Vancouver Underdogs 3/8/2014
Things that went well (Known):
- Remembered to stretch hands/wrists at the start of sets and between sets
- Remembered to slow down and take time to think about the previous match's flow/highlights before confirming ready for the next match
- Conscious effort to not burn out on Skullgirls casuals prior to the tourney
- Remembered to breathe deeply and stay physically relaxed during every set, while keeping the kill-mind up front
- Remembered to play as basic/simple as possible until I needed to escalate the situation to crazier things
Things that went well (Known Unknown):
- Stayed frosty against the three players I expected to lose to, and beat one (twice!) while generally doing better than I expected against the other two.
- Recognizing that Valentine was not ready and cutting her from the team to stick to something you're more versed in. Even if it's more pressure, I am glad I made the right decision and worked through the disadvantageous matchups in earnest rather than trying to sell out on something that isn't ready for production.
Things that went well (Unknown unknown):
- Offline teching and blocking is real!!!! I feel like the game is actually everything I ever hoped it was amagad!!!! <3 <3 <3 <3
- Slept well the night before the tourney. This one was all Goose's excellent organization/driving. <3
- Being in great company that helps you stay relaxed and makes sure you have a fun time, win lose or draw. @Choose Goose, Young Duckling, @GirlyStyle, @Skarmand and @CorpseFeast are the greatest.
- Everyone playing (myself included) played a fair bit under their ability due to nerves. I had a lot of knowledge of people's general playstyles going into the tournament, and while things went as expected, they didn't go NEARLY as badly as I'd estimated. I think moving forward, unless it's a very big tournament where national-level players with a lot of experience in majors (i.e., nerves of steel) are playing, be a bit less conservative in estimates.
- Kind of related to the previous point, but yay top 3 at my first offline event. That is much better than the 0-2 I dreaded. <3
Things that went badly (Known):
- Telepillar. It's somewhat of an absolution to see others legitimately have a hard time with it too, but it's lab time.
- Skarmand's technical play in general. Aside from Telepillar, he was very smart about either reversaling difficult-to-see approaches/mixups with MP Bang, or buying his way out with Parasoul level 3.
- So many dropped combos. I've always waffled on whether it should be [Throw > fleshstep > st.LK] or [throw > dash > c.MP] as a matter of consistency, and I absolutely knew something like this would happen because of it. It definitely shows in these matches. I was a bit nervous, but I can't really say I was nervous enough for it to affect my play. Part of this is getting used to the way offline and PS3 looks/feels for the first time, and a lot of it was just really focusing 100% on neutral/mixup permutations and then dropping combos after getting the hit and dividing my attention to the point that combo execution suffered.
Things that went badly (Known Unknown):
- Girlystyle's fundamentals and adaptive ability. Especially the point where he really played it patient/safe with c.LK/throw mixups with his Double once he recognized that I am the patient/blocking type in the corner. That was an especially good series of decisions on his part, and I feel he's generally great at recognizing when he needs to pivot from offense to defense and vice versa, while staying relatively difficult to read.
Things that went badly (Unknown unknowns):
- PS3 pad is not a viable long-term solution. A PS1/PS2 controller + converter or something else needs to be available. Be sure to get a spare. You will probably not be this lucky again.
- Eating properly the day of the tournament. Two donuts, some donut holes, coffee, and three cans of Arizona tea is not the stomach I need during loser's finals. Aim for chicken caesar something, leafy green sandwich, Pho, or soup of some kind next time.
- Not having a hoodie/umbrella en route to the venue. I was very sad to be on stream with rained-on hair after spending the time blow-drying and straightening the day before.
- Not giving as much back to Goose and GirlyStyle as I would have liked for all their hospitality. Next time more presents, more snacks, more help with gas, more everything. <3
General Thoughts:
It felt like player pattern analyses, adaptive spacing, and fundamental responses were all skills that put me ahead in my matches, and my patience really distinguished me from other players, even if my fundamentals aren't phenomenal in the grander/national scale of things. I feel like this needs to be the number one priority in practice at all times moving forward. Combos, resets, everything else are all nice, but ultimately gimmicks in comparison to your ability to play the player, and not the matchup.
It's why GirlyStyle cleanly beat me, and Telepillar aside, a lot of why I lost my grip on the few advantageous moments I had against Skarmand. If that had been in better shape going into the tourney, I might've at least been on even footing with Skarmand going into the set. Girlystyle's level of play will likely be a tougher nut to crack, and Satan playing at 100% would likely be the worst of everything on a fundamental and technical level. Skarmand is a bit of a prodigy that is still getting better all the time though, so I need to work harder to keep up with his natural talent.
There needs to be a concise training schedule. Not just play when you find time and write down the things you stumble across, but an actual constructed regimen with clear goals and a set time to stop, so that you're reflecting on your practice/play outside of that time instead of just grinding it out aimlessly.
A set schedule and organization is also probably necessary to come up with a realistic and accessible (but deep/diverse) cache of tech and modes of play that you can come back to again and again when you need it in specific situations/matches, as opposed to just playing basic and winging it.