2. Setting up the move.
Any good team will have a person watching over their player in the key bunker. You need to identify all the players who have a shot at you before you get to the guy in the bunker. There might be three guys who can see you, or just one. Take quick glances to see who can possibly shoot you; identify where they are and where they are looking. If you do not have to run very far to get the guy, a person in the back will not be able to shoot you before you get the guy unless his paint is in the air already, or you are incredibly slow. Now that you have gathered all that information in your head, it’s time to get the move in action.
Get your teammates to tell you when a person who might shoot you is looking at them. Coordinate with your teammates to help put a person in to make your move easier, or have your teammates on the other side of the field make a move so your opponents will look the other way. If you can not get any help, become that superstar you want to be and control the people you need in order to make the move all by yourself. Do not do it stupidly, though. Remember, you want to bunker him, not get shot before you even have the chance to. Now that you have identified all the threats, when do you go?

3. Timing the move.
This is the most important part of bunkering people. You could be the slowest person alive, but if you have good timing then you can pull off some awesome moves. After you have recognized who can shoot you, you have to get inside their head and know what they are thinking and doing. Look for shadows to see what side they are coming out on, look at what side the paint streams are coming out of, and listen for what side of the bunker they are shooting from. These are a few tips to help you see what your opponents are doing. Great players can determine what a lot of their opponents are doing and where they are looking by these factors.
Put the people in and control your opponents; make them do what you want them to do. Shoot a lot of paint where they are going to come out of, and a lot of times they will turn the other way. The opposite way is, you can bore them to death and not come out and they will likely look the other way, thinking you are a newb. Let’s say in this situation, you are on the outside of the bunker and the other guy is looking in. There is one guy behind him and one guy in the middle who can shoot you. You control the guy behind him, and see that the guy you need to get out is shooting inside by the direction of his paint stream. Wrap around the outside of your bunker and see if the center guy is looking at you. If he isn’t, then make your move. If he is, put him in and if you can control him enough, make the move then. That is just one situation, but in all situations, you have to know what the other guys are thinking and you will complete the move the majority of the time.

4. Execution of the move.

Quick fact: Paint tastes bad. You’re welcome.

Aside from your preparation of the move, many people screw up a bunker move while they are in motion. How many times have you seen, or have you yourself tried a bunker move and ended up falling on your face, running into the bunker because you freaked out, shot blindly around the corner, or got scared when you felt paintballs flying around you? Believe me, everyone has done this at some point in their life, but the execution part is a key factor in the success of the move. Using good gun skills, shooting accurately, running and shooting, staying focused, and having quick reactions are all you need to be a bunker king. In order to do these things and not look like a total idiot, you have to be able to gunfight well, run and shoot accurately, stay focused, and have quick reactions. Gunfighting will allow you to keep control of people who may possibly shoot you. Keep your opponent on edge, because he knows if he plays loose he will get shot. While you are running, shoot at the people who might shoot you, and your balls have to go at them. If you do not come close, the person will have an easy shot on you, but if the balls go at them, then they will have to tuck in ever so slightly and they’ll end up missing their shot. Be quick on your feet and react to what your opponents are doing. If you see the person switch sides, be prepared for him to come out firing and be ready to change your approach. The last and most important part is to stay focused. Don’t go crazy and start panicking; just stay focused on what you are shooting at and what your goal is. Aim at what you want to hit and do not be scared. It’s only a paintball and it’s not going to kill you. Just make sure you shoot him and get the job done.

Follow through with your move with no hesitation. It also helps if the opposing coach tells his player to just lie down and die.

5. What are you going to do after?
This is what makes you into a real bunker king. Think of not only your main goal of bunkering the person, but what comes after that bunker. Do you plan on trying to get into the bunker and live, or keep on running and get some more people? Bunkering a guy and living is the ultimate success and makes you look like a pimp. Too many times I have seen a guy go bunker someone and keep running past him, only to get shot when all he had to do was come around the bunker, shoot the guy, and come back. You take a key guy out, they lose a body, and you are now up a body. That is the goal. On the other hand, a run-through can be a game-breaking move and will make you look like a pimp also. From my experiences, I have come to the conclusion that the majority of run-throughs involving more than three people are plain dumb luck. A lot of it is the player improvising on the fly and adapting to what is going on as he is bunkering the guy out. Sure it takes some set-up, but most of the time a run-through will only get you two guys before you get shot.

If they’re coming for you, stay tucked in, don’t panic, and if you can, aim for the groin. That’ll stop ‘em.

Look at the majority of great bunker kings out there, for example Markus or Oliver. They try bunkering a lot of people. Sometimes it works, and sometimes it doesn’t. At all times they are trying to create moves during the game and looking for opportunities. When the window of opportunity opens, they take it and hope it will work out. People will always remember the ones who take the risks, and remember the successful moments rather than the failures. If you fail, at least you died trying and you take a little bit of experience to put to use when you make your next bunker move.
Practice? Well, you might ask, how do you get better at bunkering? Here are some of the drills Avalanche does during practice to help us improve our bunkering skills. First drill is the situation that I described earlier, where the enemy is in the key bunker that needs to be taken out. Have one guy in a key bunker, a bunker that is relatively hard to get to and is hard to bunker someone out of. Put a guy behind him and one in the middle to watch over him. It is the job of these two guys to watch over him. Now for the team that has to bunker the guy out, have one guy in front of him and three people behind him to help support. Set a time restraint, no more than a minute, and keep doing it over and over. but also works the other side of the field in their cross-up drills and protection drills.

For this drill, pin down both your opponents, stand up, and run to your next bunker. Blurring effect optional.

Try bunkering and running through; develop your own unique style so you can find out what works for you. Practice is the time to see what works and what doesn’t, so during the tournament when it actually counts, you will look good instead of bad.

Master those areas and you are now ready to graduate from queen to king status. Bunkering is not that hard to do. It just takes time, practice, and patience. You will not become an expert overnight. Watch the people who have already learned how to bunker correctly and try to learn all the little things they do that make them good. Once you have figured it out, then you will be one of those people on the field getting noticed and inspiring people to say, “Damn, that was sick!!!”