Decision-Making in Smash

[@luckilyduckily]

rishi's advanced guide to the philosophy of fsmashing in neutral

[@Pslamist]

Don't forget the pivot though.

[@PKWinning07]

to be fair you need to have a very iq to understand fsmashing in neutral

[@ezechiel4619]

lmao i swear this is literally the phenomenology of smash, ideas explored in this video could very well be extended to everyday life

[@CreepsMcPasta]

As an Ultimate player all options lead to up b out of shield

[@dragodadragon]

If your character has a good up b out of shield, you're carried. That's just how it is, I don't make the rules.

[@NZsaltz]

(cries in DK and Ike player)

[@keyb7itz]

Listen if my opponent even thinks about touching my shield that's on them

[@anvi7572]

i heh'd

[@johnnycrash4892]

Sounds lame

[@Faulheit]

THAT ENDING LMAO

[@yonatanbeer3475]

A suprise, to be sure, but a welcome one

[@nathanlevesque7812]

That alone was worth a like

[@jogbearcool8594]

The inner leffen

[@adamtorrie5938]

I love how Zain picks up hungry box's controller after he pops off on him

[@andrewferguson6901]

Respect the game

[@TriforceBeyblade]

What a gentlemen

[@chillin5703]

​@@sudarshanseshadri5504 enh, it's hype.

[@Killopotamus]

@@sudarshanseshadri5504 I don't think it was disrespectful. Just a popoff tbh

[@andrewdavey9765]

I think one of the major things this model is missing is how much our conscious attention in game is structured. Rather than say what is mang0 seeing when he picks up on a habit he can use later, asking what a high level player is ignoring can be much more instructive. Wizzy has said that when he's reaction tech chasing there is no room for any other information about the game to come through. He has to tune out literally everything in order to execute his win condition. The set of information filters we construct as competitors is integral in what defines our play style and decision tree. The filters are part of the "doer" part of your paradigm, but IMO should be treated as distinct from purely physical execution part of doing.

[@atari8897]

This is actually hella informative, this should get signal boosted because this is super important and not something I see getting talked about at all.

[@lmao2302]

That explains why my reaction time is literal shit when I'm actually thinking and not playing on instinct.

[@GlobusTheGreat]

@@lmao2302 And wizzy is probably tuning in to the handful of pixels on the screen that in a microsend will indicate where the opponent is teching... how many players are looking at the screen, or their character, hearing the music, seeing colors -- wasted info, wasted attention.

[@swagcat51]

this is very important in shooter games too (entire point of crosshair placement)

[@turndownforwalt]

Excellent video. Great work Rishi!

[@FalseSwipeGaming]

Excellent video as always Rishi!

[@silvesta5027]

Omg it's False Swipe Gaming

[@Acryte]

Rishi: What should Marth do in this situation. E: L+R+A+ST DK

[@KristoferYee]

I'm impressed you referenced one of the best tennis books you can read for trying to go pro. I usually don't sub to melee channels but here I go

[@kota69420]

Woah it’s yee

[@rainyprac]

Inner game of tennis is practically the fighting game bible. Having played tennis and melee, im pretty sure it's better melee advice than tennis advice. (Not to take from away its profound insights into improving at tennis) In real fighting, bruce lee would have told you to "be like water" and im pretty sure he was talking about the same thing. It's all about flow state.

[@thebotanist4933]

Custom Robo music slaps so hard man, SUCH an under rated game and soundtrack

[@FortWhenTeaThyme]

The soundtrack is amazing, but I tried to go back to that game in 2019 and it does not hold up well. The graphics are terrible and the writing is poor.

[@DoubtedPumpkin]

Tried it again recently, not fun

[@rayzamarripajr.7571]

Custom Robo goes hard not because of the graphics and story but the gameplay battle royale can be hype as fuck

[@Spark31Gaming]

I've always viewed the relationship between the doer and analyst (self 1/self 2) like a relationship between horse and rider. The rider (analyst) guides the horse (doer), but the horse is truly in control. If the rider tries to force their will on the horse, the horse won't respond well. Instead, the rider must gently nudge the horse in the right direction and let it go.

