Just kick my ass.
I’ve been playing Smash against a sparring partner that’s quite a bit better than me. He has way better mechanics, his game knowledge is on-point, and when he plays seriously, I’ll only be able to beat him if he’s playing something he’s not so good at. Even then it’s a huge struggle for me! I think that’s a good thing though. I’d rather get swept than be the one doing the sweeping.
In the process of defeating me, he’s exploiting my weaknesses. Making good use of the mistakes I make, punishing me when I get too predictable. As long as I pay attention to when I’m getting hit (which I should be doing), then I can see where I need to improve. He can verbally communicate his game knowledge to me, but he can also teach by example, whoop my buns by playing how I should learn to play.
So far it seems like an effective strategy. Progress is slow, but hey, baby steps.
~ Fang
I’ve been on both sides of this. I’ve had my ass handed to me by people and done a little ass handing myself. In separate games of course. When it comes to friends though I try and play co-op games rather than against eachother because I’ve noticed most of the people I play against, that I know, take losing very personally.