Why do we play strong players?
My history with competitive gaming previous to Gods Unchained(GU) was almost entirely from my experiences playing Go, a vaguely chess-like zero-sum game that takes most decades to gain anything past a base level of competence in.
Despite the potentially daunting nature of this endeavor, and how I came to the game rather late in life, I never felt like progress, and even high-level play, was outside my reach.
Largely contributing to this confidence was the ease and frequency in obtaining teaching, casual, and even competitive games against players ranked much much higher then I was. I never felt alone in my progress; there were multiple active clubs in my area and plenty of workshops and tournaments. We even had a retired professional player around who would take on students, a very rare thing in America.
Nearly every session of our club I got to play against much stronger and more experienced players, often players who were known names in the local tournament scene. Getting these games didn't take anything special. Just showing up to club and asking for a game was more then enough. Those too shy to ask on their own were often approached by the stronger players themselves. It was an atmosphere very much geared towards the sharing of knowledge and of raising everyone up as much as possible.
These games served a a host of purpose. You learned all sorts of game stuff, of course. Playing stronger players, whether in game or sport, is one of the best way to improve quickly.
But also you gained exposure to playing against a stronger foe, something that is always needed in tournament games if we don't want to let nerves lose us a game. And you also, if you were really paying attention, learned a skill that is not often spoken of in GU, but is critically important- how to play against a weaker player in a manner that will allow them to -learn-, which is very different then simply playing your best.
We play stronger players to get a glimpse of where we are going to be, to excite us, to inspire us, to bolster us, to know we can. To touch the future and brace open a path that leads us there.
GU is different tho?
GU doesn't quite have the feeling I got from my Go clubs, yet. While there are lots of great discords with helpful people, regularly getting actual games against stronger players is a bit tricky.
When I went to the Go club, every regular who came out accepted that part of their duties as a club attendee were to help out newer or weaker players. They arrived with the assumption that in a 4 hour night, perhaps only 2 of those hours would be for playing against people of equal skill; the rest given to helping as they could.
And it was no trouble to them as often they saw quite fast and reciprocal results; players who had joined only months ago needing fewer and fewer handicap stones each meeting, or a new rival emerging to provide fresh challenge.
This is harder to simulate in an online game with so huge(even in our current tiny state!) a swath of players, and with so many players only testing the waters before leaving for good. It's much harder to devote random time out of one's day, (vs already set-aside club time) to play teaching games or do 1v1's for players who feel faceless and ephemeral.
How do you get this experience in GU then?
As a newer or intermediate GU player, you may have found yourself wanting the opportunity to play stronger players and learn from them, or to test yourself and see if maybe you were more ready for a higher rank then what the silly shield bar says.
And maybe you joined some Discords and made some friends and got a few games in that way. Most likely you didn't. And even more likely, if you did, it began to feel burdensome to ask for 1v1 games over and over and you stopped asking after a while.
Yet your need for these games didn't go away. Especially so if you haven't made friends in the community yet and haven't gotten any 1v1 games in.
But did you know there is super awesome way to get these games, on a regular basis, and without having to feel like you are taking time out of someone's day? In fact, you'd be making their day better by getting a 1v1 game from them?
You probably didn't know this but you can get 1v1 games from some of the top players easy peasy!
All you have to do is redeem Channel Points in their Twitch streams!
Wait, wut? It's that easy? (Streamer Breakdown)
It is sooooooo that easy! Check this out-
These are just some of the regularly streaming top players who offer 1v1 games in exchange for Channel Points. Channel Points that you can earn just by lurking in streams! You don't even have to be active to accrue channel points, though being active will help accrue them faster. Just keep a tab or two open to these streamers and before long you'll have an instant in for 1v1 games!
Let's run through them- (before you redeem any points, read my etiquette and caveats section below!)
@theesambam
8M team member, GU OG, Diamond Circe Owner, and most frequent streamer.
Only 5k Channels Points, points you can earn in like, a couple weeks or less of lurking?!? Wow!
Since SamBam streams like, a million hours a day Mon-Fri, it will take you no time at all to earn enough points to challenge him to a 1v1 Me Bro! Hell, you be able to play with him on the reg if you want.
I've even heard directly from Sambam that he likes how doing 1v1's breaks up the routine so you'll be helping him out while you help yourself. Double win! Need to ease into an actual game? You can also redeem channel points to see him play a deck you built, very cool!
kargas
Rockdrake master, Chicken owner, possibly the most enthusiastic GU player.
