With MK11 on the horizon, there’s a lot of buzz going around and everyone is hype for the return of Mortal Kombat. The NRS community has come a long way since the MK2 and UMK3 tournament days. I remember the pre MK9 days. Tournaments were 100% for pride only, a test primarily to determine who the best was. There were rarely, if any, pot bonuses, and the community was small. Over the years, our community has grown and developed into a juggernaut and the hard work from everyone in the community has paid off. The reason this website was even created was because of tournaments and we wanted a place that focused on the competitive side of not only the NRS community, but the FGC as a whole. So with that in mind, Tournaments are the main focus of this article.
I could talk about the history of the FGC and the NRS community as far as tournaments are concerned. About all the amazing storylines, rivalries, the rises to glory, the falls from grace, the friendships made, etc. But this article is going to go into a different direction.
Back in 2015, I interviewed a handful of NRS legends in regards to how they go about learning a new fighting game. You can check out that article here: https://testyourmight.com/threads/learning-a-new-fighter-interviews-with-veterans.48888/
I also made an article way back in the day discussing the importance of tournaments, and the online vs offline topics. That is a little outdated now, but feel free to check it out as well: https://testyourmight.com/threads/tips-on-becoming-a-better-player-part-2-online-vs-offline-tournaments.4241/
For this article, I wanted to get insight from tournament players about tournaments themselves. Mainly NRS players, but also a few tournament players who main other titles. I sent out interview questions to quite a few amazing players. This was their responses.
Before each response will be their Twitter handle. Within the spoiler tag is their general handle and their responses. And also, not everyone answered every question, so keep that in mind as well
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1. What got you into competitive fighters, and how long have you been competing?
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2. What are some of the hardest aspects of being a tournament player?
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3. What is your traditional training routine day to day?
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4. Roughly how many hours a day do you practice?
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5. How do you train, or prepare, for an upcoming tournament?
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6. Any other general, or specific, advice you want to give to players wanting to compete?
This turned out to be a great experience for me, learning about all these awesome players and some of their mindsets. This took quite a lot of time and effort believe it or not, but anytime we can get some insight into the minds of fantastic players, it’s always interesting.
I feel like NRS has really put a lot of time into MK11 and made a conscious effort to make it a very solid tournament game. It seems to me they made this game from the ground up with the competitive community in mind, more so than they ever have.
Mortal Kombat 11 comes out on April 23rd! Pre-order your copy now for access to the character “Shao Kahn”!
I hope to see y’all on the battlefield. It’s the quiet before the storm, the journey is about to begin!
Links to all the participants twitter:
I could talk about the history of the FGC and the NRS community as far as tournaments are concerned. About all the amazing storylines, rivalries, the rises to glory, the falls from grace, the friendships made, etc. But this article is going to go into a different direction.
Back in 2015, I interviewed a handful of NRS legends in regards to how they go about learning a new fighting game. You can check out that article here: https://testyourmight.com/threads/learning-a-new-fighter-interviews-with-veterans.48888/
I also made an article way back in the day discussing the importance of tournaments, and the online vs offline topics. That is a little outdated now, but feel free to check it out as well: https://testyourmight.com/threads/tips-on-becoming-a-better-player-part-2-online-vs-offline-tournaments.4241/
For this article, I wanted to get insight from tournament players about tournaments themselves. Mainly NRS players, but also a few tournament players who main other titles. I sent out interview questions to quite a few amazing players. This was their responses.
Before each response will be their Twitter handle. Within the spoiler tag is their general handle and their responses. And also, not everyone answered every question, so keep that in mind as well
___
1. What got you into competitive fighters, and how long have you been competing?
- BigD_FGC:
I actually fell in to competitive fighters by chance. I was living in Orlando at the time, and my brother told me about a Mortal Kombat 9 tournament nearby; at a bar called Rooster’s in Winter Park. I refused at first, but then I was basically forced by my brother. He drove me to the event and paid the entry fee. I ended up placing 5th (if my memory serves me right), and my love for competing snowballed ever since. This was in late 2011, so I’ve been at it for the better part of 7 and a half years.
