When I used to compete in gaming as a leader and strategist, my immaturity was due to the fact that I was easily influenced.
You'll want to believe that others know best and that the 'meta' is determined by group think, when it's actually the opposite.
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You'll want to believe that others know best and that the 'meta' is determined by group think, when it's actually the opposite.
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At the beginning of my career, it was extremely difficult for North American teams to succeed in competition internationally because of an obvious lack of leadership & vision.
NA teams often ranked amongst the lowest globally, even w/ extremely highly skilled players.
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NA teams often ranked amongst the lowest globally, even w/ extremely highly skilled players.
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For the apparent lack of leadership/strategy, it forced me to think differently about those concepts and helm that responsibility.
Some of what I learned and experienced back then resonates today as I often have time to reflect on that period of time.
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Some of what I learned and experienced back then resonates today as I often have time to reflect on that period of time.
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Because I knew that everyone was wrong based on the results, there was no reason for me to doubt going for an entirely contrarian approach.
Up to that point, & even for years to come, teams would create strategies in a reactionary manner, often based on emotions/group-think.
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Up to that point, & even for years to come, teams would create strategies in a reactionary manner, often based on emotions/group-think.
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I decided that the only way to get ahead was to employ extremely methodical strategies that were designed to achieve objective outcomes rather than getting influenced by others.
Where people would change their strategies constantly and try to adapt to opponents, I just...
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Where people would change their strategies constantly and try to adapt to opponents, I just...
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...forced my plans upon the opponents no matter what.
Every game, despite the minor variations, we'd have the same exact framework and same exact approach.
Even though teams could anticipate our approach and even review the footage, we still outperformed for a few reasons:
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Every game, despite the minor variations, we'd have the same exact framework and same exact approach.
Even though teams could anticipate our approach and even review the footage, we still outperformed for a few reasons:
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I had our team practice & perform one single strategy for months, a strategy where everyone knew exactly what to do, what to accomplish & how to respond to opponents.
Everything was the same, every game. There was no point in any game that we were not in sync w/ the plan.
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Everything was the same, every game. There was no point in any game that we were not in sync w/ the plan.
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Meanwhile other teams would try their hardest to counter us, they'd try to adapt their styles to our plans but that left them with half-baked ideas. Their players were fumbling with unique situations and having to make decisions based on intuition.
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That allowed us to beat teams that were out of our league on paper and qualify for elite tournaments, sponsorships and recognition abroad from being complete nobodies.
This went on for some time until I began to doubt myself, I began to think of win rate as the main metric.
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This went on for some time until I began to doubt myself, I began to think of win rate as the main metric.
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What I didn't realize then was that, just like trading, you cannot win every single game because of a host of random variables and mistakes.
That's why many tournaments are decided on best of 3, or best of 5 etc + double elimination or round robins.
It's about consistency.
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That's why many tournaments are decided on best of 3, or best of 5 etc + double elimination or round robins.
It's about consistency.
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Bring a practiced or thoughtful strategy, execute it to the best of your ability & that becomes the edge.
Considering that most teams competing are relatively close in skill level, you might have a slightly advantaged/disadvantaged strat where edge comes down to execution.
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Considering that most teams competing are relatively close in skill level, you might have a slightly advantaged/disadvantaged strat where edge comes down to execution.
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Sometimes though, teams would come in guns blazing & just rely on their talent alone, outplaying the competition & countering on-the-fly by making snap strategic decisions.
I got frustrated by that because it seemed so easy for people to just come in w/ the plan to adapt.
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I got frustrated by that because it seemed so easy for people to just come in w/ the plan to adapt.
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Their plan was literally go with the flow, have no plan, see what happens, react and try to counter-- and it worked!
Why did it work? Because you can make anything work at any time, those occasions just boiled my blood. I thought I deserved to win b/c of the work I put in.
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Why did it work? Because you can make anything work at any time, those occasions just boiled my blood. I thought I deserved to win b/c of the work I put in.
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Well, once the season was over and teams started to disband and reform... I was able to lead a new team, a team with dominant players of immense skill.
I thought I'd be able to leverage their strengths and try to do it the easy way, react.
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I thought I'd be able to leverage their strengths and try to do it the easy way, react.
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I wanted to know what it was like, my old team was a rag-tag team so I always felt like I had to overcompensate for skill w/ strategy.
I didn't trust that we could win based on our skill alone, but now things were different. Undeniably the talent on our team was top tier.
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I didn't trust that we could win based on our skill alone, but now things were different. Undeniably the talent on our team was top tier.
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It was really fun, we embraced all types of super niche & spontaneous ideas. Players would make decisions for their playstyle and utilize their intuitions to lead decision making.
For the 1st time I didn't have to think all day long & bare the brunt of total responsibility.
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For the 1st time I didn't have to think all day long & bare the brunt of total responsibility.
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The problem was that our team rode the highs of this during our practice sessions & would often win tournaments based on our skill disparity alone.
We all felt good about this approach w/out realizing that we were sowing the seeds of our own demise by being so disorganized.
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We all felt good about this approach w/out realizing that we were sowing the seeds of our own demise by being so disorganized.
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Against the highest level competitors we'd lose consistently & seldom take a bo3 during those elite tournaments.
We started to really doubt ourselves and I specifically had been more or less responsible for making the final decisions throughout that time, so I was lost.
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We started to really doubt ourselves and I specifically had been more or less responsible for making the final decisions throughout that time, so I was lost.
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I had been really disconnected from what made me successful in the first place, as a leader, and convinced myself that our past highs were a direct result of this adaptation.
Because even with random results, you still experience wins and wins = practice right?
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Because even with random results, you still experience wins and wins = practice right?
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Nope, there is nothing deliberate about this. There is not much to learn when you're winning by chance and that caused so many aimless conversations/over-analysis after each defeat.
It's like having no edge and then analyzing your trades for what you did right/wrong...
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It's like having no edge and then analyzing your trades for what you did right/wrong...
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Sure you can always improve your mechanical abilities, but that's hardly the issue.
On 1 hand, you can be learning the game and benefit greatly from that experience but on the other hand, you could already possess the skills necessary to win but lack the framework to do it.
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On 1 hand, you can be learning the game and benefit greatly from that experience but on the other hand, you could already possess the skills necessary to win but lack the framework to do it.
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After successfully managing to derail my entire process, leadership switched hands... The results we've come to expect as a region were met all the same- no threat.
It didn't matter who pushed the buttons to determine the strategies, we would ride the highs of change...
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It didn't matter who pushed the buttons to determine the strategies, we would ride the highs of change...
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...only to be met with the same average result and average performance over the following months.
The teams apathy about the situation grew to a boiling point after basically every single person tried their hand at 'leading' the team.
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The teams apathy about the situation grew to a boiling point after basically every single person tried their hand at 'leading' the team.
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Being mentally and emotionally exhausted, I wasn't able to realize what I know to be true today.
Preparation, practice and having a really understanding your strategy is exactly what allows someone to supersede other greats.
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Preparation, practice and having a really understanding your strategy is exactly what allows someone to supersede other greats.
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If I knew everything I know now today, I would've been diligent about MY plans, MY strategy and MY preparation alone.
You can either be goaded into your fate or take it into your own hands, that is where you'll get meaningful growth in whatever you apply yourself to.
End.
You can either be goaded into your fate or take it into your own hands, that is where you'll get meaningful growth in whatever you apply yourself to.
End.
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