[@kennybear0]

Thats a perfect analogy

[@BigZesusTekken]

Beautifully said

[@Alienrun]

Entering a perfect flow state or "the zone" is then fusing with the horse to become an out of control reverse cenataur who runs 10 times faster than a horse at its fastest speed.

[@Minuey]

In other words, flow. You expressed a major problem found in competitive gamers quite elegantly.

[@TheAlmightyBassist]

As someone who rides this is incredibly true

[@somenamethatisopen]

Came for the Rishi, stayed for the stinger.

[@cherryb0ng]

I used to main peach for a while until I realized how much I liked to complain about Melee. Thank you Rishi I found out my third self for some time now as a Fox player, but I didn't know that the voice was a my "inner complainer"

[@trixssbm]

same but i like pissing people of besides complaining once a peach main now a puff main

[@SSB_Seal]

I’ve really enjoyed the last few videos you made. They do a good job at being both informative and entertaining. Also, you always have good BGM choices. Keep it up!

[@bruceU]

I just opened the video, i am on the pop quiz, and my prediction is you will talk about the quiz options the entire video and then determine grabbing was actually the best option at the very end

[@joe4570]

poor read

[@bruceU]

@@joe4570 yeah i'm a little disappointed, the end card meme was definitely not what i expected

[@GustoFormula]

yeah, he said next best. was it just assumed that grab was actually the best?

[@enickma910]

I honestly expected grab to be one of the options. In hindsight it definitely would've whiffed but I figure that's just what most marths would do in neutral while that close to fox.

[@anthonypicciano7934]

If this ended up being correct I would not have believed it

[@somenamethatisopen]

The "inner mogul mover".

[@Nightwalker86]

hey smash god, this is umbreon. i remember you helping vote on rule sets in the melee back room wayyy back in like 2007. you've come a long way since then, good work when the pop quiz came up, i picked "grab" and was disappointed when there wasnt an option for it. even with 2 matches of prior information, i personally would not risk a neutral blade hit at 0% in a MU that is so specific to grabs. fox also has poor position on marth and has no good choice but to dash and hope marth doesnt correctly take stage, making grab that much better.

[@blueberrylps]

my heart tells me that you edited that winning DK footage onto that B-roll, but my mind saw the big house and knows it's true

[@combcombo]

this is a perfect video and i love you so much for making it Rishi, thank you

[@youtuberobbedmeofmyname]

Out of all the analysts I'm definitely the inner Complainer.

[@Spoooder]

This is an extremely well thought out video that applies so handily to competition in general - well done! Love it!

[@daviddesalvo623]

We seriously need more videos like this. This video has been a landmark for my progression as a player

[@JMJackMcNally]

"in my set against zain at the big house 8"

[@annakalaa3980]

Wow, Rishi, I must say that in the first portion of the video, I was let down by your choice of presenting a quiz with such pointless direction, but you completely swept that up -- only using it to ease into some very profound philosophical discussion about the nature of "pointless direction" and cultivating it to be the right direction for you... There is much benefit to identifying personal mind body and heart patterns in one's own gameplay, and even more benefit to identifying it in one's opponent; it doesn't lose value whether it's done before or during a match. It is just an incredibly valuable lesson and guide to focus development. I would also like to add that I have NEVER seen such relevant and fascinating clips adjacent to commentary related to their contents... For me, watching Mango follow Shroomed as you articulate the abstract definition or articulation of heart logic was like watching a puzzle piece finish a puzzle. Likewise with n0ne short hopping back in front of shield. You are wonderful for creating this; I am ecstatic for more of your rationality!

