The Coached Experience

This is going to be a long one. Are you surprised?


Coaching is an interesting subject and experience. We've almost all been coached sometime in our lives...sports of all types, etc. I've played soccer (okay, okay, futbol) for 10 years, indoor volleyball for 4, karate for over 20. I currently play ice hockey, but I've never been officially trained/coached.

You might even consider teachers "coaches" of a type...they're helping you learn. To that extent, most of us have also coached others at some point in our lives...whether it was giving tips to peers, tutoring others, and whatnot.

Coaching is now a thing in E-sports, and even on SMITEFire, people request help, and others offer their time and knowledge to help others improve.

As a mindset, I'm a very casual player. I don't generally get upset at all, win or lose, though of course winning is more fun. Although I just play for enjoyment, I am definitely one of those that is always looking to improve, whether via better builds, learning new strategies, or getting feedback after the game from those more experienced and skilled than I am.

I've gotten a couple of games here and there with Prism (difficult to align our schedules, since it's early AM for him when I play), who pushed me at the beginning of my Conquest escapades to try Aphrodite in solo...on a base level, telling me what to build next, and also when to rotate, link up, etc. Those types of things help a lot, but repetition is also important. But if you can retain some of what was taught every time, it slowly adds up. That's the key...taking something out of every game.

Often, after a game with the clan, I'll ask Taco or Zilby if anything standout comes to mind about my play that game. Since they're also playing and need to worry about their own stuff, sometimes it's difficult to pay attention to others.

But if Zilb has been around, or say was supporting me while I ADC, such as what happened a week ago (mirror match Medusa BTW), then it gives him a better perspective, and I'm able to pull out a bit more info and feedback.

Specifically in that match (it can be difficult to tell by the numbers), there were multiple things going on...Zilby can confirm or correct...it's been a week, so hell if I remember, lol.

• The early game was relatively even. Zilby's Ymir provided strong waveclear help. For the most part, I felt we were fairly even, and we were able to make the enemy run a couple of times. Think we got a couple of early kills.
  
  
• Our Arachne Jungler apparently had some major issues...don't remember if they said it was extreme lag, or something else, but they apologized near the end of the match. That obviously didn't help our side.
  
  
• Kali is a huge issue for Ymir. She tears him a new one.

For the most part, I contributed what I could to teamfights, and did okay overall (I think), but in one instance in the mid-game, Zilb and I went after the enemy Medusa...I don't remember our health at that point, and think someone else might have come in to support their teammate, but I remember having to back off while Z died. After the game, Z came back to that specific event, and asked if I'd used my Lacerate. I believe I did, but I think I missed. He then pointed out that every time I initiated and connected, we seemed to win the fights. He basically indicated that being aggressive can really give you an advantage, and that's one of my issues...I don't know if I'd call it playing "scared," but I think when I'm presented with a situation where I have enough time to think things through, I tend to play conservatively...basically, I don't want to F up, and that might be a main reason I F up.

Anyway, that brings me to another coaching experience I had a couple of nights ago. Back to the original person that got me into the game, my nephew, I ended up joining up in a 5-man with him and his friends for some games...2 Conquest and 1 Siege, but I'll specifically be talking about Conquest here.

My nephew is usually one of the stronger players I've played with, but he hasn't been playing much the last few months. That said, it's time I introduce the actual coach...his friend Duotem. You've seen some of his guides pop up recently here on SF, and he's definitely at a skill and knowledge level that is beyond me. Anyway, he was playing lightly on his alt account (GM4J0R), mostly looking to fill a space on the team while he helped direct everyone else. Yes, we lost all 3 games, but there were a lot of positives I took out of those games.

In our first Conquest game, everyone else wanted to play other roles, so I ended up as ADC, and defaulted to a comfort choice, Freya. Yank as Hercules definitely helped provide some early pressure, and although we didn't win, I think I did okay. (BTW, every time I choose Vampiric Shroud, I'm never really satisfied with it...I think it'll be Soul Stone or Sands of Time from this point forward)

My numbers make it seem like I did well. I had highest damage on my team by about 8k, with an end KDA of 6/3/5, and I basically had my way with my matchup vs Jing Wei, but I'm not so sure...I think I could have been present at teamfights a bit more. This is always something that I feel is a weakness of mine...recognizing situations and being in the right place at the right time. In any case, Duo was directing the others from the Solo lane, so didn't have much feedback for me that game.

