New v2 match engine enabled in friendlies

New v2 match engine in friendlies just got enabled. League games still use the v1 engine for now; friendlies are your first look at version v2.

What stays the same

Form, weekly fatigue, experience, lineups, tactics sliders, fouls, free throws, and the box score you already know. Your roster still has the same eight trainable skills and the same aggression, shot focus, and pass-vs-shot settings. Note that their impact has been balanced and there might be changes.

Every skill can move the score

In the v1 engine, ball handling and athleticism barely changed results. In v2 they do — through turnovers, rebounding, blocks, steals, and paint play.

Passing reaches the scoreboard

Higher passing raises how often a shot is an assisted look. Player assisted by a good passer gets a shooting bonus; assists are credited only when that shot goes in. Good passers lift team shooting and points, not just assist totals.

Ball handling reaches the scoreboard

Stronger ball handling cuts dribble turnovers and nudges the offense toward more paint attempts. Players with better handles are more likely to take and finish those inside looks.

Defensive aggression is a real trade-off

Soft defence lets opponents shoot easier. Aggressive defence lowers opponent scoring in even matchups — typically by a few points per game — at the cost of more fouls, more opponent free throws, and more tiredness after the game.

Sharper defence matchups

The primary defender on a shot is the player in the same court role as the shooter (point guard on point guard, and so on). Elite wing defence against their wing matters more than a team average used by v1.

Height and build matter more

Rebound reach, rim contests, and paint finishing lean more on height and physique, not only the rebounding or defence rating on the card.

Height, court role, and position

Height and court slot matter more than the position label on a player’s card. The PG–C slot in your quarter lineup and the player’s size drive matchups — not a blanket skill penalty for lining someone up away from their card.

Rebounds are the clearest case: a PG far from the rim wins far fewer boards than a center under the basket, even with a high Rebounding rating; height stacks on top of that. Shooting and defence follow the same logic through slot matchups and size. There is no cross-position skill penalty table in this release — line your tallest, most physical players in C and PF slots and the result should reflect it.

Next steps

• Version 2 still needs testing and fine-tuning before it becomes the default everywhere.
• Using back-office simulation tools, we will run league fixtures through both engines and compare results against the classic version.
• League games will switch to version 2 once internal checks look clean and early friendly feedback stays positive — we will not drag that out if nothing blocks it.
• Player-facing docs will be updated at full go-live. Some engine detail will stay under the hood so managers can still discover how things work on the pitch.