- MK_TomBrady:
I got into fighters in general because traditional console 1P games at that time just didn't grab me like they did many others. However, playing someone else in a VS game in the arcade really excited me and was a lot of fun. Just learning something new every day and finding new ways to apply it in a way that beats my opponent was something that I loved. From that point - once you have invested so much time, you want to know how good or bad you really are.
I began to travel to other arcades to see how I'd fare against other competition. I started traveling just within my local area, then state wide, then finally out of state. These were not tournaments though as the tournament scene was nothing back then compared to what it is now. When I actually heard about a tournament local to me, I couldn't wait to attend. I have never had so much fun. While traveling for glorified casuals (because arcade games are pay to play) as well as money matches were really fun, they didn't have the finality of a tournament.
Tournaments were matches that held some finality now just as in win or you're out, but in the way of "this guy is just better and no casuals today or tomorrow will change that". In casuals or money matches, always another day of casuals to right the wrongs of yesterday. With money matches, there is always another money match soon, sometimes even immediately after. But tournaments were something different. There won't be one 5 minutes later, there wont't be one tomorrow. You lost and the only redemption is to train hard and get redemption at the next tournament.
I started playing fighters in 1991. The competitive tournament environment got me hooked and I've loved it ever since.
I began to travel to other arcades to see how I'd fare against other competition. I started traveling just within my local area, then state wide, then finally out of state. These were not tournaments though as the tournament scene was nothing back then compared to what it is now. When I actually heard about a tournament local to me, I couldn't wait to attend. I have never had so much fun. While traveling for glorified casuals (because arcade games are pay to play) as well as money matches were really fun, they didn't have the finality of a tournament.
Tournaments were matches that held some finality now just as in win or you're out, but in the way of "this guy is just better and no casuals today or tomorrow will change that". In casuals or money matches, always another day of casuals to right the wrongs of yesterday. With money matches, there is always another money match soon, sometimes even immediately after. But tournaments were something different. There won't be one 5 minutes later, there wont't be one tomorrow. You lost and the only redemption is to train hard and get redemption at the next tournament.
I started playing fighters in 1991. The competitive tournament environment got me hooked and I've loved it ever since.
- DaddyDab32Ho
Honestly I’ve always been competitive in basketball my whole life so the transition of competitive drive was always there when it came to gaming! I mean, who likes to lose! I got into it by hearing some friends telling me I’m good and should play in tournaments! I was skeptical at first, but I looked it up and behold the greatness of competitive play... So I moved to Vegas and low and behold my journey began with The Terry Bros and Flawedzilla!
- TommyTweedy
Watching Fatal 8 got me into the competitive, tournament scene. I’ve been competing for 4 years or so
- HoneyBeeCMNDR
Injustice: GAU was my first fighting game. My brother (Biohazard) brought it home when it came out back in 2013 and I just had a ton of fun playing it. I started going to local tournaments in Toronto a month or two after it came out and I started competing in the states in 2014 to prove I had what it takes. Since then I moved onto MKX when it came out in 2015 as well as Injustice 2. Now I'm looking forward to competing in MK11.
- Trepound_FGC
An old friend from gamefaqs and since 2012 starting with MK9
- jchensor
I got into competitive fighters from the original SFII. Even back then, it wasn't about fighting other people, it was just an awesome game with great graphics and it was fun beating up on the CPU. While somu communities started competing right away, many did not, and the one I was involved with took a while before we really started competing. Of course, by "a while" I mean like a few months. Because soon enough we were all trying tobeat each other up once we started to realize just how the game could be played at a competitive level. Obviously, my experience is unique because it basically started when the genre was actually birthed.
- ThisIsLIJoe
I think mk1 was the first game I remember wanting to be good at like really good so that's 1992? But the actual start of my true competitive drive and nature started probably around the time I started going to Chinatown around 2000
- Infinitii_FGC
I’ve always had a passion for fighting games, especially Mortal Kombat. When I discovered midnight release tournaments during MK9, it was like another world that I didn't know existed was revealed to me. Through friends I met at the midnight release tournaments, I discovered major tournaments. CEO 2016 was the first major I attended, and I’ve been competing ever since.
