The Art of Brawl: Lesson four: Having the Right Mindset

[Ruby]

It is possible to improve without tournaments but the truth is a tournament experience is incomparable at improving somebody at a video game. The only thing that compares to a tournaments learning power is playing with a group of people who are highly ranked in tournaments. There are other options to improving but they are far less effective. You can go to a tournament and get last place and still come back a much better gamer.

[Folm]

So what your basicaly saying is tournaments are good because you fight a wide variety of good brawlers? Why not just fight good people online?

[Ruby]

Quality tournaments will pit you against players that are tougher than any online match you could possibly have.

Aside from the lack of lag which makes you play differently there are also many other factors involved in real life tournament play that you will not get online that can push you to improve.

The best players you can play online are good players who go to tournaments IRL and rank high. However people who excel in real life tournaments will generally be able to play better offline so you never get to play the highest class of brawl online which is what you must experience to become a pro which is what a tournament will give you.

I promise the superiority of tournament play will become very apparent once you go to one. It really is a life changing experience for a blossoming competitive gamer. If you want to discuss this further then feel free to PM me.

Ontopic response-I completely agree with the idea of a good mindset when playing. It really does make an extremely significant difference.

[Haven]

Ruby is super epic win, everything he said was correct, tournaments truly do make you ALOT better, offline experience with other great brawlers is something that will truly up your game.

Anyone that does have tournaments next to them, that also have the time to go there, seriously go to tournaments, it's a great help.

[-NaPPy]

I remember this one time haven said he sucks

oh wait he tells me that all the time :P

hypocrit'd

nah good lesson tho anger really screws with people, and you cant get something you dont want xD

also, 1 day at a tournament=/=2 weeks of wifi

[Thee Archer]

^ kj is so rite :P

this thing about mindset is sooooo tru, i even got a example.

once a while ago my saber had sum matches wit kid ninja's ike, we had done 4 matches b4 wit him winning the first 2 nd saber winnin last 2. Well she SD'ed and he was leading 3stock to 2stock wit him at a low %, so she used 1 of my taunts;
"Ill never "
"give in!! "
Strangly, she came back to, and if she not had SD'ed, 3 stock him. dats wanting it more, da willpower 2 overcome.

[Abyss]

Hmm I'll have to really try harder at this. I'm probably one of the most modest Brawlers on this site, my low self-esteem is probably what's contributing to it a little, too. People are constantly telling me I'm too hard on myself, or put myself down a lot, which I agree and I know I do it. I always have my heart sink and start feeling like I wanna rage quit right then and there whenever I'm getting destroyed. Rage gets the best of me and makes me start going all emo over my Brawl skill. One time I rage quit and left a comment saying "I f*cking suck", left, and then made a furious rant on NP (that I deleted by the way). Looking back now, making that rant was a very scrubby thing to do. Another thing I do is speak very highly of the person who beat me, like "You're the best Kirby ever, you obliterated me to the depths of hell".

Whenever this occurs, I quit Brawl for a while, and come back a long time later with peace at mind, just like you. It never fails. The more I play Brawl in short periods of time, the suckier I'll become. Explains why my off-day began yesterday from losing 2-12 against Tanman2333's King DeDeDe, 3-12 against DH, getting owned by Vio shortly after, then today, where I got raped by Drew's Link.

Since I'm aware I'm extremely modest, I'm trying to have the right mindsets. But one thing I really don't get is before a match starts, I'd say to myself "I can own this guy so hard", but then I get owned ._. Also, you say you really want the win, well, if you're not aware of this already, but I am the type of Brawler who despises losing, and always wants to win. So, if I'm always wanting to win really bad, why doesn't that help either?

[Ride The Yoshi]

I feel that you're contradicting yourself, there, Abyss. How can you be so modest when you despise losing? You say that you're trying to get better, but you keep putting yourself down. List what you've said positive in your post. Now, list what you have said that was negative. Thinking negatively is not a quality of having the right mindset. If you tell yourself and other people that you're crappy at brawl, then your overall performance in Brawl will decline.

Consider thinking more positively. Don't say so many negative things about yourself. You could say "Hey, at least I did ____ in that match", or "Good games, man. I'll try harder, next time.", or something else that sounds positive. I realize that you put your opponent up on a high pedestal when they win their matches, but question yourself. Do you really want to continue saying something like "Well, you won again. Good games.", "you raped me", "you pwned me", etc., compared to a quote like this: "Those games were awesome! Your character's pretty beast. Let's play again, sometime." The second quote sounds like the person's having fun in Brawl, even if he lost.

If you really want to step up your serious game, then I recommend watching combo videos of your main(s), practicing useful techniques in training mode or on computers, and eventually trying them out in serious matches. You could also record your own serious matches against people, and set up a critique thread, so that people such as myself can help you out much more easily. Yes, the process does sound tedious, but if you're serious about getting better in Brawl and not losing as often, then this is the way to go.

I also recommend that you play TheBlackLink or Manlyguy more often. Regardless of whether you win or lose, they will still give you fun matches. Your self-esteem may be boosted by playing them. You don't need to worry about winning or losing when playing them, because they're not in it to win it. Brawl isn't meant to be taken seriously, and it's much more enjoyable, in my opinion, to let go every once in awhile, use items, pick Captain Falcon or Jigglypuff, and just see what happens from there. Playing people for fun may not improve your game, but it definitely improves your Brawling spirit, meaning that you'll be more interested in playing Brawl for longer periods of time.

Your Brawling spirit is also your drive to do better, win, and continue to fight after losing one or two stocks. Rage quitting and putting yourself down douses that spirit, greatly. Even if I am at one stock left, and my opponent is leading greatly, I still try to win. Why? That's because I have resolve. It is something that I cherish, and have cherished since I was four-years old. I've never gone tired of Smash Bros. because I have always kept it exciting for me: be it with items, the occasional tournaments, playing offline with friends, experimenting with new tactics and ATs, and other things. I love Smash Bros. more than any other games I've ever played, and that won't be changing for a very long time. I play Brawl because it's fun. Winning is merely a side-dish. Losing may be tough, but I love to battle tough oponents: I have fun when I'm playing someone who has a high chance of beating me. That's the way that I am.

So, there's my advice for you on having the right mindset, Abyss. I'm a bit tired, right now, so if I said something controversial or ignorant, I apologize. You may come to me if you have any Brawl problems, or problems, in general.

[flightofdark]

heheh funny! When I first came on wifi brawl a few days ago I thought I was really good and beat shonu this really good olimar player but then when I started to think that mabye i should be thinking more powerful people then peach I started loosing against my little brother? Im gonna try this heheh

Originally Posted by spencer1990 TIP- helps me, might help you. I love brawl and all but the music is not to my tone. so to make me more calm and relaxed i play music while brawling, it just adds to the things that make me feel good.

OMG! thats it! When I once listened to my ipod while brawling I was cleaning up! hahah thanks!

[TheBlackLink]

Just feel this needs a slight bump.

As Haven stated in the OP, having a good mindset is pivotal to one's own personal growth in this game. Too many times do I see players who are overly obsessed with themselves or with winning, causing them to lose heart and quit the game whenever they lose some battles.

The fact of the matter is, Brawl is a game in which everyone, not just you or me, but everyone will have an off day/week at some point and time. The best thing to do is just shrug it off and keep playing on.