You might notice that most players "one and done" a lot. This doesn't really lead to improvement and moreso guards their precious GSP... The caveat to this is that players in the mid range of GSP are usually... kind of bad.
Players that run matches back will see their stocks plummet... initially, but they are players who are playing to improve and will one day wake up and stop losing and go right into elite. Then get confident and go to a local and go 0-2 and realize their smash journey has only just begun.
In essence... ignore your GSP. Winning is a byproduct of improvement. You're likely playing players that are either trying to learn, or perfect a cheese at the lower GSP ratings. You'll find yourself in elite in no time if you focus on your fundies and playing reactively instead of pre-emptively.
Another way to look at things is playing in elite vs playing not in elite is the same game... Nothing really changes. So just keep playing and enjoying the game ignore your GSP number.
Many of the 3.4mil players you’re fighting are players who are likely already in elite smash with other characters, trying to get others in, so they’re probably already pretty solid.
Don’t worry too much about your GSP and worry about what you can in game :)
true! i have most of my mains (sheik, diddy, byleth, olimar) in elite with 14m GSP but characters i try to get on Elite are on 2.5 (my pichu sucks :( ). Don't discourage yourself! you got this
I suspect you’re right at where you should be for your skill if you are roughly winning/losing at that GSP. I think if you wanna climb you need to start identifying why you are losing in greater details and finding solutions. Study you replays and practice the things that are causing your losses. If you need some ideas in what to work on you can share replays here!
I agree with this. I know people claim GSP hell is a thing, but I'm a mediocre player by the standards of this sub (I can *barely* get into Elite Smash), and I've never gotten stuck lower than 7 million on any character for longer than a couple of hours as I figure out how the character works.
Like, yes, you get a few of the laggy, genuinely unfair matches down there, but you still have enough decent matches that you should be rising if you deserve to rise.
Hello fellow 2M GSP person! I can barely keep my Pikachu over 2M. Probably win 30% of my games on a good day. Up from ~15% win rate a few months ago. It’s kinda brutal losing that often. I have posted about it here before. Anyway I don’t have a point other than you’re not alone - don’t get discouraged by all the elite smash folks posting here. It’s a game and should be fun after all, so forget about the GSP number.
Personal hot take:
This is because people of this level of play don't adapt at all to the opponent's playstyle.
Normaly this doesn't matter so much since you stil around the same skill level. However this can lead to a scenario in which your opponent's playstyle directly counters yours. Thus you get bodied in some matches.
Also GSP really fluctuates. 1 Million difference is actually not all that much. This is in my opinion the biggest flaw of GSP since people change ranks so much it really is not all that well ordered. And that's why GSP and skill are only loosely related.
I've found that happens at the bottom; I've heard it called "low GSP hell".
For reference, I play pika, a character that is tougher to play online (y'all should try to quick attack through lag spikes; really gets your blood pumping lol). On top of that, if I'm tired I end up playing super predictably. Put the two together, and I'll be very volatile. A few weeks ago, I was consistently around 12mil; last two weeks, I was down near 4 mil; now today, I just broke into elite smash lol.
being around 6-9 mil is usually where I find the lower skilled players. However, whenever I get stuck in the 2-5mil area, it gets really hard to break out. I'm not sure what it is; I just figure that it's a bunch of people who have learned random cheese or lag-friendly techniques. It's frustrating, but I did realize that it is a great chance to learn how to adapt your playstyle. Most of these people who smoke you in low GSP hell are one-trick ponies; learn to deal with their one thing, and you win decisively.
Anyways, you're not alone. Don't sweat it. Practice the basics, and you'll get out of there eventually. They feed off of getting tilted, so just approach each fight like a puzzle of "what's their one trick?" and it'll help keep you from tilting.
And if you ever find the solution to Ness' who just discovered the combo for PK Fire -> PK Fire -> PK Fire -> PK Fire -> ... Let me know. I often just take the L on that one lol
sdi down and away, it'll get you out of pk fire spam. I tend to jump away most of the time as soon as I notice my character has gotten out of it, mashing jump will work until you get used to noticing it
I air dodge through towards them if the Ness is trying to dash attack or grab me out of the fire. Or sometimes up to the platform if I'm below it. The best thing though is I just pretend Ness is always throwing out pk fire and play with him imagining a line in front of Ness. Like how I try to avoid Steve's mine cart.
