Dean[SG]'s Journal.

[Dean[SG]]

Hi everyone. I enjoy what Dime_X puts up on his journal, and thought id take part in posting my own training notes, experiences and also a way to vent insecurities i may have involving the game.
I also run a blog on Skullgirls as well which i won't link until i'm comfortable with making it more public.
Ok.. so.

Training Section;
Currently my team is Big Band/Cerebella. I use Band's l. Beat Extend for his assist, and have been tossing up for what to do with Cerebella as of late.
Big Band is interesting to try and find assist synergy with, especially with Bella.
Lock n Load is good, but compared to Big Band's Brass, its not as epic, even with the Armour.
I was recently told that f.HP may be a good assist to use as well, i have still yet to implement this assist in practice.
Currently i'm using Excellabella, which helps with those that get 'jump happy' and decently good for combo's as well.
Anyone who cares that can share their thoughts on good assists with Bella with Band on point would be fantastic.

I won't be picking up any new characters in the near future. My life is just Sassy Brass and High Flying Grapples for now.
Speaking of.. My Cerebella seems to be slacking, I will have to refer to Zidiane's guide again soon too. It's fantastic to have a resource like that to refer to when you want to learn a character.
A luxury that i currently do not seem to have with Big Band. No offence to those that have done guides for Bando, J.Slade's was fantastic. As of late, training has just been improvisation.

I have started to get aware of anti-airs as well, and properly learning how.
Anti-air's in almost every single guide iv looked at for a character or even on some introductions to FIGHTING GAMES, don't seem to talk about them, and even when they do it's "Yeah his s.LP is a rather quick and useful anti-air".

Knowing how they work and using them against other people have really helped, especially those that use a lot of air-dashes and those that love jump-ins.

Things i need to learn;
PBGC's: I don't fully understand the science behind this yet, Yaya has told me twice that its important in learning Big Band.
Parries: Also something that i don't understand fully yet. I'm getting better at it regardless, Its now more knowing when to parry, how multi-hit timing's work and doing counter attacks. Very confident that i will master this soon.
Mindgames with Bella: Knowing spacing for her grabs would be nice. Bella is the one character i need to master fully, doesn't matter how much skill i have with Band, Cerebella is the one that will be winning me my games.
Attitude: My mental state as of late has been trash. more on this some other time.

This is all i'm posting for now. Until next time.

 

[Dean[SG]]

New Years Post: (aka "me motivating myself to post gud").

Wow it has been months since i have posted.. i'll do it more i swear (no one cares, or maybe you do? ..no).

Still running Bella/Band. I love them too much to drop. Assists are different however. Band uses l. Extend because its good [and have been told its the best upper assist in the game] and Bella uses h.lnl.

Trying to learn a 3rd character (woot, no more double snaps killing half my team). Chosen Filia because i strongly believe that EVERY skullgirls player should know how to play either Filia or Double, knowing either 1 or both is fantastic.
Running Filia i use her c.MK assist because its a multi-hitting low so good for mix-ups/lockdown, (would rather not use hairball when i have lnl and like it a little better then hairball/copter. Just personal preference).

Still need to learn the following.

1. Defensive options and Frame Traps (been 6 months or so since my last post, still don't know the science behind PBGC's and i'm still not bold enough to parry. This needs attention).
2. To not be so introverted and play a lot more for a lot longer. And to not take losses to heart [like not be mad at losing ever, that would be nice] Make every game a learning experience and the main goal being to have fun. Maybe skype someone during training or something.
   
3. Constant. Team. Refinement.

If i need advice i'll post it here. Yay 2015.

 

[Dean[SG]]

Massive Improvement in the last couple of days.

• Spent 2 days of the new year learning the fundamentals of Hit-confirming and Frame advantage. Will attempt to practice this once a day.
  "Practice on Training Dummy with Random Block enabled, Follow up into combos off of successful hits, stop attacking if blocked. Do this successfully 5 times in a row".
  "If i continue the combo off a block, reset the number. If i don't follow up after a hit, reset the number, make the number bigger over time".
• Utilize assist calls to enhance advantageous situations.
• Learning to block/pushblock mix-ups.
  "Record a dummy to do a high/low, low/high, tickthrow and cross-up 3 times. Reset the count if i get hit". (If anyone knows how to learn defense better, please let me know).
• Filia now uses h.Hairball, Cerebella uses Cerecopter. Yay for pressure and okizeme.
• STILL NEED TO PLAY MORE PEOPLE. Not today though. Girlfriend is coming (someone post a Ned Stark meme with that on it).
  
