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Advice for a weird situation regarding beginner players

Isprayaxe

Smash Apprentice
Joined
Jan 23, 2013
Messages
127
Location
Binghamton, New York
Ok so I have like only two friends that live around me and are pretty good (at my level) at smash, which is like some wavedashing and l canceling, but not really great. However, I cant really play with them often and instead have to play with like 10-20 other kids at school. The thing is they're all really bad, maybe one or two are sorta close, but the rest are just terrible. So instead of brutally beating all of them I kind of go easy to hype up matches and make the tournaments (yes, really small ones) better.

I wouldn't even play with them, but i'm sort of the leader of this really small smash community and want people to keep playing. So I just kept playing and didn't really mind, but earlier today I was playing one of my skilled friends and he was just owning me (Usually he rarely beats me) and I couldn't beat him at all. I've essentially concluded playing the chumps is kind of detrimental to me but im still not sure what to do

What do you guys think
 

Dr. Ed

Smash Rookie
Joined
Jul 25, 2012
Messages
21
You need to play against people better than you. You can stomp the casuals all day while on autopilot and it's not going to help you one bit(which you seem to know). If you can try to learn certain combos and practice more advanced techniques on them while playing against the casuals that would help alot. Try learning placement for dash dances, learning ken combos(I'm assuming you're a Marth main), JC grabs/upsmashes, wavelanding, wavedashing onto the ledge, chaingrabs, SHFFLing, and pivot smashes would help you a lot if you're Marth. Keep your mind active while playing worse players and try to meet up with the smash community in your area. And play against your friends who are close to your skill level and practice things with them. Do not sandbag! it doesn't help them and it especially doesn't help you. Just use it as time to practice. You'll mess up a lot more which will make things more even.

Hope that helps. I'm assuming you're in highschool? That'll make it harder for you to meet up with other players depending on what your parents are like.

Edit: Added tech to practice and general advice

Edit 2: also pivot tilts and such like are simple but great
 

ZelDan

Smash Master
Joined
Nov 19, 2011
Messages
3,303
Location
New Hampshire
Maybe instead of laying it easy you should start playing as good as possible against these bad players in school? you won't get rusty and owning some of these players may even motivate some of them to improve and try to get around your level. I could also see this being risky though, depending on how much drive any of those 10-20 people have for gaming or smash.

Only other thing I can think of is try and see if any people on Smashboards live near you.
 

Corona

Smash Apprentice
Joined
Jun 14, 2013
Messages
139
Location
Massachusetts
I agree with Dan. I actually was in the same boat as you. I donated my gamecube, a game, and a couple of controllers to my old university so that they could figure it out for themselves when I graduated. 1 year later, and a few of them are just as good as me, a couple even better. Competitiveness is contagious, and I pat myself on the back for it.
 

bearsfan092

Smash Journeyman
Joined
Jun 1, 2012
Messages
402
I say destroy em to the best of your ability. The ones that have the fire will rise to expectations. The ones that don't will just play people they stand a chance against.
 

Zylo

Smash Journeyman
Joined
Nov 23, 2013
Messages
433
Location
Tuscaloosa, Alabama
Beat them but be as flashy as possible. Make them very aware of the skill gap between you and them. Otherwise they'll just think you're naturally talented and won't realize that there's advanced tech stuff that makes you better.
 

Bacon&Eggs

Smash Cadet
Joined
Aug 14, 2008
Messages
57
Location
Mililani, HI
Try hard to teach them! Show them how to do tech stuff and refer them to videos and stuff. Like bearsfan092 said, the ones that have the fire will rise. Also play a lot of people for money so that you can get used to playing under pressure and playing as hard as you can!
 

Varist

Smash Lord
Joined
Feb 7, 2011
Messages
1,603
Location
Austin
If I wanted everyone in the world to play Melee competitively I would just kill myself because it isn't going to happen.

Most of your group of 20 are only playing because they're bored and won't really want to get better or invest too much time into it. I do my best to crush my opponent in every game I play.

