Tournament Pre-Match Scouting

With Evo2k10 less than a week away, many of you are rushing to get that last bit of practice before heading out to Vegas. First of all, good luck to all of you in reaching your personal goals for the tournament. Second, i have one last piece of advice.

As a spectator, practice analyzing your upcoming opponents’ play styles and learn to identify their habits. The fact is, everyone attending a tournament automatically does this. Everyone tries to scout ahead by peeking at the bracket and watching potential opponents square off.

The question is, how good are you at it? Do you know what to look for? Can you spot specific weaknesses? Are you searching for concrete opportunities to capitalize on? Details like these are what you need to give yourself an edge with only moments to prepare your strategy.

Focusing on dropped combos and chaotic flukes won’t help you. The noisiest moments of a match are often the least tactically significant. If you see someone repeatedly failing to anti-air jump-ins, it’s certainly a weakness worth testing – but don’t depend on it. Chances are they’ll have caught onto such a glaring problem and made a mental note to correct it. It’s better to find a subtle flaw that’s gone unpunished, and therefore unnoticed.

Some people advocate watching top player match videos and memorizing their tendencies. Honestly, i think that’s a waste of time and effort. What are the odds of running into Valle or Daigo in a field of thousands of entrants? Not to mention, those players are so great at adapting on the fly that going in with a rigid gameplan won’t guarantee a result.

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However, evaluating three or four random average players on u2b does make for excellent practice. Look for compact situations that you could’ve turned in your favor with minimal guesswork. Keep it simple though. Remember, you have to be able recreate these scenarios realistically. Otherwise that knowledge won’t benefit you and may even derail your gameplan.

Above all else, take a round or two to immerse yourself in the match as it unfolds. Imagine yourself playing against your future opponent, mentally reacting to his moves in real time. Once you’ve done that, it won’t feel completely unfamiliar when you actually do face off.

There isn’t much more you can do to prepare yourself. Beyond that, just try to do your best, trust in your gameplan, don’t psyche yourself out, and have fun playing at Evo!

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