GGA Jeremiah
Sheeva
MKX is drawing near and it is very important to have strong, healthy local scenes throughout the U.S. and the world. I have been part of such a scene since 2011 and I want others to experience this as much as possible. Throughout the years I have noticed things at GGA that really help to keep a local scene thriving, and I want to post them to hopefully help others out. If you guys have any tips on what has worked for your scene please tell me about it!
#1. Passion
This is by far the most important thing in keeping a scene healthy. Without it you are just playing for no real reason, and eventually, after the new game smell has gone, your scene will fade away.
There are many types of passion. The first one of course is the passion to win. GGA has 16bit, Dizzy, Max, Saucy, etc. all with an intense drive to do well at tournaments. At least some people in your scene should have this mentality, but not everyone needs to have it.
There are other types of passion that helps too. Like the passion just to see their scene to well. Mid level players like me can bring match up knowledge to their scene, like back in 2012 when I picked up Kenshi, or 2014 when I picked up MMH, just to help others around me in the MU (even if it only helps a little bit.)
Then of course everyone must have a passion for the actual game they are playing. Love the characters, love the combos, or just love zoning Dizzy out until he gets to his sarcastic salty phase. Whatever it is, love something about what you are doing.
#2. Develop a team mentality.
It is no accident that Team is the first word on Team GGA. If your scene becomes a one man show, or side A versus side B, I don't think your scene is going to work. You must take an interest in how well your whole team is doing. Are the top players doing as good as they can in a certain MU? Are your mid level players falling into a repetitive pattern where they always do the same mixup? Are your jobbers always waking up? Take time and help out as many people as you can in your scene. The goal for each season should be to keep your top players in top shape. Get your mid levels towards top player status. Get your jobbers heading towards mid level play. Everyone is important and get them moving on up the food chain!
No scene is going to have perfect harmony. Even at GGA there are occasional strong disagreements, or yelling, or whatever, but remember in the end, you are still a team. Even though two good friends, soonk and 16bit, often bother each other... a lot, they still back each other up at tournaments. At EVO 2012 soonk beat Shujinky Dink, and 16bit had soonk's back by popping of on Shujinky for something he had said about soonk. Always root for your team to win at tournaments.
#3. Have a dedicated casual day.
In my opinion this is more important than having a weekly tournament, that is why I have it at #3. For the first 2 years at GGA we didn't even run tournaments. We would just meet up and just run casuals for hours. These are the times where most of the leveling up happens, not at our weeklies (which is one of the reasons why my Aquaman is so garbage in Injustice because my current work schedule does not allow me to make our casuals day. DON'T BE LIKE MY AQUAMAN. Make it to your casual day at least once a week.
This is where you get your learning. Who cares about winning that day. Pause the game. Ask questions. Have no idea what was that string? What is that on block? What are your mixups from that? Pause the game and ask questions. Go to the frame data. Learn.
Casual day also brings a more low key atmosphere. This helps hanging out and fostering more of a team-like mentality. If you guys only meet up once a week for a tournament you will see your scene more as competitors than as fellow teammates. Since the casual day is more about improving everyone as a whole, this helps to offset the tournament day where it feels more like every man for himself.
#4. Have a weekly (tournament.)
Directly following making sure you have a casual day at least 1 day a week, is having a weekly tournament. This day helps bring out what you have learned previously during your casual day. That string you didn't know before, you now know what it is and how to deal with it. You can see improvement and growth in what you have learned, and this is satisfying and helps you keep the passion to keep going. Even if you don't place well at a weekly make sure you learn something new every time, and most importantly apply what you learned the next time you play.
Weeklies mentally prepare you for a tournament. Constantly putting yourself in a tournament helps you get used to the nerves that being in a tournament brings. All of us have put in a lot of time practicing. All of us want to do well because of all the time and resources we have put in. That is why we are nervous, we don't want all that time to be in vain. Help yourself get over nerves by being in a weekly every week. Also a double bonus if your local is able to stream.
#5. Don't have a tournament fee/pot at your weeklies.
This one sounds super simple and not very important, but it is one of the major factors I am still into our fighting game scene here in Chicago. A long time ago back in 2011, we experimented with doing the everyone pays $5 and either winner takes all or divide it up amongst top 3 or whatever. Talk about a buzz kill. I could think of no greater way I would have wanted to quit more than to just donate $5 to 16bit or Dizzy while I was trying to learn fighting games. $5 may not sound like a lot but it adds up, and it is also the principle behind it. It is super annoying to just be "the donation guy."
You might be thinking, well this is a good way to get rid of our jobbers, or weed out the people who aren't really passionate, or people playing to win. Trust me, you want a strong healthy scene that is growing, not a small elite club that is shrinking. If your scene already has point #1 (have passion) then winning the tournament will be strong enough of a draw to play every week anyways.
Like I covered before in the having a casual day point. You want jobbers. You want mid level players. The more the better. Get your scene growing, and get your scene getting better at the game.
#6. Rep your team at tournaments.
The first thing about this point is it gets you and your team to go to more tourneys. Having pride for your scene is key. Make a t-shirt, get a jersey. Stand behind your guys and cheer for them at tournaments. If your scene does poorly at a tourney, go back and watch your footage. Learn from your mistakes. Get better and come back to another tournament.
#7. Have a Tony's (or a place you hangout after training.)
