While the debate over E-Sports and their credibility as a “sport” rages on, one thing that isn’t up for dispute is the rise of competitive gaming in today’s market. Hyper competitive and tightly balanced games like League of Legends, and StarCraft II have developed into a huge industry that includes everything from professional tournaments to product endorsements and sponsorship. While I’m FAR from the pro level and I’m still not sold on the idea of video games as sports, I can say that I’ve had a lot of fun and some success with these titles. This is my guide to competitive gaming. It’s not going to make any pros, but if you’re a casual gamer like myself it may help you understand the appeal of these games and provide a foundation to improve your game. Since League of Legends and StarCraft II are the competitive games I’m most familiar with, I’ll be using my experience with them to help shed some light into competitive gaming and what you can do to break into games like them.



Know Your Game: One of the defining features of a game like League of Legends is its tight game mechanics and balance. There are fundamentals that every player wishing to be successful will need to understand to have any chance of besting their competition. These games are extremely deep; don’t get frustrated if they take a little getting used to. I got into LofL a little less than a year ago. When I started it probably took me a good ten games before I even understood what was happening well-enough to be a contributor to my team. There are laning roles, team tactics, champ builds, and so many other things a player will need to understand before they can attain a skill level they’re satisfied with.

So how does one know where to begin? Well for starters there is a shit-load of basic information available right on the internet. Try searching “StarCraft fundamentals,” or something similar. Watch YouTube videos of pro players so you have a better understanding of the games core systems and strategy. You’d be surprised how useful what you find might be. In StarCraft it’s imperative to know what your units and your enemies units are good at and what their special abilities are. How could you possibly hope to counter your enemy’s siege tanks if you don’t know that immortals are the right unit for the job? You’ll be stuck fruitlessly throwing stalkers at an enemy that is built to ream through units just like it. I can’t emphasize how important research is in games like this; if you haven’t already, TRY IT.



Keep it Simple, Stupid: Eventually you’ll understand LofL well enough to create your own champ builds, but when you’re starting out you’ll need a base plan that you can rely on. This is not to say do the same thing every time, but find some champs that work well for you and read about what makes them unique. Make sure you know how that champ’s game mechanics work and how to synergize and exploit their strengths. Use highly-rated champion item and mastery guides. Try opening with that Protoss 4 Gate strategy until you know how to do it well. It’s worked for me and it can work for you too. As your skill progresses you’ll know how to rush Dark Templars through your enemy’s back door, but more importantly you’ll know when that’s a viable strategy and when it’s not. Don't try rushing advanced units or expanding early-game until you know what you're doing. Expanding or spending on tech too early can spell doom just as easily as doing these things too late. Again, simple strategies which you can build off of will help you understand the game's foundation.



Define Your Own Success: This is huge. You are not IdRA, or HuK, or any of these pro players and you probably never will be. I am a very humble player in both of the aforementioned games. I define my success by feeling like I’m continually getting better and winning more than I lose (even if just by a fraction). My StarCraft II league was Silver the last time I played a couple of months ago. I made my way towards the top 10 of my division before Skyrim and the plethora of other Fall blockbusters stole my attention away. In League of Legends I feel like I’m a competitive player who can help his team win against opponents of similar skill. With champs like Sion and Ryze I feel confident I can be a contender. These days I win slightly more than I lose and often place in the top 3 for my team. Once in a while I’m even the game’s best player. I’m happy with that. I hope through continued play I’ll get better, but my goal is solely to have fun. I’ll never be pro. I’ll never have 300+ APM. I’m really only a casual observer of that level of play anyway. I couldn’t tell you when the next tournament will be or who won the last one. To define my skill and success in those terms would really detract from my experience and I'd like to think my position would likely define the majority of gamers who play hyper-competitive games.



I hope this post helped a few people and that I didn’t just ramble on. Please feel free to comment on what you liked and didn’t like and add to it! Find your game, learn it, refine your play, and set a realistic goal for yourself. That’s all there is to it.