Never think this.
I know that SRK is kinda full of assholes, but at tourneys people are way chill.
The bottom line is that there will ALWAYS be new tourney players going 0-2 and getting peaced out by pros.
Its NOT embarrasing to be one of those players. I’m one of those players right now, and I have NO shame in admitting that.
EVERY one of those pros went to their first few tourneys and got bodied by more experienced players.
Face that fear. Go compete. You will love it even if you lose.
yeah man, everyone has been perfected.
no one really is an asshole enough to say “hey, you suck, get the fuck out” at a tourney. SRK allows anonymity so people can be as elitist as they want, but saying that at a tourney will most likely alienate them more than the noob.
That’s the thing about tournaments…there’s MUCH LESS pressure when it is your first tournament. You just don’t realize it. No one remembers what the new guy did at the tournament because it’s the new guy and no one knows who he is. Majority of top players (at least in my area) tend to not want to go near the new guys cuz the new guys usually want to ask a whole lot of questions about the scene or just talk to you about random non SF stuff that you generally don’t care about. So if you aren’t trying to create any attention you’ll be fine cuz no one else will be looking your way any ways unless you are actually winning against someone known. Otherwise you’re a ghost. If anything you’ll go home wondering why no one acted like you existed.
A lot of times people aren’t even sure you are there to actually play in the tournament cuz there are definitely people who come to tournaments but don’t actually play cuz they’re too bitch like you. Just come, get beat and learn from it. You can’t be the best if you never fight against the best. You’ll just stay at home crappy forever and never realize that by showing everyone you are crap that you are on your way to being better than crap.
A real warrior in the making is one who realizes he must reveal his weaknesses in order to gather his strengths. No one talks to new people at tourneys unless the new people come up and talk to them. Otherwise no one is gonna care you exist there. You’re just another person at the tournament. This is especially true with major tourneys where you get a lot of people from other local scenes or just random players who have heard of the event and want to enter for the first time. I just expect everyone to play badly but prepare myself for the random guy that might be good. If I’ve never seen the person before or I watch them play a casual match and see them making clear mistakes…I can instantly know not to be afraid of them.
Yet…that’s all I’m going to do. Put notes in my head. I’m not going to let him know how crappy he is or tell him he shouldn’t come to tourneys. The only people who end up doing well at tourneys are the ones who start where everyone else did. Looking like they don’t belong at tourneys.
Out of curiousity, what makes people so nevous at a fighting game tournament? I read through this entire thread and I guess I just cant see it. Is it the crowd, the possible match up, or is it just being worried about losing? For me the crowd would make things less nerve racking and increase your focus, especially if it is a off the wall crazy screaming crowd. The match up and by match up I mean the person you draw, would also either make it a hell yes moment or a who is this guy/girl moment.
Example, if I was at a tournament and I drew Alex Valle, my first thought would be “Oh man, I cant wait to wreck his world” “He is about to get all of this” and even after he double perfects me, my thoughts would be exactly the same for the next match. As far as losing, well you are either going to win or you are going to lose, so why stress over it? But I have never been in a fighting game tournament, so I am basing what I wrote off my experience in playing sports on a very serious level and I remember nerves was never an issue, I do recal being so hyped that I wasnt able to focus.
So I am curious what really makes you nervous at a tournament?
For me, its not nerves per se…its that my brain is distracted and somewhat overwhelmed by the whole thing.
I mean you have:
The clicking of dozens of buttons.
The setup next to you is often loud as fuck so you hear it more than your own match.
People walking past you and bumping into you while you are trying to play a serious match.
People shouting, clapping, and generally getting hype all around you.
The TV is NOT what you are used to, so that takes a while to adjust…but you don’t have ANY time to adjust unless you played casuals on THAT tv.
I know that the timing differences between PS3 and 360 are supposed to be unnoticeable, but even playing at home I could swear that my buddies PS3 feels just a bit slower than my 360. This could definitely just be in my head though.
The room is HOT AS FUCK and smells horrible. Some of these motherfuckers need a dental plan and some major shower/laundry sessions before a tourney. You bitches know who you are.
