Improve your 1v1 Game 101 By So SicK
Top 5 Things that all people doing 1v1 should do before playing.
5. Shut the door to your room. Believe it or not, but you can easily lose focus by outside factors. If you are in an open area, try using headphones when playing so that you can hear footsteps in the game, and gun shots better. 4. Look sensitvity! I always see people putting their look sensitvity way too high. If you are playing Lockout, you will probably use the sniper rifle, which works better when your look sensitvity is slower. Try slowing it down to 2 or 3 and you might actually play better. 3. Take off the mic. Personally, I play a lot better when I take off my mic. You don't really need to talk to the other person unless you are playing a less serious game. Playing with your mic off with cause you to be more focused towards the game, and less to the other player talking. 2. Don't Stress! If someone just killed you in a bullsh.t way, don't panic! If you start getting upset and angry, you will start to play worse. If you get killed in a bullsh.t way, just shake it off and keep playing. Keep your cool during the game and don't lose focus. Also, mute the other player if they are talking sh.t. 1. Silence Background Music! This will cause you to play better and focus more on the game. Personally, I play a lot worse when I have music playing. If you simply shut off the music, you will do a lot better. If you have another TV near, shut it off.
In the last few weeks, I've have got interested in playing people 1v1. I would play Lockout on my host and then MLG Warlock and their host. I did this because Lockout 1v1 isn't the best gametype for me and I started getting very good at Warlock 1v1. I never was a very good 1v1 player. I was about average you could say. But everyday, I started playing better and better people. I started to win off-host against random people. I always had these "tricks" you could call them. Today, I'm here to tell you how to improve your 1v1 game. After reading this tips, you should be able to start winning off-host alot. I'll talk about Warlock first and then go on to Lockout after.
Warlock
The first thing you need to do on Warlock is get to a higher spot. This includes the flags, top middle or the platforms. In doing this, you should be able to get first shot and kill your enemy. If you are lucky, the enemy will start to spawn of the bottom and you can get an easy killing spree by doing this. Just remember this, try to never go to the bottom unless you know they are one shot and you are going to kill them. The biggest mistake I see people do is they go down to the bottom and the enemy will get to a higher spot... You don't want this to happen. But, if you are on the bottom and you can't get on top, I will explain what to to.
If you spawn on the bottom or you go down to the bottom and your enemy is on top, you need to crouch. If you are playing with motion sensor, you must crouch under/around them. If you are playing with no motion sensor, don't worry about this. Don't start shooting your enemy until they are out in the open. If they are at flag, don't shoot them until they get on platform or top mid. At flag, you can trick your enemy and end up getting the kill. Just wait when they are at flag, if they can't find you, they will get out of that spot sooner or later. But, if you have alot of grenades you can sit down by shotgun and throw nades into the flag area. Be careful when doing this though, the enemy can get away quickly if they feel they are in danger.
I get this question alot "What do I do when they are on top-mid?".
Wait you need to do is, get off to one side. If they are getting camo, you need to shoot them before it completely conceals them. Use nades to your advantage here. Nade top mid, if they go under, nade under. If they have camo, I would suggest you don't rush. Someone with camo can get a clean BxR on you even though they have no shields. Also, your enemy could have shotgun, so I would advice never running under. If they get camo, camp in a base. This is probably the best thing you could do when they have camo. If they start shooting you, you can quickly get away or try and kill them. You can see almost the whole map from the flag/base area so that would be the best spot to be when someone has camo. Just wait at flag and the camo will go away. Everytime you spawn on bottom, pick up the nades in the middle and under the flag area. Plasma grenades are great to throw at bases and frags are great when someone is on a platform. Always remember, NADES ARE YOUR BEST FRIEND WHEN PLAYING 1v1. If you see the person at another base and your at a base, throw a nade and start shooting. This will force the enemy to get down and try to stay alive. If they are hiding in then vent area or behind the wall structure, throw another nade. If they don't do from this and get away, don't worry. Throwing nades across flags on Warlock takes practice. You need to postion it all right so it lands perfect. You can't throw too much to the right or it will go in front of the wall sturcture. If you can throw it against the wall, it will hit the wall and fall down to the area where the enemy is. With the vent, try to throw the nade a little to the right/left (Whichever way is going towards the flag) so if they try to move, they are dead. For this, plasmas and frags will both work wonders. If you are being shot at, go under the bases. If they don't have any nades, your fine. Just keep going back and forth between the nades spawn and under the base until your shields come back. Then, you have a chance to get a BxR or beat down the enemy.
