Guide Tips on becoming a better player: Part 1 - How losing helps you get better

[sanderr]

great read, thanks!

 

[Juggs]

Great posts guys!

As far as being overwhelmed by pressure, just lab it up! After you have a hard time getting out, go to training mode and make it your mission to find a way or ways out. Losing is learning, learn from your loss!

 

[Icarus]

Thanks for this. MKX is my first time back to fighters in a long time...and after my experiences in Starcraft II I now want to improve at MK since it's one of my favorite franchises. It's definitely a struggle (particularly in the midst of all the craziness plaguing the PC port ATM), but threads like this give me hope.

 

[JerzeyReign]

I read these stickies often in my early attempt at becoming a competitive MKX player. Very good reads. This article helped put things in perspective for me before I became contaminated with other ideas. I have been using this strategy for years playing in leagues in Madden and 2K but its a lot easier in those games because its sports with easier adjustments.

Losing online taught me absolutely nothing though. It just led to me being happy as hell when I knocked off a top 1000 guy and angrier than hell when I lost to 40K ranked guy. I've currently moved to strictly offline training/tournaments/casuals and have found losing helps out tremendously. I quickly learn what works and what doesn't playing offline against guys better than me.

Thanks for posting this, it really is the honest truth and I recommend every new person to read it and apply it.

 

[DDutchguy]

Haven't been doing too wel MKX-wise for the past couple of weeks now, so reading this was appreciated.

So I play exclusively online, because there are about 0 people that I personally know that even play MKX. As such I have to deal with your average online warrior to improve.

The issue I always have with losing is that I get far too mad far too easily. Never can I shake off the thought of "I should have won that", emphasis on 'should'. It feels incredibly frustrating to lose to a Grandmaster player that doesn't even know what a combo is and only does crossover B2 or B33D4. He's not doing more than 9% per hit on average yet somehow I managed to lose. Another thing are the players that basically do the same thing over and over again. How did I manage to get beaten by a Dragon Naginata player whose only tactic is to do pogo stance into low/overhead or a jump into low or overhead? It just makes everything all the more annoying when I feel like such a scrub off losing to people like that.

I suppose I should follow the advice of playing better players. The part where you talk about getting bad habits from certain types of players is something I can see myself in. Doing risky supermans is one habit that I picked up, which is about the worst habit you could have. Thing is that it works online quite well, until I start fighting people with over half a brain.

Whatever I just need to get less pissed off every time I lose. Hell, even when I win I often go "that went like shit, how did I manage to almost lose this? "

 

[myri]

Haven't been doing too wel MKX-wise for the past couple of weeks now, so reading this was appreciated.

So I play exclusively online, because there are about 0 people that I personally know that even play MKX. As such I have to deal with your average online warrior to improve.

The issue I always have with losing is that I get far too mad far too easily. Never can I shake off the thought of "I should have won that", emphasis on 'should'. It feels incredibly frustrating to lose to a Grandmaster player that doesn't even know what a combo is and only does crossover B2 or B33D4. He's not doing more than 9% per hit on average yet somehow I managed to lose. Another thing are the players that basically do the same thing over and over again. How did I manage to get beaten by a Dragon Naginata player whose only tactic is to do pogo stance into low/overhead or a jump into low or overhead? It just makes everything all the more annoying when I feel like such a scrub off losing to people like that.

I suppose I should follow the advice of playing better players. The part where you talk about getting bad habits from certain types of players is something I can see myself in. Doing risky supermans is one habit that I picked up, which is about the worst habit you could have. Thing is that it works online quite well, until I start fighting people with over half a brain.

Whatever I just need to get less pissed off every time I lose. Hell, even when I win I often go "that went like shit, how did I manage to almost lose this? "

You're not the only one. For me personally the people I find the hardest to play against online are the ones who have literally no idea what they're doing. People who throw out unsafe specials in the neutral over and over (scorpion's teleport, sub's slide, etc), jump nonstop all game, spam unsafe wakeups, spamming d2 and sweeps.

It's mostly because after all the experience I have with what people "should" be doing when they play a certain character, it's totally just unexpected for a Sub-Zero player to just put out four raw slides in a row or something like that. I find it so hard to adjust to that sort of play because I don't understand why anyone with even a little bit of knowledge of the game would do this, it just makes no sense.

Much easier and more enjoyable to play someone who actually knows what they are doing.

