How exactly does one “git gud”? Is it a certain gun, tactic, subclass? Is there a special key that suddenly propels an average player to the pinnacle of Crucible ability?
Nope.
Practice, patience, and the ability to acknowledge your mistakes – which is undoubtedly the most difficult – is how to become a better player. Practice doesn’t make perfect, perfect practice makes perfect.
Reviewing Mistakes
For this method to work, a large portion of time will need to be dedicated to film review. To start, record a few matches of your preferred game type in the Crucible. Play to the best of your ability, without getting flustered. Afterward, make notes of the mistakes, and what changes would help you most. This will help to prioritize what improvements should be made.
These are a few of the common things to keep in mind:
- Radar awareness and flanking
- Don’t feed kills; regroup with team
- Risky or underutilized grenades
- Don’t activate a roaming super outside of cover
- Disengage when losing an engagement – retreat if your best hope is a trade
Perfect Practice
After you’ve cramped your hands writing, the next part is to work on the abilities that aren’t up to par. Focus on one aspect of your game that needs the most improvement, and spend at least two games where that’s the priority. For example, for better grenade accuracy, spend time learning their trajectory and limits.
The amount of time you spend practicing is entirely up to you, though the goal for ‘Perfect Practice’ is to reach a point where you’re not consciously trying to perform these skills correctly – the goal is for it to become muscle memory. This method works best when you narrow in on one skill at a time.
If there’s an area that I recommend working on first, it’s awareness. Learn the sniper lanes, learn when to slide or jump around a corner, when to retreat, when you’re getting flanked, and what areas or spots on each map provide the greatest advantage.