[@MystDawg]

There is always a balance one must learn in everything. You can't be too emotional or too calculated. You need to incorporate both in order to succeed, otherwise your plan falls apart and you become predictable. It's always a tough balance, learning it comes with time and reflection, but there are ways to make it easier. One of which is to pick a character can apply a play style of balance well in a match. For this reason I argue Mario is SS+ tier and will dominate the meta in 24 years when player's brains have evolved enough to see the game in slow motion and get the optimal punishes every time

[@CodecMoment]

A great companion book to The Inner Game of Tennis is Brad Gilbert's Winning Ugly. If you read it, Gilbert himself might sound a lot like the protagonist from the manga Baby Steps which is also about tennis. He talks a lot about formulating a gameplan (as an analyst) and "programming" yourself (as the doer) to react to the situations you think will come up. He talks all about how he does this for specific players while he was on the pro tour, and outlines his plans on how to beat the world's top tennis players at the time (which he has at least on one occasion, except for a couple).

[@flop22222]

Actually one of the most useful videos I’ve ever seen for smash. Every player needs to see this. Fantastic work

[@Radarssbm]

Nice

[@url4345]

I love this video is like a bridge between melee technique and zen teachings.

[@obo6261]

Excellent work and very insightful, had to go back through just to fully understand, thank you so much !!

[@daviddesalvo623]

Interestingly, I always thought that the analyst was a mind player, the doer was a heart player, and that body play was its own third category involving creating a flow chart that includes total character knowledge, tech, and option availability in any given scenario. Given that mix up, I developed my own way of thinking wherein your goal is to combine the benefits of both my heart and mind concepts because in psychology, flow state is defined as a perfect harmony between thought and action. I believe that conscious thought is like ram and unconscious thought is like flash memory, so to delegate as much information to the unconscious as possible is the best way to make it readily available for the "doer" the heart to access and use mid match. The way that this can be achieved is by setting up an inner mechanism to create "flags" about what the opponent does in any given scenario. These flags are like primers so that the next time they show up, the flag is raised and one does not need to consciously think through what has happened, but react to the flag and put out an option. How do I think about this process mid match. I divide it into 3 phases. First is awareness, which implies an unconscious focus and attention to the opponent, paired with inner patience and reservation not to overcommit to any option but to take in information. Awareness should be the foundation behind an entire match. The next phase is Anticipation, which implies having the flags set up as primers and being prepared to mentally react to them when they are raised again. The benefit to anticipation is it also does not rely on conscious slow thought but uses the advantages that come with reaction speed. The last phase is action/reaction/doing. whatever you like to call it. And the benefit of having these steps in place are that one has constant internal preparation and so when a flag is raised, you can already have a mentally preprepared response that optimally takes advantage of the situation. While in flow state, this mechanism should work flawlessly within the personal flowchart and tools one has with their level of tech skill and character/game knowledge, but if one errs toward mind or toward body, each side has its drawbacks. My one question is where to fit conditioning into this model, and so far I think i just have it relegated to what the conscious mind works on during the game when playing optimally but idk. Lmk if you happen to read this what your thoughts are

[@rapidretrovenue563]

The INNER COMPLAINER: When you're having a tough time with that ONE character when you're playing the BEST CHARACTER IN THE GAME and you rave about how doomed the future of this game is, while other players of weaker characters are putting up with several bad MUs.

[@_cynth_wave]

This framework only becomes more interesting when you realize it applies to other things too. For example, in writing music I can identify times where mind (theory) body (common practices, instrumentation) and heart (feeling out melodic lines and grooves) interact and either helped or held the others back.

[@PHIplaytesting]

One of the fascinating things about philosophy is how many repeating patterns it reveals throughout our reality.

[@Luper1billion]

Recently playing rainbow 6 i started to apply a similar concept but with not only the analyst and doer, but also the critic and the captain

[@ash1yn]

lol 6:31 the freeze frame with falco facing forward

[@NickZack]

I just get blazed and it combines the analyst doer combo really well.

[@azophi]

Another thing to notice is that as you play anything enough, you will spend less time worrying about your instincts because you know what is going on. Like in any sport, you start without knowing what's going on- if you're new to smash, you'll spend more time looking at the controls or your character. These professionals have more time to analyze the big picture just due to their insanely high experience level, whereas us plebs are on a lower level. You have to beat bad habits by consciously thinking about them, otherwise you will always be the same

[@Swagner17]

Yeah this guy is going to blow up. He’s a genius! No cap

[@gumhoy5054]

He's a Melee Sith, what a wonderfully poignant analogy about trying to find an advantage in every single situation.

