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3 - On Why We Lose and Learning From Mistakes

Why do we lose so often?
Why are we so inconsistent?

I have asked these questions to myself and my team multiple times. CLG was branded as a top 3 team in the beginning of the season, but as the season carried on, its reputation as a strong team dropped slowly. CLG went into a losing streak that made everyone the team question themselves. It was a dark period and even coming out of it was rough (still is).

So why did we lose so often?
If we were ever in a game-winning position, we would throw many times. I could count over 70% of the games that we lost where we had a gold lead at some point in time that we decided to give back. Obviously, the most recognizable ones are our game vs Vulcun (when we ran Karthus top and Katarina mid vs AP Nidalee) and Marn (where Nien 1v5 hard carried as Tristana). These two games are two huge game throwers. But most of the time, the reason why we lose happens in an instant. The momentum we once had shifts completely.
  • Misplay multiple teamfights hard because we did not know what to do (occurred earlier in the season).
  • Someone gets caught.
  • Freeze instead of pushing.
  • Somebody dies despite knowing all they had to do is play back/safe.
  • Communication problems.
These are the main reasons why CLG has lost all of their games. This happens every time we lose and this easily results into a snowball effect. Somebody dies -> they get a tower -> more towers -> map control -> dragon/baron and then well, they win. Another scenario is when somebody dies as we group to pressure the map -> lose momentum/delay our window of going on the offensive -> they catch up -> etc.

This is 70% of the reasons why other teams lose too. 

What surprises me is that these many problems happened in such a team that I consider "veteran". CLG has no doubt regressed in terms of strength. Well... I can't completely assume that as maybe these problems did exist when they were playing during IPL5/Korea. To this date, many of these problems happen daily. 

The 3 games in Azure are 3 games that none of these mistakes almost never happened. The next few games that we play will determine how much we have learned as a team and show our progress (in which I cannot wait to play ^^).

Why we lose and why we are so inconsistent are directly related. By not fixing these problems despite knowing them results in heavy losses. It is one of the biggest reasons why many of the people on our team felt our practice schedule was so inefficient. In the beginning of the season, we scrimmed around 8 hours a day playing from 3-11pm. We would watch replays here and there and speed through it. A lot of it has changed. Today we only scrim around 6 games total and spend the rest of the time talking about the game and scrutinizing the replay. The same mistakes would happen multiple times over and over and over and over again. It was painful. 

Note that many of these mistakes have nothing to do with what most of the community thinks. They don't know the other side of the game. i.e. We don't lose because we always play team comp: "Protect the Doublelift" We lose because of other reasons.

Well, we established why we lose and how we lose. Of course, there were times when we had no idea what to do as it was a completely new scenario and proceeded to learn from it. But besides that, what else? If we were so conscious of it all, why did it keep happening? 

Playing LCS games is completely different than scrimming. In scrims, the average death count is probably easily 20-30. First blood happens in the first 5 minutes. In LCS games, the average death count is probably like 10-20 with first blood happening sometimes after the 10th minute mark. Why? Because the games actually matter. 

There is pressure and there is fear. Everyone feels this no matter what. Communication in LCS games is much more solid (sometimes). There is no bickering and arguing during those games. CLG in scrims != CLG in LCS. There are also times when high pressure situations arise. Suddenly, everyone starts going crazy. Everyone becomes hyphy, communication becomes chaotic, and everyone feels rushed. I was a victim of this. My legendary flash wall Anivia, flash Rumble E, jump into Baron with Khazix without waiting for my team are all examples. That's when I knew. 

You have to be calm. By staying calm and playing like the way you do in scrims allows you to play your best. Being level-headed is the most important aspect in any single moment of your life. Decisions made on emotions result in bad results (well, not all the time). "Stay calm" I told myself. After the first half of LCS I learned how to keep my cool during the middle of the game. Everyone on the team acknowledged this and made an effort to calm everyone down during such moments. We encouraged each other and did not call people out. Keeping a positive and level atmosphere was key. Upon learning this, my consistency skyrocketed.

Kelby always said CLG never plays like they do in scrims. It is true. The way we play in LCS is a lot different. We don't plan level 1s and picks/bans in scrims. We play 100% reactively. This is the polar opposite of what we did in LCS matches. That is what we figured out. I touched on this point in my previous post (after our loss vs Vulcun). We learned and improved. Constant reminders on this team is key (at least that is what I believe). CLG is especially good at ending games; however, getting to that point is the tricky part and the part in which we work on next.

