Levelling Up – Stream Monstering

Welcome back to Levelling Up. The one stop shop to find some knowledge diamonds in among the rough journey to being a better player. This week we look at the monsters that hide under the massive internet bed: stream monsters.

Not to be confused with trolls, stream monsters can be found in chat rooms on streams, funnily enough. More often or not they make the events you are watching that bit more special. Whether it is an off-the-cuff remark or well-known phrases and memes that brighten up some rather dull matches. It’s astounding how resourceful they are and they occasionally know more than the commentators which can be a great eye-opener.

But the stream monsters themselves aren’t the most important part of a stream, in fact they’re far from it. The most important part is the stream itself. I have mentioned before that it is important to watch top players and this is the place to do it. Given the stream it could be the most advanced play you could possibly see at that time. Naturally in the earlier stages of the stream and tournament you might not quite see the best players but you might see a few interesting teams that will spur on some creativity.

I’ve touched upon it before but it is almost vital to watch streams if you plan on taking any game seriously. Especially the bigger tournaments. It’s one thing to watch a small local tournament between players but the professional players normally keep their most secret of technology for the larger events. It’s the kind of stuff they don’t want you to see because when you see it you will… well you know how it goes.

…it is almost vital to watch streams if you plan on taking any game seriously.

It’s crucial to see the evolution of the game as it happens because it helps you to keep one step ahead of some of your peers or will at least inspire you to develop your own hidden technology, your ace in the hole. Or sometimes it’s just to see what’s possible.

One of the most well known moments in fighting games is Evo Moment #37. Even non-fighting game players have seen it and it is truly a special moment in gaming history and went to spur on many players to up their game and wait for that clutch moment or even seek it out for themselves as they improve.

Or maybe you are looking for a new team/character or just to switch out one character in your current team in certain games. Streams are the best place to go to for a chance to see a whole load of unique teams and synergies, even when a character might seem unplayable you might stumble upon somebody with a similar team who do really well. And then you have players like LLND who play UMvC3 and pick some extremely “low tier” teams but find a lot of success in sticking with them and making them work. It just goes to show that what you might see as an unviable team can be revolutionised by switching the order or changing an assist and adjusting your approach.

For me, I love watching Moons, Nemo, Yipes and Infrit for Nova combos and team synergy. I got a lot of great ideas from them and applied them to my own team. Sometimes some of their combos and set-ups didn’t work but watching and understanding what they were trying to achieve or setting up for incoming characters allowed me to try and find similar situations for my team. It’s a great way to find some new ways to liven up your team and better yourself.

I don’t play the exact same teams as the players mentioned it’s great to see high level players using your characters so even if you can’t find somebody who plays your exact team you can always watch teams with a shell (two characters) of your team with a different tweak to see just how nasty your team can be. The same can be said for single characters in games like BlazBlue and Street Fighter 4, different characters can be played with different styles but to see somebody playing your character can give you a plethora of ideas.

Watching streams becomes a big part of trying to get better at any game. It’s a place where you can see your next set of potential opponents from a tournament and start to prepare for the way the play and learn the best approach for their team/character.

So if you can’t get to local events be sure to support them through their stream and make sure you pay close attention to your favourites. They might just help you better yourself. Be sure to check out every stream you can and often. And don’t forget to level up.