One of the interesting things about capture the flag games in LEGENDS is the great personality shifts that take place based on the size of the teams. A small game of 5 players on each team puts a lot of emphasis on individual team members, the plays they make, and their being in or out of position in various situations. A larger game with 10 or more players on a team more emphasizes each team as a well-oiled machine or a metamorphic unit with a changing presence on the battlefield as various needs arise.
Capture the flag games typically take place between two teams with one flag each, although more teams and more flags are possibilities for expanding the game type. In a 2-team scenario, you can only capture the other team's flag if your flag is home. Because both teams are trying to capture the other's flag at the same time, there is no telling what kind of mayhem will ensue.
If team Alpha takes team Omega's flag and manages to navigate it somehow all the way back to their own flag area, the unexpected may still happen. Right as team Alpha's flag carrier, the Omega flag waving over his head, goes to set down on his own flag and capture it, an Omega flagger may swoop in below him and snatch the Alpha flag before the Alpha carrier can touch it. This is often called a "safety" grab, because the flag grab prevented team Omega from falling behind. As long as Alpha team's flag remains off the stand, Omega team is safe from Alpha team pulling ahead on the scoreboard.
Meanwhile, however, a lot of things are happening. Alpha's defensive players, whose job it is to protect their territory (and, more importantly, their flag), will have already set off in heated pursuit of the Omega flag carrier who just took the Alpha flag and prevented a flag capture. Ammunition will be flying everywhere in an attempt to bring the thief down. The Alpha flag carrier will have to find shelter, because the Omega offensive players will soon arrive in droves trying to find him and kill him. If he is killed, one touch from an Omega player will teleport the Omega flag back to where it started in Omega territory.
Notice the difference here - team members teleport their own flag to safety by touching it, while enemy soldiers must physically carry stolen flags all the way from their starting position to their destinations. It doesn't matter where the flags are touched: if it's your flag, it goes back where it started, instantly. If it's not yours, you have to carry it wherever you're going, and whoever finds you with it will probably try to kill you.
This mechanical difference allows for some rather sophisticated teamwork. Pretend that Alpha's flag carrier never made it home alive, but was killed out in the rough of midfield somewhere by the Omega pursuers. It would be tempting to return the stolen flag immediately by touching it, but veteran Omega players will invariably tell the rookies to wait. If the flag goes back to its stand, it might be immediately stolen again. Why? the rookies ask, not realizing that their enemies have same advanced waypointing system installed in their visors that they do. Everyone participating in a capture the flag game is aware of the important spots on the map. The Omega flag stand is where the Alpha flag carriers are used to finding Omega's flag, and they've all practiced stealing it there. If the flag is in the field, the Alpha team will have to improvise a way to try to get it before the automatic flag-return-countdown finishes.
And they will, undoubtedly, try. The experienced players on the Alpha team know that if they allow the flag to sit in the field unmolested, an Omega player will teleport it to the Omega stand at the worst possible time for the Alpha team: right before the Omega flag carrier from earlier crosses over the stand carrying the Alpha flag for a "timed-return" capture of the Alpha flag, putting the Omega team ahead. The Alpha team does not want that to happen, and so the Omega team guardians of the lonely flag in the field will encounter some vicious attempts by Alpha warriors to kill them and take the flag further away from its home. If they succeed, and the Alpha offense returns the stolen Alpha flag, things may reverse into a scoring situation for the Alpha team instead.
When the countdown to a Capture the Flag game reaches zero, both teams are free to begin their offensive, to put into action any plan they wish. An untrained team of random players is easy to spot, because its members will go about securing a win for their team in a totally disorganized fashion. One or more people will usually get themselves a sniper rifle and simply wait for enemy players to appear. Some people will attack the enemy immediately in various ways, but their efforts will be uncoordinated and easily beaten back by the enemy players milling around their base. Players will often change positions at random, sometimes defending their base and flag, sometimes "going offense."
When your own turn comes, consider how many players you think should stay back to guard your home turf and how many warriors you will need to overcome enemy defenses. Focus on teamwork, respond to friendly requests, and remember that capturing the flag is your real mission objective. Communicating with your teammates and working together with them will always get good results. By default, the communication short-cuts menu is bound to the V key.
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