Hiya!

A good while back, I did what I thought was going to be impossible to me: I made it to Master Rank in Street Fighter 6. I had all but given up on reaching this lofty goal but, pretty much by pure accident as well as Capcom adding win streaks to Platinum and Diamond ranks, I managed to break that glass ceiling and see that glorious Master Rank emblem pop up on my Blanka.

That was all the way back in May and I think I should be more proud of myself. From what I remember, simply reaching the Master Rank makes me part of something like the Top 10% of all Street Fighter 6 players worldwide. I have never been close to being in the Top 10% of anything let alone something which requires some skill in playing. This is something I should show a little more pride in as this should be a big accomplishment for someone like me.

So why do I feel like a fraud?

No, really. Even though I initially felt a lot of joy and elation when I climbed all the way to Master Rank with my Blanka, all I feel now is like I don’t really deserve it. There’s something in the back of my brain that tells me I didn’t really earn it the right way or I just got lucky with the set of matches which led me to getting that rank. Basically, what I’m describing is “impostor syndrome” and that’s exactly it. I do feel like an “imposter” as I’m not really a Master Rank player; I’m just cosplaying as one.

Okay, for those who don’t know what “impostor syndrome” is, it’s basically when a person or individual doubt their own high level of skill despite actually demonstrating how good they are at something. Now, this isn’t something abnormal, as far as I know. It happens to a lot of people who experiences something momentous due to their own actions. It just so happens it’s happening to me right now and I recognize it, I know what it is but I can’t help myself but think I’m not really that good at the game!

I guess it kind of all started for me when, after I did get Master Rank, I decided to take a break from the Ranked Matches and just try a bunch of inconsequential fights in the Battle Hub. I regularly visit the Battle Hub as this is where I usually play my online matches. I do like the feeling of facing off someone online without the pressure of gaining and losing points or getting your win streak destroyed. If you win, you win. If you lose, you lose.

Despite the fact I’ve been going to the Battle Hub pretty much daily, I’ve never really noticed how most of the players there are, at least Master Rank! Maybe it’s because I don’t check what rank the players sitting on the cabinets are before I play them before. However, now that I’ve hit Master Rank myself, I started to check and I would even dig up their fight history to see how good they are. I always felt the Battle Hub was the place where all Street Fighter 6 player levels would congregate but this did make it appear only the Master Ranked players hang out here.

It also kind of hurts how there are a lot of people who say getting to Master Rank isn’t really a big deal. In fact, Capcom made it so easy to climb up to Master Rank! When you win a Ranked Match, you get at least 50 League Points. If you face off against someone of a higher rank than you and you beat them, you get more than just 50 League Points. What if you lose? Well, you only lose 40 League Points. So, as long as you win around half of your Ranked Matches, you will eventually climb up to Master Rank.

The math can look deceptive as, if you win 50% of your matches, you might think you’re just an average player as 50% is considered “average.” That’s not really the case as, as you climb up the rankings, especially in the Diamond ranks, opponents become much more difficult because of their higher skills. You have to remember it’s your rank that determines who you face in a Ranked Match and you’ll be going against people Capcom put in the same skill level as yourself.

There’s also the part of my brain which keeps on second guessing how I made it to Master Rank. As I mentioned when I chronicled my journey, I even said over there I didn’t think I should have gotten that achievement. While I can see I’ve improved a lot since I wrote that piece, as I can do a counter Drive Impact on reaction as long as I connected with a cancellable normal attack, there are still the niggling thought I only would win matches because of things like me playing on a WiFi connection and I would accidentally do an “American Reset” when I flub my combos, which I still do a lot! Additionally, despite hitting Master Rank with the character, I cannot, for the life of me, do Lighting Beast combos well. Heck, I can’t complete Blanka’s Advanced 2 Combo Trial even today! I’ve done every one of the Combo Trials in Street Fighter 6… expect for that one! I know the Combo Trials are not a marker of how good you are in Street Fighter 6… but I can’t help but think it’s one!

While I do know this and I recognize I have “impostor syndrome,” I still don’t really have a way to overcome it and it has kind of affected me negatively. I don’t really want to play as Blanka as much because Capcom may say I’m a Master Ranked Blanka player but my brain tells me I’m not. So, I can’t help but feel I’m a fraud when I challenge other people with the character with that Master Rank badge embossed on him. As a result, I have played some Ranked matches but only with the goal of getting my other characters who are stuck on Platinum to Diamond. Doing this also tricked my mind into believing my “impostor syndrome” isn’t fake as I do struggle with a lot of Platinum level players! So, that hasn’t helped!

Honestly, I can’t really say if I’ll ever get out of this funk. I do have feel some pride of getting to Master Rank but, at the same time, there is a big serving of guilt as I feel I don’t deserve it. I guess only time will tell if I’ll ever get over it.

Byee!

What was your feeling when you made it to Master Rank in any game? Were you also struck with “impostor syndrome” afterwards? Let me know in the comments section below!