El desempate necesita una táctica.

In Spanish, singular countable nouns are very often used with an article, especially when you are talking about a specific thing or concept.

• el desempate = the tie-break / the tiebreaker
• desempate by itself can appear in some contexts, but here el sounds natural and complete.

Also, desempate is a masculine noun, so it takes el, not la.

Desempate is a masculine singular noun.

In this sentence:

• El desempate = the subject
• necesita = the verb
• una táctica = the direct object

So the structure is:

Subject + verb + object
El desempate + necesita + una táctica

This is the same basic word order English often uses.

Because the subject is el desempate, which is third person singular.

The verb necesitar is conjugated here in the present indicative:

• yo necesito = I need
• tú necesitas = you need
• él / ella / usted necesita = he / she / you(formal) needs
• el desempate necesita = the tie-break needs

So necesita agrees with the singular noun desempate.

Una means a / one, while la means the.

So:

• una táctica = a tactic
• la táctica = the tactic

The sentence uses una because it refers to some tactic, not a specific previously identified one. If the speaker meant a particular tactic already known in context, la táctica could be used instead.

Also, táctica is a feminine singular noun, so the article must be una or la.

The written accent in táctica shows where the stress goes: TÁC-ti-ca.

Without getting too technical, Spanish uses accent marks when a word’s stress does not follow the default spelling rules. Here the accent tells you to stress the first syllable.

So you pronounce it roughly like:

TAK-tee-ka

The accent mark is not optional; it is part of the correct spelling.

A natural Spain-Spanish pronunciation would be roughly:

el desemPAte necesita una TÁCtica

A few pronunciation notes:

• desempate stresses pa: de-sem-PA-te
• necesita stresses si: ne-ce-SI-ta
• táctica stresses tác: TÁC-ti-ca
• In much of Spain, c before i in necesita sounds like the th in thin
• In much of Spain, táctica has a hard k sound in the middle

Yes, it can. Spanish often allows abstract things, situations, stages of a game, plans, and events to be described as if they need something.

So El desempate necesita una táctica is grammatically normal. It means that the tie-break situation requires or calls for a tactic.

English might sometimes prefer:

• The tie-break requires a tactic
• A tactic is needed in the tie-break

But Spanish is perfectly comfortable with necesitar here.

Yes. Requiere is a good alternative.

Compare:

• necesita = needs
• requiere = requires

Both are correct, but requiere can sound a little more formal or impersonal.
Necesita is often more direct and everyday.

So:

• El desempate necesita una táctica = very natural
• El desempate requiere una táctica = also correct, slightly more formal in tone

It depends on context. Desempate can refer to the act or process of breaking a tie, or to a tie-break phase/round used to decide a winner.

That is why context matters. In a sports or competition context, learners often meet it as:

• a tie-break situation
• a deciding round
• a method of breaking a tie

So in this sentence, it most naturally refers to the tie-break situation/round.

Normally, no. In this sentence, una táctica is the natural choice.

Spanish usually needs an article or determiner with a singular countable noun:

• una táctica
• la táctica
• alguna táctica
• esa táctica

Saying necesita táctica sounds incomplete or unnatural in standard usage here.

The grammar and vocabulary are standard and understood across the Spanish-speaking world. Nothing in the sentence is exclusively from Spain.

The main Spain-specific point is pronunciation:

• In most of Spain, c before i in necesita is pronounced like th in thin
• In Latin America, it is usually pronounced like s

So the sentence is general Spanish, but the pronunciation may differ depending on region.