The John of the Ice Climbers (and I'm sure other characters as well)

Link to original post: [drupal=4224]The John of the Ice Climbers (and I'm sure other characters as well)[/drupal]



I have noticed recently that by reading philosophy, my Brawl game has improved dramatically. At the same time, I have also noticed more improvement in my game when talking Brawl with top players that have little to no technical knowledge of Ice Climbers. Right now, I'm going to open up a little bit as to why I decided to even do this blog in the first place. It begins with the mentality of the Ice Climbers.

The following is the primary reason as to why nearly every Ice Climber main, myself included, lost in their last tournament. I lost to [insert name here]. I would have beaten him if I didn't drop my chain grabs."

For example: I lost to Kira Flax in tournament recently. I would have beaten him if I didn't drop my chain grabs.

There are days I wonder if I'll ever get past the technical threshold of consistently chain grabbing under pressure. For the life of me, I haven't been able to achieve the perfection that I need in order to compete at the highest level. It isn't for a lack of trying, given the level of technical work I routinely put in on all aspects of the ICs. Lately, I've begun to question if it is humanly possible for that level of precision, the primary evidence being that no IC main has really achieved what it seems the character is clearly capable of on every grab.

I am not ready to admit that it isn't possible. I can't be ready to admit that. I was actually talking to one of the higher level IC mains in the country the other day about consistency under pressure, and it seemed he was also having a similar dilemma.

For what it's worth, I can admit that I am not perfect. But I am not ready to believe that I can't become perfect. Right now, I will positively not 0-death people every time. In the future, I am positive I'll be able to at some point.

In actuality, I see the CG as a microcosm of the irony prevalent in the IC character as a whole. In terms of game mechanics, outside of mashing, the chain grab exists in isolated control by one player. The IC player is the only factor into whether a chain grab is successful to completion (outside of the exceptions like stage hazards and explosions). If that's the case, then messing up is entirely within the IC player's control. Success is entirely within the IC player's control as well. Yet despite all of the control, we are hard pressed to convert automatically on something that lies only in our hands.

In the same regard, it becomes an even larger internal battle. This internal battle is fairly universal and exists for every character, not just Ice Climbers. Another Coelho gold nugget sort of outlines the reasons of the struggle:

After having won many archery contests, the town champion went to the Zen master.

- I am the best of all - he said. - I didn’t study religion, never sought help from the monks, and succeeded in becoming the finest archer in the whole region. I heard that, for a time, you were the best archer in the region, and ask you: was it necessary to become a monk in order to learn to shoot?

- No - replied the Zen master.

But the champion was not satisfied: he took an arrow, placed it in the bow, fired it and hit a cherry which was very far away, smiling, as if to say: “you might have saved your time, devoting yourself only to technique.”

And he said: I doubt whether you could do that.

Without looking in the least bit worried, the master went inside, fetched his bow, and began to walk towards a nearby mountain. On the way, there was an abyss which could only be crossed by an old bridge made of rotting rope, and which was almost collapsing: with complete calm, the Zen master went to the middle of the bridge, took his bow and placed an arrow in it, then aimed at a tree on the far side of the precipice, and hit his target.

- Now it is your turn - he kindly told the young man, as he returned to firm ground.

Terrified as he gazed down at the abyss below his feet, the young man went to the spot and fired, but his arrow veered wide of the mark.

- That is why the discipline of meditation was worthwhile - concluded the master, when the young man returned to him. - You may have great skill with the instrument you choose for your livelihood, but it us useless, if you cannot command the mind which uses that instrument.

Click to expand...

Ice Climbers have a unique attribute of having a steep amount of technical depth to the character. Sometimes this depth is overwhelming for players and it's easy to drown in it. I hate thinking of how many times I've heard, "I don't want to learn that because it's hard." I mean, it would be easy to budge because some of things I advocate as options are almost frame perfect, however that would lead me down a slippery slope. I start to get discouraged when the primary means to victory are starting to become "too hard". Too be honest, it should be discouraging. In order to master the character, I first have to master my mentality. More depth doesn't mean more room to drown. It means more room to swim.

