Zoap
Smash Master
A few nights ago, as I was lying in bed, I began thinking about what I’ve come to call the three M’s. The 3 M’s are 3 of the most important aspects of gaming in general that you can come to understand and ultimately use to improve your game play no matter the game. I will go through and explain what each of them is, how they affect your play, and why I believe they are important.
The first M of the three while valuable it is not nearly as important as the other two I will mention.
1. Motivation, by definition is something that motivates; inducement; incentive, basically what is driving you to play. While coming in various forms as simple as you paid your $5 entry fee and want to get your moneys worth to that you’re going to being playing one of the top competitors the next round and you want that for the experience. Or it can be simply that, the drive to better ones self through more and more experience.
Whatever your motivation is heading into a tournament or even a match, without it there is no drive and with no drive there is no will to play, let alone compete. Due to this, this one M can account for bad play, sandbagging and even not wanting to play. Friendlies are a prime example of lack of motivation, as there is no money involved and not the sense of competitiveness. This also accounts for sandbagging, a part of many games often frowned upon. People don’t seem to realize that because of this M or lack thereof a person is unconsciously unable to control this annoying yet simple action.
The reason I feel this M, is important to a gamer is for the simple fact that provided the right motivation the human being is capable of amazing things. Motivation accounts for rising stars, players not performing and the reason for sandbagging.
The second M is very important and is ultimately linked to the success of the player.
2. Mentality/Mindset, by definition is the set of one's mind; view; outlook or an attitude, disposition, or mood. As the definition clearly states, this is ones way of viewing a situation or the attitude, disposition or mood you take to that situation. This M while seeming clear comes in many forms and can be very complicated.
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The reason I feel this M bear more pertinence then Motivation is this as such a broader scope. Mentality can ranges from being sick (physically) to being sick mentally. Mentally sick can result from things directly linked to the game play or outside events. For example at a recent tournament I attended, after beating a high ranked player of the area I made a call home to make sure they weren’t expecting me for dinner. To my surprise I found out that my dog had got out and had not been found. My mood (directly linked to my mindset) immediately changed from happy to concern, I no longer had motivation to play because of other events affecting my mindset. Another example of mentality ultimately being the players demise, is viewing the bracket before your prescheduled match to find out your playing a player that you know you can not beat. Some go into the game with the pre-mindset of no chance of winning and won’t bother to try.
Of course with most things in life there is a brighter side to this M. As how it can be your enemy it can also be your ally. With positive mindsets and a brighter mentality, a player can accomplish great things in little time. A good example of this would be PC Chris, KoreanDJ and The King. All three players never let their hard times affect their mindset of the game. Instead of saying they couldn’t, they just used the experience to better themselves. I’ll use a direct example from a personal experience with one of the players. After traveling to an Arizona tournament recently The King was said to have been watching the finals between himself and Forward, one match in particular. The match was a Fox (Forward) versus Jigglypuff (King), in the end the King ended up three stocking Forward’s Fox and Zelgadis became confused as to why King would be concerned with that match. King told him that he wanted to know why he hadn’t four stocked him. This one thing struck me as odd at first when I head Zelgadis tell me, and then I thought about it a little, King took the mindset that his 3 stock was not good enough and he needed to know what he could do to fix it.
The third and final M of the three can hold the most importance, just simply because once a player has it is much harder to stop them.
3. Momentum, by definition is an impelling force or strength. As with the other two I will try and save examples for the next paragraph but if you don’t understand the definition, a simpler way of looking at it is winning consecutively. As with the other M’s this can be match wins or as simple as taking the first stock in the match. It is because of this huge availability of momentum that it becomes a players most helpful M of the three.
So why do I think this is the most important. As I have stated because momentum encompasses a vast field of availability. Momentum can shift from one player to the other; it can change the match, the set or even the tournaments whole outcome. For example I went to a small tournament a few weeks ago, I started out horribly losing my first match by sandbagging(not using my main) but because this player was leaving he allowed me to advance and he would go to losers. It didn’t help I went into the next match(a peach ditto) with a horrible mindset and no momentum. Sure enough I lost, and jumped to the losers bracket. It was then I used the next few matches to gain my momentum, I won my losers bracket match with the top competitor 2-1 in very close matches. The next match came against an opponent who I knew I could beat and only added to my momentum. It was next that I faced the person(the peach ditto) in the losers with the winner going to the finals and having to win 6. The first match was looking grim with him taking the first stock. It came down to the last stock, I was at high 80’s(not feeling much of anything momentum wise) and he at 15 or so percent when he drew a Bomb. It was then that I ran at him shielded in front of him, he threw it and took all the damage, while my shield had protected me. At 50% he had lost all momentum and I went on to win the set 3-1. Riding the momentum I went into the finals and proceeded to win 6-1 with out much worrying. It taught me that even with a few blunders to start a player can regain and ultimately take control of momentum.
