Mario Strikers Charged/Road to the Striker Cup

This is the main single player game for Mario Strikers Charged. Winning the Striker Cup is your ultimate goal, but it's not going to be easy.

Selecting your Team
While each player's preferences are different you should at least build a balanced team. For example, you shouldn't have a team without any fast guys or else you will be outrun by any team that uses fast characters. If you need to, test out some teams in Domination Mode before attempting Road to the Striker Cup. Once you select a team you are stuck with it until the end. If you want to use a different team you will have to start over from the beginning.

Tournament Procedure
First you will choose a difficulty, Normal or Extreme. In Normal, the AI gets progressively harder as you move on through the cups. In Extreme, the AI is on it's hardest level the entire way.

The Cups begin with round robin play, where you play against each team once or twice depending on the cup. Your goal is to place in the specified position or higher. Once you finish round robin play the Elimination round begins. If you lose in the elimination round then you are out and have to start the Cup over again. When you manage to win in the Elimination round you will play against the Champion in a best of 3 series. Beat the champion to move on to the next cup.

Winning the Golden Foot and Brick Wall awards
At the end of round robin play, these two awards are given out. Golden Foot is given out to the team who scored the most goals, and Brick Wall to who allowed the least amount of goals. If you manage to get both awards at the same time in a Cup you will unlock a stadium.

The Fire Cup

 * Number of Teams: 4
 * Rules: Play each team twice
 * Elimination Round: Top two teams advance
 * Champion: Bowser Jr.

The AI isn't very aggressive in the Fire Cup. They will usually give you plenty of time to do Megastrikes and generally mess around. This cup is pretty much a warm up, develop techiniques and strategies during this time. When you make it to the Championship game Bowser Jr will be waiting for you in The Lava Pit. Fireballs are launched in this stadium, so be aware. Beware of Bowser Jr's Sonic Roar ability, it can make things difficult for you. Once you beat Bowser Jr you will move on to the Crystal Cup.

The Crystal Cup

 * Number of Teams: 6
 * Rules: Play each team twice
 * Elimination Round: Top four teams advance
 * Champion: Diddy

It's time to up the difficulty a little. The AI will start tackling you more and using items more strategically, but still nothing too frustrating. You will have to defend against more Megastrikes in this cup for sure. Start using the Advanced Strategies here, you'll need the practice doing it. Diddy will be waiting for you in Crystal Canyon when you make it to the Championship Game. Diddy is a very annoying opponent, he is Playmaker and a good one too. Crystal Canyon will remove up to two players from each team to start with which can make things easier for you to score goals if you deke an opponent into the wall. Beware of Diddy's Red Card. It will remove one or more of your players from the game and on this stadium it almost guarantees a goal for Diddy. The Striker Cup awaits when you defeat Diddy.

The Striker Cup

 * Number of Teams: 10
 * Rules: Play each team once
 * Elimination Round: Top eight teams advance
 * Champion: Petey Piranha

Welcome to the hell that is the Striker Cup. If you had an easy time in the Crystal Cup then be prepared for a rude awakening in the Striker Cup. The AI here plays dirty and will not hesitate to tackle you when you are running after the ball. They will use other nasty tricks such as teleporting in the goal and perfectly timing dekes to put them in the advantage. Do not pay attention to rank as you crawl your way through this tournament. Any team will be able to put you in your place if you don't go all out every time. While each team has random sidekicks, the captains tend to follow specific strategies.


 * Mario - Mario doesn't tend to attempt Megastrikes very often, but he will make your life miserable with Super Mario.
 * Luigi - Same as Mario
 * Yoshi - Yoshi will Big Hit you, a lot. Keep your distance from him when you have the ball.
 * Peach - Possibly the easiest of the AI but that's not saying much.
 * DK - Keep the ball away from DK at all costs. Power characters have a nasty tendency to score on nearly every shot
 * Bowser - Bowser will almost always get a Megastrike in the orange section. Avoid Fire Storm at all costs.
 * Wario - Beware of Gas Mask and keep the ball away from him.
 * Waluigi - Waluigi will attempt to teleport goal frequently, if you see him attempt to do this do everything in your power to stop him. He will trap himself with Wall-Luigi to get a Megastrike
 * Daisy - Same as Waluigi, probably a little easier.
 * Bowser Jr. - One of the most annoying opponents ever. Sonic Roar will wreck your team and for some reason he seems to score more often than the other high shooting characters. Keep the ball away from him at all costs.
 * Diddy - Between his speed and Red Card he will make you cry. Keep the ball away from his Power teammates

If you manage to get to the Championship Game, good for you, but the hardest battle is yet to come. This will be the hardest match the AI has to offer. You will face against Petey Piranha in the Stormship Stadium. Petey is a Power character and that means do not let him have the ball. His teammates will likely be fast to make up for his low speed. Beware of the electrical storms in this stadium, use the field to your advantage. If you manage to take the lead, Goalie Camping may not be a bad idea at this point. Use every trick in the book to take down Petey, this will not be an easy match. When you defeat him you will unlock Stormship Stadium and Petey Piranha. Pat yourself on the back.

General Strategies
Here are some general tips that will help you win your games.


 * Dekes - Do not forget about these! You generally won't need to use them too much in the Fire Cup, but a well timed deke will allow to keep the ball and even drive someone into the electric fence. Well placed dekes will give you more time for shots and Megastrikes.


 * Items - Don't forget about these either. If it's your first time playing it can be very easy to overlook your items. Items can mean the difference between a win and a loss.


 * Charge that Ball! - Remember this from Strikers 101? Charge Passing and Charge Shots can make a lot of goals. Doing this quickly will allow you to take powerful shots in a matter of seconds. This unfortunately can backfire if the ball is deflected and the enemy team gets a hold of the ball.


 * Don't be afraid to tackle - There are situations where you will need to tackle the computer even if it means giving them an item. If you need to get the ball out of your half of the field for whatever reason, do anything in your power to get that ball out of there.


 * Megastrikes - If you have the opportunity to, attempt a Megastrike. Megastrikes can turn a bad situation good or a good situation better. As you progress through the cups the amount of time you will have to attempt Megastrikes will be a lot less. Learn to find the time to fit in Megastrikes, whether it's by items, dekes, or whatever.


 * One-Timers - This will save you so many times than you can count. This is what makes Lob Passing so powerful. If you are close to the ball while it's free, do a one-timer pass or shot. Just regain control of the ball.

Advanced Strategies
The following strategies can be difficult to master but can also lead to guaranteed goals. Some of these strategies are looked down upon in online play, but do not hesitate to use these strategies against the computer.


 * Teleporting - Defensive players have a deke that lets them teleport forward in the direction you are facing. The higher the charge on a ball the further you travel. This technique is heavily used by the computer AI in the Striker Cup.


 * Boo's Deke - If you time this right, you should be able to use Boo's Deke to teleport past the goalie and quickly shoot for a goal.


 * Goalie Camping - This is where you take the ball and sit by the goalie who will attack anyone who comes near you. This strategy is looked down upon in online play and people will likely disconnect if you do this. It's not recommended to do this at all if you play online. If you use this against the AI you should come out victorious if you win, however, you will not get any more goals towards the Golden Foot award.