Learning from mistakes, the LMQ way

So you messed up. You were overextended without a ward or you went all in on their carry because he was out of position, and no Danger! Danger! Danger! ping from your team is going to stop you because you’re better than this scrub. No matter the reason, you’re dead now and you’ve got a cool 30 seconds to reflect on what just happened. On the one hand, you could go with the classic, tasteful approach of blaming your team (might I humbly suggest the jungler?). But on the other hand, you just might be able to consider the possibility of learning from what you did wrong. I can see by your expression that you aren’t totally convinced. Fair enough. Since the average solo queue player is nothing if not a being rooted firmly in logic and reason, let’s take a look at some case studies. Stand back, we’re about to do science…or something. What about when professional players mess up? It happens. They miss smite, lose trades, and give up objectives all the time. The difference here, though, is that they almost always walk away having learned something - and there’s the key to really getting better at the game. To find out exactly how pros learn from mistakes, I talked to LMQ’s AD carry Vasilii and mid laner XiaoWeiXiao.

Jumping the Gun

For Vasilii, playing LoL has always been about being the best. He started playing “because of the ranking system,” and the “climb to top 10 in every server” gave him a sense of “accomplishment and confidence.” But the self-driven pressure to be the best hasn’t always lead him to success. When I asked what the greatest mistake in his professional career was, he cited the LMQ vs. ChinaPE game in the 2013 Summer Split of the LPL. “In the last teamfight, I could get a pentakill and secure my first win in LPL,” he described. “However, I was too pressed to prove myself at that moment. I made a mistake and lost the game.” You can catch what he’s referring to in this replay, but it’s easier to see what went wrong in this new light. After a few positioning errors which lead to an Elise cocoon and a Kennen ult stun, Vasilii managed to pick up a few kills with an aggressive Rocket Jump. But it’s the overconfident second Rocket Jump that shuts him down. Instead of quitting while he was ahead, the aggressive play cost LMQ the game. We’ve all experienced this moment in one way or another. We see an opportunity, victory is within our grasp, and we (literally in this case) jump the gun because of our desire to carry and be the hero. We were close, but we fell just short - and there’s no ‘close’ listed in the endgame stats. XiaoWeiXiao’s professional aspirations started when a lot of his friends at the top of the ladder started to go pro. The moment that sticks in his mind is the 2012 G Series group stage when he was playing for Royal Club. “In the last game of a BO3, I had a great chance to defeat a very famous mid laner from Invictus Gaming (IG) and win that BO3 for my team,” he tells us. Where did it fall apart? He does not cite lack of mechanics or game knowledge, but rather his own mentality. When a player is confident in their role and skill, mentality means a lot. “I lost the game in the end because I was inexperienced and didn’t play my best.” He and Vasilii have very similar advice on how to overcome mistakes like this. Whether it’s a key play like in Vasilii’s case or a general lack of confidence like XiaoWeiXiao’s, they both agree that maintaining a good mentality is the absolute best way to get better and start winning.

Everyone Makes Mistakes

Vasilii tells us he learned that, “mentality is everything. Only if you have a positive attitude or a good mentality can you show your full strength in a professional game.” But this advice isn’t just limited to the LCS. XiaoWeiXiao expands upon this by adding, “if you can convince yourself that you are better than your opponents, you can perform better!” The mind over matter approach might seem straightforward, but confidence is an easy thing to lose when you’re down in a game. He goes so far as to say that, “mentality is the only thing that will make you play perfectly.” The two have very different tips for dealing with that mental pressure, so see which works best for you. XiaoWeiXiao suggests that you take a break and play some games on your own if you’ve been playing with friends or a team. His exact words were to play some “yolo queue.” Vasilii offers my personal favorite method, which is “just thinking about some pretty girls” (highly effective). During the game, Vasilii urges you to “keep your mentality up” and “do not complain when you are making mistakes,”--guess my blame-the-jungler suggestion is out the window at this point. In the end, neither of them can offer you advice on how to stop making mistakes that are specific to your manner of playing. It’s up to you to overcome the mental hurdles that come with failure and use those stumbling blocks to build yourself a foundation of skill and game knowledge. Making mistakes is “essential” even for professional players, says Vasilii, and you’re no different. You might not be able to stop your top laner from feeding, but you can stop yourself from doing the same, and that’s a start. XiaoWeiXiao’s final words resonated the most with me when it comes to how we can all apply these experiences to our own play. “I believe that everybody makes mistakes, it is pretty normal, but you have to realize why you made that mistake and how you made it so you can try avoiding it next time.”

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