Git Gud, Scrub
To get clean, one must first be washed (of their sins)
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A Fair Warning
The following is about improving as efficiently as possible, for competitive environments, not 'fun', and recognizes no middle ground. This is not for people who want to have fun, or care about points and badges. If you can't find joy in the process, you will find struggle. No game will fix your life or fill that hole, this comes after you resolve that elsewhere.
What Is Skill?
While skill is relative to the rest of a game's player-base, we can still take an objective approach to measuring it:
- The depth and mindfulness of your conscious and unconscious decision making
- How reasonably you take risk or are exploited vs how well you exploit your opponent's mistakes
- The knowledge you have, the layers and patterns you’ve ingrained, and how well you can deceive your opponent
- The actual time taken to reach a relative point of skill; Is it 'good' if anyone can get there in a month or two of proper practice?
Drop The Ego
Focus on improving skill, not ranked points. The 'number' CANNOT keep you from playing. There are many ways to achieve a number, and its actual value is different at any and all times (I have been 1600 MR @ top 23,000 players and 1600 MR @ top 55,000, in the same split). Being up or down MR says nothing specific about gameplay, its not a primary metric, just a loose symptom. There is no real punishment for losing beyond your feelings; You can lose or gain 100 MR in 90 min, and will still gain +/- 8 after. Reverting to your old habits to struggle for the same 8 MR repeatedly is fruitless.
Down With The Tier List
Use a character you like. Fundamental player skill determines results. Yes there are differing learning curves across the roster, but none are the greatest limiting factor on your gameplay. That tier list doesn't apply to people without several full layers of each matchup burned to memory, let alone those not yet considering their opponent. There is a player with your character in Legend rank, and Punk has top 8'd TNS with them before that. Obtainable or not, whether you can see it yet or not, the difference is skill.
Your Character Is Not The Problem
Switching or adding 'variety' via different characters or even games is not the answer. None of it actually helps, you just lose the immediate pressure and frustration of your current standing, which is comfortable. Not improving at times is normal, and real changes take months to cement. You don’t need to do it for matchup knowledge, or to be “well rounded”. There are no character bans in tournaments, and below peak level play being better is better than a counter pick.
Quality Reps
This is not about teaching newer players or getting feedback from stronger ones. This concerns actually attempting or executing quality live reps of things you've been practicing vs opponents of adequate difficulty. Playing tons of casuals against the same few people simply allows you to get comfortable in their habits. Training partners are good, but there's far more to be gained for most players exposing themselves to ranked.
Players far below your skill offer little to no resistance for practical live testing and if you feel that unsure on it you're probably better off setting up a drill in the lab. Playing players wildly above your skill level doesn't actually allow you the room to implement anything you've practiced, making it unproductive. You simply lose slower (because THEY are taking less risk than your average opponent) and are supposed to lose, so it feels better. Getting damage/rounds/a game or two vs them means nothing. You don't play "better" vs "good" players, you're poor at tracking habits and assessing risk vs players in your bracket.
Worthy Opponents
PLAY RANKED focusing solely on implementing new changes. Playing people slightly below your skill for practice reps will be most productive. You will find that by going into ranked, doing the things you practiced, and probably dropping a bit as you learn (which equates to slightly lower rated opponents, look at that). Losing 300MR for a new skill is nothing, and what is the point in doing the same things that got you where you are? "Winning" a session is consistently attempting what you practiced and getting comfortable in the uncomfortable, not going 10-0 on a 'good day' and getting off.
Don't Be A Diva
Measure change in improvement points executed consistently over time (think months), not accomplishments (peak rank, wins/losses) over weeks, days, events or even single games. Creating new neural pathways takes 3-4 months on the low end, stop shaming yourself about the results of a single ranked match, or how you played last week. "Winning the local" or "placing top 'x' " is arbitrary, and (much like rank) is a terrible, wavering measure. The difficulty of a tournament is based on who attends, how they’re playing that day, what their path looks like. Not to mention your own mental state and well being on that specific day vs others.
People tend to chain together one or two of these bad experiences and see themselves as lost. A plateau is not a bad day, it's not being ‘stuck’ at the same ‘rank’ for 2 weeks. A plateau is your GAMEPLAY being stagnate after months or even years of quality practice periods put into various approaches. Growth is all but linear, and there is a difference between your player limitations and your ignorance. Focus on 1-2 things, break them down as simply as possible, and go into sessions focusing on only executing them in your matches.
From Nomad To Milestone
We've stated what we don't want to use for goal setting, as those post are always shifting beyond our control. But what do good goals look like? Objective based goal setting is not about who we beat, but about our intent and execution.
- How many anti airs did we land?
- How many anti airs did I attempt?
- How many panic reversals did I not do?
- How often am I pressing and buffering with intent vs habit or emotion?
- Am I looking and committing to answers or auto piloting on slightly different timing?
- Am I verbalizing answers and adaptations? "They teched this time, so I bait next knockdown."
There Is No Bouncer
Go to your local, no one cares. YOU care, they don’t. THEY are only upset because YOU aren’t coming. It is very hard to ascend in anything without a greater community. Even if you call yourself casual, GO. There is no measuring stick, no ‘good enough’, no bouncer at the door. YOU.ARE.'WASTING'.NO.ONES.TIME! You’re just flat out missing out on great vibes. It’s about community, if you aren’t an asshole (but please, god, wash it) then you're already 'good enough'.
Analyze. Iterate. Evolve.
Practice and play a lot, consistently:
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REVIEW YOUR VODS (To start: watch 20-30 losses), take notes:
- Where and how do I keep getting hit?
- Can we prevent, improve or flat out not be in those situations?
- What unnecessary actions am I taking?
- Do I have a reason for EVERY action?
- What common situations am I not capitalizing on?
- Note unique errors and add a tally to repeats, this is where you start.
- Replicate situations in training (or takeover the replay) to lab and research solutions (labbing is a skill YOU need to develop)
- Watch top player vods, looking for commonly used tactics across multiple players, not niche setups: "How do they score the hit?" "WHY are they doing what they're doing?"
- lay/Repeat ^ process indefinitely (At its core, this doesn’t really ever change)
Note: Watch your replays, ONGOD watch your replays. YOU-DO-NOT-KNOW-WHAT-YOU-LOOK-LIKE. NO you DONT get it yet. I stg take your ass to replays regularly or don’t cry about your progress. Yes it sucks, no I don't care.
Putting The Time In
- Days/week: 4+ (don't go more than 3 days without playing)
- Games/Week: 150-200 (top 5% play around 100, top .1% around 400+, offline unaccounted for)
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- ^Estimates based off of CatCammy data
Perfect Practice Makes Perfect
Years played does not equal good, there is no "should be", you earned it or you didn't. Having played a game from 10, 20 or 30 years ago does not (on its own) mean you can hang. Daigo was winning Vampire Hunter at the age of 16 in 1997, so it's always been "made for children". Hours of aimless practice does not equal perfect, or even better as you CAN actively get worse by reinforcing bad habits and focusing on unimportant things. We can measure skill objectively, but its still relative; You won't surpass your peers doing significantly less, better. Consistency, discipline, iteration over time, and honesty with oneself = better than before.
