Difficulty understanding why I lose

[porcupine]

I have been practicing a lot on my tech skill recently. However, I feel like I am losing to people I KNOW I should be beating. For instance, one of my friends I play often has hardly been able to play for months, and despite improving my tech skill significantly, he is able to beat me more consistently than before. I also noticed this when playing on Anther's Ladder, where I would get an opponent who clearly was not as good as me in terms of tech skill but still found a way to win.

Basically, I have a lot of trouble understanding why I lose. I am not sure if it is because I don't pay enough attention to my opponent's habits or if I am overrating myself. My question is: how can I improve my ability to improve?

 

[EPsilon933]

Tech skill isn't the only skill in Melee. Strategy is more important than ability. You're losing to smart noobs. Don't rely on outabilitying your opponents. Do correct things in situations to gain advantages

You might be overrating yourself https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning–Kruger_effect . Don't look at your own skill so much. Look at the skill of others more

 

[-ACE-]

It's imperative that you record matches. You can do this with any smart phone. It doesn't even need service if you have wifi. Put it on YouTube, ask us for help.

You have to understand decision making, so try to watch your vids with a very experienced player that can point out aspects of the match you're overlooking.

 

[porcupine]

I have tried to stream my matches before to look at them later, but it causes serious lag. Never thought about actually recording my monitor with a phone or anything though haha!

 

[Dolla Pills]

It's possible that with increased tech skill you might have more confidence and cause you to try to go in way too much, and chances are you aren't great at spacing moves or pressuring in a safe way. Recording your matches would help a lot so we can see directly, but otherwise slow down when you're playing sometimes: just because you can go fast doesn't mean you should.

 

[EPsilon933]

monitor

Try playing on a CRT

Also, what is your capture card? It shouldn't cause lag

 

[porcupine]

Try playing on a CRT

Also, what is your capture card? It shouldn't cause lag

The lag is due to the internet usage while streaming. Netplay just doesn't seem to work very well when I stream

 

[SAUS]

I have been practicing a lot on my tech skill recently. However, I feel like I am losing to people I KNOW I should be beating. For instance, one of my friends I play often has hardly been able to play for months, and despite improving my tech skill significantly, he is able to beat me more consistently than before. I also noticed this when playing on Anther's Ladder, where I would get an opponent who clearly was not as good as me in terms of tech skill but still found a way to win.

1) people I KNOW I should be beating
You can never know this until you actually beat them. You basically should try to avoid ever thinking this. Having an expectation of the outcome of a match, win or lose, is more likely to be detrimental to your play than anything else.

2) found a way to win
Exactly. You don't just have a way to win, you have to find it within the match. Within the openings your opponent gives you and within the openings you create. Tech skill is merely tools. If you just throw it out there and hope for the best, then you might be trying to saw a log in half with a hammer.

 

[porcupine]

Well part of the reason I mentioned I 'know" I should beat them is because I tended to beat them often in the past. I improved my tech skill significantly while they were unable to play at all, and now I lose far more than before. It just feels like the better I get, the worse I play as paradoxical as that is. Very frustrating.

 

[Massive]

Actually, if you're just starting to integrate tech skill into your game, you may be worse than you were before.

Tech doesn't make you better by itself, and the very act of introducing tech into your play can actually make you substantially worse on a temporary basis. When the tech becomes second nature and you can start exploring additional strategies is when you start getting better.

So, ideally you will be able to surpass where you were before, but there is definitely some level of penalty involved in implementing new stuff into your game, especially the first big ones.

 

[SAUS]

Well part of the reason I mentioned I 'know" I should beat them is because I tended to beat them often in the past. I improved my tech skill significantly while they were unable to play at all, and now I lose far more than before. It just feels like the better I get, the worse I play as paradoxical as that is. Very frustrating.

Ya, it would make sense, but it still can't be known for sure. Playing the game with the expectation that you are supposed to win will only cause extra frustration when the match isn't going your way (I know this from way too much first-hand experience). It also kills the joy of winning when you think it was what was supposed to happen.

Rather than going in with the idea that you will crush them and show your superiority, go in with the idea that you will show them your new cool tech. Show them your moves. It is a far better mindset to have and still focuses on moving forward with what you have learned.

When you learn new tech, it is very easy to lose sight of your opponent. The focus is on your own character and the new tech you want to implement. Either you flub all the tech trying to fight your opponent or you follow a bunch of patterns in which you can do the tech. You become predictable or you flub too much and it just ends badly either way. This can definitely happen (as mentioned by Massive). You basically just have to practice against people and it will eventually become more consistent. This is why it's important to have a mindset that isn't aimed at destroying your friends. You have to be able to walk away at the end wondering "what went wrong?" and expecting to demolish everyone makes that very hard.

 

[HdTyvek]

I had this problem when i first started, but one of the top players in my area said one simple thing that has stuck with me. "Melee isnt all about tech skill. you need reads, mind games, mix ups and alot of other things which are more important than tech skill." without actually seeing you play its hard to say what you are doing wrong, but i can tell you to try and work on other parts of your game, mixups and adapting are huge and have improved my game immensely. hope this helps!

 

[Team Plasma N]

In terms of recording your matches: if streaming causes lag, then try a local recording. I personally use OBS to record or stream my matches, the local recordings look significantly better imo and doesn't cause an online match to lag. Recording your matches and viewing them to see what needs to be fixed in your gameplay is a great way to improving. It also gives higher level players a much better idea of how you play, and thus may have more of their wisdom to share.