• Learning how to observe situations and making decisions accordingly. (Where are am i and the opponent on the stage? What is the match-up? What assists are they using? When does he/her use that assist? How much health do we have? So on so forth).

Hope your new year has been off to a great start. Yay for posting more.

 

[Dean[SG]]

Starting to slack but i still feel progression flowing through my brain and fingertips.

• Hit-confirming with Filia has increased drastically. Big Band's is meh and Cerebella is interesting, i still make assumptions and auto-pilot a lot with her.
• Assist calling is better. Not great but better. Need to practice more Filia pressure execution.
• Learning a lot about frame data and HOW minus you can be before you get counter-hit (Parasoul may have moves that are minus on block, us l.Napalm Shot and you're k).(Skullgirls's Gangplank?).
• Still learning about being frame advantageous and disadvantageous. More research needed.
• Need to test Filia c.HP, Ringlet Spike on humaaannsss. I'm sure its just a gimmick.

Things i have on my team doing trial runs of my team.

• Running Filia on point with two close range assists is difficult, leaving me no cover. However the reversal and pressure i get from them are fitting.
  
• Running Big Band as Center is weird to me, as the only two dhc options are SSJ or Lvl 3. SSJ gets rid of my corner pressure, Lvl 3 i still don't think i should unless it will kill.
• Cerebella is still my end game character. Yet as i said above, i still make stupid assumptions with her. I think playing more Bella players will help this.

 

[Dean[SG]]

STIIILLLL SLACKING tho i did two player reviews and i got information out of it that was useful [when i should be learning how to code so i can job].
Dropped filia, want to learn Beowulf because Wrassling and Oki. Need good assist for Bella copter and Band extend assist team.

Two conclusions i came to about Skullgirls, One from learning Chess and another from Day[9] because he is my baefu.

One thing i learned about Chess at an intermediate level is that in the first few turns of the game, players have to scramble for better control over the middle of the board (first 8 squares are good, first 4 are better), And making a move outside of that middle section is not only a waste of a move but a waste of HALF THE GAME.
Comparing this i notice that a lot of newer SG players sit full screen or jump back and forth and that's their neutral because they don't want to eat anything ( I do it too, tiem to learn better) when they could be advancing and getting better positioning advantage, should learn more on that too.

The other thing was limiting the amount of information during a match.
Often times when playing and thinking about the match i over think things and it gets me killed, where in reality i think it may be better to just play solid, observe the player and not the team and play against the player and not the game. As it is a human condition that we just like LESS choices.

So thats a ramble. back to Sleepycast and sadness.

 

[Dime]

Controlling the center of the chess board is certainly a strong thing to do, in fact it is called a "classical" strategy as it is amongst the first strategies developed by paul morphy, first unofficial world chess champion, and subsequently by wilhelm steinitz, known as the father of modern chess.

However, around the 40's and 50's there came a new strategy, a strategy that said that a loaded frontal pawn front is actually a target. This system of thought came to be known as the "hypermodern" strategy. It would play out with fianchettoed bishops and control of the middle of the board through pieces and very small pawn moves. Its chief high end practitioner at the time aaron niemzowitch (nimzowich) he came very close to being the best player in the world achieving a rank as high as 5th best in the world at his peak. Hypermodernism and prophylaxis never took off like the classical strategy, but it did and still does hold a sway over chess theory especially in the opening.


The ultimate practitioner of the strategy would eventually become tigran petrosian. A literal genius like all world champions, he had the most innovative style. He rarely intended to win, he just wanted to stall and make people feel helpless. In one of his more famous games tigran actually pulls all of his pieces to the back rank, in midgame, and manages to win...he was the consummate turtle.


I bring this to light as a way to say, yes, what you have learned is very good and applicable. But dont fall in the intermediate trap and start thinking that the way some things are is the way that they are best.


The best way is the way that wins. That is the only metric :)

 

[Dean[SG]]

Doing this instead of coding or watching gllt's stream ( touchy one, isn't he..? )

1. Fuck you CM for dropping your stick intentionally when i started to do resets making every win against you few and meaningless but thank you CM for motivating me to fucking git gud.
I have played over 80+ games (estimation, maybe more or less but essentially it has been the most i have played for a long time). Here's a list of things i have and need to improve on.