[@Greatermaxim]

Rumor has it the boys are still smashing to this day regardless of skill level.

[@edgarmayorga8048]

My friend and I had a discussion on this topic not long ago. He categorized play styles into game maker, game changer, and game master. Essentially the same thing as body, heart, and mind

[@tuckerchatfield8536]

Between this and the choosing your main video I’m lovin the content

[@0ptimuscrime]

The way I look at this is that you have to be able to notice important information during a match, and that analysing replays is how you can teach yourself how to notice that important information. The mind/heart/body categories are just different lenses you can look through when assessing a situation.

[@thgodfry]

I think an additional part of this is what happens when something goes wrong during the "doer" phase, I have a friend who i would consider a "borp type", he plays sheik, and doesn't wave dash, wave land, ledge stall, L-cancel, ect... his most tech thing is dash dancing, and he plays around getting grabs. the reason this is relevant is, if you think about the inputs he has to do , for something like dash dance, downthrow, F-air, or dash attack F-air compared to even simple pillars with falco (that's my main) is huge. in summary, he has less to mess up because he is doing less, so his analyzer and doer are rarely in conflict. Where if i am a few frames late on any part or miss a L-cancel, I am tripped up for a longer period. I have much higher peaks in game play but he is way more consistent. and I think this is reflected in the characters we chose to play. sorry for the long winded comment, here is a smile for the trouble :)

[@kenzokorsten4810]

This whole way of vidoe really spoke to me and i think ill try and think and look diffrently at smash now. Thanks rishi, awesome vid 👌

[@koitsuga]

Because I'm a language teacher (and learner) with a CS background, I view the process of learning decision making like the process of attaining fluency in a foreign language, but the language is the language of operations in a two player game with hidden information in the form of the reaction time delay. Basically however your inner analyst thinks, it then has to take on the role of an inner coach and teach the doer each action in the strategy and then get each if those actions learned to the point that it can be treated as an operation in a greater and more abstract action. There's never really a correct action in any given situation, but there are two 'correct' weightings of options (which are learned strings of inputs, it's really hard to do options you haven't practiced) in any given situation. The first is the game theoretic dominant strat weighting. If there's only one 100% option there and you can execute it 100% of the time, you have to learn to do it every time. But aside from that it's not usually optimal to follow this arrangement, e.g. GTO strat isn't good in computer RPS tournaments. You could call this the 'mind' solution. The second 'correct' weighting is the best weighting based on what you know about the other person as a human being. It's likely to be an adjustment of the GTO weighting. This sort of read has way more tournament success because it doesn't randomly lose to technically proficient players with zero decision making ability. It might be the 'heart' element in your framework. The 'body' most closely resembles the action learning part of my framework, although I don't include gameplans explicitly anywhere because I think in practice you're correct but in theory it depends on what kind of game plan you use which part of the decision making process it touches. So in this model, you can learn increasingly abstract actions as sounds, words, phrases. Initially, players are limited by their vocabulary and can only emit routine sequences and predictable patterns. But as they become more technically proficient, it becomes possible to generate wholly new sentences of gameplay and unexpected utterances like the first clip you played because they have the body and mind stuff to support it. As such, I feel like there's a kind of heirarchy, the body stuff supports the mind stuff, and the mind stuff and the body stuff support the heart stuff. So learning decision making requires an understanding of the sequences in our acquisition of melee ability so that we can devise the right training for our brains neural networks and use them in the right training programme to create fluent players as quickly as possible, and help fluent players become proficient, where they can have a solid and well developed theory spanning multiple strategies and gameplans in each matchup on each stage. I strongly believe that we have a lot more to see in the development of our play in this game. (Especially me, possibly the least trained player in the entire world.)

[@koitsuga]

Lmao i then opened your choosing your main video, i see u are already familiar with this idea

[@glysah]

great video, love hearing you discuss the way you see the game + mindset interactions.

