I posted this in the "my tournament play is not so good" thread, but some of it applies here as well I believe, so this is a repost of that information:
For me, my first step was playing wifi.
It helps. There is something on the line each match and you learn to play under pressure if you take it seriously. You'll also learn a lot about almost every character, including those jankly ones. Ask pretty much any wifi player and they will tell you it helps.
The second step I think was simply thinking about the game. You don't need to actually play. Just think. Ask yourself about set ups, approaches, your own weaknesses, how to deal with general situations/problems. Create a template in your mind of what to do in common situations that arise. I'll give you an example, before I created a rule of thumb I was inconsistent about what I would do against D3 when he would B-throw me near the edge. Following a B-throw most D3's will move to B-air edge guard you. At first my response was simply to Side-B (with Diddy) to get back to the stage, but most of the time I would end up eating a B-air. So, I created a rule of thumb in my head not to panic, not to use my jumps, and to let myself fall below the stage, then side-b, then jump if needed.
If you ever took computer programming, think of these scenario's as "If-Then" statements. If x occurs, you do y, because you know y has the best success rate. The only problem here is, unlike computer programming, you can't deal in absolutes. You can't always grab an opponent because eventually they will dodge, you can't always use a charged Smash instead because they may just shield. However, in some situations you should know the proportions for success rates. I know after I chuck a banana that if the opponent shields it I will get a grab close to 100% of the time the first time I do it. If I've already done it two or three times in a row, then I'll switch to the dash attack or a shuffled air attack because the opponent is expecting a grab and their response will either be to roll, dodge, or the most likely case short hop > nana grab, which is intercepted with the dash attack with good timing but is even more effectively intercepted with an fair/uair.
This is the type of mindset you need to enter in order to begin improving and reading/predicting the opponent. Playing wifi helps you develop these skills and helps you learn these common situations and what your best options are for getting out of them.
Wifi is tricky though. It is a slightly different game then live Brawl. The lag allows some things to occur that otherwise wouldn't in live play (like sheik can basically tilt you to 60% because its hard to hit the DI's, In live play you should be able to escape after like 30%). My first 26 matches on Wifi I was 13-13, and I one point I was 10-13. The 28 next games I played I went 25-3. At first it will be hard, it will most certainly be annoying, but eventually you learn to adapt and when that occurs you can begin to improve and you can begin to see the stuff that works in online play that will correlate to live play.
At tournaments in specific there are many things that can help. Here are some of the things I've learned to do
For me, my first step was playing wifi.
It helps. There is something on the line each match and you learn to play under pressure if you take it seriously. You'll also learn a lot about almost every character, including those jankly ones. Ask pretty much any wifi player and they will tell you it helps.
The second step I think was simply thinking about the game. You don't need to actually play. Just think. Ask yourself about set ups, approaches, your own weaknesses, how to deal with general situations/problems. Create a template in your mind of what to do in common situations that arise. I'll give you an example, before I created a rule of thumb I was inconsistent about what I would do against D3 when he would B-throw me near the edge. Following a B-throw most D3's will move to B-air edge guard you. At first my response was simply to Side-B (with Diddy) to get back to the stage, but most of the time I would end up eating a B-air. So, I created a rule of thumb in my head not to panic, not to use my jumps, and to let myself fall below the stage, then side-b, then jump if needed.
If you ever took computer programming, think of these scenario's as "If-Then" statements. If x occurs, you do y, because you know y has the best success rate. The only problem here is, unlike computer programming, you can't deal in absolutes. You can't always grab an opponent because eventually they will dodge, you can't always use a charged Smash instead because they may just shield. However, in some situations you should know the proportions for success rates. I know after I chuck a banana that if the opponent shields it I will get a grab close to 100% of the time the first time I do it. If I've already done it two or three times in a row, then I'll switch to the dash attack or a shuffled air attack because the opponent is expecting a grab and their response will either be to roll, dodge, or the most likely case short hop > nana grab, which is intercepted with the dash attack with good timing but is even more effectively intercepted with an fair/uair.
This is the type of mindset you need to enter in order to begin improving and reading/predicting the opponent. Playing wifi helps you develop these skills and helps you learn these common situations and what your best options are for getting out of them.
Wifi is tricky though. It is a slightly different game then live Brawl. The lag allows some things to occur that otherwise wouldn't in live play (like sheik can basically tilt you to 60% because its hard to hit the DI's, In live play you should be able to escape after like 30%). My first 26 matches on Wifi I was 13-13, and I one point I was 10-13. The 28 next games I played I went 25-3. At first it will be hard, it will most certainly be annoying, but eventually you learn to adapt and when that occurs you can begin to improve and you can begin to see the stuff that works in online play that will correlate to live play.
At tournaments in specific there are many things that can help. Here are some of the things I've learned to do
- Energy is important. Some people use energy drinks, I usually just have a bag of skittles so I don't have any crashing.
- Food is important. At COT4 I had about 1 and half meals over a 80 hour period. I ended up just drained by the end of Sunday when my matches were at 8pm at night after a whole weekend of Smash. Didn't play my best. Lesson learned, you HAVE to eat, even if you are not hungry/you are to excited you do not want to leave the tournament.
- Stress can weigh on you in a match. When I played Inui in the Winner's Finals at Season's Beatings my hands were shaking so badly that I pressed the wrong buttons. So, now, I chew gum in matches, and while the shaking is still there a little bit, it is noticeably reduced. I bring a pack of gum and a bag of skittles to every tournament I go to now.
- In November I played Joshu, who at the time was the best D3 in the Midwest (lain probably has the best D3 now, followed by Joshu). Joshu's D3 2 stocked me twice in a row. I spent the next couple months thinking about the match up and working on it, I got a lot of matches in with Atomsk in December and I learned a lot. AT MW champs I learned I had to play Joshu if I made it to WR3. So, once I made it through the first 2 rounds I took a break. I got some paper, a pen, and I went through everything I thought Joshu would do and how I would deal with it. I had situations mapped out and when I played him I played him prepared. I narrowly won game one. Then I 3 stocked him game two. Most people don't ever write down what to do in match ups, I only know of one other player who ever did actually, and it was Wife. Wife had a notebook full of information and strategies for each match up. I'm currently working on mine.
- Music can be a blessing and a curse. If the crowd gets to you and you do not particularly care about the in game sounds then sound-canceling headphones may help you concentrate. However, some in game sounds can help you. When you play Smash your mind is being trained both on visual cues and audio ones. Its sorta like if you ring a bell and always put food out for the dog eventually they will be trained to look for the food by just ringing the bell. Having the visual and audio information creates less work for the brain, plus I think you should try to play in whatever environment you normally play (so if you never listen to in game sounds then don't do it in tournament). Additionally, there are some sounds that occur before the attack actually shows itself, an example being Pikachu's Down-B.
- Take things one match up at a time. Do not get ahead of yourself. Focus only on your current opponent. Do not let your mind wander to other things. I have made this mistake to many times to count. It is hard to do, but when you are just focused on the game and the game alone you will play better.
- When playing an opponent, to keep your mind on track, constantly ask yourself what the previous moves they did based on where you were and what you were doing. Most Olimar players for example with spam pikman, then if you get near them they will spam grabs. Pretty simple. If you space correctly you can see when they stop spamming pikman and start spamming grabs and you use it to your advantage (usually shuffled airs work). Essentially, concentrate on the opponents responses to what you do, then try to use what you have learn to predict what they will do next.
