Clutch versus Choke: Breaking the Illusion by Jordan "Doomhammer" Kahn and Jerry "LordJerith" Prochazka

In a perfect world, when one team has the advantage, such as being up four players to three, if both teams make every perfect move, the team with the advantage wins. Therefore, the question of whether or not someone chokes, or someone clutches, seems to have a simple answer: if you have the advantage, and you do not capitalize on it, you have choked. Of course, we don't live in a perfect world, and it is more likely that one player will make all the perfect moves than three players making all the perfect moves. The more players you have, the greater the chance for error. Fortunately, having the advantage means that even less than perfect decisions can still result in a victory.

Before we examine gameplay, we need to understand one very important difference. The difference we need to understand is between being a player and being a spectator. Spectators watch sports to be entertained. Having heroes is very entertaining. The way we create heroes is by saying that they clutched or that they did the impossible. Being a player is very different. As a player, you are not here to be entertained. You are playing to entertain others. You have to see through the illusion of heroes and ignore all the hype. As a player, you have to stop thinking as a spectator. Stop thinking about heroes. Stop thinking about being a hero. Stop imagining yourself doing the impossible. The sooner that the illusion is lifted, the sooner that you will be able to analyze what actually happens.

Read more after the jump!

Let's examine a typical claim that players make about clutching:

Quote: "I clutched a 1 v 4!"

This one is easy. No, you did not. The other team choked. You did not clutch. You are not good. The other team is terrible. You are not amazing. The other team is awful. They choked. You did not clutch. It is important to understand that the way that the other team blew it was to be so far out of position that they were unable to work as a team, and they made so many mistakes that you were handed the opportunity to win. You did not clutch, the other team choked. To be fair, we understand that it feels good to win. We understand that in the excitement you feel like a hero. Remember, you are not a spectator, you are not a hero. You are a player. You are a soldier. And a good soldier knows that the other team played like warriors (they choked) and handed you the victory.

Many novice players like to talk about how good someone is because they clutched a 1v4. These same novice players will then want to team with that "clutch" player because they believe that this player is good. The truth of the matter is as we said above. It was not a clutch situation, it was a choke situation. Do not team with players because they "clutched" a 1v4. Instead, try and scrim against a better f**king team!

Now let's look at this from the other perspective: "OMG! He clutched a 1v4 against us."

All we can say is no, no, no. Every time we hear something like this, we cringe. Your perspective when you say something like this is that of a spectator. The truth is that you actually choked. You're avoiding your own team's failures by making the other team's player a hero. What you should say, "We had a 4v1 and we blew it. We choked." This is very important.

It is important for your team to realize and learn from your mistakes. If you say that the other player "clutched," then you are saying that he is the hero. In reality, your team made many, many errors. You must identify these errors and learn from them. Never say that someone clutched a 1v4 against you. They did not clutch, you choked. Always understand that you choked, and you must learn from it.

This example can be used for 3v1s, 2v1s and basically any situation where a team has the advantage. As a player, you must understand that when a team has the advantage and loses, the team choked. Leave it to the spectators to create the heroes who "clutched." If you want to improve your game, you must analyze why players choked.

Another novice mistake happens when watching footage of a player winning a 1v4. Many novice players look at the video trying to figure out what the player did to "clutch." This is completely pointless. What you should be doing is watching the video to figure out the how the other team choked so badly. By learning how a team chokes, how the team breaks down and fails to capitalize on its advantage, you can ensure your team does not make the same mistakes.

Hopefully, you have realized that "clutching" is an illusion. You can't win a game, the other team loses it. Armies are not led to victory, but other armies are led to defeat. Heroes are myth. They are created to inspire us and to entertain us. You are a player. You must see through the illusion. You must learn from mistakes and always try to do your best. If you do this, other teams will lose to you. Remember, there are no clutches, just chokes.

Written by Jordan "Doomhammer" Kahn and Co-Authored by Jerry "LordJerith" Prochazka.

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Wow, so by that rationale, the Yankees aren't 'clutch', it's just the Phillies that choked!  I can buy into that.  :)

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