Things i do gud now.

• PBC's (slightly)
• Less flow charting moves and playing my opponent and not the game. (flow charting means dealing with certain situations in an certain manner, making it easy for your opponent to learn what and when you do certain options and decisions).
• Spacing
• Better Execution
• Pressure, Resets and Mix-ups have gotten more consistent in play and have been doing them a lot more often. (fuck you cm, fuck you cm, fuck you cm but its all good).
  Was able to fuck with Rekisu yesterday by doing a cross-up on him while he was in the corner ( he said that it was disgusting and that it shouldn't have worked, i showed him tumble run into 360..)

Things needing to improve.

• Even though i do it less often, flow charting is still a big problem and a mold i am willing to break.
• Even BETTER Execution and dealing with constant pressure (Age did peacock midscreen pressure on me that i neither knew peacock could do nor knew how to deal with, so learning reversal and blockstun is important).
• Better neutral. It's tough to be a gangster grappler. Band Neutral i don't have problems with and is easily my main.

2. I have also took liberties in experimenting with my team and assist synergy.
I remember playing matches against Worldjem and him saying i rely too much on l.Beat Extend (Any assist actually, another thing willing to improve) to do my hits for me. No mix-ups, resets, pressure.. nothing.
He also showed me how he set up his team (which was Fortune point with Parasoul 4 - 6MP assist and Fukua 236HP assist) and how he was able to set up his assist to not only cover approach but also keep-away, meaning a reversal was almost unnecessary.

Reversals are good with Rushdown teams to change the momentum in your favor, with Keep-away teams they are fantastic for keeping them off you, resetting the zoning pattern. Cerebella though? it's tricky.
The current thing i'm testing (and what i was preaching to Rekisu last night) was "Why have an assist that makes your opponent think twice about going in on you when the point of playing a grappler is for you to be in their face and fuck with their mind?"

I'm experimenting with H. Brass assist at the moment over Extend for a while, mostly to keep playing times fresh but to also test what is ultimately better.
H.Brass is great for the Armour, long horizontal range and shit tonnes of stun on block, allowing me to do disgusting pressure when close. However they changed a few things, a minor one is that it doesn't hit full screen, and the big one is that on hit it is tech able, defeating the purpose of it.
Extend is a good option as well due to the fact that it IS UNDOUBTEDLY THE BEST REVERSAL ASSIST IN THE GAME. With amazing horizontal and vertical range. The only thing i see it being useful for is when you have your opponent in the corner and you don't want them to get out. Brass does this well too..

It's just an experiment to try out both and to sort of prove that Beat Extend is not "meta" or "compulsory" for every team with Big Band in it. [So maybe it's going back to day 1 BB release?]

 

[Dean[SG]]

25 matches against CM. (i won one match but i don't count it due to technical difficulties).

CM is a careful thinker and focuses on playing the player and not the game. He won't do anything that will over extend himself intentionally. He does a handful of resets, visibly implanting the idea of what he can do into your brain, while he keeps the dumber, disgusting ones kept away in his back pocket. programming you to think "is it a,b or c?" when it is actually d.

His Valentine adapts to you. He will sit back and wait for the opponent to expose himself then shift, then shift back when it is disadvantageous or to reset the opponents mental state.

Painwheel is like his Valentine but with less effort (not in the bad sense of the word either) He likes to keep a strong air game when he can and will use either hatred install or j.mp to dominate trades and spacing, making it difficult to trade with and even harder to counter (you also will note the counter and keep that in mind).

His Big Band isn't the strongest member of his team compared to PW and Val so i never consider it a threat (especially as the last member, outtake early?)
His on the team because l.Beat Extend. He still plays him well.

He needs to go to America. Seriously.

Shit i took from the set.
1. LEARN TO PLAY THE OPPONENT AND NOT THE GAME. STOP FLOW CHARTING MOVES AND THINKING THEY WILL WORK.
2. Learn better execution so i stop doing fimble motions like 623 instead of 236 or even 214? [how did i..]
3. Smarter Neutral.
4. Better snap judgments on footsies, spacing, trades ext.
5. Better defense. I'm blocking high, game. stop saying i'm blocking low. [best way to avoid it is to not be in those positions at all..]
6. Re-evaluate comparisons between Beat Extend and Brass Knuckle. Brass is predictable, Beat Extend is too quick to BE predictable. Just have to compare hitstun..
7. Re-evaluate how i read my opponents reset options.
8. Realize that there will always be players above my skill level and that all of this training will be futile anyways.

