So after last Friday's EuroKombat I've been thinking what we can do as a clan to help each other improve and stand a better chance at competing in future. The issues I've identified so far are the following:
Communication
For whatever reason, Vlad didn't know he was entered. I've already proposed using WhatsApp or something similar to make inter clan communication better, but I think the best thing we can do here is nominate at least two members to be admins and put them in charge of ensuring everybody knows when and where they are competing. I know the counter argument to this is that everybody should be responsible for themselves, but life gets in the way sometimes and having others to manage things for you can be really helpful.
Match Up Knowledge
The game is still young. Tremor has just been released, and there is a good chance there are even more to come (personally, I'd love if this game got the same mileage as SF4 and grew to a 40+ roster, but I digress). As the weakest player in the clan, I know first hand how daunting the task of learning every variations quirks can be. Whilst we would all like to have frame data and optimal punishes for every move uploaded into our brains Matrix style, the technology simply doesn't exist yet, leaving us to do this the old fashioned way.
The issue of course is that we play to win, and will often gravitate towards the characters that have the tools to win the most. Tempest Lao, Grandmaster Sub, Hellfire Scorpion, Royal Storm Kitana, etc, are becoming more and more prevalent, so it makes sense to learn these match ups and characters, but what happens when we run into a good Mournful Kitana or Spectral Ermac? It seems doubtful, but it will happen one day and our inexperience will lead to us getting blown up.
It's for this reason I propose the following. We first list all of the characters/variations we know and have interest in learning. Then we see where the gaps are, and which players we believe will do the most with said variations (play to their strengths, etc) and allocate accordingly.
This could lead to a lot of fun and variety in our own KOTHs, as well as simultaneously improving everybody's matchup knowledge. It would be a long term project getting every character up to scratch (and might require expanding our numbers by a couple or so), but I think it will be worth it.
Player Knowledge
The best thing about fighting games is playing other living, breathing people. There's nothing quite like getting a read on a person and seeing it pay off.
During tournaments however, you have to build these reads very quickly, and as any poker player will tell you, the first few hands can be very misleading. The other issue with tournament play is the pressure to win, and how thinking about your own play and what's at stake can lead to you getting flustered and missing out on opponents habits. Spectators on the other hand often find they pick up on reads players might miss due to the luxury of being one step removed. Just listen to the commentary for the SF4 Gahndi match to see what I mean.
So, what does this have to do with anything. What I'm thinking is this:
In any streamed tournament, not all DA members should enter. For every x number of DA members playing, there should be y number of DA members ring side, looking for reads and discussing strategies on the PSN feed (or WhatsApp or whatever). If something turns up people haven't seen before, you have somebody to research it either in game or on TYM and look for a counter strategy. If certain members prefer to train inbetween matches to help with nerves, it also means they won't miss out on valuable information. In EuroKombat, for example, I couldn't play but I could watch the stream (reason is, if you are wondering, my son is severely epileptic, so I can only play online in the evenings when he is in bed and my wife can attend to him if he has a seizure). I noticed that one of the Lao players did the same combo every time, which only needed to be blocked high the first two hits. Others may well have noticed this too, but say hypothetically Wam was blocking wrong and not realising why, I could have stepped in at the character select screen and told him. He could then adjust accordingly.
This is also a skill we can practice in KOTH, although how I haven't figured out yet.
So that is the bare bones of my idea. Please chime in and let me know what you think. I'm open to any and all criticisms.
Communication
For whatever reason, Vlad didn't know he was entered. I've already proposed using WhatsApp or something similar to make inter clan communication better, but I think the best thing we can do here is nominate at least two members to be admins and put them in charge of ensuring everybody knows when and where they are competing. I know the counter argument to this is that everybody should be responsible for themselves, but life gets in the way sometimes and having others to manage things for you can be really helpful.
Match Up Knowledge
The game is still young. Tremor has just been released, and there is a good chance there are even more to come (personally, I'd love if this game got the same mileage as SF4 and grew to a 40+ roster, but I digress). As the weakest player in the clan, I know first hand how daunting the task of learning every variations quirks can be. Whilst we would all like to have frame data and optimal punishes for every move uploaded into our brains Matrix style, the technology simply doesn't exist yet, leaving us to do this the old fashioned way.
The issue of course is that we play to win, and will often gravitate towards the characters that have the tools to win the most. Tempest Lao, Grandmaster Sub, Hellfire Scorpion, Royal Storm Kitana, etc, are becoming more and more prevalent, so it makes sense to learn these match ups and characters, but what happens when we run into a good Mournful Kitana or Spectral Ermac? It seems doubtful, but it will happen one day and our inexperience will lead to us getting blown up.
It's for this reason I propose the following. We first list all of the characters/variations we know and have interest in learning. Then we see where the gaps are, and which players we believe will do the most with said variations (play to their strengths, etc) and allocate accordingly.
This could lead to a lot of fun and variety in our own KOTHs, as well as simultaneously improving everybody's matchup knowledge. It would be a long term project getting every character up to scratch (and might require expanding our numbers by a couple or so), but I think it will be worth it.
Player Knowledge
The best thing about fighting games is playing other living, breathing people. There's nothing quite like getting a read on a person and seeing it pay off.
During tournaments however, you have to build these reads very quickly, and as any poker player will tell you, the first few hands can be very misleading. The other issue with tournament play is the pressure to win, and how thinking about your own play and what's at stake can lead to you getting flustered and missing out on opponents habits. Spectators on the other hand often find they pick up on reads players might miss due to the luxury of being one step removed. Just listen to the commentary for the SF4 Gahndi match to see what I mean.
So, what does this have to do with anything. What I'm thinking is this:
In any streamed tournament, not all DA members should enter. For every x number of DA members playing, there should be y number of DA members ring side, looking for reads and discussing strategies on the PSN feed (or WhatsApp or whatever). If something turns up people haven't seen before, you have somebody to research it either in game or on TYM and look for a counter strategy. If certain members prefer to train inbetween matches to help with nerves, it also means they won't miss out on valuable information. In EuroKombat, for example, I couldn't play but I could watch the stream (reason is, if you are wondering, my son is severely epileptic, so I can only play online in the evenings when he is in bed and my wife can attend to him if he has a seizure). I noticed that one of the Lao players did the same combo every time, which only needed to be blocked high the first two hits. Others may well have noticed this too, but say hypothetically Wam was blocking wrong and not realising why, I could have stepped in at the character select screen and told him. He could then adjust accordingly.
This is also a skill we can practice in KOTH, although how I haven't figured out yet.
So that is the bare bones of my idea. Please chime in and let me know what you think. I'm open to any and all criticisms.