- DestroyerFGC
What got me into competitive fighters was when I visited my local competitive FGC scene NLBC located in Brooklyn NY.
I would always see the teamspooky live streams with all the MKX hype and I just had to step in and see what I was made of!
I would always see the teamspooky live streams with all the MKX hype and I just had to step in and see what I was made of!
- RewindNV
My uncles are the ones who gave me the opportunity to even touch my first fighting game when I was little. I’ve been competing since 2016 but started consistently competing in 2017.
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2. What are some of the hardest aspects of being a tournament player?
- BigD_FGC:
Maintaining a consistent training regiment. At least for me, my life outside of gaming gets very hectic since I run a business, work part time, and go to school. With so much to juggle, it is pretty difficult to find the necessary time needed to really improve yourself. Obviously since I love competing, I find time wherever I can; but it’s definitely not easy.
Controlling your emotions and nerves during tournament play has also been another obstacle I’ve noticed as far as competing goes. There’s been a number of times where my emotions or nerves get the best of me mid-set, resulting in some pretty ugly reads and overall play on my part. I can understand how some people don’t struggle with this, but I’m still learning to deal with it (and I’ve been around for over 7 years, as I’ve mentioned). There really isn’t any advice I can give on how to deal with it, it just takes time and experience.
Controlling your emotions and nerves during tournament play has also been another obstacle I’ve noticed as far as competing goes. There’s been a number of times where my emotions or nerves get the best of me mid-set, resulting in some pretty ugly reads and overall play on my part. I can understand how some people don’t struggle with this, but I’m still learning to deal with it (and I’ve been around for over 7 years, as I’ve mentioned). There really isn’t any advice I can give on how to deal with it, it just takes time and experience.
- MK_TomBrady:
The hardest part of being a tournament player is having a good understanding of where you are skill wise and your current and long term goals. You must be honest with yourself in where you are currently as a player, where you want to end up as a player, and what are your strengths and limitations. You may set a goal of winning or placing top at your very first event. However, this goal may not match where you currently are skill wise and you may come up far short of the goal and get frustrated. Sure, some players have success right away, but this doesn't have to be you and there is absolutely nothing wrong with that. you must always view yourself as a work in progress and be focused on your progression and where you will end up as opposed to being frustrated that you aren't there at the beginning.
The next hardest thing is understand strategy. Sure, always someone better. But, does that mean the better player should win? No.. Tournaments are not best undisputed player sets. Tournaments are short sets that determine more than natural skill. You can out think and out wit a "better" player and still win. This is why you would see someone lose badly to someone both before and after the tournament, yet somehow find a way to win in the tournament. This would sometimes baffle people. "How can someone lose consistently before and after the tournament, but not in the tournament itself?". The reason is strategy. You may be facing someone who does 1,000 better where as you only do 1 or 2 things better. On the surface is seems like a sure fire win for the opponent. But if you can bait them and make the match not about the 1,000 they do better, but about the 1 or 2 things that you do better instead. Then, for that short set, you have baited them into a situation where you have actually become better than they are. Now, in longer sets I have no doubt they will adjust at some point and go back to beating you. But by that point the tournament is over and they are sent home scratching their head as to how this could have happened.
There is certainly a lot to being a tournament player, and its what seperates you from them.
The next hardest thing is understand strategy. Sure, always someone better. But, does that mean the better player should win? No.. Tournaments are not best undisputed player sets. Tournaments are short sets that determine more than natural skill. You can out think and out wit a "better" player and still win. This is why you would see someone lose badly to someone both before and after the tournament, yet somehow find a way to win in the tournament. This would sometimes baffle people. "How can someone lose consistently before and after the tournament, but not in the tournament itself?". The reason is strategy. You may be facing someone who does 1,000 better where as you only do 1 or 2 things better. On the surface is seems like a sure fire win for the opponent. But if you can bait them and make the match not about the 1,000 they do better, but about the 1 or 2 things that you do better instead. Then, for that short set, you have baited them into a situation where you have actually become better than they are. Now, in longer sets I have no doubt they will adjust at some point and go back to beating you. But by that point the tournament is over and they are sent home scratching their head as to how this could have happened.