When my girlfriend comes over and picks Peach and wants to turn on items, I tell her to stop being a baby and that items are for little ******s. Then I turn on items like she asked and I **** all over her.

When my buddy who thinks smash is gay and not a real fighting game is like "hey i wanna come over do you wanna play smash i guess" I four stock him until he puts the controller down and says "this is gay" just like all the times before

There's no point in trying to skip around these people to make them like your game. People will either like it or they won't. Do you want to play against people who only half care about it when you care about it 100%? The answer is no, you don't. So don't try to appease the 50%ers, just crush them and see if they develop into 100%ers or stop playing with you.

We who play this game are wolves. We eat our food, we don't play with it.

If they don't let you devour them, if they try to put up a real fight, then they may have the spirit of a wolf. They will join the pack on their own. Only then are they worth our time.
 

MookieRah

Kinda Sorta OK at Smash
Joined
Mar 7, 2004
Messages
5,384
Location
Umeå, Sweden
Dude, you should focus your efforts to train the people in your area instead of just beating them. Really spend time with them trying to get them up to your level. When you teach, teach them like you want them to be better than you, and I can assure you that they will be up to your level fairly quickly (assuming that they are actually trying).

And yea, playing people below your skill level does often lead to a few bad habits, but there is A LOT to be gained by playing people who are below your level as well. You can practice things that you wouldn't otherwise try against someone who is around or better than you in skill level.
 
D

Deleted member

Guest
don't blame your loss on other people. it has nothing to do with them.

don't bother teaching people unless they come to you first. trying to teach people that aren't sincerely self-motivated is an effort in frustration.
 

MookieRah

Kinda Sorta OK at Smash
Joined
Mar 7, 2004
Messages
5,384
Location
Umeå, Sweden
Well I disagree on that just slightly Mow, as I think you should at least show interest in teaching them. Some people are a bit hesitant to ask even if they want your help.

But yeah, it will be quite obvious who is trying and who isn't. In the early levels of the game development is quite rapid, so if they are soaking in all the advice and are trying to learn they will likely be up to your level within a month or so.
 

Twilight Emblem

Banned via Warnings
Joined
Jan 2, 2008
Messages
162
I agree with MookieRah. At the very least attempting to address their mental blocks on trying to get better with encouraging words and motivating ideas might cause their perspective on getting better to appear less daunting and more doable than they first thought. The easier and more direct you can make their path to learning seem, the more eager they might be to learn.

Your guide for example umbreon. I jumped the fence and am now focusing my intention on improving when I practice partly because your guide cleared up a lot of confusion about the matter for me. I have talked to other people who play casual brawl about getting better and they are switching over to getting serious just because they know they can come here to this site to get information on getting better that will help direct their efforts
 

Problem2

Smash Champion
Joined
Jun 12, 2006
Messages
2,318
Location
Crowley/Fort Worth, TX
NNID
Problem0
Some people just won't make the switch to competitive gaming. It is not in their nature to do so and they won't have the passion. Some players think it would be nice, but will have too much self doubt. They think it is too hard.

If you are fortunate enough to find an eager player, I would immediately focus on that because you'll get a much better return. Self-doubting players can be converted with some therapy, but it also tends to be a never ending struggle with them. As soon as they do bad, they're mindset tends to retract back to negativity.

If the jump is not happening and competitive play is what you want, you should communicate that strongly to them. You don't have to be a jerk or be condescending, but you can be assertive in saying that you don't get anything out of free for alls with items anymore. You've probably played more ffa's then any of them to begin with and you're more interested in exploring a different aspect of the game. I would watch, maybe play a game or two, but mostly just stay out of their way and not participate.

If you're lucky, they'll realize how important competitive play is to you and decide to give it a shot. When they do, make sure to always compliment them on what they do right and tell them about the potential you see in them. If they are getting beat by the same tactic, you can even stop playing seriously long enough to show them the answer to get around said tactic, then let them be rewarded for doing a few times before showing the next element. That is, your counter to their counter. Without even learning the "pro stuff" like l-cancelling, they're learning more about the depth of the game. They might just like it.