**Please do NOT take this as bitching…these are the things that distract me when I am playing and THAT is what messes me up…its not so much nerves, as it is me being uncomfortable in such a chaotic environment.
But that is exactly WHY you have to go to as many tourneys as possible…to acclimate yourself to the “tourney environment” and be able to play regardless of what is going on around you.
It wasn’t until the last match of my second tourney that I was able to finally find the right mental space where I could tune all of that out and just play. **
I still lost (barely) but that feeling of really PLAYING well in a tourney match made me hungry as hell to win at my next one.
Hopefully I’ll see some of you at SB!
Thanks Para a lot of what you listed I would have never even thought about having not been to one. Appreciate the reply. :tup:
lol cosigned.
my first tournament was a fuddruckers tournament in norcal (everyone who has been there should know why this apply’s) and it was HOT. the most recent one there had fuddruckers refusing to turn the AC on in their place (we are up in the attic of this resteraunt) and downstairs in the dining room it’s over 90… and you know it’s bad when you step out of the attic into the 90 degree dining room and think to yourself, wow… it’s sooo much nicer down here. it had to be like 100-110 in that room which meant even if everyone had JUST showered before going there it was gonna stink to high heaven with everyone sweating up there.
that all being said, tourneys are a great place to learn new shit, because people bring their A-games each and every time. hell i got to face afro-cole in my second round of that tourney, you can’t really measure how much you can grow off matches like that.
i would love to enter tournaments if i ever heard of any in my area. i live in new england,and havent even heard of game store tourneys.if someone could put a link or list of tourneys id appreciate it.
tournament is also a great way to see how many weird looking people there are.
I always shiver when a match starts (except vs AI). I just cant keep myself calm. After like 3/4 games im good to go. I think im gonna puke if im in a final! This is the reason why i dont enter tourneys.
I’ve only been to one tourney and it was a random at ctf. its a shame because im def not too scared to enter. I have bullshit happen. like class on the days of tourney or like for the past few I’ve been in and out because of fam bullshit. shit sucks. but it’s all good. luck seems to be turning up though lol.
Dude that ain’t no good excuse. There are plenty of people i’ve seen above 26 going there. secondly, your gonna probably get schooled by someone ANYWAY so just go. I’m like trash in my own humble opinion but I still go there and face off against the locals like autodemon and LI joe. I’ve even gone against andre and flash metroid quite a few times. You learn from the matches. I tell you, bison mirrors are def no sweat for me now and I can handle vipers, akumas, and sagats with alot more ease after playing them. Just GO!:rolleyes:
EDIT: sorry for the double post.
Daigo is 27, jwong is 24 if im correct.
I didn’t mention their age once so I don’t know why your quoting me; and honestly that doesn’t mean a thing to me. it’s just a number. to me, they and everyone else that that plays fighting games is just “one of us”. So they are better. ok? Play them anyway. keep your nerves about you. try to gain something out of it. and when its pro vs pro, spectate and learn from them.
You quoted Deteknician about age should not being an excuse. I only wanted to help by posting the ages of some top players.
I find that an iPod/mp3 player helps tune out a lot of the background noise and help keep you focused.
Amen, Fudd’s was hot as shit that day. I had to put ice in my hat just to keep my head cool.
alright. Thanks for clearing that up. and yeah, that should even further show him along with previous post in this thread that your never too old… well… ok. thats not true. but you get what im saying.
I use to be a ‘scurred’ player, but I entered my first tournament at the age of 10 playing SF2 and did fairly well, placing fourth out of a pool of 40-50 players. Unfortunately, the arcades are dead here so I haven’t had the chance to participate in a SF tournament for quite some years. I only get the nerves bad while waiting for my matches, but I seem to calm down once the match actually starts. I’m sure it’s that way for a lot of today’s tournament players aswell.
I was scared when I entered my first tournament, but I finished 6th out of 32 people, so I was pretty happy I ended up going. We have one tournament every two or three months here. =/ We don’t even have Ranbats or anything of the kind. I wish I lived in SoCal.
Being under tournament pressure can definitely help you but it is not necessary. To my knowledge, the best kof2k2 player in japan, supposedly named Ugushi, has only entered one tournament. He’s considered the best according to many people over there.