Tournaments and casuals VS at home?

wtfbenson · 04-07-2011 5:27pm

I think most of this advice is really spot on however there's one thing that seems to be a mental hang-up for me that may help diagnose part of the problem. I tend to do a lot better in casuals, regardless of crowd because I know there's no real pressure if I lose. Like, I'm comfortable taking risks because if I get blown up for it, so what? Dust myself off, learn from it and try again. In a tournament setting though, I feel that I have to be more conservative because if I lose, I could be out of the tournament. Granted, you could make a solid argument that losing the tournament has the same repercussions as losing a casual match (read: none), but the possibility of being eliminated makes me play very cautiously which is easily read and exposed.

Misty Chaos · 04-07-2011 5:29pm

At home, your obviously more relaxed and take your time at things, you might also have a different TV with different lag.

In a tournament, not only will you have to put up with different lag properties from a different TV but you also have the added pressure of the crowd around you and time constraints to get through groups as fast as possible - This can be a little daunting, to say the least.

Based on my experience, here's a few tips for tournament playing:

1. When you get to the venue, always play some casuals if at all possible before the main event starts, not only will this get you used to the TVs but may also put you more at ease playing in the setting.

2. The first match you play in groups will always be a nerve wracking experience, its OK to feel nervous. Accept this, fight through the nerves and focus on the game. At one tournament, the first match I played in groups went down to the 3rd match, final round with only pixels of life between me and the other player.

3. If your after playing a particularly nerve wracking match, its OK to ask for a break between games. After the aforementioned match above, my stomach was in bits and I had to take a break and get myself some water to calm down!

4. Have rivals, I don't mean serious stuff, more friendly rivals, where its only in game and nowhere else. These sort of rivalries serve to make you better as you'll seriously want to beat that other player, no matter what. Just ask Seanalot in my case. :pac:

5. Its OK to feel down if you feel you didn't do as well as you should have. If that's the case, just ask the others for feedback on what you can do to improve.

6. Take your time, this isn't going to happen overnight. There are loads of really good players in the scene who have yet to win a tournament so your in good company.

7. Eat a Banana before the tournament starts. Just trust me on this one.

Kirby · 04-07-2011 5:39pm

My take is pretty simple.

Ultimately, practice is golden. The more you play, the better you get. Nerves will always play a part but generally speaking in my experience people finish up where their skill level dictates they will. Nerves, Draw, Luck, be damned. Those 3 factors might turn a 4th into 6th or an 8th into a 12th, but it wont be anymore drastic than that.

If you are good enough to get out of groups you will. If you are good enough to get top 8 you will. If you are good enough to win, you will.

Everyone gets nervous. Sometimes you don't play as well as you can. That happens to everyone. But I'm not sure if nerves has a drastic change. If you are crashing out of every tourney early on, perhaps you just need to practice more. The better you get, the less nerves affect you. If you feel comfortable doing your BnB's 95% of the time....when the pressure is on your instinct takes over.

roy nelson · 07-07-2011 6:48pm

i was the complete opposite of this, play pretty mediocre online but when i went to a tourney i slapped heads all round. I got the feeling people where nervous