When I started 6v6 with my pub clan PUGs I was nervous to the point of having shaky hands, and that was with people I knew. Just playing a lot will take care of nerves.

For me, it was mostly during the pregame and early phases of matches. Once I got further into a match I would forget about being nervous.

GL this season. :3

Captain Fapping's ESEA Adventure: Classical MixTape

"Yo capnfapn, uh you ever played in esea before?", said OtakuScott, the waifu bodypillow lover.
"No I haven't. Why do you ask?", said the young Cap'n Fapping.
"Well, one of my teammates has had some personal issues pop up in her life, and the only way to make it all work is to switch our lineup around. We need a scout in about an hour for our next esea match." The weaboo replied.
"No problem! I'll go grab my daddy's credit card and get myself paid up." Said Cap'n Fapping right before he muted himself in mumble so he could scream in glorious e-sports excitement.

"What the fucking fuck is going on in this shitty server? We pay for this?" Said Cap'n Fapping, as he tried to make his way to point B on cp_gravelpit as engineer, while bouncing up and down through the floor of the map.
Cali, the team's demoman told him it was nothing to worry about and its only going to happen in every ESEA match you play, ever. Reassured of the knowledge that his fourteen dollars and thirty-seven cents was wisely spent, Cap'n Fapping constructed a sentry gun.

Classical MixTape lost the match because their medic's uber button was unbound.

GG

----

That was my first ESEA experience. I was a little nervous at first but then I realized that losing wasn't even a big deal and that I wasn't in it to win it.

First season is always a nervous one, worrying about stats and how well you're team is going to do. It's really really common actually to be nervous. Just keep playing and the nervousness will go away.

Don't be nervous. So long as you're playing with people you enjoy playing with, it should be all good. Don't stress out over losses, though you probably will have to deal with stress when scheduling/person w/ internet problems/etc. Just understand everybody has dealt with it, and know some things are out of your control. Play your best, and remember that this should be for your enjoyment (and your teammates, don't troll them) more than anything else.

This is going to sound cheesy, but consider going through some "pre-game rituals". It can be listening to a certain song, getting a drink, cracking your knuckles, playing a round of MGE, or putting on a lucky hat (in game or real life even). Any combination of things that you think you can start getting yourself in the habit of doing pre-match.

It should calm you down and help put you into game-mode if you keep doing it so your brain will associate it with "time to play a serious match". I know athletes do these kinds of thing all the time, so why not e-sports. Good luck!

Once you get that first win out of your system, the nerves will go away. Make sure you're warmed up. No cold hands. Make sure you're not hungry and you have a drink sitting next to you.

Keep in mind that it's a learning process for yourself and your team. Slowly but surely things start to come together and it's very satisfying.

Also I am bad at this game so don't listen to me.

I used to get butterflies in my stomach and shaky hands from my first games which during the ETF2L community highlander challenge till my 3rd season or so of UGC.

So it took me 4 seasons of games with the same people through out for me to get comfy.

When I first started playing all always got ridiculously nervous. Sweaty hands and twitchy fingers (popped an uber completely on accident once. Rebound my uber key after that). I wasn't really used to meeting new people, even over the internet. I started playing some quiet music underneath the comms and that did a lot to help me. After that it was just a matter of becoming more confident in my ability to play the game.

If you've got a team then you're set. Just enjoy the game.

I get got nervous before every match I ever played, regardless of level or seriousness, but as soon as the first mid is over the nerves always peaced.

Good Luck!!!!

I was playing soldier at the time, and I was wasn't really told anything at all. It was on cp_well and it was 8v8. I think I got like 10 frags or something in 30 minutes, and that was about it.

I had no idea what I was doing but managed to have a ton of fun since I was fairly apathetic about the whole deal.

Fast forward a little bit and my first "proper" 6v6 game, I was told "follow the other soldier" and went from there. I felt that I needed to hit at least one airshot, and I didn't so was a bit sad :(

There's plenty of information out there on basics & how to get better. Not only that, people are a lot more open with stvs/demos, and there are also a ton of people that have done some good analyses of demos/maps etc (crack clan to name an example). So all you gotta do is stay positive and set some short term realistic goals, and even have a long term goal.

I was crazy nervous playing my first lobby, thinking that that was the most comptetive thing there was except league and that was for prem only, sense then I have played some lobbies, hundreds and hundreds of mixes, have been on plenty teams that all disbanded preseason, so when a team finally was around long enough to play an officials I was not nervous at all :)

While you're in the server waiting for your first match to start, type ".cupholder" in game chat. Trust me, you'll be too amazed and in awe to be nervous about the match.

just squeeze out some knuckle children before your first match

Relax and enjoy, as much as people take it seriously everyone is just there to enjoy themselves. Also, don't get upset if you don't do well, we all had our first match once.

I get nervous every match still. Not as bad as I used to when I was new, but it's still there. I kind of feel like it's okay to be nervous when you're playing a game that actually matters, regardless of how much you have played.

I got really nervous before my first official. When a game is close and get´s intense i still get nervous, but normally after like 2 minutes of playing the game you aren´t nervous anymore. That´s for me atleast.

Ive been playing the game for almost 6 years, been to 6 esea grand finals, 10 lans, and I still get nervous. At first its hard to deal with but ive learnedto let it fuel me instead of consume me. Use that nervous energy to let your comms flow and focus instead of zoning out. Youll be able to turn it into a positive feeling soon enough. Get excited...youre finally playing the most fun competitve game!

Find a group of buds you enjoy playing with and never feel nervous ever again.

Mainly what plat said minus all the accomplishments (in my case).

- turning nervousness into positive energy/enthusiasm is a really great life skill in general too.

just remember its a vidya game

Good advice as long as you don't translate it into screaming at the top of your lungs and clogging the entire mumble/revealing your position to the opposite team who is sitting directly across you from lan

shave your entire body.

i did this and went from the worst medic in open to the 3rd worst medic in open immediately. It works.

relax and have fun, ill be honest, things are not perfect right away

learn from the bad times and then improve on it

you'll be like water, surfing all the rockets with ease. dodging hitscan and jumping over pipe spam. alive to always defend last with uber.

listen to some music

http://i.imgur.com/KSCtotO.gif

After a recent scrim, a confused opponent added me on steam. Smiling, I accepted the request and started a conversation with him. After the requisite greetings had been shared, he asked me directly, "owl, how in the world do you dodge so well? Your team was consistently swallowed up by our spam, but you seemed to float away from every bomb like a German Mary Poppins flaring her umbrella. Scouts heard your voice commands around corners but when they chased, eager for sweet medic meatshots, they found naught but sticky traps from your demo. Quite frankly, you seemed as impossible to kill when vulnerable as you are for the duration of your ubercharge. I know it may be forward of me to ask this, but in the interest of competitive balance, I feel it's necessary for me to do so. How do you avoid damage so well?"

I laughed out loud, for I had been expecting this question for some time. I winked at my computer screen, then realizing that my counterpart could not see that, I sent a winky face in steam chat. After a brief pause, I typed but one word. "Gillette"

After that I removed him as a steam friend and we never spoke again.

play for fun and you have nothing to be afraid of.

I feel that my first ESEA match had more of a 'first match' feel to it, than my first UGC match. I was extremely nervous because it was my first team and we were still in contention to clinch a spot in the playoffs (I joined during week 10) of last season. But all the talk of how big Johns Fat Cock is, really helped me to calm down and concentrate on the game.

Tip: It's just like any other scrim, play the game how you'd play the game normally, and when in doubt, Johns Fat Cock.