These are just three things I consider to be important whether you agree or not any need to flood this thread with negative or thoughtless comments. Thank You
The first M of the three while valuable it is not nearly as important as the other two I will mention.
1. Motivation, by definition is something that motivates; inducement; incentive, basically what is driving you to play. While coming in various forms as simple as you paid your $5 entry fee and want to get your moneys worth to that you’re going to being playing one of the top competitors the next round and you want that for the experience. Or it can be simply that, the drive to better ones self through more and more experience.
Whatever your motivation is heading into a tournament or even a match, without it there is no drive and with no drive there is no will to play, let alone compete. Due to this, this one M can account for bad play, sandbagging and even not wanting to play. Friendlies are a prime example of lack of motivation, as there is no money involved and not the sense of competitiveness. This also accounts for sandbagging, a part of many games often frowned upon. People don’t seem to realize that because of this M or lack thereof a person is unconsciously unable to control this annoying yet simple action.
The reason I feel this M, is important to a gamer is for the simple fact that provided the right motivation the human being is capable of amazing things. Motivation accounts for rising stars, players not performing and the reason for sandbagging.
The second M is very important and is ultimately linked to the success of the player.
2. Mentality/Mindset, by definition is the set of one's mind; view; outlook or an attitude, disposition, or mood. As the definition clearly states, this is ones way of viewing a situation or the attitude, disposition or mood you take to that situation. This M while seeming clear comes in many forms and can be very complicated.
.
The reason I feel this M bear more pertinence then Motivation is this as such a broader scope. Mentality can ranges from being sick (physically) to being sick mentally. Mentally sick can result from things directly linked to the game play or outside events. For example at a recent tournament I attended, after beating a high ranked player of the area I made a call home to make sure they weren’t expecting me for dinner. To my surprise I found out that my dog had got out and had not been found. My mood (directly linked to my mindset) immediately changed from happy to concern, I no longer had motivation to play because of other events affecting my mindset. Another example of mentality ultimately being the players demise, is viewing the bracket before your prescheduled match to find out your playing a player that you know you can not beat. Some go into the game with the pre-mindset of no chance of winning and won’t bother to try.
Of course with most things in life there is a brighter side to this M. As how it can be your enemy it can also be your ally. With positive mindsets and a brighter mentality, a player can accomplish great things in little time. A good example of this would be PC Chris, KoreanDJ and The King. All three players never let their hard times affect their mindset of the game. Instead of saying they couldn’t, they just used the experience to better themselves. I’ll use a direct example from a personal experience with one of the players. After traveling to an Arizona tournament recently The King was said to have been watching the finals between himself and Forward, one match in particular. The match was a Fox (Forward) versus Jigglypuff (King), in the end the King ended up three stocking Forward’s Fox and Zelgadis became confused as to why King would be concerned with that match. King told him that he wanted to know why he hadn’t four stocked him. This one thing struck me as odd at first when I head Zelgadis tell me, and then I thought about it a little, King took the mindset that his 3 stock was not good enough and he needed to know what he could do to fix it.
The third and final M of the three can hold the most importance, just simply because once a player has it is much harder to stop them.
3. Momentum, by definition is an impelling force or strength. As with the other two I will try and save examples for the next paragraph but if you don’t understand the definition, a simpler way of looking at it is winning consecutively. As with the other M’s this can be match wins or as simple as taking the first stock in the match. It is because of this huge availability of momentum that it becomes a players most helpful M of the three.
So why do I think this is the most important. As I have stated because momentum encompasses a vast field of availability. Momentum can shift from one player to the other; it can change the match, the set or even the tournaments whole outcome. For example I went to a small tournament a few weeks ago, I started out horribly losing my first match by sandbagging(not using my main) but because this player was leaving he allowed me to advance and he would go to losers. It didn’t help I went into the next match(a peach ditto) with a horrible mindset and no momentum. Sure enough I lost, and jumped to the losers bracket. It was then I used the next few matches to gain my momentum, I won my losers bracket match with the top competitor 2-1 in very close matches. The next match came against an opponent who I knew I could beat and only added to my momentum. It was next that I faced the person(the peach ditto) in the losers with the winner going to the finals and having to win 6. The first match was looking grim with him taking the first stock. It came down to the last stock, I was at high 80’s(not feeling much of anything momentum wise) and he at 15 or so percent when he drew a Bomb. It was then that I ran at him shielded in front of him, he threw it and took all the damage, while my shield had protected me. At 50% he had lost all momentum and I went on to win the set 3-1. Riding the momentum I went into the finals and proceeded to win 6-1 with out much worrying. It taught me that even with a few blunders to start a player can regain and ultimately take control of momentum.
These are just three things I consider to be important whether you agree or not any need to flood this thread with negative or thoughtless comments. Thank You
