[ToRPandarine]

Ever had that feeling where you know your opponent is so much better than you and you literally fall apart? And soon after, your still in pieces, unable put yourself together again?

eg. I was up against MaFia in the #31 CO. You can imagine my reaction when I saw his name with mine in the brackets. At first I was all FML. Once I got in-game I was actually thinking of winning. That is, until I slipped up. And slowly, my mind rattled me to bits. By the end of the game, I was utterly demoralised and devastated.

Fast forward and I try to play some ladder games. I was sluggish and unable to execute my usual builds. Easy wins became hard losses. Sure, I didn't drop too far down but the fear of being placed back in Bronze scares me.

I'm not asking how to deal with nerves here. I'm wondering have you ever had this kind of mindset after losing to a player of greater play?

[Nemo]

Personaly no. i play the same when faced against a better opponent. Playing a lot against better opponents and loosing a lot is not good because you losse confidence in the long run

[Dox]

To be honest, when I go up against someone who is much better than me and I do better than expected, I gain confidence when going back to ladder. You already know they're better than you, don't let it get you down. Just practice harder. There's always someone out there who is better than someone else, it's a fact of life!

[Maynarde]

No. I LOVE playing players way out of my league, especially if they're happy to talk to you about the match up afterwards. You learn a lot about how good players think, and even putting up a fight makes me feel better than roflstomping someone around my level or slightly below.

You also have a replay that is worth it's weight in gold. Save it if you haven't already. Watch from the other player cam and bring up the production tab. Notice when they scout, what they see, how they react to it. You shouldn't be down man, you should be happy you got the chance to go toe to toe with one of SEA's greatest.

My buddy Visions was up against ST_KingKong in round 2, how do you think that went? Basically, KingKong made a plat guy feel like he was in bronze league. But he saw the positives, he got to experience the speed and efficiency of a pro player first hand, and he got a replay to analyse.

Point is; what happened to you was a good thing dude, use it as an opportunity to leap frog into a better place play wise and mentally.

[SkyBreaker]

Of course losing to a superior player can be demeaning especially when it happens time and time again however it still is one of the most valuable ways to learn & improve in SCII - once you understand that, you'll be able to get smashed by a superior player and think "Wow, OK, my goal/strategy for that match really didn't work - but I now know that there's a big gaping hole in my early/mid/late game" (for example).

You mention that you're not asking to deal with nerves; but you're essentially saying you're fearful of stronger players & being demoted into bronze... don't see your opponent as some AI capable of 350APM and no mistakes, just take a step back, realise they're just another player in another part of the world... just like you!

All the best ^^;