How To Deal With Ladder Anxiety in StarCraft 2

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[flx]

During the last months I actually had that problem. This weekend I kinda played on tilt, lost like 10 matches in a row and had a small mental breakdown which made me ask myself what I really want to archieve. 'I just want to enjoy the game' is what I made clear for myself. Now after that I'm on a 8 game win streak because after that weekend I lost my anxiety I hope and just played different things not just my tryhard builds. I just wrote this to share my personal experience with this last radical strategy to get rid of ladder anxiety even though it wasn't my plan to lose 10 games in a row.

[DorfenThomas]

"Losses are good, it's where you learn"
That kind of thinking helps my anxiety! Thank you for the tips!

[alexcyw]

Such underrated video. I keep watching this video like more then 10 times every year. To remind myself and this helps me so much.

[petercarioscia]

How to deal with ladder anxiety? Play co-op and never think about ladder ever again

[Zare_Serg]

Beasty boy speaking some good shit as always

[adcyuumi]

I have had this same chat with so many players, within various games.

If you are playing games because you like winning, you should play games where you are against an AI and playing reasonably well gets you the win -- you get to feel good about your performance, you get your "I'm a winner" fix, and all is right with the world. There are many games out there. SC2 PvP is pretty much the opposite of the sort of game you like, even if it does look cool and offer you the chance to occasionally feel like a champion. You won't get that feeling often enough to sustain you. The higher you climb, the less often that feeling will come. You'd have to just keep making new accounts or lose some games on purpose to match vs easier opponents to keep that feeling coming in steadily.

If you are playing multiplayer games, you CANNOT chase that "winner" high. The better you do, the harder the game gets due to matchmaking mechanics. No matter how strong you are, you are eventually going to start losing half your games. Unless you are fully OK with the roller coaster ride that is one week of doing well followed by a week of doing bloody awful, you need more than just the thrill of winning as a reason to play. You need something that you 100% enjoy even when you lose.

In a game like SC2, let's say you REALLY like Vikings. Use them. Use lots of them, every time you play Terran. The matchmaking system will determine (slowly) at what rank someone who really likes to play mass Vikings should be at, you'll get even games there where you lose half the time, and you'll get to playing with Vikings all the time. You don't have to care whether you win/lose in the short run -- just play what you like, the way you like to play it.

If you set your heart on being the best there ever was in a game like SC2, keep two things in mind...

Winning does not matter. You require the gathering of knowledge and the development of skill, which you get whether you win or lose. You just play a lot, seeing how your decisions (and your opponent's) affected the outcome.

Imitate, then innovate. You can't just be a pale copy of the people ahead of you on the ladder. The best advantage you have is that you are the only you. Imitate the basics, then use those basics to develop your own unique way of playing the game. Hit people with strategies and tactics that make a lot of sense to YOU, that feel natural to you and are easy to navigate for your brain in particular. Plans you build yourself are easier for you to remember, execute, and audible than ones you are just imitating. Pros win not just because they are good at the game -- they win because they play their own style of the game. That goes for you too, once you are past basics like micro/macro mechanics.

I suffer from EXTREMELY debilitating anxiety. My best advice to others who have it is to remember how much joy you bring another player when you give them a good game and they still beat you, or you make a terrible mistake and your opponent squeees with delight because they were sure they were dead. If you can find joy in the victory of a fellow player, every game is a celebration. You can say GG and mean it, and not feel bad. It is isolating ourselves and only valuing our own wins that makes us unhappy.

[mwilson]

Thanks for this Beasty. Long time watcher of SC, but experience this a lot in my game of choice (Chess). Good to know at least it's something other people experience at least, and thank you for the tips.

[lalakingo]

This is such an awesome video man, I literally could not ever play starcraft ladder, its way way to stressful for me XD will try all your advice out

[arduriki]

About learning from losses, makes me think on chess. Even chess pro players check where there was a blunder and keep on improving and having fun. Therefore, playing Starcraft in order to have fun and learn from losses are really good suggestions. Thanks mate for the video! My I suggest a video regarding how to analyze replays, please? 😝 Cause I have the feeling that something is missing in my own replay analysis... 🤔

[mickybarpostproductor]

4:05 "Unless you are Serral from SC2" XD

[matthewclark]

Great video beasty.. i also think toxicity from other players is a major contributor. People can say "dont be so sensitive" but if every time you get a win people are wishing death and cancer on your family... it makes the entire atmosphere negative and certainly generates ladder anxiety. I personally think in game toxicity is probably impossible to deal with or change, but nonetheless it is extremely negative

[jonarbuckle]

Cool stuff man. Husky did a similar thing years ago but didn't get into the usefulness and, well, psychology of it like this. Neato.

[shutedan]

these are your options from best to worst:
1. win and learn something
2. lose and learn something
3. win and learn nothing
4. lose and learn nothing

[买买提尼古拉斯-nt]

2018 WCS <Serral> Signature: "...I learn the most from losing..."

[dewottgaming]

Well, I usually play for fun and In Starcraft II I found this fun in Campaign mode and Co-op mode. I may not be the best player out there but at least I got my 100% achievements in Wings of Liberty Campaign and I'm confident with the stuff I'm doing in Co-op Mode. As soon as I enter 1v1 or 2v2 (ranked or unranked doesnt matter, it's just a thing of going against real players) I'm getting super nervous and I keep messing up my stuff. I've won 9 out of 22 games on ladder so far but all those games I won were pretty much against players who played even worse than I did. I'm at Silver 2 right now (started playing last year when it became f2p). I found your chanel when I saw your insane challenges (1 Terran vs 4 Gold was the first one I saw). I don't know if I was made for playing against real players but I got a feeling that I should stick to campaign and Coop mode...or do you maybe have any advise for me?

[SypherSeven]

You mean unless you're Serral's brother, or some other player who doesn't play professionally. lol

You're point is proven! Love your videos.
The ones where you challenge the 1v7 ai got me into your channel. I often challenge myself and work on builds against crazy odds like that.

[jonarbuckle]

I also second the "Play 2v2 games". They're fun and you can learn from team mates, no matter how bitchy they are. If they don't like suggestions, take their suggestions. Ask for them if you have to. Even if they are shitty ideas, you will then KNOW they are shitty and perhaps your partner will too if you have the luck of finding a partner who has the ability to self-reflect.
Good 2v2 experience can make 1v1 stress a breeze just because most people are just so damn salty and you can sit back and watch YOUR strats win!

[petararmanda]

Game vs Guru in background :D
9:20 Thats was satisfying xD

[powlee]

sometimes when i lose a game, i'm pissed of myself cause i played so bad and i know i can do better :D in this case i need a break.

[mumblecake]

Still relevant in 2020! The "leave 10 games in a row" is genius. For me it's a two edged sword. I'm anxious of pressing the button and end up not pressing it, then I'm getting depressed because I can't overcome the anxiety. I'll give that a go :)