On the other hand though, they might really just not give it a second thought and will be contempt with you sitting out and continuing to play free for alls. Only thing you can do at that point is move on.

EDIT: "communicate that strongly to them"... god, this sounds like relationship advice or something lmao!!!
 
D

Deleted member

Guest
I agree with MookieRah. At the very least attempting to address their mental blocks on trying to get better with encouraging words and motivating ideas might cause their perspective on getting better to appear less daunting and more doable than they first thought. The easier and more direct you can make their path to learning seem, the more eager they might be to learn.

Your guide for example umbreon. I jumped the fence and am now focusing my intention on improving when I practice partly because your guide cleared up a lot of confusion about the matter for me. I have talked to other people who play casual brawl about getting better and they are switching over to getting serious just because they know they can come here to this site to get information on getting better that will help direct their efforts

there are 2 kinds of motivation i think, one is a true motivation and those people would have come here on their own anyway just like all the other big names did. the second kind are the ones that want a fish and they want it on a bun in 20 minutes or less. i don't bother with people that don't come to me first, and tbh i don't bother with a lot of people that come to me anyway, specifically to filter those people out so i'm not wasting my time. if people want to do it, they'll do it with you, without you, or in spite of you. no encouragement will be needed.
 

Zodiac

Smash Master
Joined
Aug 10, 2005
Messages
3,557
If you play down to someones skill level enough that will become your actual skill level. 100% the whole time or your skills rust.
 
Last edited:

AP Renekton

Smash Cadet
Joined
Sep 28, 2013
Messages
27
Location
Guelph, Ontario
You shouldn't go full tryhard in friendlies. Especially not against someone you're going to beat anyways.

Play loose and take it easy. Don't ever sandbag intentionally (making yourself get hit, purposely recovering into an obvious punish) because that gives them bad habits and teaches them to play badly and do dumb ****. If they want to get better, they'll have questions for you and want to improve. Point out things they did that were really good and reinforce that, they probably know when they ****ed up on their own.

It's kind of a different story if they're actually getting mad/frustrated about playing with you, though. lol
 

MookieRah

Kinda Sorta OK at Smash
Joined
Mar 7, 2004
Messages
5,384
Location
Umeå, Sweden
there are 2 kinds of motivation i think, one is a true motivation and those people would have come here on their own anyway just like all the other big names did.
I'm pretty sure there are more than two kinds of motivation in this case. There are some people whom do have a serious passion, but do not want to impose themselves on others. It fairly often the case in Sweden, as the culture here isn't as "in your face" as it is in the US. That is not to say those personality types don't exist in the US either (I think I fall in this case a lot, although I've learned to ask for help when I need it).

Also, not every place is the same, and in the case of the OP there are not many players. That means his only means of really improving is if he can increase the skill level of all the players around him. It doesn't matter if these players will never make a real splash in the scene or not, but they can help increase the area's skill level by participating. It doesn't benefit the OP to ignore helping everyone who is willing to be helped, even if he thinks they will never stick with it/be the best there ever was.
 

Thor

Smash Champion
Joined
Sep 26, 2013
Messages
2,009
Location
UIUC [school year]. MN [summer]
Varist said:
When my girlfriend comes over and picks Peach and wants to turn on items, I tell her to stop being a baby and that items are for little ******s. Then I turn on items like she asked and I **** all over her.
If your girlfriend broke up with you I'd laugh in your face and tell you that you deserved it 110%. Unless she was already into Smash before she started dating you. But you get someone to do something they probably don't want to do because you like it then insult them when they want you to meet them halfway? Loser.

Onto the topic.

I'm in the same boat actually and if I play serious a lot of kids call me cheap (I'm already forced to play Brawl when I want to practice Melee and they rage at Falco lasers or Pikachu thunder-jolts, and we have to do 4 player FFAs *facepalm) and stop playing, and some of the meaner, dumber kids simply unplug my controller while I'm playing - yes that's super stupid but they're idiots.