There is certainly a lot to being a tournament player, and its what seperates you from them.
- DaddyDab32Ho
one of y’all the hardest aspects are Tournament nerves and your support group! it’s so great to have a support group at home and I feel a ton of us never receive that, including myself!
- TommyTweedy
One of the harder aspects is tied to my other responses. Playing when you don’t want to, and traveling when you don’t want to.
- HoneyBeeCMNDR
One of the hardest aspects of being a tournament player is being consistently at the top and not falling behind the rest of the curve. Being at the top of your game requires a lot of time when it comes to labbing, practicing MU's and the like. But in order to be at the top, it's very necessary to practice consistently.
- Trepound_FGC
Not getting discouraged when things dont go your way and dealing with constant criticism and changing loyalties in the scene
- jchensor
Honestly, it depends on what your goals are. If you're trying to win Pro Tours, finances is always the hardest part. Gotta have the money to travel to events and earn points for the Pro Tour. Otheriwse, one of the most difficult parts is finding the competition to practice against. There are SO FEW examples of players who have gotten good being isolated. Most need at LEAST one other person with the drive that the two of you can grow off of each other. Some players have done it purely through online, but that's harder and obviously quality of internet is a factor. Having a local is a boon but that also depends on the players there and how much effort (time / money / etc.) it takes to make it there on a consistent basis.
- ThisIsLIJoe
Hardest part I think is the consistancy. Also the part I'm worst at haha. It's hard now a days to stay on top. It's just a mix of how good other people get and also how the games are made to some point also
- Infinitii_FGC
I believe one of the hardest aspects of being a tournament player is maintaining confidence in your performance. Some tournaments are going to be better than others for everyone, but the key is to always surround yourself with good people and keep your spirits high! Believe in yourself, even if you end up going 0-2.
- DestroyerFGC
One of the hardest aspects is finding time to practice and better yourself as a player. I believe grinding, learning MUs, practicing execution is #1 priority to becoming a god in competitive fighters, you always need to try and find a way to be one step ahead of your opponent!
- RewindNV
The hardest aspects are just keeping a solid mentality because a lot of outside factors can alter your play.
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3. What is your traditional training routine day to day?
- BigD_FGC:
I don’t really have a traditional training routine day to day. I try to devote at least 10 hours per week to practicing; whether it be with execution or sets with another player. I know it doesn’t sound like much...but when you play fighting games for so long, I don’t believe that you really need to GRIND for endless hours every day. Sometimes, it just comes naturally.
- DaddyDab32Ho
My training routine insists of running situational simulations via practice mode finding ways and options to counter or oppress! But this time around for MK11, I’m going all in... You’re talking notes, character frame data, situations, games mechanic system.... all algorithms!
- TommyTweedy
I play and practice as much as possible
- HoneyBeeCMNDR
When I'm training, it usually includes spending an hour or two in the lab, practicing combos, testing various scenarios and MU specific things. I'll then hop online and see if there's players that I want to face, play ranked, or often times, train one of my patrons. Usually I stream whenever I play.
- Trepound_FGC
depends on the game but practice my weaknesses and learn something new for a hour before trying it online or a tournament.
- jchensor
Back when I was playing a lot and at my strongest, I was playing almost every day and using Random Select a lot. It was a good way to learn every character and back then there were less character specialists to the point where you couldn't afford to mess around with other characters. Nowadays, it really depends on the player, but since I'm no longer competitive, it's harder to say what my routine WOULD be if I were still competing.
- ThisIsLIJoe
When I was competing heavy I played daily and local tournaments any day I possibly could. Trying to always have 1 long session on the weekends if there wasnt an event to go to and practicing for a bit throughout the week
- Infinitii_FGC
I always start with going into practice mode to get my groove back/adjust to the pace of the game. Then, I’ll hop into a long set with someone who plays a character that I need to study more. Or, if none of my sparring partners are available, I’ll play some ranked matches!
