Competitive gaming can seem like the coolest job in the world. A common misconception is you just play video games, enter tournaments, and make money. If only esports success stories were that simple.
The best players don’t autopilot into first place event after event. Success requires balance, consistency, a cool head, the ability to lose, and a little extra research.
Find a consistent balance between gaming, school, and life
For Marios "Nivek" Bitsikokos, pro fighting game player in franchises like Tekken and Mortal Kombat, getting better is all about balance.
“If you’re a kid, don’t drop out of school, Nivek said. Balance things out between school and games. When you have balance, then practice. Be persistent and also patient.”
Nivek went on to say that it’s actually really simple to improve with regular practice but the hard part is the consistency.
“Ask for help from more experienced players,” he said. “That will speed things up. Find groups or communities in your area so that you can all get better together.”
This is something that pro Arman "ArnKratos" Mkrtchyan adheres to as a member of the CIS fighting game community. He credits the group with helping him improve as well as providing a good community for him and his peers to play.
Stay calm and learn how to lose
At 20, ArnKratos has his whole career ahead of him, yet is still diligent in his pursuit of winning. He also emphasizes the importance of being cool and collected during play.
“I get asked a lot ‘how do you stay so calm. I’d like to be able to do that too,’” ArnKratos said. “A lot of players make the same mistake – they get tilted when they lose. To be good is to learn how to lose. If you’re OK with losing you use it to improve your game.”
It’s important to keep things in perspective, he continued, because losing is a necessary ingredient to winning.
“I remember playing Injustice 2 and losing 20 games in a row. I didn’t get salty, I just used it to learn and get better. If you want to be good at fighting games, be patient, don’t get tilted, stay calm, and you’ll get better. It takes time to get good. Play for at least 100 hours and you’ll be ok.”
Take the first step and study players
A good place to start, of course, is the Open Series. It’s an easy way to test your skills against players all over the world to see how you stack up.
Pro gamer Biohazard recently shared some insight on how easy it is to get involved in tournaments for Mortal Kombat, especially with the PlayStation Open Series.
“You just need to have a Playstation and Mortal Kombat,” Biohazard said. “You can join a lot of people that play in weekly qualifiers, and if you scout and check out the competition you can study who you’re going to play. For example, if people play me they know they’re going to run into Kano.”
Biohazard also talked about the importance of preparation.
“It’s good to know what to expect. Make sure you come in with a game plan,” he said. “And maybe you won’t know who you’ll run into but if you’re prepared for the top tier characters you can handle it.”