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Advice Analyzing Replays

Oz o:

Smash Journeyman
Joined
Aug 11, 2019
Messages
214
Analyzing replays is something all players are recommended to do, and it's also extremely like every player of the highest level does this. I've just always had this kind of skepticisms towards it, and I'm not entirely sure what it is. I feel like the mistakes tend to be obvious enough that you don't need to watch your matches, since you likely already know what you're doing wrong. Our habits are likely engrained under our concious behaviour, which is why I'm skeptical that it will really change anything whether you watch said replays or not.

I also just cringe watching my own plays, like it's not something I'd ever do out of a concious and sound mind. I'm legitimately ashamed, to the point I refuse to watch them, sometimes.


How important is analyzing your plays? How do we make the most out of it?
 

GhostM

Phantom
Joined
May 3, 2019
Messages
423
Location
Off the Radar
Analyzing replays can be a big help to further solidify your understanding to improve certain scenarios such as edgeguard situations, DI situations, and etc. I feel like how much it helps depends on your understanding of your habits and game knowledge.

If you have a good eye for habits and mistakes that you tend to make, you should be able to alter them during the match before you analyze your replay, just like how your adapt to your opponents playstyle overtime. It doesn’t mean that you don’t have to watch your replay, but sometimes you get so used to a tendency that it feels like it’s a normal part of your playstyle without realizing that it’s wrong. If you have little game knowledge and a bad eye for catching your own mistakes, then replays will be a big help to understanding where your strengths and weaknesses are. This also does not mean that replays are useless for a professional player to analyze, since they can be used to analyze more than just simple mistakes.

You don’t necessarily have to analyze a replay to only focus on your own mistakes, since you can also use them to analyze characters. It is better to analyze a replay against a character that you struggle to play with, since it will allow you to understand the fundamentals of a character’s kit and their true potential. I find it quite useful when the analysis is based on a zoner type character since they can be quite difficult to deal with, although you can use it for any type of character. Again, they can also be used to analyze certain scenarios like edgeguard or ledge trap situations, where it can help you understand which moves are better for certain scenarios, and DI situations that can help you execute optimal DI to survive. There’s a lot that you can analyze and learn from a replay, so it wouldn’t hurt to give it a try.

Also, don’t be hard on how well you play. I feel like you’re setting high expectations on your gameplay that cause you to be ashamed of your play. Replays are meant to be used to help improve your play, etc, so don’t be too hard on yourself because your play isn’t optimal.
 
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