We Get Knocked Down, But We Get Up Again

[SwimShady]

*insert tubthumping*

Guys, I'm not gonna lie. I was really really upset earlier. I was so angry and so over the whole game. In that one moment, I was ready to just walk away from competitive Splatoon.

But feeling that way doesn't help anyone. Not me, and especially not you guys.

Scientists are often far more excited to fail than they are to succeed because in failing, they learn something new.

So I've been trying to look at this loss from the perspective of a scientist. What I learned initially is that we're not as good as I thought we were. And that's okay. We're a young squad.

The second thing I learned was that my fiercely competitive nature is a major hindrance for me. I do the best when I'm just trying to have fun. Earlier today I was just goofing around in turf wars for the sake of warm-up and I was doing really well. The instant I feel like anything is on the line, I get bad. And when I start getting bad, I start getting pissed off. And being pissed off makes me worse. By the Walleye match, I was shaking. Everything I worked on to improve myself, I threw out the window. I made poor choices in every match and I place a LOT of the blame for today's loss on my inability to keep my **** together and help lead you guys. And for that I am immensely sorry. I feel like I've failed you all as a captain and as a team mate. I will better myself for you guys.

The third thing I learned is that I should have more faith in the people we play against. I guess my experience with the Sunken Raiders predisposed me to believe that Turquoise Salt would be jerks about rolling us so hard. But they weren't. They are all super great. And I would love to scrim with them and get tips on how to be a better team.

I would really like to apologize for shutting down so hard after that match. I should have been there to lift you guys up. And instead I took the loss way too hard. And I want to thank Tony for keeping it together so well and keeping a nice rep with TS even after the loss and being there for you guys after I shut down.

When I've had some time to reflect more on this match, I'll most a more "how we need to improve" type thread. But I didn't want to leave tonight off on such a negative note.

We will bounce back from this. And I know you guys know that. Mostly I'm just reminding myself.

Just a reminder, I love all of you lots. <3

 

[Camster]

I don't blame you. I was pissed as hell too but for some reason, it was the kind of pissed where I just have to laugh it off in game. Some ways I got splatted made me shake my head and say "bullshit". But that's okay. TS is a great team. They have more competitive experience than we do and have been together longer. Like you said, we are young. I'd say in terms of bond we are getting there pretty quickly. Splatoon strats will take some time. We can do this even if it costs us an arm. Or leg. Or the other arm. Or the other leg.

As I was saying in the discord earlier, I think we should change our practice formula a little. Playing eachother every week for an hour or 2 is kind of repetitive and we don't learn much since we already know eachother's playstyles. We should:

1. Split full 4v4's into 2 quad squads and alternate between teams/members
2. Scrimmage more. TS would be a good scrim buddy for us.
3. Practice certain techniques. Aiming, swimming, throwing walls, special uses etc.

It's easy to forget that we are here not just to try and be good/win, but to have fun. I think we can all have that friendly reminder.

 

[Aristeia]

To get a bit touchy feely for a short moment, I just want to say how much you guys calm me down when I play this game. Don't get me wrong, what happened today and our collective lack of preparedness pissed me off as well, but I am beginning to notice that I find myself a lot less aggravated when I play with you guys. Prior to starting up this squad with Sam, I was a raging mess all the time. This past summer Splatoon completely devoured my life to the point where I would play from 10 or 12 at night til 6 am every single day. During that time I made little to no progress on my actual gameplay because I would be so. damn. upset that I wasn't as good as other people. Eventually I learned to not let my anger cloud my play, but saltiness is still a major issue with me when nobody else is around to witness it. Honest to god I've lost count of the times that I have bruised my hand from punching my desk or something similar. But...when I play with you guys...I'm a lot more introspective and calm. I think that my abilities have grown exponentially since being a part of Wehmweh, and as Sam said, part of me is giddy at the thought that such growth will only continue as time goes on.

Also, no worries Sam about locking down. It was a competitive environment and things didn't go as we planned. There is absolutely no harm in taking time off like that and I know I don't fault you for it. Prime recent irl example...Cam Newton. Poor guy. I'm planning a massive how to improve thread as well, and I think we should take into account all three things for future practices, starting tomorrow or Sunday if we can (Sunday is the more workable time for me personally).