[@rapidretrovenue563]

In my experience theres like a consistent demon that haunts all these three player types. Heart Based players play the player MU rather than the character MU, so when they think they're getting better by playing their friends only to findout they still lose to tourney opponents because they don't have the habits of their friends, they have to force themselves to play a wider pool of ppl to keep getting better. Mind based players are often well balanced and most consistent of the bunch but they seem to have trouble really specializing in their play like the other 2. This leads to trouble finding out what their strong suit might be on some days. Body players are extremely disciplined and can literally get all their quality practice off few training partners because they p much STRICTLY PLAY the character MU point for point rather than the player. They don't pick on habits like the heart based player, but this also opens up body based players to inconsistencies and just having spontaneous off days where their hands just aren't doing what they're supposed to be doing. I know this feeling as I identify with this type and its infuriating...

[@dap0zx]

This video really helped me understand how I go about thinking, and how to improve my way of thinking. Thanks Rishi.

[@justinchoy476]

I think this actually helps me quite a bit in handling my shortcomings because I have straightforward ideas and I can break down specific situations. However, what I lack is the ability to act on predictions and think actively as I let my autopilot do all the work. But at the same time, I also have an opposite issue where if I think too much I end up in worse situations. I think what I should do to improve is to try and act on predictions a bit while trying to become an active thinker. Thanks Rishi!

[@atari8897]

What I do, personally, is I start by just taking bits and pieces of information from my opponent. What their favorite move in neutral in, what their favorite edge guarding strategy is, and most importantly keeping a tally of their tech rolls. You have no idea how many stocks I've taken by fsmashing their tech in place, because they get conditioned into thinking it's the best option because I rely on tech chasing for a lot of my punishes (PM Roy btw).

[@justinchoy476]

Bob Jones I play ultimate (judge me lol) but I still think the processes and terminology still apply.

[@dummyqt2947]

I was thinking of The Inner Game of Tennis when you mentioned the analyst and the doer, amazing book

[@Die-222]

Very important aspect of the game that is difficult to explain. Great video dude!

[@cameronardoin3347]

This is the most helpful guide of its kind. Thanks Rishi.

[@tomiathisflex7706]

Thanks for the upload, Rishi! I've been looking forward to it! Great video

[@E-Brightvoid]

Rishi, you are insanely good at this. You have an excellent cadence and a nice vocal tone overall. Keep making stuff!

[@michaelmurray9730]

These video essays are too good, please keep making them!

[@GoldenSableye]

this reminds me a lot of a core-a gaming video, is that the main inspiration here? really cool if so

[@davidmunoz8215]

Great video, Rishi! As someone who´s getting into Melee who loves psychology/ cognitive theory this was amazing. Though your description of the body player sounded more like a strategy based game vs the more tactics based mind player. Both of those seem to be the realm of a mind player. A body player is more akin to an athlete (better reactions, techskill, etc). It does come through in your explanation, but not quite. Or how do you see it?

[@enickma910]

I believe you're right in most games, but in a game as fast as melee where your mind and body are almost never fully in sync, it's important to make the distinction between a player who acts on a macro sense and one who acts on a micro sense. Mind and body players are processing information differently while they play. To use the example from the beginning of the video, the body player would think "when foxes are dashing away and marth dashes forward, they usually get aggressive and turn around and short hop nair to avoid getting grabbed or down-tilted" and would probably choose to wavedash back and reset neutral: the no-risk, low-reward option. The mind player would probably choose to either dtilt or sh nair, because in this specific interaction sh nair would beat the fox's sh nair or the dtilt would hit fox if he stayed grounded. Both options have a small amount of risk but offer branching follow-ups if they hit: a low-risk, medium-reward way to win the interaction. The heart player, as Rishi demonstrated, would choose the high-risk, high-reward option.

[@just_mr_gng]

I'm so glad I stuck around to see the secret part 3 to this video 5 starts would recommend

[@collinreardon79]

This is the type of melee videos i want. Keep them coming

[@Code_Ramen717]

Inside you there are two wolves: one is gay, the other is gay; they are married.

[@KasperParadox]

I love your take on the philosophy of melee.

