7 replies to this topic

[Aresye]

With an official PGI tournament underway, along with a lot of cash on the line, it comes at no surprise that there are many teams signed up who may have very little, if not any competitive experience. If that sounds like your team, then this post is for you.

I'd like to first start off by saying that if you already have a valid team, then as soon as you drop for your first match, you are officially a competitive player. Don't let anybody try to tell you otherwise. You may not be a GOOD competitive player, but you ARE a competitive player, and your team IS a competitive team. Officially. Congrats!

Now that that's out of the way, let's talk about how your experience is going to go...

The way the tournament is organized with its round robin format, there's going to be many occasions where you'll have to drop against some of the best teams in the game. SJR, EmP, Lords, 228, etc. It's an unavoidable necessity with the round robin format, and it will be very easy to get discouraged. The very first officially casted game tonight ended in an 8-0 stomp, with ISENGRIM making very short work of The Cadre.

ISEN is a good team, however they still have a long way to go, and I mean that in a very sincere, respectful manner. They have high morale, team pride, and have been steadily improving over the past year. To a brand new team that's completely new to the comp scene however, teams like ISEN will very likely make short work of you. That's just the nature of how competitive play goes. It's like a completely different game altogether, with much more depth than anything you'll ever find in solo, group, or FW queues.

Ever wanted to be a real light mech scout, with your entire team depending on you for vital information on enemy positions? You'll find that in competitive play. Many folks say that MWO isn't a thinking man's shooter, or that role warfare doesn't exist, but in competitive play both of those statements are completely false.

Throw everything you've ever known about PSR and tiers out the window, because competitive play goes beyond what the game considers to be "high skill." It's not a surprise almost every player that's part of the top comp teams is fully maxed out on Tier 1. The level of coordination and playing ability goes far beyond that, which I like to break down into several additional tiers below, based off MRBC division ratings.

Imagine it goes like this (from lowest to highest):
Tier 5
Tier 4
Tier 3/Div E
Tier 2/Div D
Tier 1/Div C
Div B
Div A

To get a sense of how these additional tiers play out in competitive play, I'll once again use ISEN as an example. ISEN is a Div C team in MRBC, so to a brand new team, it would "feel" like you're facing a team comprised entirely of Tier 1 players, or in other words: Scary

In MWOWC however, you're not just going to face Div C level teams. You're going to face Div A teams, and they are NOT going to be the teams you remember occasionally facing in public queue. They're going to be even better than you remember them, to a pants-********, terrifying degree, and it's going to be rough.

I don't like to sugar coat things. The unfortunate truth about a tournament like this is that there has to be a bottom team, and for many of you who are delving into their first comp experience, it will probably feel like it's yours, which can be very disheartening.

It may be tempting to throw in the towel and quit, made even more tempting by the fact there's no entry fee and/or repercussions to pulling out. Obviously nobody is forcing you to stay there, but I highly suggest you stick with it.

Why?

Consider this a fast-track to improvement. Not just as a player, but your team as a whole. You WILL improve if you stick with it (especially considering how many good teams are playing). Give it your all, watch what the top teams do, figure out the answer to the question "WHY?" top teams set up and play the way they do, and try your best to emulate that.

The important part is to remember to have fun. Most of us don't play comp for the prizes, but rather play it because we find competition itself to be fun. You signed up to prove you're the best, so you've got at least a little bit of that in you. Don't lose it, no matter how many losses you may experience.

If all hope is lost, and you're thinking of pulling out, try and think about this...

Remember how I said there has to be a bottom team? Strive to be that bottom team! Your record may be horrible, you may not have a single win, but BE THAT TEAM that sticks through it to the very end! Your win is that while other teams may have quit, you stuck with it. You were THE team that absolutely, 100%, never gave up, and that's a win in my books if you ask me.

As parting motivation, I'll use NTEX as an example. I can't recall if they're doing MWOWC, but they had the lowest win/loss ratio out of all the units for Tukayyid 2, and have never been regarded too highly in terms of their playing ability...

...then they joined MRBC, and placed top of their division for Season 7.

In the end, I'd love to see dozens of new teams entering into next season of MRBC, and I'd love to see some new up and comings threaten the already established teams.