If you have to suffer through similar idiocy it's better to keep the crowd around and win in close matches because you've only been wavedashing most of the match - then at least you can practice tech skill and such. In that case, don't try to pwn everyone all day - playing against n00bs is a great way to practice safe baiting because they'll bite and quickly (you can punish or just move away and try baiting again_. You can see if some of them are interested in improving, but if they all are not then just wavedash circles around them and practice tech like some of the people above said.

That said, every n00b thinks the Ken Combo is cool so you can practice that all year on these people [it might start to frustrate them but the first 10 times they'll all be like WHOA THAT'S SO COOL. Also you would be correct to think it's bad for you to play without focusing on practice - then you develop habits that destroy n00bs but are exploited by better players. I had an issue like that, as a result I play less when I play with these people and try to be super techy but really passive.

And all of this assumes they don't like being stomped. If it motivates most of them to improve, show them to Smashboards and Youtube SSBM videos and go nuts beating them. They'll get better and you'll not get worse and maybe get some new practice partners.
 

ZelDan

Smash Master
Joined
Nov 19, 2011
Messages
3,303
Location
New Hampshire
I've never have a controller unplugged on me, nor have I ever witnessed it, and I've been around some very salty gamers.

I always hear of people doing such things but I still have a hard time believing it lol.
 

Varist

Smash Lord
Joined
Feb 7, 2011
Messages
1,603
Location
Austin
If your girlfriend broke up with you I'd laugh in your face and tell you that you deserved it 110%. Unless she was already into Smash before she started dating you. But you get someone to do something they probably don't want to do because you like it then insult them when they want you to meet them halfway? Loser.
loool this is too good

You are wrong
I can't be wrong I'm literally god
 

Thor

Smash Champion
Joined
Sep 26, 2013
Messages
2,009
Location
UIUC [school year]. MN [summer]
ZelDan said:
I've never have a controller unplugged on me, nor have I ever witnessed it, and I've been around some very salty gamers.
I always hear of people doing such things but I still have a hard time believing it lol.
Believe it, they do act like 8-year olds but somehow they weren't dumb enough to be held back grades so they're 15 and thus in ninth grade. That said, these are the kids who don't want to learn to play but think they deserve to win - I infuriate them when I run away with projectiles because I've eliminated most of them and have a high percent vs a low percent n00b and need to make up some lost ground (again, it's Brawl, I could try comboing them for like 20% but it's always small stuff, can't just tack 50% on easily or they might land a random (but strong enough to KO me) nair).

Most of them are a little bit more gracious though - out of like 30 kids I know, 2 of them have a tendency to unplug me, and that's when I irritate them (which I try to avoid). And none of the people I play with who actually know what's going on [I play them outside of school] unplug people ever.

Maybe the OP's n00bs are more respectful though, in which case there is nothing to stop him from dumpstering them, though if he's in FFAs he'll get tag-teamed - practice for 2v1 in teams [don't overcommit, etc., still tech skill stuff]?
 
D

Deleted member

Guest
I'm pretty sure there are more than two kinds of motivation in this case. There are some people whom do have a serious passion, but do not want to impose themselves on others. It fairly often the case in Sweden, as the culture here isn't as "in your face" as it is in the US. That is not to say those personality types don't exist in the US either (I think I fall in this case a lot, although I've learned to ask for help when I need it).

Also, not every place is the same, and in the case of the OP there are not many players. That means his only means of really improving is if he can increase the skill level of all the players around him. It doesn't matter if these players will never make a real splash in the scene or not, but they can help increase the area's skill level by participating. It doesn't benefit the OP to ignore helping everyone who is willing to be helped, even if he thinks they will never stick with it/be the best there ever was.
Every single tier 1 player has gotten to tier 1 status by being leagues far and away better than the people around them except maybe chu/azen, and that's more like they lived close to each other coincidentally because they never really played each other outside of major tournaments. Needing "good players" for practice is an excuse, and if you honestly think that's what's holding you back and you want it bad enough you'll go find the good players on your own anyway. And then you'll realize that it's not the problem on your own. And this has nothing to do with culture. If you want it bad enough, you'll get over yourself and deal with it. "Not wanting to impose on others" is an excuse you give yourself that holds you into mediocrity.