If you don't want to be on the top platform or in the base, you can go on the platform ramp. This spot gives you more of a view of the base across from you and under the bases. This spot is very good if you want a clear view of the whole map.
One last thing, always pick up the BR on Warlock. The BR has got better range across the map (For me anyways). Shotgun will always help if you are under a base and the enemy is chasing you.
Lockout
Lockout is going to be hard if you don't know how to play it. First thing you must know about Lockout is that nades are your best friends. So, if you spawn at BR tower DONT RUSH SNIPER TOWER. This is a big mistake that people do all the time, you will usually end up getting "no-scoped" or just killed. Stay on BR 3 Bridge and BR the enemy across the map. They will shoot at you with sniper usually and run out of ammo. In the event that happens, go under glass to Blue Room and go up to Top Blue. Nade Sniper 2 from there and go down to elbow. Toss nades up snipe 2 and snipe 3. If they DO have sniper still, straf fast and BR them. If they go up to snipe 3, don't follow them. Throw a plasma at them and run. If they jump into middle, start shooting them. If they get away again, just get back. Don't follow them. They probably still have sniper and they will go to BR tower with it. This is the fun part. Go down to snipe 1 and pick up all the nades. Go down elbow and get those nades. If you need to, go into Blue room and pick up the frags. Head back to Snipe 2. If the sniper is at BR 3, start throwing all your nades at Br 3. If they deicde to poke out through the library enterance, toss frags at them. If you here the enemys shields go down (You will here the master chief make a sound) rush if they are finish him off. If there is any sniper ammo left, go to SNIPER tower with it. Try your best not to go to snipe 3. If your enemy is host, don't even think about going to snipe 3. That is a huge death wish. Try to stay at snipe 2 with the sniper. Don't waste shots, just take shots you think will hit. If you run out of ammo, drop down to suicide room and switch the sniper with the carbine. Go back up to Snipe 2. In the event that the enemy rushs you, go under glass and throw nades at snipe 1 and snipe 2 so they won't be tempted to attack you. Go under glass into BR 1 and up BR 2. Go to BR 2 Bridge and look for sniper, if it's there, go up shortcut and grab it. Go threw library enterance and up to BR 3 Bridge. If they follow you, go up to BR 3 and throw nades into library or where ever they are. If you can't kill them or they are running around BR Tower, just jump down to mid and go up shortcut. There, you will have more protection from the enemy. If they come up shortcut, hit them with a frag or plasma and finish them off. Just camp this place until game over.
Remember this when playing on Lockout 1v1, never ever take a BR fight you can't win. If they get first shot, just run. If you first shot, make them back away and throw nades at them. This will work best when the enemy is on BR 3 and your at Snipe 3/Snipe 2.