This is the final point I have. This allows the very important washing of the salt process. Things can get heated. Your weeklies can bring salt. This helps to get back to remembering that we are all a team in the first place. Plus it just adds having fun together, which is probably the main reason we are playing in the first place.
#1. Passion
This is by far the most important thing in keeping a scene healthy. Without it you are just playing for no real reason, and eventually, after the new game smell has gone, your scene will fade away.
There are many types of passion. The first one of course is the passion to win. GGA has 16bit, Dizzy, Max, Saucy, etc. all with an intense drive to do well at tournaments. At least some people in your scene should have this mentality, but not everyone needs to have it.
There are other types of passion that helps too. Like the passion just to see their scene to well. Mid level players like me can bring match up knowledge to their scene, like back in 2012 when I picked up Kenshi, or 2014 when I picked up MMH, just to help others around me in the MU (even if it only helps a little bit.)
Then of course everyone must have a passion for the actual game they are playing. Love the characters, love the combos, or just love zoning Dizzy out until he gets to his sarcastic salty phase. Whatever it is, love something about what you are doing.
#2. Develop a team mentality.
It is no accident that Team is the first word on Team GGA. If your scene becomes a one man show, or side A versus side B, I don't think your scene is going to work. You must take an interest in how well your whole team is doing. Are the top players doing as good as they can in a certain MU? Are your mid level players falling into a repetitive pattern where they always do the same mixup? Are your jobbers always waking up? Take time and help out as many people as you can in your scene. The goal for each season should be to keep your top players in top shape. Get your mid levels towards top player status. Get your jobbers heading towards mid level play. Everyone is important and get them moving on up the food chain!
No scene is going to have perfect harmony. Even at GGA there are occasional strong disagreements, or yelling, or whatever, but remember in the end, you are still a team. Even though two good friends, soonk and 16bit, often bother each other... a lot, they still back each other up at tournaments. At EVO 2012 soonk beat Shujinky Dink, and 16bit had soonk's back by popping of on Shujinky for something he had said about soonk. Always root for your team to win at tournaments.
#3. Have a dedicated casual day.
In my opinion this is more important than having a weekly tournament, that is why I have it at #3. For the first 2 years at GGA we didn't even run tournaments. We would just meet up and just run casuals for hours. These are the times where most of the leveling up happens, not at our weeklies (which is one of the reasons why my Aquaman is so garbage in Injustice because my current work schedule does not allow me to make our casuals day. DON'T BE LIKE MY AQUAMAN. Make it to your casual day at least once a week.
This is where you get your learning. Who cares about winning that day. Pause the game. Ask questions. Have no idea what was that string? What is that on block? What are your mixups from that? Pause the game and ask questions. Go to the frame data. Learn.
Casual day also brings a more low key atmosphere. This helps hanging out and fostering more of a team-like mentality. If you guys only meet up once a week for a tournament you will see your scene more as competitors than as fellow teammates. Since the casual day is more about improving everyone as a whole, this helps to offset the tournament day where it feels more like every man for himself.
#4. Have a weekly (tournament.)
Directly following making sure you have a casual day at least 1 day a week, is having a weekly tournament. This day helps bring out what you have learned previously during your casual day. That string you didn't know before, you now know what it is and how to deal with it. You can see improvement and growth in what you have learned, and this is satisfying and helps you keep the passion to keep going. Even if you don't place well at a weekly make sure you learn something new every time, and most importantly apply what you learned the next time you play.
Weeklies mentally prepare you for a tournament. Constantly putting yourself in a tournament helps you get used to the nerves that being in a tournament brings. All of us have put in a lot of time practicing. All of us want to do well because of all the time and resources we have put in. That is why we are nervous, we don't want all that time to be in vain. Help yourself get over nerves by being in a weekly every week. Also a double bonus if your local is able to stream.
#5. Don't have a tournament fee/pot at your weeklies.
This one sounds super simple and not very important, but it is one of the major factors I am still into our fighting game scene here in Chicago. A long time ago back in 2011, we experimented with doing the everyone pays $5 and either winner takes all or divide it up amongst top 3 or whatever. Talk about a buzz kill. I could think of no greater way I would have wanted to quit more than to just donate $5 to 16bit or Dizzy while I was trying to learn fighting games. $5 may not sound like a lot but it adds up, and it is also the principle behind it. It is super annoying to just be "the donation guy."
You might be thinking, well this is a good way to get rid of our jobbers, or weed out the people who aren't really passionate, or people playing to win. Trust me, you want a strong healthy scene that is growing, not a small elite club that is shrinking. If your scene already has point #1 (have passion) then winning the tournament will be strong enough of a draw to play every week anyways.
Like I covered before in the having a casual day point. You want jobbers. You want mid level players. The more the better. Get your scene growing, and get your scene getting better at the game.
#6. Rep your team at tournaments.
The first thing about this point is it gets you and your team to go to more tourneys. Having pride for your scene is key. Make a t-shirt, get a jersey. Stand behind your guys and cheer for them at tournaments. If your scene does poorly at a tourney, go back and watch your footage. Learn from your mistakes. Get better and come back to another tournament.
#7. Have a Tony's (or a place you hangout after training.)
This is the final point I have. This allows the very important washing of the salt process. Things can get heated. Your weeklies can bring salt. This helps to get back to remembering that we are all a team in the first place. Plus it just adds having fun together, which is probably the main reason we are playing in the first place.
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. So we planning to build up and some more going into MKX and thinking friday will be our day for locals
