Hey Brawler,

I've been getting a lot of questions about ways to improve your mental in Brawlhalla, so I'm writing something up real quick that will hopefully help you out. I'm also working on a video for this topic, which covers what I'm writing about today. You'll be able to find it on my YouTube channel, so subscribe over there if you haven't yet to see more content like this.

Mindset Shift #1: Losing is Learning

I'm a firm believer in the value of peaks and averages. Your peak elo is the potential you can perform at if you're always playing your absolute best. Your average elo is where the totality of your skill resides. Pushing your peak is not as important as raising your average.

With that in mind, how can you think differently about the losses you take in ranked? Every loss has something to teach you. That's why the first thing I sent you when you signed up for this Brawl Academy list was a little cheat sheet on reviewing your replays. The players who get good at the game quickly are the ones who can internalize the reasons why they're losing and make adjustments over time to improve.

If you're losing games and falling from your peak, don't stress about it. Your peak isn't as important as your average. If your average starts to fall, chances are you're playing angry and should take a break or take some time to review your games to see why you're losing. But losing is a gift. If you treat it like one, properly respect a loss, and treat it like a source of education on improving, you'll have a much healthier relationship with the game.

Mindset Shift #2: Everything is Fair Game

Many players complain about their opponents' tactics, weapon choice, or play style. This extremely limiting mindset will make it very difficult for you to improve. I'm not saying that you can't think some things are annoying. Everyone agrees that there are aspects of the game that they find annoying or not fun. Complaining or declaring something to be unfair is not going to help you succeed, though.

If you're signed up here, I hope that you are serious about wanting to improve at Brawlhalla. That's why I'm creating Brawl Academy to help anyone who wants to improve. Part of having an improvement-focused mindset is realizing that if it's in the game, it's fair game. All movement options, weapons, signatures, and how people use them? All fair game.

There is no such thing as a "respectable play style" in ranked play. Everyone should be playing to win and using whatever means necessary to win. So, if you encounter a player playing in a way you don't know how to deal with, remember that it's just that. Your problem. An opportunity for you to improve. Because losing is learning, you'll use those losses to determine what went wrong and how to improve against that play style.

Mindset Shift #3: Brawlhalla is a Puzzle Game Played Against Other People

A big part of how I improved at Brawlhalla was that I started looking at the game like a puzzle. Every weapon, legend, and signature comes uniquely with stats, frame data, hitboxes, and hurtboxes. Your job as a player is to figure out the puzzle of how best to use the kit you've selected to win against the kit your opponent has chosen consistently.

I like the puzzle analogy because that's a way you can trick your brain into on-the-fly adaptation. Adapting mid-game to what your opponent is doing is one of the most crucial skills you can learn and how you will raise your average consistently. As you learn more techniques, puzzle-like thinking will help you examine how each technique fits into your play style and could play well into how your opponent is playing.

I hope you take these mindset shifts to heart and use them to improve. Let me know what else you are struggling with, and I'll try to put something together to help.

Real quick, before I take off, have you listened to Brawlhalla Origins? It's a podcast I started about a month ago where I'm interviewing notable members of the Brawlhalla Community to talk to them about how they got started with the game and their journey within the community. These interviews have been a ton of fun, and I think they're pretty interesting for people who might want to learn more about some of the major players in our community. Check out the guest list so far:

• ​Slow Motion, Content Creator & Bearded Brawls TO​
• ​SandWic & Contrast, Creators of the nSig Community​
• ​Cosolix, Professional Player & Content Creator​
• ​Baron Dipitous, Brawlhalla's Resident Loremaster​

Next week, I'm going to be interviewing ToastBH. He works for Brawlhalla and is responsible for all of the production of Brawlhalla's live events, including tournament streams, developer streams, and more. I've also recently leaked future guests that include Stephanafro, noeL, and Sting Ray.

If you found this helpful, would you consider sharing it with a friend by sending them a link to brawlacademy.com?

Thanks!

---
Atrophius
Founder @ Brawl Academy