A beginners guide to performing in a tournament atmosphere

It's a big step going from a casual player to a competitive one. You may be an excellent player in your own comfort zone but this can change once you are on the big stage or high stakes are involved. I've seen players who are good in no stakes matches but crumble in tournament play. Taking on a competitive mind set is a discipline in itself, one that you can't master without competing at events. There is no training mode for this, practice comes from experience. In this guide I will discuss the key parts of becoming a competitive player. You will need to develop these skills in order to compete at a top level. The majority of these skills are psychological but with enough determination your mind can conquer them.

The key skills to performing in a tournament atmosphere are; preparation, confidence and composure. All of these can been seen in top level players and are crucial if you want to progress.

 

Preparation

There are few obvious ways to prepare for a tournament. Brush up on combos in training mode, know your match-ups, etc. The preparation I want to discuss is beyond practising the game. There are a few things you can do outside of the game to help improve your performance.

- Get a good nights sleep. It's an obvious suggestion but the amount of times I've stayed up out of habit before a tournament is endless. Playing while tired will affect your performance. Being well rested will help you keep your concentration so you don't make mistakes.

- Eat and drink. Another basic human requirement but all the gaming you'll be doing will be distracting. You go to an event and enter multiple games (a common thing for players at fighting game events). You'll discover it is very hard to find time to eat because you'll be playing matches for hours. It's no good playing on an empty stomach or being dehydrated. Venues can get very hot.

- Know your matches. This depends on if the brackets are released early. If have been, see who you're up against. If it's a name you recognise, make sure you know the match-up. This could give you an advantage when going into your next tournament match.

- Using spare time. If you have any free time while you are waiting for a match or game to start, use it for scouting strong players. Watch their matches, find their weakness, learn their play styles, etc. This gives you a mental warm-up to what you will be facing further on in the bracket.

- Warm up in casuals before your matches. There is nothing worse than going into your first tournament game feeling stiff. Take some time to get on a set-up and loosen up.

 

Confidence

There is a fine line between confidence and cockiness. This discipline will be affected by your nature. Some people are naturally confident in what they do, some are not. Regardless, you can still be confident in your play. Stick to your game plan but have the confidence to adapt it if need be. You need to trust your own decisions because if you doubt yourself, you give your opponent a major advantage.

I've seen it countless times when someone drops a combo and they get punished, costing them the round. You can see it in their faces, they've been broken. Once you're been broken you will make more mistakes and take gambles you're not confident in taking. It happens to the best of them. Sometimes your worst enemy in a match is yourself. Becoming demoralised in a match can be the end of your tournament. Regardless of what happens in a match, play with confidence and learn from your mistakes because everyone makes them. The difference is that some people can pick themselves up and get their heads back in the game.

 

Composure

Good fighting game events bring the hype. The crowd chants, cheer, taunt and you can hear it all. Putting the background noise out of your mind is a good way to keep your composure. Direct all your focus on the game and the in-game sound. If you can't keep your concentration after say dropping a combo for example, you could be prone to more mistakes. Remaining focused will help you analyse your opponents play. More importantly it will let you analyse your own and you'll be able to adjust your mistakes quicker. There's only one real way to develop this skill and it's through playing in tournaments. If you're composed, you'll be consistent.

Another good technique to learn is the poker face. Don't give away anything in your facial expression. This applies for your body language as well. If you express your frustration, or lack of confidence to your opponent outside of the game, they'll exploit it. Don't give a tough opponent any extra help. Remain composed, hold your poker face.

Once you go to your first tournament you'll understand how different it is to playing at home or with friends. There is nothing to lose in an online match and plenty to lose at a tournament. No one wants their tournament to end after two matches. Always play to win but don't be disheartened if you don't succeed. In truth you learn more from losing than from winning. The only way to progress is to receive a beating and learn how to stop it from happening next time. Assist your in-game abilities with out of game techniques. If you get rid of your tournament jitters it will just be your skill versus your opponents.

 

Here are two videos showing examples. These are two tournament matches featuring myself. The first is from six months ago and the second is from last month. Both of them are against the same opponent. The game being played is Ultimate Marvel Vs Capcom 3.

The first is losers finals from Proving Grounds 3. I am up against Versus Scotland's Breslin, one of the strongest Marvel players in Scotland. Knowing how strong Breslin is and accepting that he was a better player gave him a head start. I had already told myself that my chances of winning are slim.

My lack of confidence affected my play. This can be seen early on in the match. I let Magneto keep me out and was forced to play his game. I ended up eating damage and in panic, tried to open him up. Captain America dies and Wolverine comes in. I do better here but because mainly of the match-up. I land a hit on Magneto and drop the combo. I know why I dropped the combo, no confidence, no composure. I do manage to kill Magneto and catch them with a basic incoming drill claw mix-up. This tells me he was worried about Wolverine and pressed a button in panic. I land a hit and drop two combos then panic x-factor, blowing my come back mechanic (x-factor increases a characters movement speed, damage and gives them health regeneration). That's the round over.

If you resume watching it is not difficult to see my mistakes. Part of it is to do with my ability at the time but it was also in part to my nervousness. My body language says it all. By the final round I'm doing better but a combo drop at the end costs me the game netting me third place.

The next match is at Proving Grounds 5. Once again I'm up against Breslin but this time I have a slightly different team and I have improved. I was more confident in myself because this is the most comfortable team I've played with in a long time. I'd put in the practice and knew straight away that I needed to play smart against a player of Breslin's level. The match starts at 27 minutes.

The middle of the first match looks pretty bleak. I get caught in a few air throws and lose two characters in a flash. What lost Breslin the game was not using his x-factor to amplify his Magneto's power. If he had done, he would have killed Doctor Doom easily and taking game one. This is a big moment in the set because Breslin changes from his main team. Personally I believe he should have kept to his original team because he played very well regardless of the loss. Dignitas Zak Bennett even points out that Breslin had been shaken up. This could have been because of my come back in the first game. It's very unnerving going from a clean victory to a loss. That can be all it takes to get mentally shut down.

Both videos show us losing the mental battle in the match. Proving Grounds 5 proved to me that I have developed as a player but there is still work to be done. I hope this article helps and I wish all of you success in your upcoming events. If you're new and going to your first tournament, enjoy it and learn as much as you can.