Serving
This is one of the easiest things you must do in the game, but I still see people mess up on such a simple thing. There is a variety of different ways you can serve, and sometimes you can earn easy points from serves.
On the first serve you take your fingers off of the left and right keys. You don’t have to remove them from the keys; you just have to not press them. You press the up key. That causes you to throw the ball high into the air. Now you have two options. You can stand there and do nothing, yes, nothing. The ball will bounce right off of your forehead, and the ball will most likely fly right over the net. You can also jump in the air before the ball lands. That way the ball would bounce right on top of your hands, causing the ball to soar right over the net. The ball will fly much higher if you jump.
The second serve is more likely to fail. I sometimes mess up when I have super speed, so be careful if you have it. You are holding the ball. You continue to hold it as you start running toward the net. When you are nearly at the net, you jump still holding the right key. If done correctly, the ball will fly right over the net, and you would most likely bounce off of it.
There are more serves that you might be able to try, but these are the two I use. Find which one you like more, or mix up your serves if you like. You might get a few easy points.
Hitting the Ball
There are a few ways to get the ball over the net after the ball bounces back at you. Here they are.
- Your forehead. Yep, right above your eyes. That’s where you want the ball to land if you’re not jumping. The ball will most likely go right over the net if the net isn’t bigger than usual.
- This time you jump. The ball lands right on top of your hands, or on the right side of them. The closer to the bottom part of your hand, the faster it will hit the ground (unless the other Mynci gets it, of course). Make sure you are right up to the net if you’re going to hit a sharp one. The ball might land on your side if you’re not at the net. Well, if the ball lands right on top of your hands, it will be a perfect arch over, and you wouldn’t have to worry until the ball comes flying back.
- This one I normally use on accident. This is when you jump and the ball lands right on top of your head. This normally causes the ball to bounce off of the back of the court, and right over the net. Simple enough, right? Well that’s as simple as I can make it. I guess you can see that the game matters a lot on where the ball lands and if you get there on time. If you didn’t know that, well then you do now.
Setting
Setting is when you set the ball up for a spike (hitting the ball while in the air). When you set, the ball normally bounces straight up, making it easy for you to get the ball over in any way you like. Sometimes when the ball comes over the net, you don’t need to set the ball. It is easy to get back over without setting. When you have a hard to get ball, it would be better to set first. Here are two ways you can set.
- This one requires no jumping. You just make sure that you have the ball bounce right on top of your head (where the little clump of hair is). Just run over to where the ball would land. Whatever you do, just make sure the ball lands right there. If the ball bounces straight up, you are successful. Now just tap the back key a few times. You are now in the perfect position to spike.
- On this one you jump. What you do with this one is you make sure the ball lands right between your hands and your forehead. If you run and jump, you will still be moving. Do whatever you can to get to the ball to make the perfect set. Remember between your hands and your forehead. When the ball is set up, tap the keys a few times to get in the position you like, then get it over.
This may take some practice. Getting into your position is the hardest part, but be sure you do it correctly. Sometimes I think it’s best to do this to make the best out of your hit. You want to make points as well as protect your side of the court.
Tips
This is a very important section of the game. It tells you pretty much everything that can go wrong in a game, and it can also tell you some good tips too. This is where we talk about what’s in the way of your victory, and how to somehow get around it. Super speed – As good as it sounds, I have trouble with it. Yes, the queen of all things mystery and island can’t deal with a little extra speed. Well I didn’t bring this up to feel sorry for myself. I just might think that you might have the same problem. When you first get super speed, you might not be used to the extra speed. You must get used to the sudden burst of speed every time you press the left and right key. I often run right past the ball and completely miss it. When you first get it, you might want to move with caution. Move around a bit before the ball is sent back at you. By the time you are used to it, you should have no problem with whatever the red Mynci throws at you. Also beware of the annoying dance the Mynci does when he has super speed. It is distracting at times.
Super jump – I couldn’t help but notice in the other Mynci article that it said to avoid the super jump. I just have to say that this is my favorite power up. Just don’t jump as much. Be sure that it is the perfect time to jump. If you jump at just the right time, the Mynci would most likely not get the ball if you were on rounds 1-3. If you don’t get the ball, then it would most likely beat you back to the ground. Just be careful when using it, but it’s a big advantage. The red Mynci has no power over the super jump unless you were on rounds 5 or 6. When the other Mynci has the super jump, be prepared to gain many points. Just feed the ball to him.