For just 10k Channel Points you can either play vs Kargas or get some direct coaching and deckbuilding help! Like most streamers, Kargas keeps VODs of his stream up on his channel page so you'll be able to review your games or coaching afterwards even if you aren't able to save it yourself. He's super friendly and always down to work with new players!
yateszey Y8Z
Living The Green Dream life, Y8Z is a diehard Nature player and very frequent streamer.
While he doesn't have a direct redemption for 1v1's he often offers to do them during streams and I've never seen him turn down a request for one. So what are his Channel Points good for? Getting more cards to build out your collection! I got to redeem the 25k reward just last week and used my 5GODS to help acquire Band of the Wolf cards. Thanks Yateszey!
Aldous
Longtime Mythic player, lots of tournament experience, and streams all the time
Even 25k points won't take long to earn with as often as Aldous streams, and his years of experience are well worth the wait! Very laid back and chill vibe, there's no doubt you'll have a good time playing Aldous!
ryhangu
One of the biggest streamers for the non-english speaking playerbase and highly skilled from years of gaming
At just 2k Channel Points for a 1v1 and 4k for him to play your deck, Ryhan is one of the easiest streamers to earn a redeemable amount of points with. Excellent choice for players who live outside of the usual US timezones of play.
@clutchgu
2022 Player of the Year, 2023 S2 Council of Mortals, Ctrl War prodigy, cookie devourer
At 65k Channel Points, Clutch is one of the harder streamers to hit the redemption benchmark with, at first glance. However, his multiple-times-a-week 3-6hr streams, will let you rack those points up plenty soon. While you wait, take advantage of the amazing resource that his VODs provide in the way of hours upon hours of Ctrl War play being demonstrated. People in other games would pay money to get this amount of knowledge and it's just there for the taking, courtesy of Clutch.
Ok- the remaining streamers I don't know as personally as the ones above and also this article is getting a bit hefty so I'm just going to drop the links and pics. I highly encourage everyone to check these peeps out just as much as the peeps above; sometimes it takes clicking with the presentation someone gives to be able to learn best from them so give everyone a shot!
@cryptoniusrex
Atlanteans FTW! Check out their Hive articles too!
Etiquette and Caveats
On Etiquette-
One should always go into a redeemed 1v1 with no expectations other then getting to play a game vs the streamer.
There should be no assumptions of post-game coaching or review unless the streamer offered those before the game began. And not every streamer plays, or even knows how to play, teaching games. Your game might be as fierce a battle as any you'd encounter in ranked play or it may be flexible and offer opportunities for you to seize an advantage or punish a "mis-play" if you notice in time.
This is where it is helpful to have not only lurked, but to have actually watched and engaged with the streamer and their chat at least some before you redeem your 1v1. You'll have a better idea going in about how that streamer handles 1v1s.
As a very loose guideline, the smaller the chat and the less busy the streamer is, the more likely it will be that they will do things like go over the game afterwards or answer questions.
If a streamer in the middle of their WR with 100 people in chat accepted a 1v1 redemption, it would be most polite to simply thank them for the game afterwards and not ask any questions about it unless they engage in conversation first. And then to limit yourself to a couple things you are most curious about, rather then every move of the game.
On the other hand, a streamer on a random weekday who's already completed their dailies and only has 10 people in chat would be someone you could safely ask questions about your 1v1 afterwards and where you may get a longer run-down, while keeping in mind that they still might not be up for doing any sort of review and accepting that if it was the case.
Caveats-
The info about these streamers was accurate at the time of this posting and I will try and keep the post updated but things may change at any time. If a streamer you wanted to 1v1 with no longer is doing them, do not press and simply look to a different person.
It is also important to note that even the very best and most experienced players are not always good teachers and moreover being a popular streamer and long time GU player doesn't actually mean someone is truly good at playing or at things like greater game theory. Take any advice or instruction you receive from a streamer as one part of a whole and check in with multiple sources to see if it is sound advice before applying it to your play.
There's a lot out there to learn and we don't even know all of it yet. It'll be exciting to find out what we discover together!
All the best
-rckmtl-
((more little known ways to improve at GU coming in parts 2-5!))
((thanks @ saints of 8M for help in getting the cover photo!))