LGBTDHD · @ADHD_93
4th Dec 2016 from TwitLonger
How I became good at Brawl
There's a book out there claiming that one needs 10,000 hours to completely master a task. I don't disagree with that notion, but I definitely did not fulfill that quota. I believe at the end my Wii accumulated about 4,000-5,000 hours? Didn't have too many friends in high school 😂 Regardless anyone will require a large bulk amount of time to become "great" using any skill.
The majors that I won or placed the highest at I wasn't even consciously thinking. The language area of the brain was completely turned off. My brain was doing everything for me simply because I had trained it so religiously. The practice aspect takes the most intelligence and dedication.
Start out by finding a practice partner good enough to memorize and capitalize on your habits. Doing so will help you defeat opponents who adapt super quickly (they exist). For me my regular practice partner was anti, and then atomsk following him.
Matchups are a huge aspect of smash and any fighting game I would imagine. Some matchups require figuring out once and then never again, and others are a constant struggle which requires extreme practice and continuous dusting off before majors. Network players who play characters that you are unfamiliar with fighting, and keep them around. The ability to defeat a single matchup can be the difference in whether you place top 4 at an event or 45th (seriously).
While playing against opponents, always be consciously thinking about how you can improve. In theory, every time you are hit one could argue there was a better option you could have chosen. We all know people who spend outrageous amounts of time into activities yet never improve. I wonder if they are not consciously thinking on how to improve while practicing and this is where they fall behind. Regardless, introducing your brain to as many situations as possible will enable you to come up with new options. Our brain is the real controller, not the thing in your hands. Forming new connections improves even old ones.
If you're trying to become a "top player" I truly believe that contrarily to popular belief playing other top players or top players when you are a "lower level" player does not really help you improve. The skill gap is too large, or when you are already a top player... each top player makes the game entirely different when playing against them. You will not really learn smash this way. Play top players once in a blue moon, but your main practice target should be mid to high level players. Figuring out how to defeat mid level to high level players increases your tech skill, knowledge of the game, and allows you to come up with traps. Top players fall for some of these traps too believe it or not. Only when you are consistently beating high level players will you stand a chance against top players or be able to acknowledge why you are losing against the best in the world.
Practice tech skill daily. Even if you do not play everyday, it is important that you develop a training mode routine of combos or AT drills. When you're under tourney pressure you don't want your brain to have to remember how to do certain commands (this decreases your reaction time tremendously).
Finding what works out for you may be the hardest part of the process. Axe produces the best results in melee with pikachu despite pikachu being far from top tier. And armada's peach has earned him thousands of more dollars than fox has despite fox being a better character. Dabuz is the only top Rosalina... etc. My opinion is that it will take a year to really figure out what works character wise or playstyle wise for you. Each individual has patterns and will end up leaning towards a unique playstyle.
I believe that the process was that simple, plus the ridiculous amount of time I put into playing the game. P.S., if
you are in high school I believe you have an inherent advantage over everyone else. Your brain is the most mailable towards learning and your reaction time is really in its prime. This may depend on the individual as there are older "top players," but even now I feel that learning new things is more difficult than it was at age 16-17. Now practice!!