How important are tournaments

[Michelangelo]

So I basicly have this thing what you could call a problem. I'm from the Netherlands and the amount of tournaments here are very low here. But even when there is a tournament somewhere, I can't go because I'm either busy with school or I don't have transport because my parents won't drive me and I'm too young to travel by myself. So it basicly comes down to the sad fact that I can't go to tournaments.

But I've been wondering, how impormant are tournaments when it's about improving. The only thing i'm able to do now is practice techskill, combo's, movement etc. on my wii and play netplay since there also aren't any people I know who play melee. I have definitly improved a lot and I do feel like I have some potential and I really want to get better. But would a tournament effect my play that much? How good can I be without tournaments?
Please let me know how you guys experience tournaments and how it effects your play. Thank you.

 

[Archelon]

Do you have any friends who play?

 

[EPsilon933]

Going to them is the best way to improve. You'll play against the best players you can and against a good variety. What could be better?

If you can play net play, I recommend it. It sucks that there's lag, but you'll get human vs human experience from it. Strategy > ability

 

[Twinkles]

I respect your efforts to do everything you can to improve despite your situations.

Tech skill practice will give you the tools, netplay will give you matchup insight and game knowledge, but tournament is where both come into effect at the pinnacle. No lag means more precise inputs on both players so slightly different strats in terms of testing reactions from your opponent. The real key though is tournaments will test your mental fortitude when the stakes are higher, when you're fighting for bracket life (and eventually money!).

I don't believe any one thing is "essential" to getting better, but playing in tournaments will get you much better much faster. It will also put you in contact with your local scene more, and you'll probably make great friends and rivals that'll last you a lifetime.

Depending on how motivated you are, try thinking of creative ways you could get a ride or permission to a tournament!

 

[Sutekh]

It seems like you don't have many options in your current position, but I would definitely say that you should try to attend a tournament once a month or at least every couple months so that you can apply what you've learned. Netplay is great for learning what to expect from different characters, but the lag is a pretty significant hindrance. Often times players won't go for more technical options on netplay and will opt for safer strategies because the stricter timings are tough to hit, so you won't be 100% prepared for what players might throw at you when you're playing in person. Playing exclusively on Netplay can commit bad habits to muscle memory too, which can be tough when you transition to a lagless setup. To make the best of your situation, I'd definitely suggest taking advantage of Netplay, but I would split my time evenly between playing Netplay and practicing tech on a crt so that you don't get too familiar playing while accounting for the Netplay lag. And there is no substitute for playing against players in person, so either get some friends involved and teach them so that you can have regular practice partners, and make sure you're making best use of the valuable time you do actually get to spend at a tournament.

 

[Gabezilla]

Going to tournaments helps a lot because even if you have friends to play against, you experience different playstyles, different people to play, and you can learn way more than with your friends IMO. If you're constantly beating your friends its not really helping you mainly because you have a smaller basis to learn from.

 

[Benny P]

Make some friends in the netherlands who like melee, and organise meet ups to practice. This is a good alternative to tourney and will help you for a while before you go to tournaments

 

[Flippy Flippersen]

Getting to play people in tournament shouldn't be that hard. I know in Rotterdam every thursday there's a weekly. There's also a decent amount of tournaments in certain weekends. If your parents can't drive you it'd prolly be smarter to find people in your region who are going to tournaments as well and just ask for a ride with them.

 

[-ACE-]

Let me sum this up.

Tournaments are the most important thing for the vast majority of people that wish to do well at tournaments. If you want to learn to ride a bike, try to ride a bike.

Learning all the rules of smash means a lot but if you focus more on that than actually playing, you could easily be doing more harm than good.

Think about how schools teach second languages. They begin by teaching all the rules of grammar, perfectly. By the time one memorizes all the rules, they are often frustrated with how little of the language they know, considering the effort the put in. Many never make it that far. Meanwhile, people that flat out move to another country will be "fluent" more quickly in that corresponding language than the student of the grammar-nazi would be. Don't over-theorize. You have to get in there and get used to all the factors that make a tournament a tournament.

That is, if you want to do well at tournaments.