Replicating the same environment to become comfortable is extremely important and I feel that is the lesson to be learned from all of this.

It's always a learning experience.

L

25 comments:

  1. Anonymous15.5.13

    Hi Link!

    Thank you for taking your time and explaining this stuff to the community. I had no idea that was the problem. I really hope you guys make it to world finals!

    Keep up the good work!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Anonymous15.5.13

    I love these blogs, really appreciate the insights.

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  3. Anonymous15.5.13

    Hi link[
    me fan(not AC) and lick u play lux nice soap- me blay jimingal (Forist Aanimal woof woof haw haw checken moo meat) no feaid] me small me feaid long time% now concecretion no fieaid+ so change soap and blay jimingal

    ReplyDelete
  4. Anonymous15.5.13

    hi link kaabtin is best pro ME ploz tel him to join clg

    ReplyDelete
  5. Anonymous15.5.13

    zmg 3 years later! ... on a serious note however will be nice to see what are HOPEFULLY more competitive matches. I will say however that this would seem a little less like a excuse if hotshot had not made lame excuses in almost every interview, and now with what is said here that sounds like it realistically could be the case, link, who is the NEW mid for clg (regardless if he was on b team or not) not hotshott comes and posts this after 3 years as a "pro" team? This is somethign that should have come into play a year and a half MAYBE 2 years in when competition got bigger and bigger.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Anonymous15.5.13

    Why not post these blogs on CLGaming.net so CLG can get some more $$$ ?

    ReplyDelete
  7. Thanks for doing these Link. Things look like they are on the upswing for CLG any reason why you guys are thinking about doing that role swap if things are getting better

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  8. Anonymous15.5.13

    WOW....

    Nothing else to say this is what the community needs good honest information. so insightful

    Wp Link

    ReplyDelete
  9. Although I entirely agree, the protect the doublelift comp does pose a problem. Because if something does go wrong, it's harder to come back with two threats than with three or four, since if only 1 is underfarmed there's 2 more. It's not the reason you lost, but it can contribute to some losses.

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    Replies
    1. Anonymous15.5.13

      im guessing your just saying that because your like bronze but whent it comes to high level play, i dont think it matters as much. havent you seen doublelift 1v4 or some shit. hes used to these kinds of things and is used to wining games like that. he gets the lead, they win. pretty simple

      Delete
    2. Anonymous17.5.13

      Yep I think they realize that now. The 1-2 threat playstyle is simply too risky to run and doesn't allow room for error whereas 3-4 threats do (Chauster said how they played is more difficult to play but at that time was stubborn to change). I think they've changed.

      Delete
  10. Anonymous15.5.13

    awesome blog dude keep it up

    ReplyDelete
  11. Anonymous15.5.13

    On some real shit tho. Tumblr > blogspot
    -facebook/instagram intergration
    -more LoL fans on tumblr
    -more cute girls to stalk on tumblr

    ReplyDelete
  12. Anonymous15.5.13

    Really good, thx for explaining it to the public.

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  13. Anonymous15.5.13

    Really interesting. Good job !

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  14. Anonymous15.5.13

    Thank you for posting these, Link. It's really fascinating to hear how you guys were able to make what seemed like a shocking transformation when you just crushed Azure Cats.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Anonymous15.5.13

    Really interesting read. Keep it up, Link.

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  16. Really insightful and I'm glad you guys are finding more reasons on why you are guys aren't doing too well, like in the LCS.

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  17. Great post! Thanks for writing this! I really agree with all what you pointed out. I'm so glad CLG is moving forward and improving!Love you Link <3

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  18. Anonymous15.5.13

    These posts are really good.. GLHF CLG!

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  19. Anonymous15.5.13

    Best grammar NA

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  20. good read man & i'm super stoked that CLG is back in LCS!
    Hope you guys secure top 2 in da summer split ;)

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  21. Thanks Link for explaining the mind flow of the games that viewers may not know, really good blogs.

    So excited to see CLG went 3:0 versus Azure Cats. Especially the first game when HotShot picked nid I was like OMG.

    Although only two co-founder is left in the team, its good to see the dominating CLG, just like the season one CLG.

    Keep Up!

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  22. Jesse W16.5.13

    Very Cool Post. The Number 1 Thing We Were Told In First Aid Training Is That You Have To Have A Calm And Collected Mindset Before Doing Anything Stressful. Best Of Luck To You Guys.

    ReplyDelete