Trying to Improve in Fighting Games? This TOXIC Attitude Will Hold You Back!

Yea I'm having a bit of fun here, but the message is important and I hope it comes through well enough. Please let me know in the comments!
Special thanks to ‪@DonBozzi‬ for the sick guitar riffs as always!
Most of the music can be found on my soundcloud at: / daggerg
and thank you ‪@suprcrzy‬ for the feedback!
Includes clips, audio bits, and archival footage from:
‪@DSPGaming‬
‪@CapcomFighters‬via @brian_f and @RobTVgaming
‪@ANIMEILLUMINATI‬
‪@TeamPandory‬
‪@Aqua_Teal‬
‪@DonBozzi‬
‪@DSPTriesItMemology101‬
‪@SideScrollersPodcast‬
‪@jchensor‬
‪@POWAHOUSEVOS‬

[@ElSandwich777]

DSP will always be DSP. But *YOU* don’t have to be! Be better than Dave. You owe it to yourself!

[@Dagger_G]

Yes! I feel like DSP is a sort of black mirror where you can see the worst parts of yourself accentuated or how bad things can get. I have a theory that it's the main reason people hate on lolcows so much.

[@ElSandwich777]

@@Dagger_G Freakshow Effect. At least that’s the conclusion Ive come to

[@dave9020]

Hey, come on, I'm not THAT bad.

[@samuraixenji75]

This is great advice not only to dsp himself but to anyone that still plays or going into fighting games. Love the editing!

[@Dagger_G]

Thank you for the kind words!

[@fabiobiancarelli]

wonderful edit and important message. DSP in absolute shambles.

[@Dagger_G]

Thank you! I'm glad you appreciate the message!

[@GuilesGarden]

This video should have tons of more views. This video is important. Significant.

[@Dagger_G]

Thanks man! Glad you appreciate it

[@JaguwarSims]

It's not just fighting games. The "I can't" paradigm is a miserable place to be, and it WILL dip into everything else one does. The fact DSP streams ALL DAY, EVERY DAY and repeats "I can't" several times a day, every day, absolutely guarantees he's steeped in the mindset. Ironically, that may be why people watch him.

[@JeffreyOmen]

As a guy who indulges and pains myself by watching DSP, especially his fighting game streams, and also has been playing fighting games for years competitively, this video is amazing. I've struggled with these problems as well, so its great to see a video, especially from you, breaking down these common, but serious issues involving ones self in fighting games, and really, any competitive game for that matter. Much respect Dagger_G, and thank you for this vid, love it. Also, that little sneak in of the "I'm coming for you" at 8:55 is one of the best dsp related edits.

[@Dagger_G]

Hah you're the exact person this video is for then! Really appreciate the kind words

[@BoswerLK]

Love the 90s dystopian propaganda fever dream vibes with the editing! I think one of the things I love most about FGs, more than the competitive aspect, is how there always seems to be infinite alternative answers. Can't react? Time to bait and read. Can't execute? Time to daywalker. Offense ineffective? Time to turtle and harass, and vice versa. More than any other competitive genre, it's more a race of adaption rather than a raw measure of a few honed skills.

[@Dagger_G]

Yup you hit the nail on the head. There is always something you can do.

[@nearly.]

what’s daywalker mean?

[@BoswerLK]

@@nearly. When you play really sloppy, but are so used to it that you capitalize on the chaos it creates really well.

[@Dagger_G]

@@BoswerLK aka: "The Shit Button" lol

[@BoomerRaid]

Self confidence is the best confidence so long as it kept to the highest high, and never looking behind the odds nor the negative motions.

[@petrichor04_]

this is incredibly well edited. i loved that intro lmao. i honestly see myself in DSP, as sad that sounds. it's tough, but i can at least understand why he has that mentality

[@Dagger_G]

Yes! I have a theory that it's why people hate him so much. It's like seeing the shadow self and how bad it looks as an observer. I think he's a very important cautionary tale. Thank you for this comment!

[@neonthunder3261]

Damn, this hits me on a personal level since this is a problem I'm still tackling to this day. Thanks for this video man, I always looked up to you because I wanted to learn Remy!