I don't believe in "too hard". It's a cop out. You learn the basic and advanced technical aspects of your character. When a new discovery comes out, you learn to adapt it into your gameplay if it's warranted. Don't immediately dismiss attempting to achieve perfection just because it's "too hard". Things that are within my control to execute on are my responsibility. If I fail to execute, it's a failure on my part. So to amend the original example: I lost to Kira Flax in tournament recently. I would have beaten him if I was better than he was. But he was better, so he won.

Next time there won't be any excuses. I want to win and lose on the merit of my decision making in gameplay rather than the merit of my tech skill focus. And on the other side of the equation, I wish the same exact thing for everyone else that I play with or against.

Keep Chasing It,
DeLux

(Lux) said:

In actuality, I see the CG as a microcosm of the irony prevalent in the IC character as a whole. In terms of game mechanics, outside of mashing, the chain grab exists in isolated control by one player.

Click to expand...

wat

youre going to have to explain this. I dont see the irony in a character who relies on chaingrabbing, only being controlled by the one player (isnt this the case for all characters?). I also dont see how you can have a microcosm of irony which would imply the irony extends to and involves all other aspects of the character and I'm quite sure they can only chain grab via grabbing you...

I don't understand what you're trying to say.

Firstly, what is the irony of using IC's?
Like, explicitly state it. I dont see what is ironic about them.

Secondly, a microcosm means a miniature representation/model. Considering I dont see what is ironic about the IC's in general, I dont see how the chaingrabs are a microcosm of this irony and even if some part of them is ironic, how a chaingrab represents that is... hard to understand, at the least.

Oh, irony of the chain grab is that from a game standpoint it puts a player completely in control of a situation. At the same time, the character is limited by a player who isn't in control of his own mind.

The chain grab isn't the only aspect of the character that this dichotomy of tech potential and mental ability to execute exists. It extends to nearly aspect of the character. Thus a microcosm.

Good motivation, I like it man. Keep in mind though, perfection should not be a goal that must be reached at all costs...Rather, it's a goal to keep you moving forward and pushing in that direction.

I like Lux's mentality, very warrior. =D

Right, Jesse.. if you say you are perfect in anyway, you stop your growth... since what's there to learn?

At very high level, it basically turns into, the first one to do a mistake will get punished. It's pretty frustrating at times when you fail like a simple waveland off the platform and then you airdodge instead.. and you die because of it. Looking past the frustration.. I know now what causes these things, it's definitely the pressure of a stronger opponent. Not because I want to beat him so badly, it's because their style is special. If you value the intelligence as to why players do certain things, it will affect you, it affects everyone in a subtle way. The psychological aspect of smash is really magical. I don't know if it's just me that feels that way.. but ya that's what I think. If you pay attention enough, you can see how the opponent feels as well, as you play.

Managing the pressure is a challenge for everyone, but if you want to clear your mind then you better focus on the moment as much as possible.. remember a single thought can greatly influence your performance, whether it's in your hands or not is not important, just punish the **** of the opponent.. that's all there is to it. =P

So the CGing thing is all in your head.

I suggest Climber mains act more introverted. Block out EVERYTHING. It's just you, your controller, and the screen. You should be too busy focusing on doing your CG correctly to notice the tournament pressure.

I'm an aspiring musician (ask a music professor sometime about the amount of consistency that has to go into music--if you mess up 10% of the times you have an opportunity to in Smash, you're unstoppable. If you mess up 10% of the time in music, you're junior-high level, tops) and this mindset has led me to tons of success--I don't necessarily think I'm that good, I just shut out pressure incredibly effectively.

and im pretty certain that in most peoples minds, when they finally land that grab with IC's they subconsciously and immediately come into a completely different mind. like they are playing two different games, and when they finally get a grab, they have to start playing a different game. if that makes any sense at all. its just your mind jumping around because you are just trying to become aware of everything possible at all times, try to play IC's one day with a huge lack of sleep or while just going thru the motions and not really focusing on the tournament, or the yelling, just with a clear mind.

brawl IC having alot of "technical" depth to em?

...are you being serious...?

i could understand if you were talking about the Melee eskimos...but really the brawl ones...?

no theyre the easiest charcter to play in the game

+1 to this thread

and +20 to Kage's post

This was a good read