[@TremendoSmash]

Your ideology behind what goes into the Decision Making process is very interesting! I definitely see some parallels between this and my own system (particularly the stuff regarding the Analyst guiding the Doer, avoiding autopilot, not getting distracted, and some specific aspects about your Mind/Body/Heart system), but the way you described your view of it is a pretty neat way of describing it! I'll have to see what I can take from this! When it comes to making good decisions, I like to think of it from a perspective of Risk / Reward / Chance of Success, generally avoiding high risk low reward decisions and opting for other decisions that are safer, more rewarding, more likely to work, or any combination of the three depending on the situation. The chance of success is one that's often overlooked, and one you can influence through observation, conditioning, pressure, etc. So a move like going for an Fsmash on an escape read might be High Risk and High Reward with a Low Chance of success in a vacuum, but in the context of the set where you've had more than enough chances to glean knowledge from your opponent, the chance of success is significantly higher and what was once a shot in the dark becomes a very good decision in the moment. Thank you for making this video!

[@starcubey]

I think risk/reward/chance of success would have been a great way of explaining what heart body and mind mean because I found it difficult to understand what he was saying. I think mind is risk, reward and knowing that the option exists; body is the average chance of success, and heart is the chance of success depending on what your opponent is thinking.

[@tylerruss3819]

one of the best vidoes ive come across in years

[@normalrachael]

In smash, we call it the computer, the cucumber, and the white hot fire

[@rapasdecoeur7017]

Great video ! I've never seen this subject explained from that angle

[@neilmacdonald6637]

nothing groundbreaking, but a concise summary of time-tested methods to grind out gritty, linear improvement. Nice! :)

[@Bogan360dude]

Love the chill Custom Robo music, great video

[@riccardoaversa9299]

does the inner complainer also have a body, mind and heart?

[@drewbabe]

well they at least have a mouth to whine with

[@perrydezeeuw96]

No, they're empty

[@sutfolsemaj]

3 hearts and each one is pissed about something different.

[@WaldoFindsYo]

Wtf, that sith/jedi comment at the end is so funny to me.

[@najee_eee]

As a blackbelt in Taekwondo I've been increasingly enjoying finding more and more similarities between Smash and real fights. They have the exact same fundamentals only theough different mediums. Also as I get better in smash I see both Smash and Taekwondo improving eachother it's really fascinating.

[@zipar3132]

Damn good video Rishi. Also hype part 3

[@EllisG123]

Nice video ! Feel like your ideas are well explained and the music is rad 👌👌🤙🏻

[@eu4um]

Great video! Reminded me of Gerald Lee’s Core-A Gaming video on the same subject of 3 Types of Player. Both are excellent.

[@no_nip]

i think the way you described "body" made it seem far better than mind and heart, or even a combination of both. is body supposed to have downsides to tunnelvisioning on / is it supposed to be equal to the other two?

[@bruceU]

I think of the body player as somebody who archetypally overwhelms you with sheer innovation and technical skill. This doesn't really exist by itself in modern melee tho. I would only identify like 3 players that would or have tried to overwhelm opponents with sheer tech in modern melee, with varying degrees of success and relevance 1. Syrox 2. Relno 3. ARMY WOOOO LET'S GO ARMY WOBBLING IS THE MOST TECHNICAL HIGH APM COMBO IN THE GAME GOD TOP PLAYER ARMY WOOO

[@noahc6804]

the body player is one who focuses on overall gameplan, primarily concerning the most effective way to interact with your opponent. They think very broadly, in order to cover all of their bases. "stay at this range in neutral, outspace him with X move, try to make him whiff because whiff punishing is good in the mu". The downside to this is that it is easy to get caught up in what an effective strategy should be, and when their is a chink in their armor it can be difficult for them to switch up an entire gameplan on the fly. For example, if your general gameplan with fox is to run away and laser camp, and yet your opponent shows you that its not going to work against them, they struggle to switch their style. They also often miss the more specific situational reads that could be getting them kills. This gameplan most invites autopiloting into the picture since you are thinking so broadly.