 

[Dime]

Well, i personally havent been avoiding you. Ill play you whenever you want, assuming im not busy. But my play time is extremely non existent right now, work takes up pretty much all my time when im away and family takes up most of the rest when im at home :(

 

[Shuffleupagus]

I think everyone is just in a busy period, Dean, including myself. Not many people are playing against each other at the moment from what í've seen.

 

[Dean[SG]]

Journal time.

1. Neutral Throwing has been a bane for me personally and it is one that i have not taken the time to refine learning how to react to them.
Currently i can never mentally and physically prepare myself for them. Even when i know their coming sometimes i get thrown anyways due to horrible input [Training mode again].

2. New team.
Bella (h.LnL)/ Band (Take a guess..) / Double [M. Bomber].

3. Double Time!
I'm slowing starting to get the hang of her, she is the simplest character in the roster and one of the most balanced and resilient.
#Chairman Mao did a tactic of doing l.hornet as a reversal into puddle. Should note that for reference.

4. Neutral is better.
...sort of. Zoner teams suck but Double balances it out. Least i don't do bella run command as a go-to anymore.

Ok sleep time. bai

 

[IsaVulpes]

3. Double Time!
she is the simplest character in the roster

I'm not sure about that.. in a sense yes, but when actually playing her that is a bit of a different story~

#Chairman Mao did a tactic of doing l.hornet as a reversal into puddle. Should note that for reference.

If this is talking about on-block, that's massively unsafe and the opponent can just Jab you out of it.

 

[Dean[SG]]

I'm not sure about that.. in a sense yes, but when actually playing her that is a bit of a different story~

True, which i am finding out and learning about each day. I do like her though, she is the perfect endgame character.

If this is talking about on-block, that's massively unsafe and the opponent can just Jab you out of it.

No as a reversal like "nope going to catch you mashing so i'll do this". Was clever enough to note.

 

[Dean[SG]]

Aaaaayyyyyy got back from Supanova and have been telling errybody that i saw Jason David Frank (aka The MOTHA FUKIN Green Ranger) and made him aware of the existence of Beowulf and his Green Ranger palette and is nothing but stoked to hear this news. Made sure to tell Mike to pass on to the rest of the team. So there's that, maybe call him up and ask him to do a voice pack if you have the cash, or maybe he is a nice guy and will just do it. That sounds like a suggestion, it's not but it would be cool to be a thing.

Ok training stuff:

1. I can do neutral good now. Maybe i'll approach and defend now. Maybe.
2. Resetting got gud.
3. Throwing Tech got better. But will need a lot more work.

I Will look into re-learning the game from scratch.

 

[Dean[SG]]

Ok so i want to discuss my approach to mind games and psychology, specifically for me.

Currently i feel like i "fear" being in a situation where i have to GUESS what the opponent can do.
High? Low? Throw? Cross-up High/Low?
Is he going to reversal me? It overwhelms me D:
I fear it because i can never cover ALL the options my opponent can do, even the obvious ones.

That's why i tend to favor Oki or pressure situations where i feel more in control.

I will have to practice my execution a hell of a lot more (tired of getting 360 instead of QC motions and vice versa).
As for psychology, how should i learn to approach neutral situations? How should i think about what my opponent thinks about in a match?

 

[Cadenza]

Step 1: think of your tools vs theirs.
step 2: the range you guys are at and what tools are most likely to be used

Most importantly thinking of a round start will be crucial because of the space you two will be next to each other. This also will impact the pace you set the match at.

 

[Dime]

Ok so i want to discuss my approach to mind games and psychology, specifically for me.

Currently i feel like i "fear" being in a situation where i have to GUESS what the opponent can do.
High? Low? Throw? Cross-up High/Low?
Is he going to reversal me? It overwhelms me D:
I fear it because i can never cover ALL the options my opponent can do, even the obvious ones.

That's why i tend to favor Oki or pressure situations where i feel more in control.

I will have to practice my execution a hell of a lot more (tired of getting 360 instead of QC motions and vice versa).
As for psychology, how should i learn to approach neutral situations? How should i think about what my opponent thinks about in a match?

