Esports Mental Attitude - part 1
In a similar way to the start of most sporting careers, gaming usually begins with a player casually gaming with friends; they discover their talent and decide to take it to a competitive level. But competing is not the same as playing. Professional Fortnite requires mental focus, determination and hard work, comparable to top athletes in traditional sports.
In this article Anne and I share some experiences and reflections during the years supporting each of our sons, the pro players Benjy “benjyfishy” Fish and Martin “MrSavage” Foss Andersen.
The article originally appeared in the book Build It Like benjyfishy & MrSavage: The Unofficial Fortnite Esports Guide for Players and Parents, written by Anne Fish and me.
Martin “MrSavage” Foss Andersen focused during competitive play at DreamHack Anaheim in February 2020. Photo credit 100 Thieves.
Desire and hard work
Benjy and Martin have always had a strong and unfaltering desire to win, which makes it easier for them to set clear goals. They prioritise their careers and will always ask themselves if an action or decision will improve their competitive results; if not it is less likely that they will go ahead. Many sponsorships and interviews have been turned down due to this.
The secret behind success is hard work, but keep in mind that hard work is not just about putting in the hours grinding. It involves being disciplined and maintaining a balance between your gaming activities, like scrims, tournaments, VOD reviews, alongside life activities like sleeping a healthy amount, getting the right nutrition and spending time with family and friends.
Losing and having a bad game are inevitable, however being resilient and not giving up is a skill, which can be practised and mastered.
Successful players know how to move on after a bad game and direct their energy into playing better in future games. Sometimes both Benjy and Martin bang their desks to vent their frustration. The loud noise might be worrying for a parent to hear, however it can be an important way for the players to express their disappointment and reset their mental state to get ready for the next game.
“NGL shoutout to Mongraal, he was on 0 points the first 2-3 games then popped off in the last games, and big congrats to Bugha.”
Constant in-game changes
Traditional sports stay fairly consistent in their rules, however this is not the case for Fortnite, where the game is constantly changing. For example, every three to four months an overhauled map is introduced and each week there is a smaller update, which often requires the players to learn new skills and adjust their gameplay. This demands that players are alert and adaptable to change.
One of the key factors in Fortnite is where to land on the map, this landing spot is something that the players practise and perfect for weeks.
In 2019, the ESL Katowice Royale tournament in Poland took place, however in less than 24 hours before the start of the event, the new Fortnite Season 8 launched. The whole North Eastern side of the map changed and some of the landing spots had been completely wiped out, giving players very little time to adjust to the new updates.
“I’m at 3 day $500k tournament and I’m ready! Oh wait my drop spot just got removed.”
In-game team changes
Players often switch teams in Fortnite, which can often cause conflicts between friend groups. In these situations, it is important to treat other players with respect and part ways on as good terms as possible. Benjy would not have switched trios in 2019 if Martin had not agreed to it (see the section on Mongraal, Mitr0, benjyfishy and MrSavage in the Bootcamps & LAN tournaments article).
Commitment
Professional players have to make sacrifices to commit to a career in esports. It is a full-time job, which demands that a player performs at their best and keeps up with their competitors. This means a player’s education may be disrupted and that they may have to limit the amount of time they spend on their other interests and activities outside gaming.
Players may have to change their diets, follow an exercise plan and make sure they stick to a good sleep pattern. This might put a lot of young people off professional gaming, however it is important to seriously consider what kinds of commitments are involved in maintaining a career in esports.
“Nervousness before tournaments isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Nervousness gets you more focused. Tell yourself that you have prepared for this. You have practised as much as you can and there is nothing more you could have done. Also, breathe really slowly in and out. Even in a 1v1 situation – it will help you gain confidence and clear your head. If you’re angry tell yourself to focus on the game and the tasks ahead.”
“Don't blame things on bad luck. Instead practise mental resets and focus on your goals.” -Martin, during DreamHack Anaheim 2020. Photo credit 100 Thieves.
Tips for parents
Familiarise yourself more with Fortnite. If you search ‘Fortnite for parents’ on YouTube, you will find informative videos for the complete novice. Even some basic knowledge is better than nothing.
Your child probably has higher expectations of esports than you do. Do not push your child but build the support network they need to enable them to achieve their best.
Support their dreams within reason. Give them a certain amount of freedom and responsibility of managing their gaming, which will allow them to grow and mature.
If your child becomes a professional player, let them own the process it took to achieve their goal. Avoid micro managing and interfering too much with their achievements.
If your child starts earning a lot of money, be sensitive not to rely on them to financially support your household. It is a heavy burden to put on a young person and they should have the freedom to quit playing at any time.
Celebrate your child’s achievement and let them know that you are proud of them. They will benefit from this love and support, even though they may not acknowledge it.