[@Dagger_G]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@orangejuiceow5420]

Fighting "Games" is more than just games for me, its a journey of self-discovery. I love sf6

[@NoobestK]

Thank you, I needed that, not only for Garou (NoobestK) but for life!!

[@Dagger_G]

There's a lot I learned about life through fgs honestly

[@Lime30373]

Great video. Not just with the editing, but also the genuinely good advice.

[@Dagger_G]

Aye I appreciate that! Thank you

[@Skkra]

Damn dude. Im glad this randomly popped up on my feed... nice to see a lowkey FGC legend pop up. Great wisdom here. I remember when I was first getting into SF4, your Guile threads on SRK were invaluable. I hadnt played a 2D fighter since SF2 at the time, but I credit your encouragement with relighting a fire that persists to this day.

[@Dagger_G]

Aye I really appreciate that! I'm glad you found that stuff helpful cause I felt like there wasn't that much interaction on those boards even though it was considered to be the fgc hub.

[@shadilamesbutr8239]

This vdo is very inspiring. It comes at the right time. I’m 47 year old and want to get better at fighting game. Thank you.

[@Dagger_G]

It's only "too late" when you convince yourself that it is!

[@SaltyRamen.]

Great advice. This would break DSP if he actually watches through this. Regardless of that, this is solid advice on its own. Everyone is the protagonist, and everyone can be Ryu again!

[@Dagger_G]

Thank you! Yes, you are the protagonist of your story!

[@NewZen41]

DSP-dunking and an analysis on why you should always bother to improve in games you like? Yes please.

[@Celestial-Pickle]

Great video man! As someone new to fighting games I get whooped a lot. But stuff like this helps put those losses in perspective as something to learn from

[@woof9408]

If excuses was a person it still wouldn't measure up to DSP.

[@Dagger_G]

I can't do anything!

[@popesinbengal]

Did you just get started? Im amazed you dont have more subs yet. This is very high quality content. Great editing, the detractorverse is gonna be proud to have you.

[@Dagger_G]

Hey I appreciate that! I started this channel a couple years ago and I make mostly fighting game content (with a dash of DSP hidden in there lol), but my output is pretty slow cause I'm still relatively new to video editing and I spend a lot of time making sure everything is polished while also experimenting with different editing techniques.

[@pmcfarlin7]

This was 🔥, I like the accountability portion regarding the age excuse because if you play games by 40s you train your reflexes and coordination to last longer I feel the issue with age as a player really comes to competitive drive, I remember Alex Valle saying this on a episode of excellent adventures. He was like as I got older my drive decreased and so did my consistency in winning matches.

[@AZ_Young02YT]

This was a great video man! As someone that was struggling to get diamond for awhile this video hit me on a personal level. I persevere and fought my way up to Diamond 1 and I was so proud of myself. This what make fighting games so satisfying to play!

[@Dagger_G]

Hey thank you so much for that! It makes me so happy when people really get the magic of the genre.

[@hyperstarkage3618]

I know the feeling that statement brings. Im still dealing with that mentality and im always putting myself down for it. Its not healthy. Then again I realized im not ment to play online for certain games. Im jist tired of forcing myself tk get good if it doesn't make me a bit happy. Im afraid I enter tournaments I will just express negative behavior infront of people. I don't have anyone to inspire me. I think im just mentally broken and done trying to reach these goals.

[@funicon3689]

great video. looks like youtube served me up another hidden gem channel

[@jamesd4991]

Enjoyed the message and music. good job, lagger g

[@Dagger_G]

How dare you! Haha thanks man

[@aut0mata]

Thank you for this

[@MJRLHobbyStuff]

Bro, you are the Mind Smash of the fgc. Keep it up

[@Dagger_G]

frontal lobe shutdown... haha thanks man I appreciate it!

[@danielc.7173]

I am 29. Life long geif fan. I feel like with modern controls, I can finally be competitive. I am modern geif. AND I AM COMING FOR YOU

[@Dagger_G]

*Unsolved Mysteries music starts

[@YourMasta]

Fighting games put everyone on an equal playing field, yet somehow people still come up with excuses. It really goes to show why some people will never be successful, and how unwilling they are to even try. I learned in life you really have to select your circle carefully because that mentality 100% does spread. Your mind, and mindset, is your most valuable asset, do not let it become infected. Best video I’ve seen in a very long time.