The primary things I can see in your game that may or may not need addressing:

For whatever reason you call beat extend from full screen... And you are very predictable with your BE calls. This isn't necessarily an issue against me when I'm playing wacky teams... But BE is something you want to be calling correctly or else you get your assist locked out and have to turtle for the next couple of seconds.

As far as fearing mixups, that's a healthy trait to have that every player has. No one is walking into their opponents mixup unless they have a read.

Not getting mixed up or being in a space to get mixed up is as fundamental as trying to get your own mixups off.

As far as psychology goes, what ive always done is look at my opponents mental state:

Scared, confident, attacking, neutral etc
And figure out what they like to do in those states. Most people have clusters of moves they use when in whatever psychological state, and when you cross reference that knowledge with spacing as well, you can come up with some very on the money reads.

Scared is the primary one to identify for me. Look for tendencies like mashing a poke, mashing an assist, holding upback, holding downback, mashing super or tag, trying to do nothing and just react...etc

After scared, the other one I want to identify is confidence. Confidence is what your opponent will use for their attacking or keepaway flowchart. So figuring out what it is will serve you well.


Then you can tailor your game to counter your opponent based on how he is playing. This is the primary basis of getting reads and stuff besides rote analytical reads.

 

[Dean[SG]]

A decent journal entry to write because i DO feel improvement for once! (At least against the people that can give a shit).

• Eliza on point using c.MK assist because i use Copter, i don't see the point of running two spins and i don't personally want to use LnL, yet. (Though H.Osiris Spin does fuck tonnes of chip so i will look into it..).
• Footsies has become more transparent to me. I still need to think more about what the opponent can do against mine, his options ext.
• Reset/mix-ups vs what the opponent reacts to have become easier to learn, still needs refinement in this area (more reset options in multiple points, figure out what works against whom ext).
• Neutral is strong but predictable due to hiding behind priority (Dime_X's words). More ways to approach and bait out the opponent then. Turtle style's seem to be strong..

I have been enjoying the game and learning has been easier now.

 

[Dean[SG]]

Ooooh i found Eliza tech!

1. I.ad - Grab-Whiff. (Why have i not been doing this before?)
   Can lead into and empty dash into a low, overhead, throw and cross-up high/low mix-up (after an air-grab i get a free cross-under too).
2. Sekhmet Cross-unders! (Thank you Woofly!).

Neutral needs work. Mostly in Mobility and mind-games. Will come in time.

 

[Dean[SG]]

I was about to make a post just bitching and moaning, instead i will just ask for advice on some things.

• How do i block high/lows/cross-ups quicker and more efficiently? My hands don't move quick enough and i go cross-eyed a lot and i crack :P.
• How do i start to learn better neutral?

Thats about it for now. Any advice will help.

 

[Age]

I was about to make a post just bitching and moaning, instead i will just ask for advice on some things.

• How do i block high/lows/cross-ups quicker and more efficiently? My hands don't move quick enough and i go cross-eyed a lot and i crack :P.
• How do i start to learn better neutral?

Thats about it for now. Any advice will help.

A few things that you probably know about;
-blocking high when people are in the air (generally) can give you some basic high/low defense

-Pushblocking and using that to absolute guard can protect you from someone using lockdown to lead into a mixup

-option selects such as crouch block -> throw tech or parry -> throw tech can help when people are using a predictable timing

If your hands are too slow, I think using prediction more so that you're blocking that direction ahead of time is one way. I crack under successful mixups too, I suspect most people do. My advice would be to get familiar with the mixups that your opponent is doing, play against them a lot and hopefully your brain can find patterns easier that way. Also, if they run solid mixups, defending correctly ends up being guesswork, and you will guess wrong sometimes. You can improve; find solutions to gimmick mixups, but against solid stuff you have to avoid it or accept that you'll lose a chunk.

Where to start learning better neutral? Look at replays or even just think about the matchup between games. What situations are leading to you getting hit, or getting locked down? Do you have a different move you could try in that situation that might give you an advantage instead? Are you whiffing a lot of attacks and losing the initiative? Is there a range where you feel like you can't do anything to them? Are your assists being used well or are they whiffing/getting stuffed? Can you punish theirs?

If you think of something along those lines between matches, even if it's something simple like 'I haven't been super jumping, so when I jump over them I can't hit them on the way down..." You can approach that next game with that in mind and give new stuff a go.

 

[Dean[SG]]

.

Yes it is horrible quality, i need my editing software back :(
But yes, the first batch of matches between me and Rekisu.

