Why did I do so badly at my first tournament?

[SHATT3R]

I entered for Smash 4 & Melee. I played a load of Smash 4 friendlies and did very well against all but a few of my opponents. Smash 4 pools started, and I was up against a Rosaluma player. I'm pretty sure that he was sandbagging because he was talking to someone during the middle of the match about something that didn't have anything to do with Smash, but I still got 2-0d and sent into losers. I then fought against a player who I did really poorly against. I don't remember how the first match went, but I remember being two stocked the second match. My run of Smash 4 was over for that tournament.

Then I started to play a bit of Melee. I got to my match, (Melee was single elim for pools for whatever reason) and did worse then when I had first played the game. I didn't use Dash Dancing at all, forgot pretty much everything that I learned over the time that I have been playing Melee, and just autopiloted.

Why is this? Any and all help and advice is appreciated.

 

[necroTaxonomist]

Smash is a game of many skill gaps.
When I went to my first tournament, a guy who rekt me and my partner in doubles told us:

We may have six-stocked you, but there are people here who could six-stock us, and then some people who could six-stock those people.

Essentially what that means is that when you start out you're gonna run into a lot of people who are substantially better than you. You just gotta accept that and continue improving.

 

[Golden Rainbow]

That's majorly tournament nerves. I really can't think on a logical explanation, but people who are exposed to tournament competitiveness suffer from a list of adverse effects. If you actively search for stories about people's first tournaments, you won't believe in a lot of stuff you'll hear. But there's one very reliable solution to this problem: going to tournaments. You'll eventually get used to it, but you won't have the chance if you stay down. You'll be able to do it as long as you have determination!