What do you do..

[BairJew]

Night before a tournament, you've spent weeks and months preparing as one character the time and energy you've spent to obtain some kind of peak as a player. Then the person you are practicing against just for the first time picks up the character you've spent all this time on and starts consistently beating you. What exactly would you do. I immediately want to drop the game after something like this occurs. Possibly the most demoralizing thing to happen to a player. What would you do.?

 

[Jonas]

It kind of gets to me too, but to be completely honest it doesn't really matter. It just means you have more to learn. Playing someone who is better with your characters (or is just beating you with random gimmicky stuff you're not prepared for) can be a learning experience as well. A loss can be helpful if you learn from it.

 

[Varist]

That means you're not playing smart. He is. Perfect your ATs as much as you want, play so that you gather so much experience that movement with your character is second nature, spacing is easy, etc., but if you don't read people, or let them read you, you're gonna get *****. that's the only answer.

Spoiler

UNLESS YOUR FRIEND HAS BEEN SECRETLY PRACTICING WITH THAT CHARACTER. CONSPIRACY.

 

[Jonas]

The worst thing is when you've gotten into a new fighting game and have practised for a few weeks or so and you think you're kind of good, and then your friend without any experience comes in and woops your ***

 

[BairJew]

It really gets to me. Honestly at this point I am thinking about just giving up. It really really sucks. But not much I can do I guess.

 

[40secondz]

Never give up man. There's always something you can learn. Keep practicing and you will get better.

 

[Bones0]

Night before a tournament, you've spent weeks and months preparing as one character the time and energy you've spent to obtain some kind of peak as a player. Then the person you are practicing against just for the first time picks up the character you've spent all this time on and starts consistently beating you. What exactly would you do. I immediately want to drop the game after something like this occurs. Possibly the most demoralizing thing to happen to a player. What would you do.?

This is your problem. You shouldn't be aspiring to a peak. You should be aspiring to learn and grow as much as possible. If you play someone and get destroyed, you've obviously failed to reach that imaginary peak, but if your goal going into the match was to learn and improve, then even if you get destroyed that goal is still obtainable.

The peak is an illusion.

 

[t3h Icy]

It's not as demoralizing if you play Sheik.

 

[mesa23]

i've done that to a few of my friends. i guess it helps that i don't have a "main" so i don't really get locked into any habits because i'm always switching characters around. the basics are still the same for every character (don't get hit, hit em, don't miss edgeguards, etc.) so yep.

a couple of em got really pissed at me when i did it though

 

[Krynxe]

To sort of expand on what Mesa said, keep in mind that your practice buddy has learned your playstyle and habits for your character already, while you don't know how he's going to play your character. (Especially lacking practice with that character, he's going to play very spontaneously. This makes it difficult to learn/read him.) Don't forget, trying to figure out your opponent isn't always enough, you also have to make sure your opponent can't figure you out. Change up your style if you have to.

 

[MasterShake]

It doesn't necessarily mean he's better with that character, but he may understand the mu better or you may suck at the mu. Dittos are only another mu remember, and not a test of total character skill.

 

[ShroudedOne]

I've been ***** in Peach dittos before by people who don't actually main her...

It suuuuuuuuucks. But then I ask for more matches, and I kinda understand after a while. Just play more dittos with them, and learn. You'll figure it out.

 

[trunks6262]

Read this and succeed

http://www.smashboards.com/showthread.php?t=311129

 

[Metal Reeper]

I love to **** peoples mains. It makes me feel sexy.
Your friend is probably doing it on purpose to piss you off lol.

 

[JonnyW]

Night before a tournament, you've spent weeks and months preparing as one character the time and energy you've spent to obtain some kind of peak as a player. Then the person you are practicing against just for the first time picks up the character you've spent all this time on and starts consistently beating you. What exactly would you do. I immediately want to drop the game after something like this occurs. Possibly the most demoralizing thing to happen to a player. What would you do.?

What exactly happened to you? What character are you guys playing, cause it could be something really simple in the MU that you just dont understand. People who don't main characters usually grab and hold on to easy things they saw and can do. If they saw that forward throw > forward smash works in Marth dittos every time they're gonna use it.

 

[Krynxe]

He mains ICs and secondaries Ness, IIRC
If that's that case IC dittos must be really weird cause grab setups are so difficult to manage. Try asking your character boards

 

[Zodiac]

the night before a tournament I just practice and relax, same as my days leading up to a tournament

 

[Sinji]

Don't get intimidated and don't get nervous because their isn't any reason to get nervous.

