A huge proportion of my free time is spent in this way when a competitive event is running. It takes an immense amount of time and energy. I continue to do this until just before a given match. I try to analyze what different kinds of snipers would be looking for against my own spy games, and what they might think of how my spy game would look to them. I find my blind spots as sniper and how they might be exploited by that next opponent. I look for the same information I dissect my own play for weaknesses. Then I spend as much time as possible going over my own recent replays. I jumble their spy replays and snipe against them. I see how their laser moves on different venues so I can get the jump on timing bugs and such.

I see what they pay attention to as sniper. I look for trends I look for anti-tells that are never taken I look for anything that might give me an edge in the match to come. I spend an immense amount of time trying to review every replay of my opponent that I can get my hands on. I’m not sure anyone comprehends what that means to me- the amount of time and mental energy consumed for my preparation process for competitive matches in general and even more so for SCL. I show my respect for my elite opponents, and for the game itself, by giving it the hard work they deserve. In SCL, I constantly have to play matches against the absolute best players in the game.

Playing SpyParty competitively is hard work for me. The meaning, as I take it, is that even (especially!) the best and most rewarding things in life, including true love itself, demand our hard work -our attention, our focus, and our effort, to the best of our ability to give it. Whoever that was, they were talking about someone they loved dearly: “You are hard work.” It describes a concept that I’ve lived by since I read the quote, though I’ve now forgotten who wrote or said it. The first piece of context has to do with a quote about love. How have I survived Diamond? What is it like for me to play in that terribly strong division for years on end? To understand my answer to those questions, you need two pieces of context.

Spyparty scl replay