Prediction and Planning

Most players would argue that of all the soft skills which one requires in playing something, prediction and decision making are possibly the most important of them all. Prediction is the ability to foretell or predict what move your opponent is going to make and react accordingly to the situation. Being able to predict successfully often immediately puts a player into an advantageous situation and gives him crucial momentum. Planning is something all of us know about but we forget that it is extremely relevant in playing. Every good battler must plan and map out his battle like a chess game. Every plan should be followed up by a backup plan to ensure that your opponent can't really just foil your entire attempt to beat by packing a certain skill or adopting a specific battle style. Together, the twin concepts of prediction and planning make up general decision making which every battler should be versed in. While prediction is of universal use in almost any metagame, the art of prediction is especially relevant in longer time control where there is an abundance of candidate moves and strategic switches are made to gain the upper hand. All it takes is one smart switch at the right time to completely change the dynamic of a game.