I'll make this very direct for anyone reading this thread that has any doubts at all. If you truly, deeply want something, you'll fucking do it. You will find a way. If this isn't you, there's nothing wrong with that, but you still have to be truly honest with yourself for how much it applies to you. If it's not you (and it certainly isn't me) then don't blame your circumstances or make excuses, that's just how it is. It is better for you to accept the reality of who you are than it is to delude yourself.
 

MookieRah

Kinda Sorta OK at Smash
Joined
Mar 7, 2004
Messages
5,384
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Umeå, Sweden
Every single tier 1 player has gotten to tier 1 status by being leagues far and away better than the people around them except maybe chu/azen, and that's more like they lived close to each other coincidentally because they never really played each other outside of major tournaments.
This is why we see so many great players from places that have no real competition! Oh wait, that doesn't happen. There is a big reason why you can trace pretty much every amazing player back to either a large city or an area that has an unusually large player base of said game. It's not feasible for people without local competition to drive hours or so to play for a short time and what have you. It is also more likely that people without a player base will not want it as much as people who do. They wouldn't have the motivators that they do when they play the people around them. When you are really good at something and you validate that goodness by winning, you often are more motivated to keep winning. If you are at the top of a region that is highly rated, you have even more motivation. See where I'm going with this?

Also, I wasn't making an excuse for myself or any other person as to why they are not the #1 best ever tier player. I merely stated that it helps you by helping those around you improve as well. If you have a player base, even if they are beginners, it would behoove you to spend some time increasing their skill level, because they are more centrally located to you. Even if you were this hypothetical person that is doing his everything to achieve the goal of being number one, you would be doing yourself a favor by having better people to play when you are at home. Playing with people is better than playing computers, and targeted training with people is way more efficient than computers as well.
 
D

Deleted member

Guest
I disagree with literally every single portion of your post. no exceptions. I've seen tons of fantastic players come out of areas that had no local competition and we still see that happen all the time. Amazing players tend to be from the coasts and other major cities whether they have smash scenes or not, which just says that talent is variable and that cities have more people, big surprise there. And frankly, I think it's faulty to assign causation for what motivates people because everyone comes to this game for a different reason. If you want to get better, teaching people that aren't really interested is not a good use of your time. Put in the footwork, drive 6 hours, and play some real opponents.
 

Thor

Smash Champion
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Sep 26, 2013
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UIUC [school year]. MN [summer]
Umbreon said:
I disagree with literally every single portion of your post. no exceptions.
MookieRah said:
Playing with people is better than playing computers
MookieRah said:
you would be doing yourself a favor by having better people to play when you are at home.
You're going to need to explain why playing better people is NOT going to help you improve, and why computers are just as good for practicing mindgames and dealing with wacky DI as the AI are. I'm interested. And for how to deal with getting out of things like Falco's shine combos, since otherwise being able to practice with a good Falco would help the person out and make you wrong.
 

JKJ

Smash Ace
Joined
Jul 23, 2012
Messages
541
Location
New York
@ Isprayaxe Isprayaxe

I've been in a similar position.
I live on Long Island, which has a pretty solid Melee scene (for those who don't know) of established players and a consistent turnout of new players at nearly every tournament. That said, being in my senior year of high school with parents who believe that all smashers are 40 year old pedophiles with no jobs living with their parents, or some younger variation of that stereotype, I rarely get to play people outside of tournaments save for a few close friends. I never sandbag with any of them. I don't sugarcoat a thing. If they are having an off day, I will relentlessly and mercilessly destroy them.

One friend is like, stupid good with Yoshi; I usually 2 or 3 stock him when I play spacies but he's extremely good; I'm always forced to play at 100% to beat him like that, and if I slip up, I die.
He's moving slowly to Project: M now that Yoshi has been released, and, while P:M is fun, it's still lacking that undefinable Melee charm that keeps me coming back. I play P:M with him, and it's much closer between us in that game, but his Melee progress has been stymied by his move over to P:M. Project: M is still good Melee practice, but it's not the same as a Melee training partner.