[@Dagger_G]

Thank you so much for this! You summed it up perfectly

[@Evilj82]

I knew someone like this in Tekken 7, who I helped coach and who countless others helped coach. But he could never get over his mental hurdle. One time I played casuals against him at a meet up, and I could tell he wasn’t even trying and at times would lose on purpose. I realize it was just a waste of my time to try and help him.

[@Dagger_G]

Your name sounds familiar...Were you a Remy player before? But yea it's tough trying to train those types of people cause ya know, as they say: "You can bring a horse to water but you can't make it drink"

[@vaselinemachine1484]

Thanks for putting this out! Great vid

[@pkphantom]

1:56 I saw "I am too old" and felt attacked. Lemme get back in the lab 😓

[@yellow4525]

Amazing video, I will re-watch this video every time I mess up dp on wakeup

[@bigdunks4eva]

excellent video! just the other day, DSP was playing with Dhalsim and kept getting beat down in the corner. he kept saying "i cant do anything," and im like dude your character CAN TELEPORT out of the corner!

[@HighSteaks_Gaming]

Brilliant video. Happy to say I'm a new subscriber.

[@Dagger_G]

Appreciate that! Thank you

[@atole7591]

I'm really inspired to learn to edit videos like this Great video, great message

[@Dagger_G]

Thank you! I'm glad you were inspired!

[@DuyNguyen-ty6nx]

So glad I got recommended your channel. Amazing video, clear and concise with good editing. Keep up the great work my man!!

[@RickySama240]

A very interesting video essay about perseverance! ❤ And also making an example to Dsp.. 😅

[@Dagger_G]

Thanks! DSP is a good example for a lot of things...

[@nearly.]

There is something of a spiritual nature to whatever DSP does. His total dedication to street fighter makes me want to cry. There are many other interpretations that I love but the interior nature of his playing makes me sad. I feel like when i was taken to see Giant Pandas at zoo and felt their sadness. I cannot explain it but whenever I hear this extraordinary human being play that I feel that I am being voyeuristic. His beauty is overwhelming. At the same time I am grateful that we can still watch to such street fighting.

[@psigreen3864]

What?

[@Dagger_G]

Yea not really sure what to make of that one lol! @@psigreen3864

[@Nixdigo]

I think giving up for a little while and coming back isn't a negative trait. I think a lot of people should stop sooner tbh. Pace yourself, improvement isn't made in massive leaps but incremental notches. Stop and think about what happened and if it's worth putting the time into. Like league of legends I'm not very good at the micro stuff anymore but I don't really want to spend the time getting better at that aspect so I cover it with getting better at macro stuff. The point is. Sometimes you can suck and that's okay, take a break. See why you suck and if you'd rather not suck at that aspect

[@Dagger_G]

I agree sometimes it's good to know when to cut your losses. But that also goes with the theme of not deluding yourself and bringing down others with you.

[@Zaybuhr]

Every time I watch Dsp play sf2, I feel like you can see rare glimpses of his actual skill. They seem to show up less and less through the years however… I personally think at one point dsp was genuinely good at Sf but lost to himself

[@Dagger_G]

Yup couldn't have said it better. This video might just be from a fighting game perspective, but I've often observed that the way you approach the game says a lot about you as a person.

[@gtsavestheday6569]

My takeaway was that dsp hit master. I’m not sure what do do with that information but I’m deeply upset. Guess I’ll just go hit master now.

[@Dagger_G]

That's a good takeaway haha

[@victorgbs]

Excellent video. I just needed to pause because at 9:17 he describes symptoms that are 100% compatible with ulnar nerve pain, maybe due to compression because of posture or bad ergonomic habits while gaming. If anyone knows him in person or can reach out to him he should have that checked out by a neurologist (If he hasn't already) and do a test called a "electromyoneurography" which can diagnose whether the ulnar nerve is in fact affected and how to go from there. It's not carpal tunnel as that affects the median nerve, the symptoms are different. As for the video itself I've definetely been in this mindspace of "I just suck I can't do it" and it is poisonous to your self esteem and enjoyment of the game. Great dissection of the topic!