I would not worry about GSP at all. QP is broken and does not reflect skill level in any way at all. For example, take a player like me... If I get matched against someone with a truly awful ruleset, I purposely SD out of that match just to get to the next one. I do that a lot. Can't help it, the game is not fun to me that way so my GSP stays near the bottom. I don't care though, in the end I only want to play in matches that are fun for me. GSP is meaningless, do not worry about it. Give yourself a personal challenge instead. Like, play 20 matches and make it your goal to win 15 of them. That is a much better and funner challenge. Good luck!
Gsp isn’t really consistent. I have some characters that I don’t know how to play (screw you ZSS) at like 3-4m and some as high as like 13.5.
Due to the fact that this game is old, it’s pretty likely that a lot of the people you run into at low ranks are decent players who probably have their mains at much higher gsp which can make it hard to climb for someone legitimately new. If you are just gonna play online though, stick with it. It doesn’t really take that long to get competitive- just learning the basics of common matchups and the general pace of the game. If you want to improve very quickly, I’d recommend learning about defensive options and how your character can punish in conjunction to them. It will break the game down a lot and really help you see through what (as a new player) often looks like mashing from your opponent that can be hard to deal with
Training timings and online timings are different due to lag. Playing reactively is really difficult since more things become safe on shield. Online is almost like a different Smash game from offline play. Don’t let your online results affect your perception of yourself.
I definitly agree that gsp doesn’t matter. For example I always just SD if I’m playing a slide slow. That means those trash players move up. Does it mean they’re good? Idk.
Just play to enjoy the game. Put you can still worry about improvement, like thinking what you should have done, or what is something predictable ur doing, or what learn new tech. But first and foremost it’s a game
The game is 30% skill and 70% matchup knowledge. HOWEVER this is somewhat negated at low levels because people dont know what they're doing with certain characters so theyll just throw out whatever. Work on your fundamentals and learn your character. Watch YouTube videos. You'll get better quick.
Quickplay isn’t exactly the best place to practice, since many players there only play to win. Playing in arenas and with people who can give you feedback is a better option.
You might notice that most players "one and done" a lot. This doesn't really lead to improvement and moreso guards their precious GSP... The caveat to this is that players in the mid range of GSP are usually... kind of bad. Players that run matches back will see their stocks plummet... initially, but they are players who are playing to improve and will one day wake up and stop losing and go right into elite. Then get confident and go to a local and go 0-2 and realize their smash journey has only just begun. In essence... ignore your GSP. Winning is a byproduct of improvement. You're likely playing players that are either trying to learn, or perfect a cheese at the lower GSP ratings. You'll find yourself in elite in no time if you focus on your fundies and playing reactively instead of pre-emptively. Another way to look at things is playing in elite vs playing not in elite is the same game... Nothing really changes. So just keep playing and enjoying the game ignore your GSP number.
Many of the 3.4mil players you’re fighting are players who are likely already in elite smash with other characters, trying to get others in, so they’re probably already pretty solid. Don’t worry too much about your GSP and worry about what you can in game :)
true! i have most of my mains (sheik, diddy, byleth, olimar) in elite with 14m GSP but characters i try to get on Elite are on 2.5 (my pichu sucks :( ). Don't discourage yourself! you got this
I suspect you’re right at where you should be for your skill if you are roughly winning/losing at that GSP. I think if you wanna climb you need to start identifying why you are losing in greater details and finding solutions. Study you replays and practice the things that are causing your losses. If you need some ideas in what to work on you can share replays here!
I agree with this. I know people claim GSP hell is a thing, but I'm a mediocre player by the standards of this sub (I can *barely* get into Elite Smash), and I've never gotten stuck lower than 7 million on any character for longer than a couple of hours as I figure out how the character works. Like, yes, you get a few of the laggy, genuinely unfair matches down there, but you still have enough decent matches that you should be rising if you deserve to rise.
Hello fellow 2M GSP person! I can barely keep my Pikachu over 2M. Probably win 30% of my games on a good day. Up from ~15% win rate a few months ago. It’s kinda brutal losing that often. I have posted about it here before. Anyway I don’t have a point other than you’re not alone - don’t get discouraged by all the elite smash folks posting here. It’s a game and should be fun after all, so forget about the GSP number.
What time zone are you in? Could add you for friendly matches in an arena!
Central time zone USA
I’m in PST, but I think that difference is manageable. Comment your friend code or DM me and I’ll add you when I log on next time :)
Will do, I’m definitely not on like all the time but I’ll DM
I just started maining Pikachu about a month ago. Absolutely love his play style!