Another friend has moved on to other things, and I never play with him at all anymore.

My first friend's brother plays as well, and, while he isn't at my level, he plays a very solid spacing-oriented and defensive Doc, and I always find myself dropping stocks quickly if I'm not in the zone. He plays P:M somewhat, but still likes Melee better.

Yet another of my friends is a P:M exclusive player, and, while he's not bad, he's not that good either. He tries his heart out, but simply isn't willing to put in the practice.

There is a bright side to this, though. My close friend, a competitive SSFIV:AE player, has recently showed a renewed interest in Melee, and has begun to enjoy the game more after a long spell of dislike for the game. He has the drive; he has the competitive spirit, and he has the smarts. I really hope he develops into a training partner in the future.

Another not-as-close friend (but that could change), a competitive UMvC3 player, asked to borrow Melee and has a full smash setup at his house, and is already trash talking me and saying "We'll see if you can match my skill after I train with this game" and the like. I'm genuinely excited for a training partner in him.



I guess the point of all this rambling is to say that while, yes, you may go through a lot of different people before you find one or two good training partners, in the end, when you find those training partners, it's all worth it. You finally can enjoy the game and work on your competitive game with someone else who truly enjoys the game as much as you, and that is worth the work and worth the wait. So you scare off a couple noobs; so what? So you make people angry; who cares? You will find those who truly want to improve, those with drive, passion, competition, and that reward is more than worth all the bull**** you will have to sift through. Make the first move; let the noobs know you're willing to help them improve, show them your full skill and technical ability, and allow those who are right for you and right for the game come forth. Quality over quantity, 1 player with Armada's drive as a training partner is worth 1000 noob classmates, relatives, and acquaintances.

I hope this helps you in your dilemma.
 

MookieRah

Kinda Sorta OK at Smash
Joined
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Umeå, Sweden
I've seen tons of fantastic players come out of areas that had no local competition and we still see that happen all the time.
Of course. I was not arguing that at all. In fact I would argue for that, especially being a player from an area that had very little competition. I also know other players far greater than myself that were from the same region (PikaChad and Iori). But this is not a discussion of what makes great players, amazing players, fantastic players, or even tier 2 players. You were arguing from the stance of what makes tier 1 players. To illuminate what I think qualifies as a tier one player I'll supply as list:

Ken, Isai, Azen, Chu Dat, M2K, PC Chris, KoreanDJ, Armada, Hbox, Mango, and etc.

I don't remember exactly where all these players are from, but I am quite sure (without researching it) that they come from areas that have a large and thriving local scene, and usually they are close to many other scenes around them (by close I mean places that are a 1-5 hour drive from their local region).
And frankly, I think it's faulty to assign causation for what motivates people because everyone comes to this game for a different reason.
I think it's faulty to assign causation simply to one's motivation and ignore many other possible factors regarding what makes someone a tier 1 player. I think it's hypocritical to take that stance and then attack me for assigning some causation to motivation.

I also don't think that what I said is non-factual. People tend to be motivated by winning. Maybe not everyone (Isai was an odd one here), but it's a pretty safe assumption that being good at something one enjoys is a common motivator to pursue it further. If you have nobody around you to play a game, or nobody around you that is taking it seriously, it would be a lot harder to be motivated to spend lots of money and time driving around to play it. It's also not controversial to say that to have dedication, people need motivators to keep them motivated.
If you want to get better, teaching people that aren't really interested is not a good use of your time. Put in the footwork, drive 6 hours, and play some real opponents.
It doesn't take much effort or time to teach beginners stuff, or direct them towards where they need to go in order to improve faster than they currently are. If they are part of your local group, improving them would be a benefit to the entirety of the group and not just to that person, even if they don't have the desire to become a tier 1 player.

Also, what Thor said:
You're going to need to explain why playing better people is NOT going to help you improve, and why computers are just as good for practicing mindgames and dealing with wacky DI as the AI are. I'm interested. And for how to deal with getting out of things like Falco's shine combos, since otherwise being able to practice with a good Falco would help the person out and make you wrong.
 