Good luck to you all on your future matches! Give nothing short of your very best!

[Storyteller]

Great posting, thank you. I totally support your statement.

Our team is a mixed one of some MWO veterans and some promising new players. Few (like myself) have experience in competitive play. We won our first two matches yesterday and hopefully we will win some more. But we know by experience that there are some excellent teams in the tourney. We will make it as hard as we can for them and maybe there will one or another surprise. ;-)

[Rushin Roulette]

Aresye, on 03 June 2016 - 01:36 AM, said:

Consider this a fast-track to improvement. Not just as a player, but your team as a whole. You WILL improve if you stick with it (especially considering how many good teams are playing). Give it your all, watch what the top teams do, figure out the answer to the question "WHY?" top teams set up and play the way they do, and try your best to emulate that.

Great post. Id like to add to this. Emulating any good/great team can only bring you so far. Figure out the basics (coodinated movement, focus fire, pinpoint aiming of specific components and target priorities), but after that you should not emulate other teams any more.
Each team has their own strengths and weaknesses, and emulating each good team will only end in a jumble of multiple bad habits and confusing gameplay. Figure out what type of team you want to be on hand of your pilots preferences and abilities. The 3 (really basic) team types are;

Brawlers - Rush in, get dirty and overwhelm your opponents though sheer brute force like a hammer.
Snipers - Spread out, get into crossfire positions and slowly but surely slice apart your opponents like a scalpel using dedicated firing lines.
Tacticians - force your opponents into a position they are not used to play. Take your time and use the whole map to your advantage like a conductor of an orchestra.

Once you have figured out what you can do best, hone that skill and everything else will fall into place.

EDIT: forgot to add one important part of being a team. Discuss tactics together with everyone, make sure they are all on the same page and know what to do in the match and know your opponents so that you can find counters to their gameplay. Brawling against a great sniper team is hard. but not impossible. Remember the game mode is set to conquest, you still have the possibility to win over caps if not over kills.

As the OP wrote. Even if you are placed last, or even close to last. You are the team that has managed to play until the very end and have earned a great deal of respect as well as experiences you can carry forwards. Being last in the active teams is still better than giving up due to frustration (giving up due to RL reasons however is no problem and should be respected in itself )

Edited by Rushin Roulette, 03 June 2016 - 03:05 AM.

[Tronword Furey]

Outstanding post. Reminiscent of Rocky.

"It ain't about how hard you hit, but how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward. How much you can take and keep moving forward. THAT'S HOW WINNING IS DONE!"

[lpmagic]

Aresye is completely 100% correct.


Here is one of the big pluses of this tournament, it is at least two full seasons of MRBC's (top league in the game right now) worth of games, and, that means you are becoming seasoned to the greatest degree. You will see teams that will make the game last 3 minutes, and you will see teams where you will be battling until the very last whisp of time ticks off the clock, hang in there!

One thing about teams that many people don't know and have not learned yet, familiarity breeds unity, and with unity comes a very strong "force multiplier" if you know broham to your left likes to shoot right torsos, well then, you might wanna shoot right torsos etc....

this tourney is a slog, but if you want to have fun in comp, you gotta slog at some point, and this is a GREAT time to do what you can. I fully expect a few "OMG they beat who????" this is not pro football where "on any given Sunday" etc...but, there are chances, you should take one and run with it so many opportunities for a scary tactic or a weird drop deck.

Don't lose heart please, give it a real shot, it can be brutal, but it can also be rewarding as all get out!!

great post Aresye!

Edited by lpmagic, 03 June 2016 - 05:37 AM.

[Febrosian R Gillingham]

Hey Airy Sea Caring Sky, I got a motivational words fer you - you're a butt, in Div Butt!

Edited by Febrosian R Gillingham, 03 June 2016 - 07:34 AM.

[H I A S]

+1 for Aresye. wp

[Ranger Dave]

Appreciate the support. As a player only just finishing their 1st MRBC I totally agree with sticking through to the end. The thrashings ain't pretty but there is so much to learn and when you do scrape in a win it feels so damn good.
I also recommend chatting with the other teams. Many of the experienced players are really great people, happy to give feedback, tips and perhaps even a training scrimm.