- DestroyerFGC
practice consists of training in the lab, practicing execution, playing online to familiarize yourself with how certain characters may be utilized, and overall just learning MU's setups and all the good stuff to help you win!
- RewindNV
I usually get online and see if my training partners are on. If they are, I’ll run a long set with them and than hop off.
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4. Roughly how many hours a day do you practice?
- DaddyDab32Ho
Honestly, now being a father and working too, my time is limited to about 3 hours per day, but I am at the point in my career where I don’t need that extra time, buuuuuuuut..... I am going to make more time to be the best in MK11!!!!
- TommyTweedy
Time put in is everything imo. There's no shortcuts to getting good. I feel like people always try to look for shortcuts. Playing a top tier, using a hitbox instead of a pad, getting games with Sonic or whoever, but I don't believe there's any real acceleration, so I try to not sell that. I just think it's all about time put in.
- HoneyBeeCMNDR
Lately I don't practice that much since MK11 isn't out yet and we're in a bit of an off season. But when I'm actively practicing for tournaments I'll play around 5-8 hours a day. Since I'm fortunate enough to be doing this full time, I'm able to find the time to practice the game a lot while still spending time with my girlfriend and having a social life.
- Trepound_FGC
1-3 hours
- jchensor
Back in the day, like hours a day. Just playing my friends, having a good time. It was so different back then how it is nowadays.
- ThisIsLIJoe
Now I dont really practice but when I did it was a lot. 3 4 hours a weekday sometimes 24 hours on the weekends with the way our sessions would last
- Infinitii_FGC
I usually practice up to six hours or more, depending on the day of course.
- DestroyerFGC
I like to try and give myself ATLEAST 6-8 hrs if practice a day, and
- RewindNV
In the prime time of a game, I’ll practice probably 3hrs+ a day.
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5. How do you train, or prepare, for an upcoming tournament?
- BigD_FGC:
I’ve said this in other interviews and articles, and I’m always going to stick by this answer: I absolutely REFUSE to play the game no less than 4 days before the actual tournament. I get burned out very easily, and the break helps me stay refreshed. It may seem unconventional, but it has worked for me so far.
- DabbyDab32Ho
Before I just use to do me, play practice the normal stuff, but from now on I’m checking my bracket and breaking down some semantics before even thinking about anything else!
- TommyTweedy
Again, play and practice as much as your schedule allows. Play so much you go insane basically
- HoneyBeeCMNDR
If a tournament is coming up and I know what my bracket path looks like, I'll try to really grind the MU's I expect to run into in tournament. I'll message players that I know play the characters I'll run into (but not the actual opponents in my path).
- Trepound_FGC
work on matchups im not familiar with and player tendencies.
- jchensor
Again, before, I just tried to make sure I played a lot and knew my matchups as well as possible. Games were far more matchup heavy back then, where character unfamiliarity would destroy you. You have less excuse these days because of home consoles and training modes, but also because matchups are less skewed than they used to be. In the days of Super Turbo, for example, it was NORMAL to have 3 characters on your roster just for counter picks and bad matchups. Only the privileged top tier characters could not worry about that. There were tons of 9-1 and 8-2 matchups back in older games. Nowadays, most fighting games are at a point where 7-3 is the WORST you can get, and it's rare.
- ThisIsLIJoe
Training usually consists of keeping myself sharp muscle memory ready so when you see your chance you dont thinj it just happens. Also studying your bad match ups is important to. Also good to train against your own personal weaknesses.
- Infinitii_FGC
When it comes to an upcoming tournament, I prepare by studying matchup options for majority of the time. Whether it be going to a local to run long offline sets or spending hours in training mode, I make it my mission to be prepared as I possibly can!
- DestroyerFGC
Also it would help if you purchase a 1ms monitor(millisecond) that way you dont fuck up your timings when it comes to the offline majors! Because they usually use benq or Asus monitors clocked and 1ms response time. So if you practice on anything above it could screw up your timings on combos etc
- RewindNV
You want at least play 2 hrs a day leading into a tournament. I wouldn’t go past 2 though because you tend to become burnt out. That’s not what you want. You can take breaks but keep the training consistent. Long serious sets and labbing.