 

[Dime]

The very first thing I noticed in the first minute is that rekisu is pushblocking all your jumpins... Like all of them, and that he is using parasouls target combo as AA. Both of those things lose big time to your emptyjump call late BE assist... So that's an immediate adjustment you should have made.

I'll wait until you upload team versus team videos for further critique though because I don't like solo play in sg and it hurts my eyes to look upon it


!!!!!!!

LOL

 

[Dean[SG]]

I'll wait until you upload team versus team videos for further critique though because I don't like solo play in sg and it hurts my eyes to look upon it

Solo is fine. xD Solo Soul does fuck tonnes of danngggage.

 

[Dean[SG]]

Back from my 6 day vaycay with the lady :) Got around to playing a bunch of different games that [sort of] helped SG.
I went to a lan party and played Age of Empires and understood placement a bit better and i scored my first Draw against a local chess player in my town from playing more defensively.

I just finished a 14 game set with Ledd (sad he doesn't play a lot :( ) and took notes halfway during the set.
Only quick notes of course. (Thank you @Dolfinh)

Things i did well:

+ I felt like i was a lot smarter in my Neutral and observing what my opponent does in neutral.

+ I did a lot more PBGCs.

Things that need to improve:

- Reacting to resets. Still not fast enough yet to make snap judgments on character animations.

 

[Dime]

LEDD is one of the most naturally talented players we have... But he no longer really plays. Cool that you got some games in with him.. That's like finding buried treasure especially if he was in fighting form.

 

[Dean[SG]]

LEDD is one of the most naturally talented players we have... But he no longer really plays. Cool that you got some games in with him.. That's like finding buried treasure especially if he was in fighting form.

I asked him why he doesn't play as much as he should, he says ping is an issue and that he got burned out. Both rationally fine.

 

[Dime]

Yeah he was burned out on certain people's attitudes. I won't name any names but I was one of them. Not the highlight of my SG career but people need to have a thick skin in the fgc so I didn't lose to much sleep over it either.

He was one of my favourite people to play against though. I could always feel his skill when we played and it was exciting :)

 

[Dean[SG]]

I am immensely sad. SG is starting to burn out here in AUS D: most players are dropping and moving to other games (I'm going to go to SFV to actually develop fundamentals as i have grew up on SG mechanics alone) and not a lot of people bother to message me a lot for games :(. I'll still be playing as much as possible and will be patiently waiting for Skullgirls 2 :)

 

[ClarenceMage]

If you actually hung out in the group chat you'd know that it's been going just about as strong as ever(which, was never that strong in the first place). Don't blame others for not messaging you for games, when you don't hang out in THE place to organise games with people. Which I've told you to do years ago, and you aren't doing. Hmmmmmmm....

The only people that aren't playing it are people who don't give a proper shit about it or improving in it anyway. The current core group of players (Me, Nuewt, Yoma, Shuffle) that actually consistently play the game are consistently playing the game still, real life commitments notwithstanding.

 

[Dean[SG]]

If you actually hung out in the group chat you'd know that it's been going just about as strong as ever

The post was made on Monday and i came to that conclusion yesterday. Wasn't my intent to make into a big thing it was just that a lot of players feel like they are disappearing. The rest was just general depression but what eves.

 

[Dime]

You really don't have to explain yourself dean. Feels are feels and sometimes you have to let them out depending on who you are. Cm is right, you know where to get games if you want them. Beyond that though... Unless he's got some (SG) game related advice I wouldn't take anything he says seriously at all.

Don't be depressed dude. You've got a beautiful girl that loves you and you like me are decent at games. Try and make sure that that is enough for you. If it isn't then take steps to improve in whatever area you desire, I get depressive once in awhile, the cure for me has always to become busy. I've always defined depression for me at least as the consequence of inactivity. Simply put, busy people a lot of times don't have time to be depressed (also make sure you are getting sun... That's also a huge factor) but yeah... If you need to vent then vent. Just IMO try to not JUST vent... Try to do something about it as well. And I haven't completely quit SG. I'm just doing some hyper slo mo/doing other shit stuff. I will more than likely still compete hopefully enough to go even with most AU peeps... But perhaps not. Working on other things. Just do you homie :)

You good. And don't let that old sourpuss get you down. He only affects you negatively if you let him. Not everyone wants to do things the way others do and that's perfectly fine :)