The first two or three rounds of Sky Team feel calm. The plane is high, the airport is far, and nothing is about to crash. That calm is the best time to set up the landing. A crew that builds coffee, keeps the Axis close to level, and reads the whole Approach Track early arrives at round 7 with choices. A crew that drifts arrives with problems.
The briefing is your only conversation
Before each roll you may talk, and the Landing Procedure suggests three questions: Do we move 0, 1, or 2 spaces? What could make us lose this round? What is urgent, and what can wait?
In round 1, add a fourth: how does this whole track play out? Look at every space and its planes. Count the spaces left against the rounds left. Agree on a rough shape, such as “slow now, faster in the middle.” You will not get to say it again once the dice roll, so say it now. Keep it about the plane, never the dice.
Every die is a message
Once the dice are rolled, the cockpit is your only language. The rulebook says it directly: a die is an action, and also information for your teammate.
Think about what a placement tells your partner. A Pilot who opens with a 6 on the Axis is saying “I have a high die to spare, and I trust you to answer it.” A Co-Pilot who puts a 1 on the Radio early is saying “that plane in our space was my top priority.” Before you place, ask: if I were across the panel, what would I learn from this?
Lead or wait
The two shared jobs, the Axis and the Engines, are where messages land hardest. The first die on each sets the problem; the second die solves it.
Wait when your roll is flexible. A mixed hand, say a 2, a 3, a 5, and a 6, can answer almost anything, so let your partner lead and you answer.
Lead when your roll is narrow. A hand of four 5s cannot answer much. Put one of them on the Axis or the Engines first and let your partner work around it. The rulebook’s tips cover the other side: holding back lets your teammate take the lead.
Whoever places first in a round is shown by the arrow in the altitude screen, and it is not always the Pilot. Look at it before the briefing ends.
Keep the Axis close, not perfect
The Axis only has to be level at the end of the final round. In the early rounds, one mark of tilt is fine, and even two can be fine if you both know about it. What kills crews is a big swing: a 6 against a 1 moves the plane five marks.
A simple habit helps. When your partner leads the Axis, answer with a die close to theirs. When you lead it, pick a middle value, a 3 or a 4, which your partner can match or nearly match from most rolls.
Coffee is a savings account
Each die on a Concentration space earns one Coffee token right away, up to 3 on the board. Coffee stays from round to round, and either player can spend it on the die they are placing.
The early rounds are the cheapest time to save. The plane needs little from you at 6,000 feet, so a die that has no useful job goes to Concentration. The rulebook’s advice is to build coffee carefully and not wait for the final turn, because a coffee on the board is a gift your partner can use without a word.
Do not overdo it. A die on Concentration is one less action in the cockpit, and the board holds only 3 tokens.
The first Reroll
A Reroll token sits at 6,000 feet, so you collect one in round 1, and a second waits at 2,000 feet for round 5. Spending one lets both players reroll any dice still behind their screens.
Early on, a reroll is rarely urgent. Saving it until a round with a real problem, such as a plane you must clear or an Axis you must fix, usually gets more from it.
A first-round plan for Montreal
Montreal is forgiving, which makes it a good place to practice a routine:
- Briefing: read the whole track, agree on the round’s speed, and name any plane that must go.
- Shared jobs: one of you leads the Axis or the Engines early.
- Spare dice: put a die with no job on Concentration.
- Systems: build what is cheap with the dice you rolled, such as a first Landing Gear on a matching number, unless the plan needs distance.
For more games where silence and trust do the work, our guide to two-player cooperative board games is a good next stop.
Next lesson
Managing the Approach: Speed, Traffic, Flaps, and Gear
Next, the middle of the approach: traffic, speed against distance, and when to lower the landing gear and flaps.
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