The point is, we CAN change this and we WILL get better. I know that TS thought the world of us according to my talk with Obliviouss and they're eager to play us some more. I for one would love to change our record against them a little bit, and would love a potential rematch in the playoffs :)

 

[Lord Lago]

I didn't want to say anything but I had this niggling thought in the back of my mind that we weren't going to do well based on our practices. A lot of our B team was players who sit back further and aren't good in close quarters and yes, Tony can sneak up and kill us all. Other teams aren't that easy so I'm not really certain how helpful A team vs B team was in that scenario. Not only that, but we had a sub playing a weapon he (admittedly) wasn't the best with. It was not really a good display of if our A team would do well. So yes I think scrims need to be a thing definitely, and I agree with Cam that practice should be more random.

Also... let's not be so rigid with our team setups. If you guys are feeling down, let a fresh person come in. There is no, "ZOMG THE ROSTER IS SET U MUST PLAY DEEZ MAPS NAOWWWWW". Yeah they might not be as familiar and it might be an awkward setup, but playing game after game and getting more salty over it is not the way to go. I was excited to play game 5 but by the time I was in, you initial 4 were as deflated as saggy grandma **** and it was no fun to play because I could tell you just didn't have the heart for it.

Speaking of game 5, I was pretty disappointed with the performances all around (definitely myself included) but I was especially miffed that I didn't get my hands on the rainmaker until they had already gotten to our 14 and taken most of our base. The initial push on that map is incredibly important and sets the pace for the next couple minutes. That being said I think it was a poor decision to take it up the middle as that generally does not get very far and then leaves them wide open to push up their own side path, which they did. I was pretty excited for that map and to only get my hands on the rainmaker once after we had pretty much already lost was very disappointing.

But don't get me wrong, I still love playing with you all. I'm right there with you Tony; when I play solo the things that come out of my mouth... But when I am with you guys I definitely have more fun and refrain from saying all sorts of nasty things, which actually helps. If I'm not saying negative things I'm not getting as negative and the cycle doesn't start. So, I definitely think I'm in a good place with you squids.

That being said, we need more practice. More than maps and strats we need fundamentals. Good fundamentals will improve your game no matter what map is being played. I'm always trying new ideas and trying different weapons because I'm not satisfied with my current abilities. Let me know what you all want me to work on (my aim being the biggest thing).

Also, I'm going to shamelessly plug that you all watch Kuroko no Basuke - the greatest anime EVAR!!! Why? Because it is all about teamwork and recognizing one's abilities, playing from behind, and striving to get better. Not just as an individual, but as a team. Sometimes it helps me to just think about what they went through in certain scenarios and it steels my resolve. Seriously, give it a try. You're all dorks with nothing better to do so just give it a watch. Or daddy will get the belt out on you squids.

That's all for now squidlets. Ta-ta and try and sleep it off! Enjoy yourselves this weekend

 

[Antwan]

Losing is never fun but at least we can learn from it. Squading to practice the basics is a good idea, making sure to focus on ink control, getting angles for kills and most importantly teamwork/communication (my bad on the last one, could have been more vocal yesterday). You guys have been great and I can see us becoming a better than decent team that other teams have to prepare for. I'd love to scrim sometime this week, either with TS or another team. If we can decide on a time frame then I can tell my buddy and he'll ask his captain to set one up, they scrim almost daily and seem to be in about the same boat as us as far as needing practice. Without my buddy who carries them, they did very poorly against another team in our division. Overall, I did enjoy yesterday and the nervousness of competition. Sharing the tummy tingles helps but honestly, once we become more confident that we will beat the team in front of us the tingles should go away or at least lessen to the point of mistakes not being blown out of proportion and throwing us off our game.

 

[Shiny]

I wasn't on yesterday so still a little fuzzy on what exactly happened yesterday tho I do understand the getting upset over losing. Back when I was a raid leader on gw2 if we would lose a gvg or an outnumbered fight 90% of the time I was gone 30s after. And when I'd come back there was always my guild there to make fun of me for being salty lol

U just gotta come back and laugh it off. and then be like yea we lost what can i as a leader do better to improve myself and help my group out so i dont rage quit again. but i dont think anyone is blaming u for getting upset. Hell Even to this day I get salty about splatoon too lol.


Proof of my saltyness