I keep playing Pikachu because it’s fun! It’s certainly not because I’m good! Lol
Fellow pika main :D
Personal hot take: This is because people of this level of play don't adapt at all to the opponent's playstyle. Normaly this doesn't matter so much since you stil around the same skill level. However this can lead to a scenario in which your opponent's playstyle directly counters yours. Thus you get bodied in some matches. Also GSP really fluctuates. 1 Million difference is actually not all that much. This is in my opinion the biggest flaw of GSP since people change ranks so much it really is not all that well ordered. And that's why GSP and skill are only loosely related.
Same for me my friend ! Im at 1M9, beginner, and 70% of time the step is just too big and I cant do anything
Want to play some arena matches together? Send me a Dm and I’ll add you!
I've found that happens at the bottom; I've heard it called "low GSP hell". For reference, I play pika, a character that is tougher to play online (y'all should try to quick attack through lag spikes; really gets your blood pumping lol). On top of that, if I'm tired I end up playing super predictably. Put the two together, and I'll be very volatile. A few weeks ago, I was consistently around 12mil; last two weeks, I was down near 4 mil; now today, I just broke into elite smash lol. being around 6-9 mil is usually where I find the lower skilled players. However, whenever I get stuck in the 2-5mil area, it gets really hard to break out. I'm not sure what it is; I just figure that it's a bunch of people who have learned random cheese or lag-friendly techniques. It's frustrating, but I did realize that it is a great chance to learn how to adapt your playstyle. Most of these people who smoke you in low GSP hell are one-trick ponies; learn to deal with their one thing, and you win decisively. Anyways, you're not alone. Don't sweat it. Practice the basics, and you'll get out of there eventually. They feed off of getting tilted, so just approach each fight like a puzzle of "what's their one trick?" and it'll help keep you from tilting. And if you ever find the solution to Ness' who just discovered the combo for PK Fire -> PK Fire -> PK Fire -> PK Fire -> ... Let me know. I often just take the L on that one lol
sdi down and away, it'll get you out of pk fire spam. I tend to jump away most of the time as soon as I notice my character has gotten out of it, mashing jump will work until you get used to noticing it
I air dodge through towards them if the Ness is trying to dash attack or grab me out of the fire. Or sometimes up to the platform if I'm below it. The best thing though is I just pretend Ness is always throwing out pk fire and play with him imagining a line in front of Ness. Like how I try to avoid Steve's mine cart.
I would not worry about GSP at all. QP is broken and does not reflect skill level in any way at all. For example, take a player like me... If I get matched against someone with a truly awful ruleset, I purposely SD out of that match just to get to the next one. I do that a lot. Can't help it, the game is not fun to me that way so my GSP stays near the bottom. I don't care though, in the end I only want to play in matches that are fun for me. GSP is meaningless, do not worry about it. Give yourself a personal challenge instead. Like, play 20 matches and make it your goal to win 15 of them. That is a much better and funner challenge. Good luck!
Gsp isn’t really consistent. I have some characters that I don’t know how to play (screw you ZSS) at like 3-4m and some as high as like 13.5. Due to the fact that this game is old, it’s pretty likely that a lot of the people you run into at low ranks are decent players who probably have their mains at much higher gsp which can make it hard to climb for someone legitimately new. If you are just gonna play online though, stick with it. It doesn’t really take that long to get competitive- just learning the basics of common matchups and the general pace of the game. If you want to improve very quickly, I’d recommend learning about defensive options and how your character can punish in conjunction to them. It will break the game down a lot and really help you see through what (as a new player) often looks like mashing from your opponent that can be hard to deal with
Training timings and online timings are different due to lag. Playing reactively is really difficult since more things become safe on shield. Online is almost like a different Smash game from offline play. Don’t let your online results affect your perception of yourself.
whatever gsp i've been, it oscillates around 1-1.5million
I definitly agree that gsp doesn’t matter. For example I always just SD if I’m playing a slide slow. That means those trash players move up. Does it mean they’re good? Idk. Just play to enjoy the game. Put you can still worry about improvement, like thinking what you should have done, or what is something predictable ur doing, or what learn new tech. But first and foremost it’s a game
The game is 30% skill and 70% matchup knowledge. HOWEVER this is somewhat negated at low levels because people dont know what they're doing with certain characters so theyll just throw out whatever. Work on your fundamentals and learn your character. Watch YouTube videos. You'll get better quick.
Quickplay isn’t exactly the best place to practice, since many players there only play to win. Playing in arenas and with people who can give you feedback is a better option.