Great players don’t just coast on their raw, mechanical skills. In order to become truly great, players must improve on their in-game mentality to maximize performance.
Dota 2 champions Team OG employ a team psychologist to help them stay in a positive and healthy mindset while millions of dollars are on the line. While other teams tilt, argue, and succumb to negativity, OG recognizes the game-changing importance of a healthy mindset under the most competitive circumstances. Team OG’s mental fortitude helped them become the highest earning players in esports history.
This is the mindset of the world’s best Dota 2 players is after losing Game 1 of the Grand Finals:
They are more inspired than ever to get back in there and win. No tilt, no negativity.
Spoiler alert: after this Game 1 loss, Team OG proceeded to win the entire tournament.
Staying calm is one of the most important things you do to perform consistently in gaming but getting tilted can happen to anyone. Everyone gets tilted (some easier than others), but recognizing when you’re triggered is the first step to not letting it affect you.
Feeling a bit tilted lately? Here are our tips to get un-tilted.
Remember the Core Principles
Getting emotional in-game is normal, but don’t go overboard. When everything is seemingly going to shit, it’s important to look at it from another perspective.
Keep in mind that it’s just a game. Sure, it may be one that you really, really wanted to win, but one game doesn’t definite how good you are and most importantly, everyone makes mistakes.
Take a Break
Feeling some rage building up? Take a short breather. Play a more casual game (my pick is Sims 4), listen to some music, get some water, stretch – whatever works, as long as it’s something that’ll take your mind off whatever is tilting you. Fixating on it will only make it worse.
Assess Your Tilt and Act on it
Think about what’s tilting you: is it something you can control? Don’t get mad at your teammates just because RNGesus isn’t working in your favor.
Here are some common reasons for tilting and somethings you can do to mitigate them:
You made a mistake or lost
Did you lose a game or have a misplay? It happens. Winning is important, but don’t put all your eggs in that basket. Losing may feel like the end of the world, but if you can learn from it, it makes it feel less bad.
Learning from losing is how some greats make it to the top. They analyze what they did wrong, learn how to do it correctly, and strive to do it the right way every time.
Whether you’ve made a misplay or lost the game, take the outcome as a learning experience and try to fix your mistakes in the next game – after a break of course.
Forcing yourself to game when you’re tilting can impact your ability to play at your best, so remember Rule #2 and take a break.Someone’s being toxic to you
Toxicity on from your own team sucks, no doubt about it. If it’s targeted towards you, try to ignore it but if it gets worse, mute them. Nobody deserves to get berated for making a mistake. Just because they’re having a bad time doesn’t mean that you need to. Toxicity speads, so don’t let it spread to you, and don’t spread it to others.
Teammates aren’t listening to you
Communication is key, so it’s understandable to feel a bit tilted when your teammates aren’t listening to your call outs.
How’s your communication in-game? Maybe your strats are too complicated or you’re not giving clear and understandable information. Try asking your teammates what they want to do, or continue to give out helpful callouts.
It’s super easy to blame your teammates, but understand that just like you, they can make mistakes too. Being more encouraging and reassuring can go a long way, especially if you’re going to be working together in a long competitive game or something similar.
You can only control your own attitude and performance, not your team’s. Keeping a positive attitude can help you to not let your tilt spread to others, or let theirs spread to you.
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