After an intermission Siege match, we were back at it in Conquest. I ended up as ADC again (I mean, when is ADC the last-chosen role?!?), and I chose Medusa this time...fitting, since I got a bit of advice from Duo in my S4 revision of my guide. He played his normal role as Support, which was perfect for more direct feedback on my gameplay. But it wasn't just feedback; I got a more direct taste of the small, higher level details. The key thing I want to take out of this was the starting process.

The following is taken from the Conquest guide as the standard starting suggestion for ADCs, and is meant as a general guideline for normal play:

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After buying items, head to the Duo lane (1), usually with the Support, to clear the first minion wave. Depending on matchups, you can try to force the enemy under their tower, use that pressure to get a head start on clearing the next wave, and possibly attempt to steal their own buff. Generally, though, you'll head to your Protection Reduction Buff camp (2) with the Support. Depending on preference, either of you can pick it up, but it generally should be the Support. At this time, it's unlikely you'll contest the Oracle Harpy camp (3), at least without further assistance. If both the Duo and Mid win early contests, forcing their enemies to back, all 3 can consider clearing the camp together. From this point forward, you'll mostly stay in lane in the early game.

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And this is what we actually did...

• 1: Duo as Ymir was able to help clear our wave before the enemy Apollo and Sobek.
  
  
• 2: He immediately said "let's go to their purple buff and take the 2 small minions."
  
  
• 3: He then said "and we do the same to their red buff. This will get us to level 2." Key here is that we didn't bother stealing the buffs themselves. Why? They take a lot longer to kill, and we didn't want to get too pressured in-lane. The key was stealing a bit of extra XP and gold.
  
  
• 4: Went back to lane to clear wave #2. Outcleared again, then went to the Oracle Harpies and took the long way around back to the 3rd wave.

That might not be much to some people, but to me I was like wooow, coooool. At about the 3:30 mark, Duo said "and this is where you're on your own," as he went to rotate to other lanes and the jungle.

BTW, Apollo's early lane clear is now stupid. He's stupid. F Apollo. He definitely out-cleared me on each wave. I didn't die in those early stages of the game, but I pretty much had to play defensively the entire time, and there were a couple of close calls. He definitely tried to chase me off multiple times.

As for the rest of the match, when I wasn't too focused on my own game, I'd hear Duo talking to the others...things like...

• "(Camazotz), what could you be doing right now?" Cama was sitting in Solo alone...no waves, staying in the middle of the lane. "So...you could be hitting any of those camps." "Oooh, got it."
  
  
• " Medusa, you can safely push tower, go ahead and take it." I hadn't looked at the map (another thing I forget to do), and he knew that almost all of their team was on the opposite side. I was able to safely take down the first tower, and damage the 2nd about 1/4 before Apollo ulted in and I retreated to safety.
  
  
• "Alright guys, back off, we can't contest that." This is paraphrased, but basically along the lines of just directing the team and recognizing dangerous situations.

Another loss, but looking at the numbers tells a bit more. Apollo ended up being fed, 7/0/14. He has a lot more global presence than me, and I did warn every time he stepped out of lane/went missing. He out-cleared me early and mid, so it was a bit difficult to keep up. I think I did okay. I don't know if I'm the specific one to blame for him being fed, but...well, just couldn't stop him.

Their entire team had an Elo that averaged 100-200 higher than our team. Our highest was still below their lowest. Doesn't necessarily mean much, but on a positive note is maybe a reason not to be down on ourselves for losing.

And damn, their Zhong Kui was FED. 13/1/9. He hurt.

In the end, the biggest suggestion Duo had for me was to just overall be aggressive whenever possible...see a pattern here?

One funny note, at one point, most of the rest of our team had died close to the Fire Giant, and I was heading over to try to save Ra. Got there right as they were taking him down...the entire team. Initiating the sequence from around the corner, I ulted and stoned at least 3 of them, I think...but then I LacerateED DIRECTLY INTO THEM. It was absolutely a panic move...I meant to turn around before dashing, but yeah...

It would be interesting to get the full attention of a higher level player, but this was really fun, and a great learning experience. Just wanted to share it.