Earlier today Nage, a strong Faust player who placed 2nd at this year's Evolution 2015 and 2nd at last year's Arc Revolution Cup 2014 in GGXrd, posted a long document outlining his thought process when it comes to analyzing his losses in games in order to improve. The post has been translated and provides really insightful information to how players can productively approach losses. The scope of the post is with Guilty Gear Xrd in mind, but is general enough to be applicable to anyone to plays fighting games.
Translated Document
Credits to TENMA for the translation
Here I compile how I analyze ‘Why I Lost’, and what I do to fix them.
I divide this note to: figuring out ‘Why I lost’; ‘when do I think about it’; and ‘philosophy on how to fix problems’.
This is my thought as a ‘Player who wants to leave results at a tournament’. It’ll be great if this note can inspire other theories.
Figuring out ‘Why I Lost’
I’m ‘continuously digging for reasons I lost’.
Why I continue searching is due to these 3 points:
What leads to ‘losing’ is due to multiple factors within a single match, and I want to find as many of those factors.
To avoid difficult situations, theorize tactics that can prevent said situations.
By determining the fine detail of the problem, be able to find counter tactics easier.
For example: ‘First round, got setplayed to death and lost the round’.
‘Got setplayed to death’
= ‘got knocked down and lost’
-> What move caused me to get knocked down?
-> Why did I get hit by that move?
-> What can I do to prevent getting hit by this move?
‘Got setplayed to death’
= ‘Couldn’t get out of the setplay situation’
-> Why couldn’t I get out?
-> Was there anything I could do get out?
-> Where should I have used the burst?
-> How did I use my meter?
-> Could I have changed the situation if I prioritized on getting meter?
Like so, even in a round that finished quickly, I try to think of multiple points that could have been improved. If the round didn’t end instantly, then there’s more to think about.
Before analyzing ‘what to do in a difficult situation’ I think of ‘what to do before I’m in a difficult situation’.
This example goes outside the game, but if you ‘overslept and got to work late’, before thinking about ‘how to prepare faster after waking up’, it’s better to think ‘how to avoid sleeping in’. Which then you can think of what to do after sleeping in, which may calm you down a bit too.
I think about how to avoid dangerous situations, and then think of what to do when you’re in the dangerous situation.
After generating few points, I pinpoint what should be fixed first, and then consider what the protocol should be. There are limits to how much I can think at once, so I prioritize on what I think are effective.
When to think about ‘Why I Lost’
During the match (be aware).
When re-watching the match to discover.
Regardless of time and place, idea comes out of no where.
Have someone else tell you.
For me it’s just those four.
(1) happens during a match, so usually leads to a loss.
With (2), I find being able to watch yourself from 3rd person perspective is beneficial. Watching your own matches allow you to realize ‘what I should have done instead’.
(3) happens randomly. When it does I take notes so I don’t forget, and when I get the chance I test it out.
I do my best to come up with the solution(s) myself, but if you think your perspective is narrow, have a trusted player watch over your back.
Also there are times losses cumulate (and become depressed about it), and you won’t be able to logically think of ‘Why I Lost’. When this happens (1) becomes impossible to do.
When aggravated you can attempt to calm yourself by digging for reasons, but if that doesn’t work I take a break. Do other things to calm down, then think of ‘Why I Lost’.
Even if I’m winning, I sometimes think about ‘If I do this and they do that I might lose, so I should think about what to do when they do that’.
What I’m Conscious of When Fixing the Issue
First, fixing the reason for losing does not directly lead to ‘winning’.
As stated earlier, “What leads to ‘losing’ is due to multiple factors within a single match”. Even if you fix one problem, sometimes you’ll lose due to different reasons.
Winning is great, but even if you lose again it’s best to tell yourself ‘I’m able to do something I couldn’t do before’, and appreciate your own development.
I think the mentality of ‘I’m grinding but doesn’t feel like I’m improving’ comes from the disruption of the core motivation of ‘fun’, so regardless of win/loss, being positive about your improvement is key.
If you eliminate reason of losing one by one, even if the results don’t come immediately, in the future your win rate stabilizes, and you become more confident in your decisions (have wider perspective).
Think “You can’t never lose”
No matter how much you fix, if you are facing a human, it’s impossible to have a 100% win rate. (This will be discussed in detail on another day).
With that in mind, to be able to win at a tournament and other high stakes moment, it is important to eliminate uncertain situations (have countermeasures) one by one.
My goal is to ‘leave results at a tournament’, so to achieve that I practice critical thinking during casuals, and be able to make confident decisions during tournaments.
That’s about it for this time.
TLDR: ‘I play games with longevity in mind’.
Thank you for reading!
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