One extra thing. If you spawn at BR Tower and your enemy is at Sniper Tower (This is for when the game starts), hide at BR 3 Bridge and wait for your enemy to go up to snipe 3. Shoot the boxes and you will get a free kill. This works great for 1v1 and gives you the chance to get to snipe tower. This piece of Advice is from Dymdez: I've been running this strat for over a year now... this is all assuming you are playing a competent player and you, yourself are competent. 3 - 2 - 1 ... the game starts. (Now for this, when you spawn, assume that they are not on your radar.) Ok, where did you spawn? Think of it in terms of sections of the map. I beleive that there are 4 sections on lockout. There is Snipe Tower, Blue Tower, Battle Rifle Tower and Under Glass. Step 1 - Getting the Sniper Let's go from worst to best spawns.... Under Glass - By far the worst spawn. You want to think in terms of how fast you can see your opponent, and how fast you can get the sniper. From underglass... your limited... big time (i want you all to know i typed 'nig time' as a typo the first time I wrote that). If you spawn under glass do whatever you can to locate your opponent, forget about sniper, you blew it. I like to quickjump to sniper, that is, because sometimes they spawn there and maybe you can muscle them for the big gun. Also, sometimes your opponent wont move the sniper far when the barrels are blown up, and maybe you can get it lying down in the middle of the map somewhere. Honestly, if you get this spawn, and your host... just feign a heart attack and say you have to end it. Blue Tower - Second Worst spawn... I hate getting it. Go up the lift, or if you're already there IMMEDIATELY look to sniper tower. Count to 2 and if you dont see anyone walking around sniper tower (make sure you look through the grids), shoot the top left barrel. This will make the sniper stay at the sniper tower. Because you deduced that no one was at the sniper tower (remember you counted to 2 and looked around?), you know that they are at the BR tower or Underglass... If you do that successfully, then watch your back and make your move towards the immobile sniper. If by chance he is at BR tower and blows the barrels up so the sniper goes towards him, then this is why this spawn gets hard. Listen closely... You pillar jump (for speed) to the top br and keep your eyes out for the pugnacious sniper. He will try to shoot you when you go towards BR tower. Immediately establish the elevation advantage by camping top BR. He can't leave that section of the map without either showing up on your radar (BR 1 jump to underglass), or being visible (BR 2 to mid map/ library to mid map). Hold down the position until he makes a move or can walk into a good grenade. Sniper Tower - Ok. This is a great spawn, I most frequently shut my opponents out with this spawn. As soon as you spawn, run to the corner of the second sniper ramp. Look up and shoot the top middle of the left most fusion core. This will make the sniper shoot into the corner (basically moving like 2 inches). Grab it and run to mid snipe and look towards elbow/BR tower. Once you pick it up you should know where your opponent is. If you get shot, just look for him, if you don't get shot, he's on elbow, underglass, or BR 1. BR Tower - Oh how I love this spawn. Shoot the middle fusion core and the sniper will fly to you. Immediately look at snipe 2 and lift. Camp bridge (you can see under glass jump to BR 1 from there) and sometimes window (can watch blue room from there). Use this spawn to get as many kills as possible and don't worry about your sniper ammo. The trick with this spawn is to hold the empty sniper as your secondary weapon so they keep rushing you. It works. Step 2 - Holding the Sniper Position Down Ok this is definitely my forte. This is a mixture of being able to run, take cover, throw silly distraction grenades and fool your opponent. How do you know if your opponent is crouching Dymdez? Simple. Don't hit the white button on your controller, but still talk to him. Ask a question. Sometimes I go "So we are Mr. Crouchy Pants today huh?".. If he responds, he's near you. If he doesn't he didnt hear you, meaning hes not on your radar. What is the most important thing to holding the sniper down? Take as many shots as possible. Don't worry about the sniper. If you have played me before, I always shoot as much as possible, pre-firing and just quicksniping. This is because If I land a shot, I get a kill. If I miss the shot, nothing happens. Never get yourself into 'do or die' positions. I get myself into what I like to call 'Do or Run Away' positions. Step 3 - Dropping an empty Sniper Only do so If the opponent is respawning and you can move to the sniper tower very quickly. What I like to do is kill them, run into mid map and grab carbine (or shotty, depending on whats on map) and then quickjump back to sniper. Tricks 1. Holding an empty sniper, dropping your BR and picking up a carbine (this makes your opponent think you dropped the sniper and it's on respawn, which may force him to either charge or go back to sniper spawn, one of the two.) 2. Spawn Killing... [Where You Are] vs [Where They May Spawn] Sniper Tower --> Bridge Bottom Sniper Tower Ramp --> Snipe 2 Blue Room --> Lift Lift --> Blue Room BR 2 --> Library (magnum side) Library (magnum side) --> Library (plasma rifle side) Snipe 2 --> Lift Snipe 2 --> BR 2 I could literally go on for decathons... Anyways, I hope that helps. I feel that should cover the rudimentary aspects of aspiring to a head to head champion. The holes you will have to fill in with your intuition and skill. I hope these tips helped, if you would like me to add one of your tips to this, tell me here or in PM and I'll add them and give you credit. If you see any spelling/grammar errors PLEASE TELL ME so I can fix them. Remember, this is my playing style. I play this way and I tend to do pretty well in 1v1 games. Try it, you might like it. 
Thanks, So SicK -Please don't pester me about updating these threads. I'm a busy person and I don't have alot of free time anymore.