 

[medleyoz]

You're not the only one. For me personally the people I find the hardest to play against online are the ones who have literally no idea what they're doing.
It's mostly because after all the experience I have with what people "should" be doing when they play a certain character, it's totally just unexpected for a Sub-Zero player to just put out four raw slides in a row or something like that. I find it so hard to adjust to that sort of play because I don't understand why anyone with even a little bit of knowledge of the game would do this, it just makes no sense.

Much easier and more enjoyable to play someone who actually knows what they are doing.

Glad I'm not the only one who has that problem LOL. I'm getting better at just playing reactionary and not trying to play my normal game as that's where I get blown up. I can lose 20 games in a row against a good player and not get salty at all (except with myself for getting baited/doing obvious stuff ) but losing 1 game against someone I know I should have beaten gets me frustrated as hell.

 

[Juggs]

It comes down to fundamentals when you're playing sub par players. They expose your bad fundamentals. It's a hard pill to swallow, trust me I know. It's not only fundamentals, it's also lack of categorizing your opponent. If they're playing unsafe and basically being random, you have to put them in that category. You have to expect them to be "dumb" and thus they play accordingly. Which means you have to dumb down your game to the basics, the fundamentals.

@DDutchguy @myri @medleyoz

 

[Juggs]

Can't believe it's been 5 years since I posted this. Glad it's still helping a few players out!

 

[DDutchguy]

Can't believe it's been 5 years since I posted this. Glad it's still helping a few players out!

The posts you made here are pretty great and are still quite relevant. Thanks for making them!

 

[DDutchguy]

It comes down to fundamentals when you're playing sub par players. They expose your bad fundamentals. It's a hard pill to swallow, trust me I know. It's not only fundamentals, it's also lack of categorizing your opponent. If they're playing unsafe and basically being random, you have to put them in that category. You have to expect them to be "dumb" and thus they play accordingly. Which means you have to dumb down your game to the basics, the fundamentals.

@DDutchguy @myri @medleyoz

Kinda hard to swallow yeah, that this means that my fundamentals aren't very good. I suppose I'll just keep trying to improve, this time more focused on my fundamental, non-player-specific play.

 

[Thazeekster608]

Sure is keep it up , it be cool if u can update once in a while with new stuff u learn /experience as u improve as a player . This thread helped me in just being more open minded in fgc in general

 

[TackyHaddock]

Question re fighting philosophy that I think is relevant to this thread: when you are a fighting someone, are you primarily (1) watching what your opponent is doing; or (2) focusing on your own character and contemplating what your next attack is going to be? I've noticed that I lose a hell of a lot more when I am in the second category, focusing more on my own character and thinking more about my own attack plan. When I instead put essentially ALL of the focus on just watching the opponent, my winning percentage is way higher - you don't even have to think about your own character or your own attacks, because they come out naturally in response to just observing the opponent.

Obviously there is always some combination of both (you focus on the opponent and yourself), but I find that if you effectively ignore your own character and just observe the opponent, your chances of winning increase greatly. This approach also results in way less salt, because for me the biggest frustration is thinking "ok I'm going to do this combo now" and then just failing because I'm not putting primary focus on my opponent's actions and get blown up.

 

[DDutchguy]

Question re fighting philosophy that I think is relevant to this thread: when you are a fighting someone, are you primarily (1) watching what your opponent is doing; or (2) focusing on your own character and contemplating what your next attack is going to be? I've noticed that I lose a hell of a lot more when I am in the second category, focusing more on my own character and thinking more about my own attack plan. When I instead put essentially ALL of the focus on just watching the opponent, my winning percentage is way higher - you don't even have to think about your own character or your own attacks, because they come out naturally in response to just observing the opponent.

Obviously there is always some combination of both (you focus on the opponent and yourself), but I find that if you effectively ignore your own character and just observe the opponent, your chances of winning increase greatly. This approach also results in way less salt, because for me the biggest frustration is thinking "ok I'm going to do this combo now" and then just failing because I'm not putting primary focus on my opponent's actions and get blown up.

I can very much identify with this. Often times I just think of a specific move my character has and throw it out, not paying attention to whether that move is actually good in the situation. I'm in category 2 most of the time, sounds like I should watch my opponent a lot more instead.