[@Dagger_G]

Hey thank you so much for the comment! Yes that is definitely something he should look into. I've heard that a lot of Smash players develop that problem with their hands. The point I was trying to make is that even if these are very real issues you may have, there is always something you can do to either fix, or mitigate the problem. For example: hand exercises, changing your controller peripheral (hitbox. dpad, ect.), playing an easier execution character, or just looking into the problem at all as you mentioned! It's just too easy to give up and say that there's nothing you can do about it and that things are out of your control. But the reality is that you are always in the drivers seat, and it's you who dictates how these problems affect you.

[@victorgbs]

@@Dagger_G oh nono I wasn't arguing against the point of the video, just in case someone knows DSP in person so they can point him in the right direction to get that treated

[@Dagger_G]

@@victorgbs Oh I understand. I was just sayin that cause it's actually one of the more legit excuses he has. Unfortunately even if he does get that checked out, I doubt he'll do anything about it since it's just one more thing that makes him a perpetual victim

[@gondolaFGC]

FGC Corecore is not what I thought I needed today but damn it was lol

[@Dagger_G]

Corecore haha! Well I was trying to sound a bit...up my own a$$ in a way. The contrast between that, and using DSP as an example is what I think makes it a bit funny. At least I hope it does lol. I almost broke character at 6:40

[@DonBozzi]

Great video as always man! I’m honoured you mentioned me✌🏿

[@Dagger_G]

Keep going with your music!

[@a1337turtle]

I agree but I think we'd do better if we acknowledged other's frustrations. For most of these emotional outbursts 'I suck', 'I feel helpless', 'all you did was corner me' (lol) - there's usually a root to all of these. These feelings of sadness, anger and annoyance are perfectly reasonable and points to a source that needs to be rooted out. Sometimes it's just plain ignorance within the game which is fine - but mindset is really driven by mental health. Like salt can be funny, but I've noticed all of the worst breakdowns in mindsets are from guys going through the worst stuff. At the end of the day, it's just a game and we're taking really narrow peeks in others lives.

[@Dagger_G]

I've always said that you can really tell a lot about a person from how they interact with a fighting game. Very similar to martial arts. Yes it is just a game, but your reactions to that game offer a small window into the soul. The point of this video wasn't to point and laugh (even though there are a few playful jabs in there), but to offer some advice to the guy while also helping others to avoid the same mental pitfalls. Mastering your emotions, even if it's in the context of a game, will help to build those neural connections that extend to the real world. And yes, it is important to acknowledge others' struggles, but that doesn't mean that they should just give up because of those issues.

[@docsavage4921]

While the attitudes will hold you back from trying, it's just an unfortunate reality that there is some truth to them. Hollow Knight was my "serious effort" phase. Would just grind away against Soul Master, enjoying every minute of it, and loved doing it again against Soul Tyrant, enjoying how I was gradually gaining ground over 20-30-40 retries. All on my own, no strategy lookups, just dogged determination. By the time I got to Nightmare King Grimm, I stopped having fun and just wanted to get it over with. The sad fact is you need to be almost perfect over course of minutes, and I simply couldn't keep my focus that long and eventually made juust enough errors to blow a run.. Every single time. Eventually I powered my way through him, felt absolutely no elation for doing so, and haven't beaten The Radiant since. The Pantheon, no desire whatsoever to go there. So I tried,.and decided that level of play just isn't for me, which is fine because there's other games out there to enjoy. Fallout New Vegas, Baldur's Gate 3, Metal Gear Rising maybe (It really is easier in terms of precision play)

[@maxirodriguez8376]

I didn´t know who this DSP was before this video, and now I know why. Low Tier God, this guy and other personalities alike are famous because of reasons I cannot understand. The thing is.... our mentality while challenging a difficult task is something to train. Following or joining people that search for excuses and insult others because of their failures is so bad for our minds. We build our mindset to success. In every aspect of life. If we don´t, we will face depression and frustration over and over. Every failure has nutrients for our skills and gives us new information to perform better next time. I hope sometime people value themselves more, so these kind of streamers have no value any more. Value yourselves more, guys. Learn and rise each time you fail. Fighting games are awesome, btw, they help us build our mindsets.