[@Gabrielnfs]

A better way to categorize it would be Heart -> Reads, Body -> Game plans, Mind -> Specific situations. The heart, body and mind definition is too abstract imo.

[@gary0163]

Body relies to much on "meta" and what their opponent "should" do. It can be a huge downfall if the opponent has a very unique playstyle or maybe plays an unfamiliar character

[@Harrinsain]

To break down, I think: Heart = Read/forming strats around your opponent Body = learning the meta-game to come up with all encompassing philosophies Mind = Coming up with strats to deal with specific situations Heart is largely ignorant of the technical side and is more focused on the "heart" or tendencies of their opponent, "feeling" out what they will do through experience Body is largely ignorant of details. More specifically, they're ignorant of the act of playing the game. They are the type of person more concerned with coming up with and analyzing tier lists and understanding who is good at what in a general sense. Body players consider the whole, but not the parts that make up the whole. Body often considers the ideals and not what a player will actually do in a real situation. In this sense, they're also ignorant of the heart. Mind is the opposite of body, and is also probably why people play low-tiers. They're ignorant of the meta and are focused on the small scale, often ignoring the bigger picture which could lead to a broader understanding. If Body has the mindset of "X character has the best nair in the game", mind has the mindset of "X character's X move is/isn't safe/useful in X situations/against X character's X moves" strengths: Heart: Reads/player analysis Body: Meta/ideals/match-ups Mind: scenario analysis/safety weaknesses: Heart: "Goes with the flow"; Lacking in technical knowledge. Body: Only considers best options, forgets most players aren't machines Mind: Only considers possibilities, ignorant of opponent biases/tendencies

[@Xenolark]

These are the kind of topics I enjoy seeing people's points of view on, thanks for making this! My analyst and doer don't collaborate well; doer refuses to work when I give the analyst attention. How do I train them to work together? My approach: as primarily a heart player I must realize the mind body and heart are all individual muscles of the analyst and first I have to work on evening out the muscles of the analyst before trying to get the doer to trust the analyst.

[@LiteralmenteFadul]

In your head there are two wolves, neither one can ledgedash

[@thegamingguy1]

This is genuinely beautiful

[@xKuinkinx]

Loved the choice of music!

[@neux64]

Seeing the last bit, all the Johns came flowing through my head.

[@deal_4_real]

You're a legend for throwing in the Custom Robo tracks

[@vuke6931]

Tbh I didn't click for the video I clicked because the melee cursor was place to make it look like Marth was thinking really hard and that's just amazing

[@siennas254]

Did I cross in here from another timeline because I swear to god I watched this like a year ago

[@lorenzoram6025]

Don't you just deny the fact: "full hop up-air" was on screen too.

[@10upstudios]

thanks ive been looking for a video essay on sun tzu for a while now

[@fluury]

it was a good decision to watch this video

[@herzogwolf7225]

The Last part got me XD i just love the truth about it

[@rayzamarripajr.7571]

I'm loving the Custom Robo soundtracks

[@DeimosError]

This is how optimized melee has become. it deems an entire theory field that can be studied

[@delta3244]

In case you were being serious, this is for fighting games in general, not just Melee

[@btf_flotsam478]

It falls under the broad subject of "game theory" (yes, it is that obvious). More specifically, it can be viewed as a sequence of zero-sum games, with the payoffs being the match states and the resulting advantage and disadvantage. The solution would be found by inductively finding the sequence of mixed strategies (doing different things with different probabilities) that leads to the optimum chance of winning. When you include prediction stuff, it gets complicated (because your opponent doesn't need to behave in any predictable manner). It's moderately complicated and I don't think I've explained it that well, but I hope you get where I'm coming from.

[@justsomeweirdperson]

the analyst vs doer stuff reminds me of system 1 and 2 from the core a gaming vid "playing fast and slow"

[@PlasmaLink64]

Great video Rishi! Though, for the quiz at the start, my choice would have been JC Grab. I'm not even sure if it would have worked at that range.

[@clipboard_guy]

Just found your channel I really like how you tackle subjects in a different way to others. You are my new favorite smash youtuber. Love the content keep it up!