 

[GQJ]

It comes down to fundamentals when you're playing sub par players. They expose your bad fundamentals. It's a hard pill to swallow, trust me I know. It's not only fundamentals, it's also lack of categorizing your opponent. If they're playing unsafe and basically being random, you have to put them in that category. You have to expect them to be "dumb" and thus they play accordingly. Which means you have to dumb down your game to the basics, the fundamentals.

@DDutchguy @myri @medleyoz

A couple of examples of fundamentals? one I can think of off the top of my head is not D1'ing enough to prevent crossups, any more of the top of your head?

 

[mariano1234]

i just play by instinct not think aout anything else but instinct and reactions

 

[DDutchguy]

i just play by instinct not think aout anything else but instinct and reactions

But what if your reactions are pretty much non-existent lol.

 

[mariano1234]

i keep trying not give up

 

[cambros22]

Kinda hard to swallow yeah, that this means that my fundamentals aren't very good. I suppose I'll just keep trying to improve, this time more focused on my fundamental, non-player-specific play.

I typically lose the first round or match against alot of different skill level players. Its all about the adjustments. Like juggs said about categorizing your opponents skill gap, most cases you need more than 2 matches to really know whats going on and most online players will quit after winning 1 game. So try not to beat yourself up so much when it comes to adjusting faster. You will get there with more time and practice.

 

[mariano1234]

its very difficult to playonline specially if you dont know the match up but you have to be instinctive and react and be careful too

 

[Juggs]

Kinda hard to swallow yeah, that this means that my fundamentals aren't very good. I suppose I'll just keep trying to improve, this time more focused on my fundamental, non-player-specific play.

Not necessarily. Not utilizing your fundamentals doesn't mean you have bad fundamentals, sometimes you just forget to fall back on them. A lotof the time though, it IS bad fundamentals, but not always.

Just remember, every opponent is different. If your default strat isn't working, ask yourself why it isn't working, and what category does your opponent fall into. Then, set up strats for those types of opponents. If it's a high risk random player, have a solid fundamental strat. If it's a super safe low risk player, have a solid rushdown and mix up strat. The strat is to fall back on and give you a framework for the match/player, so you're not completely clueless on what to do. If that strat you have isn't working, that's when you change it up, adapt.

 

[Tanno]

A good guide you wrote, sir. It's indeed good for that. There's this saying: "We learn from ours mistakes."

I have only one question:

If you read this phrase you just wrote

"The only tactics that are "cheap" are the one's that are banned in tournaments."

What tactics are banned in tournaments? I'd like to know to avoid such stuff.

 

[Thazeekster608]

A good guide you wrote, sir. It's indeed good for that. There's this saying: "We learn from ours mistakes."

I have only one question:

If you read this phrase you just wrote

"The only tactics that are "cheap" are the one's that are banned in tournaments."

What tactics are banned in tournaments? I'd like to know to avoid such stuff.

in mkx nothing is banned so ur free to do what you or please

 

[VSC_Supreme]

Very good read, Was dealing with this issue last night, prompted me to come back to read it again, had my opponent trying to make me mad, constantly tea bagging and other "troll" tactics. I probably lost to him around 15 times, But after the first few matches, I realized it wasn't worth getting mad. I started to pay more attention to what he was doing and how i should be reacting, and even though I didn't win, I learned a lot. I thanked him for the matches at the end of it all, he seemed upset I wasn't mad, but I think he's used to getting salt.

I'll be sure to challenge better players more often in the future. Hopefully find someone more willing to help me level up.

 

[Juggs]

Very good read, Was dealing with this issue last night, prompted me to come back to read it again, had my opponent trying to make me mad, constantly tea bagging and other "troll" tactics. I probably lost to him around 15 times, But after the first few matches, I realized it wasn't worth getting mad. I started to pay more attention to what he was doing and how i should be reacting, and even though I didn't win, I learned a lot. I thanked him for the matches at the end of it all, he seemed upset I wasn't mad, but I think he's used to getting salt.

I'll be sure to challenge better players more often in the future. Hopefully find someone more willing to help me level up.

Yeah I learned from playing @MRIGOTBASS and @REO who do babalities and fatalities in UMK3 to not let it get to me. I even asked REO why he kept doing fatalities on me and he said "To increase your rage meter", lol.

Getting angry or emotional at all is hard to control, but it's learned behavior. You can retrain yourself to never get mad at what your opponent is doing. It's definitely a process, but a necessary one, imo.