[@Dagger_G]

Thank you for this comment! That's a perfect summary of the message

[@maxirodriguez8376]

@@Dagger_G thank you for this great video!

[@freshporkbun]

Great work

[@sofasen]

Keep up the good work 👏

[@nobodyinparticular80]

How come you’re a great player and a great editor?

[@Dagger_G]

Haha thanks! I appreciate that! It's all about keeping that fire burning

[@efemji]

why dsp look like walmart ricky gervais

[@dio8451]

Fantastic as always. It feels a little cheap cause the lesson tends to stick better when you learn it yourself, but some people will never learn. More sage FG advice from daggerG, with great editing.

[@Dagger_G]

Thanks! I completely agree that it's something best learned on your own. It's a very simple and obvious message that I think must be felt instead of heard. But, I think there is something novel in looking at things from a fg perspective.

[@anon3631]

Elitism and taking a game way too seriously are just as bad. I am only B rank in a few games on Fightcade, but I have found most people unbearable and I mostly do research (frame data, hitboxes, gameplan, matchups etc) on my own. I knew a dude who got salty over me winning a tournament in Garou:MOTW (for only 15 bucks mind you), he made an alternate account to talk shit and I beat his ass twice. I never had an issue with the SF community compared to people who play old SNK titles. My opinion is mixed about self-improvement. You need a good foundation to build upon or you just keep running head first into wall and get frustrated. Most people I met/talked to above intermediate level in fighting games are "off". Good video btw, your Marco is fun in Garou.

[@Dagger_G]

It's true! You definitely need to be smart about how you go about improving. But of course all that comes after you have made the agreement with yourself to actually try

[@crustpnx]

13:16 bottom left of the screen... Yup, you're definitely having fun with this! LOL 😂💀

[@Dagger_G]

!!!

[@ZaneyW]

Great vid ❤️

[@Dagger_G]

Thank you!

[@AfterSchoolSophie]

Very cool!

[@Dagger_G]

Thanks@!

[@voidandnon-2530]

I love the constant shitting on DSP.

[@Dagger_G]

I'm honoring him~!

[@robthenostalgia1592]

What a phenomenal video

[@Dagger_G]

Ayye thanks!

[@TheSymbioteRagnoro]

What's embarrassing is that I fought against him in Street Fighter 6 on his Dhasilim B-day stream and he completely whooped me. Then I saw him streaming the fight on Twitch and it seemed like he wasn't even trying. But he is one of those old Street Fighter veterans.

[@Dagger_G]

Not embarrassing at all! People do seem to forget that he was actually a top player at one point and that skill transfers. It's just that defeatist mentality that holds him back

[@ciellight]

Instructions unclear: I was pressing buttons, opponent does stuff, they win. I did nothing wrong, I did everything correct. All jokes aside, this is a powerful message, great video.

[@alecaquino4306]

DSP lives his life the same way he plays fighting games. He approaches each new venture with arrogance and misplaced superiority, he spends all day doing the same thing over and over and over again even when his strategy is not working, he gets tired and irritated with his inability to improve to a sustainable level of competency, he ultimately decides that he did nothing wrong and that the main cause of his failures are external factors that he has no control over, he throws a temper tantrum and lashes out at his audience before finally quitting entirely while still professing how successful he has and always will be. And then he moves on to the next venture without having learned anything from his past experiences. And that is why he will always fail at life.

[@Dagger_G]

What's the definition of insanity again?

[@robertmarlow6674]

the ack acc slayed me

[@Dagger_G]

Aye! You saw it! lol

[@idokwatcher2062]

2:32 it's the guy! he went bankrupt gambling in mobile games

[@ScrubSuiNoHado]

Dropping my saltyness was propably the singlemost important skill that has helped me to improve my game tenfold. Yes is still do suck but even if i lose to "cheap" tactics and get a little salty there will be that voice in my head asking me why i cought 10 crossups in a FT2 set and telling me that is wasn't my opponents fault that i got nervous and forgot parry is an option. I mean Juri and her barrage of seemingly endless pressure won't stop anytime soon, so what choice is there? Quit the game i love playing or hitting the lab and check out which buttons i can actually challenge? It's a no brainer.

