Impressions of a First Time Tournament Goer

[YSS]

This seemed like the most appropriate place to post this.

Hey all. This past Thursday I went to my first weekly tournament. Can't say I was totally prepared for what I was getting myself into, but man I still had fun. For all of you out there who are thinking about it looking for a local meetup or want to get involved beyond "For Glory," I thought I'd share some impressions of my first tournament experience. Here we go:

• Online "For Glory" is way different than attending a local tourney. This is a fact you can acknowledge beforehand but its not necessarily something you understand until you get there and start playing. I would try to arrive early and get some friendlies in before starting. You might be surprised how affected you are by not having to deal with lag or using a monitor instead of a TV screen (they say there is less input lag for the former.)
• Be prepared to lose and don't fear it. Furthermore, be prepared to lose in front of a large amount of people. Just go to the tourney and roll with it. As it were, Chibo himself was in town and stopped in, and I actually ended up facing off with him in my second set. This all happened on the tourney stream no less. I got one stock off of him; that's it. Coulda' been two, but boy did I whiff a golden punishment opportunity something bad... on the stream. But that's exactly my point. Don't be so afraid of scarring your pride that you fear or enshrine the spotlight; don't have the attitude of "I'll wait until I get good before I go." If you want to get good, then go to the tourney. Don't be so afraid or salty that you can't take a hit. Go, lose, LEARN.
• They play more than just FD/Omega stages at tourneys (as opposed to "For Glory" stage selection.) Personally, I found it refreshing and was surprised at how quickly I adapted. Floating platforms don't have to be scary.
• I'm not entirely sure how to differentiate typical "For Glory" play versus competitive play. Again, its something you understand a bit better once you take the dive. It's almost as if they are operating on entirely different gears. Its feels like if you've got 5 seconds to execute something correctly in "For Glory," you've got 3 seconds to get it right in high-level play. High-level play is just faster; not necessarily in duration, but in execution. Its this ferocious tug-of-war that just stands in contrast to the more deliberate, calculated online play.
• Connect with people. Get advice. Have fun. Don't go strictly to win. Enjoy the same game that everyone else there is (hopefully) trying to enjoy too. And don't let one salty smasher out of dozens ruin your day either.

Seriously, just enjoy Smash 4. Whether its competitively or casually, make the best of it from a technical and social standpoint. As it stands, I definitely plan to go back to the next weekly. Maybe my Iggy will be a bit more up to snuff by then.

Until next time!

 

[FamilyTeam]

They play more than just FD/Omega stages at tourneys. Personally, I found it refreshing and was surprised at how quickly I adapted. Floating platforms don't have to be scary.

When was that ever the case, though?

 

[YSS]

When was that ever the case, though?

If you only play "For Glory," it's just Omega stages. I personally wasn't sure how well I'd adjust to playing stages other than FD-style ones, but it was actually fine.

 

[FamilyTeam]

If you only play "For Glory," it's just Omega stages. I personally wasn't sure how well I'd adjust to playing stages other than FD-style ones, but it was actually fine.

Yeah, but you even said it tournaments aren't like For Glory.
If you watch most big tournaments, I think you'll agree Smashville kinda seems like the most popular stage.

 

[FamilyTeam]

Where the hell did this Double-Post come from.

 

[YSS]

Yeah, but you even said it tournaments aren't like For Glory.

Yes, that's what I said. I'm not entirely sure what we're debating.

For Glory uses only Omega stages. Tourneys use more than that; they use things like Smashville and Battlefield that have floating platforms. The adjustment to playing on stages that weren't one flat plane wasn't as hard as I thought it would be.

 

[FamilyTeam]

For Glory isn't a very good place for competitive. Flat stages aren't exactly neutral stages. Some character benefit a lot from not having platforms, other need platforms for their combos. Mario nods head.
FG gets stale with all those Omega Stages.