate is also handy when it comes to making trades. We don’t really see too many fleeces out there. There are some wins and losses but nothing super major, but even getting that slight edge in a trade is vital to a team’s success. A good GM is able to oversell their assets and/or undersell the other team’s assets when it comes to trades, getting a better deal, or taking a calculated risk in a trade and having it age perfectly.

 

The Person

There’s a lot of aspects that go into GMing, and while the previous aspects are important, this is by far the most vital in a GM. This isn’t a job that just anybody can take, even if at the end of it it’s all for fun anyway. You as a person need to be willing to put the time in to succeed, and passionate enough to maintain or exceed the acceptable amount of effort in order to succeed. A good GM is someone who cares, and is willing to show that they care to their team, to the other GMs, and to the league. There’s going to be ups and downs. No team stays good forever, but you can’t let that get to you. You have to be able to roll with the punches, not get discouraged, see the flaws, and push back, rise back up, and eventually win it all.

(1021 words)

[Grape 528]

claiming again