My pool experience:
The Kiest (Kirby) -- Lost 1-2
COMMENTS: I got swallowcided on game 1, then I got angry and stopped thinking even though I was predicting him VERY well. Game 2 I won on YI, Game 3 he picked Distant Planet (if this is available, always ban this; at least Brinstar's lava can save you...DP just stops your zoning PERIOD)
At this point I got rather angry because I lost to him when I CLEARLY could have beaten him. I thus moved on to my next match.
Mister Erics (ROB) Lost 0-2
COMMENTS: Not much to say here, he telegraphed a lot of stuff and I didn't punish him for it because I got scared. He kept rising Nair and I kept forgetting to FSmash or Counter. For not having any ROB experience I did well though, always down to last hit last stock and he has a LOT of Marth experience b/c he teams w/ Xisin and plays with him a lot.
My anger stayed because I felt as though I could've beaten Eric....thus I moved on, once again, anger bubbling inside me:
Schwa (Marth, DDD) Won 2-1
COMMENTS: 2-stocked him game one because I have a LOT of experience w/ the ditto esp. on neutrals. Game 2 fooled around w/ Sheik on Delfino when he switched to DDD...I kept attacking his shield. Game 3, FD vs. his DDD where I was Falco so it was over at that point (though it was close...I wasn't nearly campy enough at the end).
No more confident than before, I proceeded to face Bowyer.
Bowyer Lost 0-2
COMMENTS: He SD'd as Fox game one. It then became very difficult to take him seriously...so I ended up playing unintelligently and losing to him by about a 30% margin. He banned FD, I picked Falco and SV. He beat me pretty handily on his last stock because I didn't camp NEARLY hard enough.
At this point I started to care less and less because I got pissed. I went and played Lou, a GW.
Lou (GW) Lost 0-2
COMMENTS: Went BF both games, lost both games because I didn't use shield enough + I kept running into his BAirs. Always close though.
I was PISSED because I lost to a GW when I knew I could easily demolish him if I chose to, he was playing really bad that day too. At this point I had no hope of getting out of pools, so I largely ****** around in my next two matches, not ever going Marth and just playing Sheik and Falco (though I do main Falco in part).
Lain had good things to say about my Marth, but also isolated some problems:
1. I overuse DB
2. I do not abuse grab options enough
3. I am not nearly aggressive enough (aggressive as in putting on pressure)
4. I don't edgeguard well
5. I am too impatient sometimes
Xisin added the last piece of advice, telling me that I was not always "spacing with the sword" - that I hit with the middle of the blade too often because I'm not visualizing the space at which the tip shall strike. This happened with Falco too; I noted this to myself as I kept hitting incorrect lasers (ex: b-reversing instead of correctly pivoting, always lasering at a specific height), attacking opponents' shields without spacing correctly, not always getting a ledge grab (more of a problem with Marth though).
Overall at this tournament I noticed the following things without their input:
1. I get angry too easily. Anger always detracts from your play, especially if it's as unfocused as mine. Focused anger can actually be helpful, as in the case of Forward.
2. I am too hasty for kills as Falco or Marth. Both characters' durability is rather variable, yet I somehow manage to ignore this and continue getting nervous for kills.
3. I lose track of thinking during the games, especially if I'm down a stock or a couple tens of percentages. This ties into my nervousness thing. It's more common during stock disadvantages, but if I panic I forget to keep track of the opponent's habits and general poor spacing errors. This happened during The Kiest on his last stock.
4. I john too much. 'nuff said.
I'm taking this tournament as a learning experience. I'm reminded once again of just how bad I am and how much I still have to play. NoJ has only become what he is because he played in a lot of tournaments despite having no Wii. I have to attend much more if I'm going to continue to not have a Wii, and even if I do have a Wii I will need to practice my control and my matchups over Wifi. It's clear to me that I am not a TERRIBLE, hopeless player by any means but I have some big problems that I need to work on. Hopefully I can attend a tournament in California while I'm there so that I can expose myself to a completely new competitive atomsphere.
A SUMMARY OF MY PROBLEMS:
1. Anger
2. Impatience
3. Loss of control (both character and mind)
4. Hastiness
Hopefully I can perform better for you guys next time, especially on livestream.
... and loling out the timer in an artistic fashion... LOL.
