Bumps and demolitions are features of the game that go very much underutilised, particularly at lower ranks. A lot of people in the lower ranks, and some higher up the ladder too, think that it’s a low-skilled, dirty tactic or they feel that it’s unfair but when you watch RLCS and other high-level players, you will probably see at least three demolitions in a game and countless bumps. From this, it is clear to see that this is a valid tactic and when used in the correct strategy, it can be extremely beneficial for your team.

The art of playing “dirty” is actually, in my opinion, more skilled than playing “clean”, as it’s a skill that is in principle easy to do but it’s actually very difficult to perfect. After all, it’s a lot easier to hit the ball than it is to hit another car that has another human being’s brain controlling where it is going to move.

The key to unlocking the full potential of demolitions and bumps is knowing when and when not to go for one. This is something that comes mostly down to experience and awareness of both your teammates’ and your opponents’ positions on the field.

In lower ranks, I have seen players that are playing specifically as an “enforcer”, where they will just go out of their way to demolish and bump their opponents. This can sometimes be useful as it really throws off the opponents in the lower ranks. However, if they came up against someone with any level of spatial awareness, they will find that the tactic becomes very counterintuitive. This is because a more experienced player will be able to read that the player is incoming, dodge the demo, and be able to capitalise on a very poorly positioned team.

This is why you must learn how to incorporate bumps/demos into your rotations and pay attention to where other players are on the pitch when going for a disruptive play. For example, if you have two teammates and one is covering the defence while your other is waiting for a pass in the middle. If you’re on the ball, you can send the pass in and instead of immediately rotating out to defence, which tends to happen in the mid-high Diamond ranks, you could actually have an opportunity to eliminate a goalkeeper in the net.

You might find it difficult to demolish a player at first as you will need to be travelling at supersonic speed in order to execute it. You can tell when your car is supersonic because there will be an audio queue and you will see a trail coming from your wheels (as you can see from the image below). Controlling your car at supersonic speed becomes more difficult, 1) because you are travelling so fast that it’s harder to react and 2) because your turning radius is increased at this speed. The best way to bag yourself a demo is by keeping yourself moving just below that supersonic speed and lining yourself up with the player you wish to explode into a thousand pieces. Then, when you have them in your sights and you aren’t far away, use your boost to get to supersonic and watch them disappear as if by magic. If you can’t get to supersonic speed, a bump can often be just as effective.

The most useful way to demolish an opponent is when your opponent is caught watching the ball. If, for example, you are coming up the left-hand side of the arena and you decide to play a pass infield or off the backboard to your teammate, your opponent sitting in the net will follow the path of the ball to see where it is going to go. A lot of people here would rotate in to a position to support their teammate. However, if the teammate has a free shot on the ball, you can continue around the arena, line-up with the goalkeeper, and blast them into oblivion. This is the most common and one of the most effective offensive demolition opportunities you will see in the game.

Once you have performed the demo and taken your opponent out the game, as an extra kick to give them while they’re down, continue along the direction in which you’re travelling and steal their corner boost. This way, when they respawn, they will not have the full boost available to them. This causes even more disruption to the opposing team. Boost-starving is a hugely effective tactic that is crucial at the higher ranks when people are much more adept in keeping the goal safe. It allows your team to keep up the pressure and this usually ends up with a goal.

Another highly effective way to incorporate demolitions/bumps into your gameplay is in a 1v1 scenario. I would highly recommend practicing this as it’s unbelievably helpful. Set yourself up for a dribble and keep the ball on the roof of your car. Head towards your opponents' net, pop the ball up, and charge for the keeper. You’ll take them out of the game and your ball will either be going into the net or you’ll have the chance to put it into an open net. You can also do this just by keeping the ball close to you as seen in the Twitch clip above of G2 Esports vs Cloud 9 during League Play in RLCS Season 4.

The higher-up the ranks you go, the more you will encounter people who are aware of potential incoming demolishers when they’re defending so you have to play this smart and it can be very useful to incorporate a small jump into your route to the opponent’s car so that you are able to demolish them, even if they try to avoid you by jumping over you. Just make sure that when you are attempting a demo, that you aren’t going to be hindering yourself by flopping about in the opponents' net or hitting a wall, as you may find yourself in need to get back into play. After all, we all know how easy it is to miss an open net so always expect that your teammate could potentially miss.

It is not only offensive situations that this type of playstyle is effective. If your opponent is on a counterattack and you’re making your way back to defence, you should always be rotating to the back-post and in this rotation, you will probably notice that one of your opponents will be awaiting a pass from their teammate on the ball. So, it would only be sensible in this case, to take them out the game and allowing your teammate(s) an easily defendable situation. One thing you should probably rarely do is try to demolish the opponent on the ball from behind because once you’ve declared them harmless, you take their place attacking the ball, and, before you know it, you’ve own-goaled. Make sure you aren’t going to be disadvantaging your teammates with your play.

If you would like to learn more about demolitions, bumps, and all around other dirty plays, I implore you to check out “Rocket Sledge” on YouTube. He’s an active member of the /r/rocketleague subreddit and has managed to accumulate an excess of 22k demolitions in the game.

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