Don’t try to handle defeats for them, just simply be present or close by if they need you. At LANs, provide them with some food and drink and be prepared to leave them alone if they need their own space.
Cheating is known to occur in esports, especially in online play when organisers cannot check players’ equipment. We encourage you to take a clear stance against it. Likewise, support your child if they become a victim of cheating.
Tips for players
Divide your big goals into smaller ones and reward yourself for the small goals when you reach them. This makes it easier not to give up.
Plan how you are going to handle the times when things go wrong. If you have the right attitude, over time you can turn anything around.
If you have been feeling tired and de-motivated for more than two weeks, treat that as a signal for change and consider what is out of balance.
Don’t forget your teammates while chasing your goals. Set goals in building good and long-lasting relationships with your teammates.
Speak to your parents about your gaming goals.
Staying at the top
Competitive gaming involves a lot of dedication and hard work over a long period. Staying at the top equally involves hard and sustained dedication and is, in some respects, even harder than fulfilling the primary goal.
Getting a lot of followers and public attention ultimately means that a player will also be exposed to a lot of varied comments and viewpoints from an unbelievably vast number of people. If you are streaming and have a social media presence it is impossible to avoid all that attention which may be difficult to handle mentally.
“When they start earning lots of money from streaming or gaining followers etc they start getting side tracked and forget about what first got them into it, which is wanting to be the best, and that’s how pro players end up becoming washed or uninterested with the game. If you want to stay at the top, you need to always be wanting to be the best.”
A washed player
Some online attention can be negative, with players becoming the subject of criticism and negativity. Players can be unfairly labelled as washed up or irrelevant, if they haven’t won any big competitions lately, often ignoring their actual results and performance. This is what happened to Martin during the fall of 2019.
“After trios [FNCS] was finished, people were like already starting to call me washed because … um … I didn’t even do really bad in trios; we just didn’t have any pop-offs. In trios, I placed like 15th average in the FNCS qualifiers and then the finals I placed 7th.”
“All the Tweets of me saying for example «washed player makes a comeback» is just to make fun of people who genuinely think so.”
The MrSavage effect
Leven2k, a Fortnite caster, coined the term “The MrSavage Effect” in a podcast, on his YouTube channel, in May 2020: ‘The Savage Effect is where a player becomes a lot less visible in the public eye and therefore the casual fan is less able to see their ability and to see that they're still performing. As a lot of the time fans are too lazy to actually check where players are performing and placing.’
Leven2k, the professional commentator and analyst who coined "The MrSavage effect" term. Photo credit @Leven2k.
Martin at DreamHack Anaheim 2020. Photo credit 100 Thieves.
In Martin’s case this actually led to a downward spiral, he stopped streaming for a few months and as a result he became even less visible. But there was a reason behind his actions that Martin explains in his own words: ‘After everyone started calling me like washed and stuff, I kind of stopped streaming to focus more on competitive stuff because I really wanted to prove people wrong.’
Martin was able to turn the negativity into the motivation to become a better player. This paid off, because just a couple of months later he was again considered one of the best players in the world.
Proving them wrong
It is very easy to criticise others but it can be very difficult to receive criticism. Martin decided to view this as an opportunity for improvement and growth as a player. This is how Leven2k sums it up in his podcast: ‘Right now people see MrSavage as one of the best players in the world, easily. Well, to put it simply, he won DreamHack and in quite an amazing fashion to say the least. Not only did he win DreamHack, though. He also signed to 100 Thieves. He started streaming a lot more. He started uploading a lot more content to YouTube and in general his social media presence became a lot more visible. Now this is a cycle that I like to call the MrSavage Effect named after him, because I think he's the most famous example of it.’
Needless to say Martin's “washed” period was tough on him. In his AdvanceClass on Mental State he says: ‘A lot of players would probably just stop playing the game or at least play it less because they weren't getting the support they were before.’
Johnny: ‘After Martin won DreamHack Anaheim 2020, there was an enormous feeling of joy to see him come out on top, but it was also filled with relief after seeing the end of a challenging period.’
The collective gathering of players nurtures a strong community spirit. Martin always looks forward to meeting other players IRL. Photo from DreamHack Anaheim in 2020. From left to right: Shayan “ShyoWager” Shehryar, Diego "Arkhram" Lima, Martin, Brendan "Falconer" Falconer, Brodie "Rehx" Franks and Arten "Ballatw" Esa. Photo credit 100 Thieves.
Next part
Check back in a week or subscribe below to get the next part about Esports Mental Attitude. The next part will cover how Benjy learned to handle pressure and a quick intro to the role of coaches and analysts.
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Interested in learning more about MrSavage but also his long-lasting, previous duo partnership with benjyfishy and how they built their Fortnite careers? Check out the book Build It Like benjyfishy & MrSavage with a wealth of useful information both for players and parents alike.