D

Deleted member

Guest
as an aside, this is the third time this has come up in the last month or two, but why do you think people are attacking you in debates? i have yet to see one verbal attack aimed at you in any way.
 

MookieRah

Kinda Sorta OK at Smash
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Umeå, Sweden
as an aside, this is the third time this has come up in the last month or two, but why do you think people are attacking you in debates? i have yet to see one verbal attack aimed at you in any way.
That was a poor use of the word, as I did not mean to imply that you were in any way making an attack on my character or anything like that. At the time I wrote it I meant it more as your attack on my argument, or in other words to your oppositional retort. My English is failing me at the moment as I can't think of a more appropriate word that would sound less clumsy but still convey the idea that I want.
 

Armada

Smash Lord
Joined
Mar 28, 2010
Messages
1,366
MookieRah: For my last six years I had

1: My brother
2: Tournaments
3: CPUs (was maybe about 35-45% of my game time).

I lived 1,5h from closest smasher and our community is not that big/active so I had to play vs CPUs a lot to cover up for the fact I did not live in a big smash region.
 

MookieRah

Kinda Sorta OK at Smash
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Umeå, Sweden
I would still say that you would be more of an exception to the rule, as I think the rest of those I have listed still match up to what I have said. I have several questions though, as I honestly don't know much about your history or the Swedish smash scene at all despite "sort of" being a part of it now.

So the last six years you have had mostly nobody but your brother to play. That means since 2008 or so, right? Or are you referring to 2007?

1: You seemed to have begun your rise in 2007 from the smash wiki. Did you have people to play then, and at that point what would you have rated yourself at that time in relation to Europe?

2: How good was/is your brother? Was he close or far in skill level? Did you engage in targeted practice with each other? By that I mean did you spend time focussing on specific elements of the game to hone a specific skill such as recovering from the edge, smash DI'ing throws, etc?

3: How many tournaments did you attend per year on average? What was the level of the players at these tournaments?

4: Was it 1.5 hours from the nearest smasher, or nearest group of players? Were you within a three hour drive of a place that had an active scene? Did you attend events like weeklies, bi-weeklies, etc. of a group that was within a span of a 3-5 hour drive?

5: Were there ever any smashers in Sweden that were raggare? (Totally legit and serious question :-P)

My point in all these questions is that if you built a lot of your foundation prior to your time without many people to play, yet still attended lots of tournaments afterwards, then you weren't as bad off as that sounds. If your brother was someone near your level in which you played often in a productive manner, and you both spent time outside of that practicing in an efficient way, then you would be able to develop and maintain skills needed to perform well. If you were very active in tournaments then you had the opportunity to get the character matchup experience needed to stay on top of things as well.

For example: I vaguely remember some of the old pros like Ken talking about how little they actually played smash once they reached the apex, and that they mostly just went to tournaments. Take this with a grain of salt as it's an old memory.

Of course my argument would lose a lot of wind in it's sails if most of my assumptions are not true. I still would not attribute that purely to motivation. Someone can be motivated yet have no direction. If you became amazing despite lack of players in your area I would say that you and your brother had a lot of talent as well as some sort of organised practice/training that allowed you to reach your tier one status. I would be very interesting to know exactly how you trained and what your mindset was when you trained as well if you don't mind sharing that, but I realise that I have already asked you enough stuff as it is already.
 
D

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Guest
MookieRah: For my last six years I had

1: My brother
2: Tournaments
3: CPUs (was maybe about 35-45% of my game time).

I lived 1,5h from closest smasher and our community is not that big/active so I had to play vs CPUs a lot to cover up for the fact I did not live in a big smash region.
Actually, what's your stance on this subject? I know some of the situations of American players and how some of them were isolated, but I think people know little about you. Do you think it is good to work with weak and half-interested players to get better?
 

dRevan64

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Actually, what's your stance on this subject? I know some of the situations of American players and how some of them were isolated, but I think people know little about you. Do you think it is good to work with weak and half-interested players to get better?
I don't think I'd call android weak or half interested.
 
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