Competing in your first tournament is one of the most difficult challenges in esports and competitive gaming. Nerves and uncertainty can hold a person back for far too long when performing a competitive feat for the first time. Here are my top 10 suggestions for getting ready for your first competitive gaming tournament:
- Just Go for It
You’ve probably been looking at different gaming tournaments to enter if you’re reading this. Return to that website and register right away for any tournament or game. Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt, or “FUD,” is what you’re feeling with your hesitation. Let’s dissect these.
Fear: You probably have a fear of trying something new. Online gaming at home is very different from competitive gaming at a tournament. Both you and your rivals are aware of the other. Throughout the competition, you will continue to see spectators who have come to watch you win and spectators who have come to watch you lose.
But here’s a shocker: people don’t think of you the way you think of yourself. When you attend a gaming tournament for the first time, people don’t know who you are and don’t remember you afterward.
You’re also probably afraid of making a mistake. This is a skill in and of itself. Every athlete has had the experience of underperforming during a competition. This is your first tournament, and it is most likely a local affair. You’re not kicking a game-winning field goal in front of millions of people during the Super Bowl. No one outside of the tournament will ever know.
Uncertainty: You’re not sure what to expect. Will there be enough room for your usual keyboard and mouse setup? Will
Will the chair and table be at your usual height? Will it be light or dark? Since there isn’t $100,000 on the line, all of these uncertainties are minor.
Doubt: Maybe you’re just thinking that you’re not good enough or that you need a few more months to get a new map down pat in your head. These ideas can prevent you from entering a tournament for years, so you might never be able to do so unless you confront them.
Your self-doubt can be useful as well. Overconfident or arrogant behaviour can lead you to underestimate your opponent. You can move cautiously and confidently when you have the right amount of uncertainty because you will have given all the “what ifs” careful thought and will be ready for them.
- Avoid Making Any Important Changes
Don’t begin sleeping half as much and playing twice as much. Keep up the good work and stick to your regular schedule. It’s acceptable to make small adjustments to your practise routine, but any major changes could seriously disrupt your rhythm and make you feel less than your best on tournament day.
- Set Reasonable Goals
In all honesty, all you need to do is sign up and show up. Everything else is just new information for you to learn. You won’t become an expert overnight. Don’t go into your first competition with the expectation of succeeding. If you do succeed, it’s just the cherry on top. Utilize this chance to pick up as much knowledge from rival competitors as you can. Engage in networking and socialising. Learn from more experienced players what they do to get ready for gaming competitions.
- Establish a Practice Routine
Although it might seem to go against step 2, please bear with me. Change your practice schedule if your tournament starts at 9:00 am but you’re used to gaming until the wee hours. The two weeks spent getting up early, eating breakfast, and beginning practice at 9:00 am will pay off on tournament day.
Additionally, you can pinpoint one or two areas in your game that require the most improvement. I would benefit from practicing all of the smokes on the maps if I were to compete in a CS:GO tournament so that I wouldn’t doubt myself during a match. You won’t reinvent yourself, but there are a few things that might be more important than scrims and pugs.
- Learn How to Perform at Your Best
Peaking is a tactical plan to make sure you are at your best on tournament day, building off of step 4. Here is where more conventional sports can teach esports a lot. Take powerlifting as an example. Peaking for a competition can take anywhere between three and six months when the process is written out and followed step by step.
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Learning how to peak while gaming can be as easy as finding a balance between your game time and recovery time to keep your injury-free. The closer you get to your tournament, the less likely it is that more practises will translate into better performance. In actuality, you might be exhausting yourself. Knowing exactly how much you need to practise and when is the best time to do so will be extremely beneficial, especially for future tournaments as the stakes rise.
- Work Ahead
Find out where the tournament will be held. If it’s relatively close, take a practise drive over at the time you’ll need to get a sense of the traffic and how long it will take. You don’t want to be 15 minutes late and have your stomach churning from nerves and anxiety.
Learn everything you can from the tournament organiser. What kind of computer setup or monitor will be used? How many people are expected to attend? What are the brackets and how long between your first match and the potential grand final match? Don’t let minor, easily overlooked details derail your day.
- Be Aware of the Rules
Ignorance is not a valid excuse. Once you’ve registered, familiarise yourself with the rules. Do you think I’m going overboard? Here are a few unexpected esports tournament rules from this list:
- Hats are not allowed.
- Cell phones must be turned in.
- There will be no mingling with the enemy, in-game chat, or taunting.
Avoid the embarrassment of having to pause a live match because you forgot to remove your favourite gaming beanie.
- Invite a Friend
You will benefit from going to your first gaming tournament with a friend, preferably one who is not competing if nerves are the main thing stopping you. However, be polite and offer to take them out to dinner after the match is over (hopefully with your prize money). When you feel like things are getting out of control, a friend will be a voice of reason and sanity. They can help you find a place to practice, let you know when your next match is, remind you to eat, and support you after a challenging match.
- Bring Snacks and Avoid Over drinking on Caffeine
Sure, you can choose pizza or UberEATS, but who knows what kind of food will be served at the competition. But my advice is to bring food that is the closest to what you typically eat. This will avoid any indigestion or other unpleasant sensations that could affect your performance. The day of the tournament is not the time to begin a raw vegan diet.
Overconsumption of caffeine is another thing to avoid. You’ll feel tempted to only drink red bull but doing so will ruin your performance unless it becomes a daily routine (and even then, you should stop). It takes skill to balance caffeine and athletic performance, but for me, a cup of coffee about an hour before my activity is best.
- Relax and Enjoy Yourself
This is your first gaming competition. You’re probably not going to win, you’re not going to break any records, and you’re certainly not going to be signing autographs. You will be learning a lot, meeting new people, and immersing yourself in a new experience. Consider your first tournament to be practice for future tournaments.
After you’ve participated in one tournament, you’ll know what to expect in the next, and each subsequent tournament will be an opportunity to hone your competitive skills. If you enjoy competition, you’ll enjoy competing in a tournament. You’ll most likely become addicted, and when the day is done, you’ll be looking for the next available tournament to sign up for.
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