How to 'Git Gud' At Smash

     I really want to get better at Smash 4. It's my favorite game that I've probably ever played in my entire life. I am pretty upsessed with it, and talk about it at every chance I get. My goal is to actually beat people at tournaments and get far at a local tourney. Most people just say things like 'git gud scrub', and shit like that but it takes a lot of effort and practice to get good. Here's some tips that I follow in my effort to 'git gud'.
     First, attend tournaments. This is hard for most people because real life gets in the way of gaming. Its hard for me to go to the local near my house but every chance I'm off from work I try to go. There's no substitute for tournament playing at playing friendlies in a lag-less For Glory-free environment. Tournies are great because you get to meet new people and play people who are better than you. That's the best part, because you get to play friendlies with people who have practiced and trained much harder than you have. When you win a game against them, you feel like a million bucks.
     Second, practice against your friends. Your friends probably aren't as good as the people at tournaments but they're the reason you started playing Smash. You originally started playing for fun with your friends. At least that's how it was for me. I didn't even think about going to a tournament until Smash 4 came out and I've been playing Smash games since Smash 64. My friends give me a good challenge and I can lab characters and techniques against them. One of my friends is so good I'd say he's tournament level and could beat some peeps up at a local tourney. The others are about even with me and still give me a good challenge, especially with my off characters.
      Third, play For Glory. This is something a lot of people don't really like because For Glory is so laggy sometimes. But sometimes your friends aren't around to play online with you or in person. That's when you play For Glory. For Glory is always online (most of the time) and there are plenty of challenging opponents on there that you can spar with.
     That's really the main things I work on. Another thing I would say is to work on playing only a few characters. For me I really only work on playing Zero Suit Samus but I still sometimes play Fox, Mario, Sheik, and Cloud now that he's available. There's other things I do as well like labbing against AI level 9's. Also, I watch a lot of pro replays. It's hard for me to really understand what's going on in the mind of a pro player but when I hear the announcers describing every move that's when I start to get it. The most important thing is to constantly keep playing. Eventually I'll get good enough to beat my opponents at the local tournament. That's my main goal for the future. Good luck and good games!