Embrace the nerves and use them to better your game play. I used to be nervous in Season 1 but now that is basically gone. Nervous means you actually care about the outcome therefore you will have the mindset to do what it takes to improve.

Now for me to cool down my rage when on losing streaks...... lol.

[F_]aths

Germany3947 Posts

July 05 2011 12:52 GMT

#42

On July 05 2011 18:44 Hassybaby wrote:
So I've been playing SC2 for a while now, and to be honest, I'm terrible at 1v1. I know enough of the build orders and general mechanics to hold my own, but when it comes to laddering, I just get nervous, and then I start messing up. Team games I'm fine with, since I have the mentality that if I mess up a bit, I have team-mates that can make up for it, but in 1v1s, I don't have that cushion. Even when playing customs with friends I have some problems, and just mess up with timing and macro.

My question to you TL is, did you have this issue, and how did you overcome it? Is it a matter of just laddering to the point that you just don't feel nervous anymore? Or do you have some sort of ritual before/after a game to calm yourself?

I was nervous when I searched an 1v1 game. Sometimes I even cancelled the search. Then I played 10 1v1 in a row no matter the outcome of the game. I ended up with 4W6L, not too bad.

Some days later I again played 10 games in a row. Since then, I play 1v1 ladder to get some excitement. Then I see the loading screen, map (I don't like it) and race (no clue how to play versus that race on that map.)

But that even is the fun part, because often the opponent is quite clue-less either. So if I can spot a weakness in his play, I can go exploit it and crush him

And when I lost, I watch the replay with 8x speed to see why he was able to outmacro me.

So my advise is:

- Accept your excitement and your are nervous. This is completely normal.

- Accept you play will be not the best because you are nervous. But your opponent probably has similar issues.

- When you get horribly crushed, but you survive a similar situation in another game, you will feel satisfaction. I think this worth some nerve wracking ladder games.

Silfurstar

Switzerland263 Posts

July 05 2011 12:53 GMT

#43

I used to be really nervous when playing 1v1 on ladder, I mean REALLY nervous. Once, I told myself I would mass ladder during a week of holiday in april, and ended up spending evenings staring at my multiplayer screen, finding anything I could to procrastinate (didn't play a single ladder game this week in april).
I can now say that even though I still feel a bit of apprehension before starting a session, I no longer feel that same mental block that prevented me from clicking that big orange button.

It changed very quickly these last couple of weeks. Not by playing mass ladder until I wouldn't mind anymore, I think I was actually more nervous during season 2, even after 150 matches in season 1.
The change happened after my first coaching session with Mr Bitter, and I think two things made it possible.

1/ I realized that the fear of my opponent was pushing me to play passively. I was like a prey, anguishly waiting for my predator to attack. The coaching made me play agressively, and suddenly I felt in control. Being in control makes fear go away partly.

2/ I started my stream and youtube, focused on improving myself. Streaming makes the whole laddering more fun, because you're sharing the experience with people. Analyzing my games on youtube has probably the best effect, because I now don't fear losing matches. I'm actually glad when I lose a match because I know I'll have something to analyse.
I won't say it's never frustrating, but you have this other aspect that makes it easy to digest.

So, I'm no one to give you advices and I don't know exactly what's making you nervous (me, I know it was defeat and this need to perform well), but if your reasons are like mine, maybe you can consider analyzing your defeats in some way... Maybe a notepad journal or something. Just write "ok, I lost this game because : .... and I could have won by doing : ....". Be specific, not just "bad macro / macro better", but specific moments where you made bad decisions and what would have been the better one.

This might sound a little off topic, because it's not a thread about improving, but I think doing this will make you "ready" for your next matches. And being ready is the best way to not be scared, whatever the context may be.

LastDance

New Zealand510 Posts

July 05 2011 12:58 GMT

#44

Yea i get the nerve thing during the match making search, but once the game starts and i can see his base and his strategy from the first scout i feel fine. also reminding yourself that "he's no better than i am, otherwise i wouldn't be playing him" helps too.

Nyovne

Netherlands19135 Posts

July 05 2011 13:36 GMT

#45

This has been discussed to death but I'll blog it even so.

Billd

Canada210 Posts

July 05 2011 13:42 GMT

#46

I used to get nervous too. I came up with a way to deal with it though because I knew mass laddering was the best way to improve, for the most part.

What I did was try and become the rank 1 bronze league player in the world.

It sounds silly, but doing this is all about points and is basically just a grind. So I just played and it took a lot of pressure off because I stopped caring about promotions and what have you. A short three weeks later I find myself in gold league and I'm on the brink of a platinum promotion. I never became the highest ranked bronze player in the world because I got promoted too soon! I still use the same technique.

it made laddering fun and less tense for me and I was able to apply what skills I do have more effectively during games.

Dfgj

Singapore5922 Posts

July 05 2011 16:47 GMT

#47

I care a lot about my results when I'm thinking about laddering, less so when I'm actually playing, so I don't like to start a ladder session.

Solution: secret smurf account, where you can keep the mentality of 'just mess around on this account, the rank is irrelevant' - even when it goes higher than your actual account. That also lets you comfortably try new styles and enjoy playing a bit more when you don't feel pressured to produce results.

OmniEulogy

Canada6592 Posts

July 05 2011 18:35 GMT

#48

psych yourself up with some music then get into it and until you hit the loading screen just listen to that music. That way you wont hit the cancel button!

-swordguy

United States560 Posts

July 05 2011 18:57 GMT

#49

The biggest problem I had at the start was being placed into diamond after placement matches and not wanting to lose the diamond. On TL we take BW and SC2 seriously so its common for newer players that also go to TL to get this "I need to play a lot and get good" mentality but since they are new they get discouraged when they can't play as well as the players they watch (especially after watching a lot of streams and tournaments and they know how the game is supposed to play out) and end getting cheesed/messing up build/ losing to all ins. You pretty much get to the point where you realize a good all in will take you by surprise and you will lose. You will scout the base last and not be ready for the 6 pool. The probe will hid a pylon in your base and warp in units. People are afraid to lose but losing is what makes care less about losing later (except for long losing streaks which is just depressing).

tl;dr - By playing the game you will eventually care about getting better (especially when you notice an improvement) and things that used to stop you from laddering (cheese/all ins) won't bother you.