 

[BairJew]

^Thanks for the advice guys it really helped out. It was in a falcon ditto and he had no idea what he was doing and it was just a crushing moment for me. I've put the most time into falcon even though I main marth. It was quite awful to know that he understood the mu and my playstyle that well :/

 

[King Funk]

Smash is all about ramming a bunch of hitboxes into the opponent's face.

You might know your character's hitboxes, but it doesn't necessarily mean you're better than your opponent at using hitboxes in general.

 

[mesa23]

Smash is all about ramming a bunch of hitboxes into the opponent's face.

You might know your character's hitboxes, but it doesn't necessarily mean you're better than your opponent at using hitboxes in general.

i really really really like the way you phrased that.

 

[Jolteon]

Just take the dittos practice and be happy, it's only as demoralising as you make it to be.

:king:

 

[Beat!]

Idk what the problem here is. You have a training partner who is better than you at the game. If you're even a little competitive, you should be VERY thankful for that. It's nothing but good for your own improvement. Feeling "demoralized" because one single month of practice wasn't enough against a better player... is a complete waste of time. Just keep going.

 

[Battlecow]

If he's significantly better than you, he'll be able to beat you with a lot of characters he doesn't really play, just because he knows the game as a whole better. Character skills do transfer to some extent.

 

[crush]

just space nair bro

 

[Blistering Speed]

I've been ***** in Peach dittos before by people who don't actually main her...

It suuuuuuuuucks. But then I ask for more matches, and I kinda understand after a while. Just play more dittos with them, and learn. You'll figure it out.

FC F Air. All the time. Constantly.

I'm serious.

 

[Twix]

Being angry is understandable, but realize two things:

Dittos are a completely different game. I can beat some of my friends with Sheik, but when they play her to **** around, I can never win. Ever.

Also, you should try to channel your anger into motivation to be better. Now you have something visible to track for your progress. Best way to look at it, IMO.

 

[freaksheet]

I wouldn't give up. In a way, it's a chance to grow and stuff. Though I wonder how they might've gotten better in such a short amount of time and how they mastered the character whilst you've been practicing for a month or so. :O

 

[ShroudedOne]

FC F Air. All the time. Constantly.

I'm serious.

Are you serious? They'd have to be fairly low FC-fairs, so that she couldn't get under you with nair. Either that, or really quick and largely preemptive...

 

[Citizen Snips]

This is your problem. You shouldn't be aspiring to a peak. You should be aspiring to learn and grow as much as possible. If you play someone and get destroyed, you've obviously failed to reach that imaginary peak, but if your goal going into the match was to learn and improve, then even if you get destroyed that goal is still obtainable.

The peak is an illusion.

This.

There is no peak in Melee. Even TASs aren't the peak. They're just really close.

 

[Planet Piss]

I know the feelin'. What's worse is when you are playing a more experienced dude for good practice, and he consistently beats you. You think "that's great, I'm getting MU experience, and I feel like I'm learning a lot.", but then you notice that he is choosing different characters not for personal satisfaction, but because he wants to stop winning. You notice that he is actually moving down the tier list with every couple of successive wins and before you know it he's on ****ing Pichu talking about how good of a char he is.

These things can be avoided. Couple a' things:
1. He's better than you at Melee in general, in which case you should not feel aggravated upon losing, but reflect upon every loss and toss out what you're doing wrong. You probably felt like **** after every loss in the series of dittos, which is a self-fulfilling prophecy, and will result in you feeling worse and losing even more. Never feel bad about losing.
2. You were underestimating his ability to use the character in the given MU. NEVER EVER underestimate your opponent; always play like they know exactly what they're doing and can 0-death you at any moment. Don't let your guard down and refer back to point #1.

Hope that helps.

 

[Blistering Speed]

Are you serious? They'd have to be fairly low FC-fairs, so that she couldn't get under you with nair. Either that, or really quick and largely preemptive...

No, they don't.

 

[weon - X]

actually no i dont.

its never happened to me but maybe hes just a better player over all?

any vids?

 

[ShroudedOne]

No, they don't.

Then, explain more. One move does not a matchup make.

 

[Violence]

Then, explain more. One move does not a matchup make.

Ice Climber Dittos. DSmash. Matchup learned.

 

[Varist]

it's true.

 

[Zodiac]

It usually means you're forgetting one of the basic skills of the game, I know I have had this problem and every time its because I forget a very important basic skill that all beginners know, because its the first thing you notice

 

[Strong Badam]

Then, explain more. One move does not a matchup make.

??? you main Peach...

 

[Yakal]

smashers around the same skill level that play each other a lot **** each others mains with their secondaries

just how it works lol

 

[Fuss]

Pop 47 collars, put on some shades and try again. You can't lose with shades on.