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6. Any other general, or specific, advice you want to give to players wanting to compete?
- BigD_FGC
Compete for the love of whatever game you are playing. The moment you feel like it’s becoming a chore to play, take a break. Money is cool and all, but if you don’t have the passion, you can’t really expect to reach the level of play that you truly want.
Also, treat “pools day” like it were an exam in school. Sleep well the night before, eat a solid breakfast, and don’t underestimate your own knowledge and skill.
Lastly, do NOT get discouraged. People lose...it happens to all of us. Take the losses as a learning experience. If you don’t, all that time and energy that you spent was wasted.
Also, treat “pools day” like it were an exam in school. Sleep well the night before, eat a solid breakfast, and don’t underestimate your own knowledge and skill.
Lastly, do NOT get discouraged. People lose...it happens to all of us. Take the losses as a learning experience. If you don’t, all that time and energy that you spent was wasted.
- DaddyDab32Ho
To all those who fall short or deal with real life problems, or have a ton of haters discouraging you (including family and close ones) FUCK EM! Just keep going and keep improving and being the best version of yourself, even outside of gaming! Much love!
- TommyTweedy
Final note. Play as much as possible, lol. As I said, no shortcuts, no easy way out. You have to put the time in, there’s no other way around it. If you truly want to compete you have to be dedicated enough to play literally whenever possible and for as long as possible. You can take short breaks but just keep focused on your goals.
- HoneyBeeCMNDR
The most straight forward advice I can give is to simply go to a tournament. The great thing about tournaments in the FGC is that they're almost always open to anyone so as long as you can get that plane ticket, hotel booked and registration paid for, you're good to go! If you can't afford to attend a tournament or get the time to do so but still want to compete, I highly recommend joining online tournaments. I host bi-monthly tournaments via my Patreon. There's also other options that can be free of charge! If you don't know how to find them, make a twitter and follow all the top players because they're bound to talk about it.
- Trepound_FGC
always remember to have fun and dont let it change you to please everyone
- jchensor
It's hard and you will lose a lot. To win at Fighting Games, it's just like everything else: you're only going to succeed if you put in the time and effort. Just because you think you're good at video games doesn't mean you're gonna get anywhere in ANY competitive video game. It's no different than any sport out there: tennis, basketball, football, etc. The best players are rare, and even to be a good player at the professional level, you have to be pretty exceptional. And very few players get to that point by coasting into being exceptional. It's always going to take work and effort.
- ThisIsLIJoe
A few things. Dont give up. You're supposed to lose and you're supposed to lose a lot. It's a natural aspect of getting better. Lastly use the resources that are here on 2019. Social media internet all that stuff. Ask for help.
- Infinitii_FGC
My advice to anyone wanting to compete is to never give up. Everyone learns at a different pace, so it’s easy to get discouraged if you feel like you aren’t making fast progress. However, whether it takes you a month or three years, with enough passion you can achieve anything you want!
- RewindNV
I’d tell players that want to compete to watch a lot of YouTube vids to just see the players that are already established gameplay. That way they can see why they do what they do in certain situations. I’d try to mimic the greats. Learn frame data, learn combos, than build onto the other aspects of fighting games overtime. It doesn’t come easy. You need all those things to compete though. You can’t skip any steps.
This turned out to be a great experience for me, learning about all these awesome players and some of their mindsets. This took quite a lot of time and effort believe it or not, but anytime we can get some insight into the minds of fantastic players, it’s always interesting.
I feel like NRS has really put a lot of time into MK11 and made a conscious effort to make it a very solid tournament game. It seems to me they made this game from the ground up with the competitive community in mind, more so than they ever have.
Mortal Kombat 11 comes out on April 23rd! Pre-order your copy now for access to the character “Shao Kahn”!
I hope to see y’all on the battlefield. It’s the quiet before the storm, the journey is about to begin!
Links to all the participants twitter:
