DerfMidWest
Fresh ******
[I typed this at like 4 in the morning, so bear with me]
So, we play the Ice Climbers. We're pretty famous for getting frustrated. Probably justly so, we have some pretty near impossible matchups like Peach and Samus, and then a lot of matchups, like luigi or ganon, where we just aren't always free to play how we want and get forced in to certain defensive and patient styles. On the other-hand, we have matchups like fox or sheik, where we are often forced to take the offensive when it is less than ideal. My point is: we don't always get to play how we want, and that is hair-rippingly frustrating.
Over my years as an active Ice Climber player, I've met many former Ice Climbers who just got fed up with not being able to play their way. I myself got stuck in that same mentality for a long time. A character that I once found to be the most fun and interesting in the game I now only clung to because of past success. My tournament progress staled, and I felt I could not improve at the rate I wanted to.
My tournament results began to always have the same pattern. I'd lose much earlier in the bracket than I felt I should because I would run into somebody who pulled out a peach or a samus. Even people who barely used the character.
Like many Climbers before me, I gave in to the frustration of fighting peach and samus and losing to pocket IC counters. Even though I still spent countless time grinding out tech skill, I was still losing to people I knew I was better than because of some matchup or another. I tried my hand at playing my old main, fox, as well as cycling through several secondaries, like sheik or falcon, I felt would make up for my characters flaws, but quickly lost hope in those as well.
I, like many other ICs, felt completely defeated by my character, which I now claimed only was successful due to gimmicks and matchup unfamiliarity.
So what in the world was I supposed to do?
--- --- ---
So today I went to a tournament in Michigan. I was playing well, but I was in the same pool as zDuck, one of the best samus players. My sheik, which I had deemed my samus counter, wasn't playing as good as I'd hoped, so I stuck with my ICs, with no hope of winning. He four-stocked me two games in a row.
After our set, we had some downtime, and I asked him, "can I practice my sheik against you, I'm trying to make her my samus/peach counter."
If you've never had the pleasure of meeting Duck, he's an incredibly down to earth guy and a fantastic player. While we were talking, he explained to me that you can't win a counterpick war.
He told me about his own frustrations as a samus player, another mid-tier, with many of the same frustrations of ICs, and having to deal with people pulling out pocket sheiks to counter him. He'd had to deal with these things for years, yet he is still one of the top players in Michigan.
After giving our conversation a lot of thought, I'd realized where I've gone wrong in recent months.
It's a really simple concept, but somehow it went straight over my head.
Our mentality towards the game affects much more than simply whether or not we win or lose a match. I may lose a match because I became frustrated or impatient, but there is a lot more too it than that.
When I am in a toxic mentality, I am telling myself at least one of the following:
"I should beat my opponent"
"I deserve to win"
"I would win if my opponent didn't play _____"
"I could win if I could play as _____"
Notice that all of these statements involve the concept of winning.
I am putting an emphasis on beating my opponent.
In short, I gauge my own skill and/or improvement on whether or not I can win.
I need to prove that I am better by winning.
When I lock myself into the mentality of playing simply to win, I stop playing to learn.
I am no longer focused on improvement, but on the concept of beating my opponent.
Of course I should try to win matches, of course I should try to beat my opponent, but winning is not the ultimate goal.
My goal is to learn. By learning I am, in turn, able to beat more people.
Regardless of the result of the set, every game I play is a new experience, every opponent I face is a chance to learn. By remaining in this positive mindset, playing to learn, not just to win, I remove the frustration and I focus on the experience. This is what turns someone into a good player, by remaining teachable, and not falling back into a toxic mentality.
So, we play the Ice Climbers. We're pretty famous for getting frustrated. Probably justly so, we have some pretty near impossible matchups like Peach and Samus, and then a lot of matchups, like luigi or ganon, where we just aren't always free to play how we want and get forced in to certain defensive and patient styles. On the other-hand, we have matchups like fox or sheik, where we are often forced to take the offensive when it is less than ideal. My point is: we don't always get to play how we want, and that is hair-rippingly frustrating.
Over my years as an active Ice Climber player, I've met many former Ice Climbers who just got fed up with not being able to play their way. I myself got stuck in that same mentality for a long time. A character that I once found to be the most fun and interesting in the game I now only clung to because of past success. My tournament progress staled, and I felt I could not improve at the rate I wanted to.
My tournament results began to always have the same pattern. I'd lose much earlier in the bracket than I felt I should because I would run into somebody who pulled out a peach or a samus. Even people who barely used the character.
Like many Climbers before me, I gave in to the frustration of fighting peach and samus and losing to pocket IC counters. Even though I still spent countless time grinding out tech skill, I was still losing to people I knew I was better than because of some matchup or another. I tried my hand at playing my old main, fox, as well as cycling through several secondaries, like sheik or falcon, I felt would make up for my characters flaws, but quickly lost hope in those as well.
I, like many other ICs, felt completely defeated by my character, which I now claimed only was successful due to gimmicks and matchup unfamiliarity.
So what in the world was I supposed to do?
--- --- ---
So today I went to a tournament in Michigan. I was playing well, but I was in the same pool as zDuck, one of the best samus players. My sheik, which I had deemed my samus counter, wasn't playing as good as I'd hoped, so I stuck with my ICs, with no hope of winning. He four-stocked me two games in a row.
After our set, we had some downtime, and I asked him, "can I practice my sheik against you, I'm trying to make her my samus/peach counter."
If you've never had the pleasure of meeting Duck, he's an incredibly down to earth guy and a fantastic player. While we were talking, he explained to me that you can't win a counterpick war.
He told me about his own frustrations as a samus player, another mid-tier, with many of the same frustrations of ICs, and having to deal with people pulling out pocket sheiks to counter him. He'd had to deal with these things for years, yet he is still one of the top players in Michigan.
After giving our conversation a lot of thought, I'd realized where I've gone wrong in recent months.
It's a really simple concept, but somehow it went straight over my head.
Our mentality towards the game affects much more than simply whether or not we win or lose a match. I may lose a match because I became frustrated or impatient, but there is a lot more too it than that.
When I am in a toxic mentality, I am telling myself at least one of the following:
"I should beat my opponent"
"I deserve to win"
"I would win if my opponent didn't play _____"
"I could win if I could play as _____"
Notice that all of these statements involve the concept of winning.
I am putting an emphasis on beating my opponent.
In short, I gauge my own skill and/or improvement on whether or not I can win.
I need to prove that I am better by winning.
When I lock myself into the mentality of playing simply to win, I stop playing to learn.
I am no longer focused on improvement, but on the concept of beating my opponent.
Of course I should try to win matches, of course I should try to beat my opponent, but winning is not the ultimate goal.
My goal is to learn. By learning I am, in turn, able to beat more people.
Regardless of the result of the set, every game I play is a new experience, every opponent I face is a chance to learn. By remaining in this positive mindset, playing to learn, not just to win, I remove the frustration and I focus on the experience. This is what turns someone into a good player, by remaining teachable, and not falling back into a toxic mentality.
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