[@kerokeropoonito]

sick vid rishi

[@Harrinsain]

SO! To summarize: Heart = Read/forming strats around your opponent Body = learning the meta-game to come up with all encompassing philosophies Mind = Coming up with strats to deal with specific situations Heart is largely ignorant of the technical side and is more focused on the "heart" or tendencies of their opponent, "feeling" out what they will do through experience Body is largely ignorant of details. More specifically, they're ignorant of the act of playing the game. They are the type of person more concerned with coming up with and analyzing tier lists and understanding who is good at what in a general sense. Body players consider the whole, but not the parts that make up the whole. Body often considers the ideals and not what a player will actually do in a real situation. In this sense, they're also ignorant of the heart. Mind is the opposite of body, and is also probably why people play low-tiers. They're ignorant of the meta and are focused on the small scale, often ignoring the bigger picture which could lead to a broader understanding. If Body has the mindset of "X character has the best nair in the game", mind has the mindset of "X character's X move is/isn't safe/useful in X situations/against X character's X moves" strengths: Heart: Reads/player analysis Body: Meta/ideals/match-ups Mind: safety/assessing options weaknesses: Heart: "Goes with the flow"; Lacking in technical knowledge. Body: Only considers best options, forgets most players aren't machines Mind: Ignorant of opponent biases/tendencies and miss bigger picture.

[@yophi8275]

The analist The doer The COMPLAINER

[@JapaneseLanguageMentor]

Great video. Definitely put into words how I’ve felt about my competitive mindset these pst 2 years. Including part 3 of the guide ;) I would’ve liked to see you mention execution, as I believe it’s a smaller but crucial part of accessing the analyst and doer abilities at a higher capacity.

[@KuhEssen]

Good content! Well sourced and thought out.

[@lillieofthevlly]

inside you there are two wolves. one is an analyst. one is a doer.

[@firelifeblizzard8782]

Within you, there are two wolves... The analyst and the doer

[@ionica6038]

really interesting video. i also do the same thing where i "wake up" when im losing, not sure exactly what drives it

[@frogturtle]

I've thought about this a lot. It may have something to do with your opponent as well. Your opponent becomes confident that they will win due to being ahead. You suddenly realize that there is still potential to win and ignore your deficit, performing as you would if you were ahead - with confidence. This 'performing as if you're ahead' when you're losing throws a lot of people off and causes them to lose their confidence as a result. "Why can't I just kill this guy? What's going on? Is he REALLY going to beat me with one stock at 150%? I'm not as good as I thought I was." I am good at recognizing when my opponent is in this headspace and abuse it by playing around their frustration-driven, desperate options rather than focusing on my stocks or percents. You are probably experiencing something similar. It is a useful skill to have!

[@DrakirGaming]

Frogturtle xd I’ve noticed that I’m the complete opposite. I get a lead and then I choke. Even after realizing this and trying to block that out, it’s almost like I’m actively reminding myself not to choke or get ahead of myself. Then those thoughts distract me from the game and I lose all over again

[@frogturtle]

@@DrakirGaming My friend shared this with me who was #1 PR in my state. This worked for me but it takes time to practice and implement it in games. The concept of losing to someone who you're beating is embarrassing so you naturally feel the power of that emotion and try to tell YOURSELF to stop choking. But what does "not choking" actually mean? Nothing. You're already choking and you can't just turn it off. You need a plan. Instead, shift focus from YOURSELF to your OPPONENT. What do they want? Are you giving it to them, or are you making it difficult? View them as a puzzle that needs to be solved. Stay calm and act on their habits, rather than acting on your fear of losing. When I fall behind, I hyper-focus on my opponent's habits. They get desperate and try to kill me with obvious shit like random smash attacks. If I play patient and bait out their moves I easily beat them even from a deficit. Stay as focused on your opponent as they are on you. If you are focused on yourself and he is focused on you, that means no one is focused on him, and you will lose. Hope this helps.

[@DrakirGaming]

Frogturtle xd thank you so much! Saving this comment for future reference

[@frogturtle]

​@@DrakirGaming Happy to help a fellow smasher anytime :)