[@Dagger_G]

That's exactly what it is! A SKILL that you have to train

[@SaltyRamen.]

Sick intro!!!!

[@paulettebarton7257]

DSP has been programming himself and others that he does everything correct and nothing wrong for a long time. Then SF causes him to make all kinds of excuses to protect his ego.

[@Dagger_G]

Yup! Fighting games reveal a lot about a person

[@FuriousKai]

Should’ve included the black dsp too

[@unsaltedskies]

2:00 I wonder what Alan Watts would make of Phil.

[@luisbo3]

Are you the Guile that recently play vs Smug?

[@Dagger_G]

The same one!

[@ToiletBread1651]

Pick any subject. DSP can be made an example on how to do that thing wrong.

[@Dagger_G]

These types of people are important indeed!

[@BlueRhythmzDJ]

This goes beyond just fighting games, but just raw life wisdom ur speaking. Of course, I find that one's engagement in building a skill is a reflection of who they are on the inside (are you quick to frustration, how tolerant are you of mistakes, are you outcome oriented, etc). Amazing video dude.

[@Dagger_G]

Thank you for this! Even though it's kind of a simple message, looking at things through a different lens (like a fighting game or dsp lol) can give us a better perspective,

[@Goboxel]

Great message in the video, but it seemed to be too dragged out with too many quotes of whatever influencer instead of focusing more on why you shouldn't do it.

[@Dagger_G]

Aye! This format is a bit new for me so I appreciate the feedback!

[@inoobtacular501]

Yo Dagger G. Got a discord?

[@Dagger_G]

Heya! Nah, I don't. I'm pretty new to social media believe it or not lol. You think it's a good idea to have one?

[@inoobtacular501]

@@Dagger_G I kinda think so. Be a nice place to keep your core audience informed on new vids (bot notifications are a failsafe) and I'd help funnel some things like Garou content or so

[@saku7722]

Isn't the definition of "scrub" someone that blames the game for their failure rather than themselves? Never had anything to do ones skill. Yet he drops it on people who beat him and that he isn't happy with how they play. He needs to quit saying "this isn't street fighter". And realize he should play sf6 and not any of the sfs that came before it.

[@Dagger_G]

Yup! It's totally possible to have "scrubs" who are technically high level players,

[@calling_all5362]

Well this guy is a lolcow right, like he gets rewarded with more views and attention by his fans the more he makes a fool out of himself? From my perspective it seems a little impressive that someone like this is able be in the top .5% of players/beat people on a tournament stage.

[@Dagger_G]

I would love to see a redemption arc for the dude! He does have real skill and I wanted to make sure that people saw that.

[@anarcyangel]

Dagger cooking with this video

[@GamerPhreek]

Pig ups!

[@bobhoskins-kl6ue]

dood all his opponents use online lag tactics, and pc players are cheaters, so debunked, sounds good?

[@Dagger_G]

sounds good to me...

[@cartoonhero8845]

what's with this hit piece of the goat dsp

[@Dagger_G]

Whaaaat?! If anything I'm honoring him!!!

[@_ImmortalWitch_]

Imagine thinking this narcissistic pos is the goat 😂

[@sweetharmonies]

Everything here is taken way out of context… Sounds good? 🐽

[@Dagger_G]

sounds good to me...

[@bonestza955]

Look here, Listen. He did everything correctly, he did nothing wrong. How many times does he have to say it? Jeeze, Dagger.

[@Dagger_G]

Aye you faka lol

[@Doktor_Jones]

Jesus Christ, that zoomer beginning. Can't watch it

[@Dagger_G]

Thanks for the feedback! Was trying something new. What made it unwatchable for you?

[@Nostalgiaforinfi]

Too long, too slow, unnecessarily esoteric

[@bitfreedom]

Amazing video