Git Gud! How to Learn From Your Mistakes

We’ve all been there. You’re having a great game, winning team fight after team fight. Then you make a mistake. Sometimes, if you’re me, you make dozens of mistakes. Mistakes can cost you the game.  As George W. Bush famously said, “Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me… you can’t get fooled again.” Don’t get fooled again. Learning from your mistakes will help you become a better player. 

Record Your Games

There are many options available on iOS to record your gameplay. I won’t go into too much technical detail, but if there is a large demand, I can write an article on it. If anyone familiar with Android would like to post some options in the comments, please do!

• A 10.9 or above Mac, iOS8, Quicktime Player, and a Lightning Cable
• AirServer / Reflector + Computer
• Shou.tv [no computer or jailbreak required]
• Jailbreak + Mobcrush tweak [no computer required]

Review Your Gameplay

Once you’ve recorded a game, go back and watch it.  The first time you do this, it’s quite an amazing experience. You’ll wonder why in the world you did certain things. For example, I accidentally Spectral Smited a jungle minion with 1 stack on it. Oops. Try and find crucial moments like team fights, and focus on analyzing them. Here are some mistakes I found in one match, and I’d like to highlight them for you.

Watch me walk right into Skaarf’s Spitfire.

We were ahead already so I was overconfident. Walked right into Skaarf’s Spitfire and Goop combo. Then, I could have used my A to shield myself and block some of the scout trap damage. Also Catherine was taking heavy damage with her shield up. I was actually killed by a deflection off her shield.

It’s great to push an advantage, but you also need to realize when you’ve overextended. Practicing the same hero will help you learn those limits, and will help you get better at the game.

Don’t overstay your welcome, and Catherine enjoys window shopping.

We overstayed an invade just a bit too long. I called to pull back, but it was too late. Catherine might have been able to stun the enemy Cath out of her stun to allow Ringo to safely make it to the brush. While Ringo was being 1v3’d, Catherine was shopping. I was powerless to help Ringo as I had no support items.

Make sure you keep an eye on death timers in the scoreboard. We were hungry for the back jungle camps, but the enemy had respawned and cut us off at the tri-bush. As support, peeling for your carry is important. It’s up to you to save them from themselves sometimes! Also, whenever you shop in the jungle, if the enemy is nearby, make sure you shop very quickly, or don’t shop at all. Sometimes it’s not worth the risk.

Check your cooldowns before you wreck yourself.

After losing Ringo, I saw that Gold Mine was being taken. I went in to try and distract them, but that was a bad idea. My reflex block was on cooldown, and I got stunned by Joule. I tried to finish Joule but was unable to, leaving me way out of position and with no escape. R.I.P.

Whenever one player goes down, it’s a prime time to take objectives. I knew that they would make a play for the gold mine. A 2v3 isn’t bad if you have the Gold Miner helping you (he hits like a ton of bricks), but I didn’t have vision on the enemy. I should have just backed out, or circled around the other way once they had Miner aggro. Speaking of the Gold Miner, you can use a minion candy on him to make him hit even harder! It lasts for 1 minute and gives 60 armor/shield, 40% more damage, and .5 movement speed.

That big red circle means hit Reflex block.

We got caught again by their Catherine (excellent play, by the way), causing Ringo to be deleted very quickly. It was a 2v3, and I made a poor decision to stay and fight when I had not finished my Breaking Point yet. I also missed an obvious Joule stun, my reflexes are bad. Sitting on 1500 gold and fighting a 2v3 is usually a bad idea. To top it off, they had a Fountain of Renewal which made any chance of winning this fight impossible.

The lesson here is to know your power spikes. Krul gets a huge power spike when he finishes his Breaking Point.  I needed 200 more gold and I made a poor decision to fight 2v3, again without the Gold Miner’s help. Man that guy is lazy sometimes.

Don’t face check bushes.  

This time I wanted to highlight a mistake made by the enemy Skaarf. It’s never a good idea to face check bushes, especially if you just saw the enemy.  Our kill of Skaarf allowed us to take their entire enemy jungle and Minion miner, giving us a nice gold boost, where we infused before the next crucial team fight.

Unless you’re a tank, you don’t want to enter the brush without vision of the enemy. Even as the tank, you should almost always carry flares. Vision is so important in this game. Lack of vision can lose you the game. Buy flares. If you don’t have flares, some heroes can check bushes with their abilities. For example, Skaarf’s Spitfire, Celeste’s Heliogenesis, Vox’s Pulse, and Joule’s Thunderstrike can all deal damage or reveal enemy heroes.

This one mistake could have cost the game. 

I got overconfident again. We pushed deeper than Kraken, instead of waiting. I had the turret halfway with full smite stacks, but I incorrectly turned on Skaarf, leading to my unfortunate demise. I should have Smited the turret, got the heal, and backed off. We probably could have won the game in this push, but instead we only got 1 more turret and the enemy team got 1500 gold from killing the Kraken. Fortunately, we won the next team fight and secured the win!

We had full control of the map, both Minion Mines, a Minion wave, Kraken, and full health! What could go wrong? It’s easy to forget how much damage carries can do, especially when you have turret aggro. Don’t overextend, even when victory seems guaranteed. Play smart. Push when Kraken arrives to take that turret aggro. That’s what Kraken is for.

Follow these four easy steps to Vainglorious

So to recap, follow these four easy steps on your road to Vainglorious.

1. Record your game play
2. Review your mistakes
3. ??????
4. Vainglorious Gold!*