The back of the court – You know that little boundary in the back? Well that’s what I’m talking about. If the red Mynci hits the ball way far back, or if you do yourself, the ball would hit the invisible wall back there. Do you know what the ball would most likely do? It would bounce back. I have had plenty of problems with this little boundary. You have to know where the ball would land after it bounces back. It depends on how hard it hits and at what angle. You must know where it’s going to be before it gets there, so get there fast. This is a place where I lost points, so you better not make the same mistake. Hear me? Also if the ball lands in the lower part of the boundary (about your height), you just hold down the left key. The back of your head would most likely pinch the ball, causing it to go over the net. The evil Turdle – When the Turdle shows up to give you a big hug, you might be in trouble. I normally don’t have much of a problem with these little guys. If the Turdle wants a hug, then give it to him. Step on the Turtle when you’re serving, or when your opponent’s hands are full dealing with the ball. Make sure that the other Mynci won’t be giving the ball to you anytime soon. At that moment, just step right on him. By the time the Mynci gives the ball back to you, you would most likely be free.
RUN!!! – Well, basically I am trying to tell you not to let the ball drop at all costs. So just go for the ball. Run toward it even though you think there may be no hope saving it. Kick the ball against the net so you can set it up for a good spike. No matter what you do just keep your eye on the ball and go for it. The ground is a pit of lava on your side, when the other is a magic land full of jelly (just imagine it okay?). It would be the most horrible thing if the ball fell down on your side. You are the only thing between the ball and the ground. Save its life. Keep your cool – Don’t go crazy over the avvie or the trophy. If you do, then you might panic when you lose a point. If the ball lands in the pit of lava, get over it and keep playing. When you panic like that, you are just handing points over to the opponent. Don’t let that happen. You must be in a good mood, and do NOT be a bad sport about the game. Even if you’re losing, don’t panic. Don’t even care if you’re losing. Just play the game and don’t let the ball drop. Remember to maintain good offense as well. Don’t panic, be cool, and have fun.
After reading this long and informative guide, you probably want to go read an interesting story that had nothing to do with volleyball. I have most likely bored you to death with my pathetic interest of beach volleyball, or not. Hopefully after reading this article, you might want to go play a fun game of volleyball, and find out if this guide helped you or not. Well when you go play volleyball sometime after reading this interesting article, you will hopefully remember it and be somewhat better. Remember what I said at the beginning. You still need to practice, but hopefully you will be a lot closer than you were when you first started. I really hope that you get that avvie or trophy you wanted. I also hope that you enjoy volleyball more. Now I want you to go off and play volleyball. When you are the best volleyball player in Neopia, challenge me with 10,000 neopoints to the fun game. I could use a challenge. That was my Mynci Guide to Advance Players. You better have learned from it. I’m always here to coach you.
This is my favorite game. My best advice is to contest everything! Never give up on a play – even if you are stuck in a turdle. The game glitches from time to time, and the computer does inexplicable things at every level! Sometimes the best play is to do nothing. Just hit the ball back and wait for your chances. You can never lose if you never drop the ball. Sometimes it’s better to not even jump. Just get under the ball and let the ball’s momentum take it back across the net. When you get powerups you like, try to score by piling on the pressure. It’s possible to win all six rounds in a half an hour in this way.
Here’s how I would rank the power-ups, from the perspective of the blue mynci (you as the player):
1. Superspeed. It’s a huge boost for defense and gives more shooting possibilities.
2. Small net. There are now more angles to the other side which allow for more scoring chances.
3. Supersize. Less movement because you have less ground to cover, but you get worse shooting angles.
4. Turdle. It’s only good for a few seconds, and sometimes gameplay is such that one cannot exploit this because of the way the ball is moving.
5. Big net. Not really an advantage or disadvantage. But you should be extra-mindful of your angles and the ball’s trajectory. It’s simple if you always follow the rule: stay beneath the ball.
6. Superjump. I’ve seen the computer mynci struggle with this even on rounds 5 and 6. You have worse shooting angles because you jump too high; it takes too long to get back to the ground to defend; and you can’t move in the air too much. That said, the only time you must use superjump is when you serve. Then, position yourself slightly behind center of your side, so that you serve the ball straight into the air. When you hit the ground, move away from the net slightly, and let the ball bounce off your head onto the other side of the net.
7. Giant ball. This makes it harder to score, but it’s also harder to lose points because the hitting area increases.
Now that you know about the power-ups, you can plan to avoid or obtain them by controlling the ball flight to miss, or hit, the pawkeet. You might have a different preference or ranking system. It doesn’t matter. What’s important is to play to your strengths and minimize your weaknesses. If the pawkeet appears before you are serving, just hold and wait for it to go away. Often it will appear in a random spot a moment AFTER you spike the ball. If you want to avoid it, just play the ball in your own end for a few seconds and it will go away.
A few things I haven’t seen written about this game are the background and the serve strength. It’s one of my favorite features that the background sun and sky gradually change color as the game progresses. It’s really noticeable from about round 5. Lastly, it seems that the serves increase in distance each round, as does the normal speed slightly. If you’re used to the ball in a certain spot, you might have to adjust a tad. It’s not worth mentioning if you’re dialed in and focused on playing, though.