Ok I'm pretty much going to grill myself here.
1. Footsies. My poking and counterpoking game is very weak. I didn't realize this until I played against Pig of the Hut at Raleigh but my understanding of spacing and controlling a match is limited. If you watch his first match from MLG Raleigh (I am GNG JJ btw) you will see him control my Kung Lao's movement on the screen as well as make me take risks on spins to stop his pressure and poking game. I should have noticed this way back at Final Round when I played against GGA Wafflez but I was such a novice that I didn't understand why he beat me and assumed it was Smoke vs Sub Zero. This was not the case.
2. I jump. I've almost eliminated this problem but I occasionally still take jump baits.
3. I rely on tactics built to blow up people who don't know how to stop them like random Lao teleports.
4. I used to not make reads. I've fixed this problem, but in every tournament I have played in up till now I didn't take chances or calculated risks on a read. I just tried to play 100% safe, and you can't do that at a high level. I played REO online for the KN charity stream and that's when I realized this.
5. My mental state. I don't just mean nerves (though they do play a part, my hands were literally shaking at one point on stage for Raleigh vs Pig and I was just sweating sitting there in a building that was actually rather cold. BTW I am in no way blaming nerves for that loss, they just made it worse, Pig would beat me on my best day because he is a superior player.) I tend to go into a match assuming I'm going to lose it, or nervous that I will. I had so much anxiety during a match at RESE in Charlotte (my first, vs. SSJ4Crisis) that the screen literally appeared blurry to me and I have little to no recollection of the match. This occured later, but to a lesser extent, vs Vip3r in Grand Finals of that same tournament simply because we were playing on stream (again I am not discrediting his win at all, simply talking about my own issues as a player, that is no excuse. A tournament players mindset is part of their skillset.) Not just in tournament but in "serious casuals" I have dropped combos that would win the match when I haven't dropped one all set. I get excited thinking "I've got it" and then all of a sudden I ruin it. That's just how it goes, and hopefully that will pass with time.
6. Not taking what I do seriously because I'm "Playing video games." This will never happen again but it has contributed to failure in every tournament I have attended. MLG Raleigh stands out the biggest in my mind. I had the opportunity to play casuals in Pig of the Hut's room, and I showed up too drunk to recall the things I learned there. That's unprofessional and at the time I didn't understand how much it showed that I treated this all like a big party and not a serious event. It is also disrespectful in my mind looking back. If someone is willing to train with you, you owe it to them to show up and give them your best, not your drunken mess. At Civil War I had a bottle of soda... that was half Jack Daniels, and I used the excuse that I was just passing the time. I should have been taking the time to play casuals, learn, and adapt to playing on the CRT's that I had never played on before. That will never happen again at any tournament, all partying/drinking will be reserved for after the event.
Now for the answer to the mains part of this.
Sub Zero (though I kinda dropped him) - 6
Kung Lao - 4
Kabal - 3
Kenshi -2
Mileena - 2
Cyrax - 1
I say mains but that's everyone I currently play at all. I only take Lao and Kabal seriously, but that is prone to change since I must say I like Mileena/Cyrax a lot.
