lg onboarding guide

version history:
15-05-2026 - initial draft of discord dm for kovaaks player
03-06-2026 - added duel / CA section
14-07-2026 - movement clarification, mindset, progression concepts
30-08-2026 - added some insights + minor edits
18-09-2026 - added more edits based on field research + conversations + insights
19-09-2026 - gave a bit of thought about how top players i know/knew usually answer questions related to "how do I do X?" or "what should i do with my aim?" => new additions
23-09-2026 - mind archaeology basically, also re-editted some more info
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july 7th, 2026
before reading, this isn't meant to be read once. don't treat this "guide" as a checklist either. skim it, play, come back later. some parts won't make sense until you've experienced them yourself. good luck have fun

may 15th, 2026
don't overreact when you meet a strong opp, it's because:

+ most misses happen after panic corrections
+ shaking due to tension ig
+ focusing on smoother smaller corrections would be better long term
+ tension + emotional control helps with smooth execution

what actually matters a bit more than aim:

+ reading
+ movement
+ control
+ attention
+ consistency
+ positioning

your movement affects your aim more than most people realize. this is why:

+ aim and dodge are linked (duh)
+ unstable movement = unstable mouse movement
+ intentional movement makes ur aim easier overall
+ moving left/right maximizes lateral movement; diagonal movement makes it appear slower, which is useful to create angles, next section pls.

(re-editted 23th sep 2026)

angles (complicated af because it's intuition):

+ you don't need a perfect 90 degree angle, something around that range that both helps you aim better and disrupts the opp works perfectly fine most of the time
+ slight off-centering already helps 99% of the time
+ also changes apparent speed (i.e how fast the opp looks on your screen)

reading (yes, also complicated):

+ means to "capture" or "parse" movement, use the enemy/opp's movement as info
+ most people have specific habits / patterns without realizing it
+ might also mean they'll panic into predictable movement under pressure
+ prediction lowers the required speed to move your mouse
+ reacting to LITERALLY EVERYTHING is impossible, reading fills the gaps
+ attention matters a lot more than people think, helps you with your own movement and reading opp's movement
+ tired / high cortisol = worse reading
+ if you understand what the opponent WANTS to do (the word for this is "intent"), fights become easier
+ good reading + decent dodging can throw off high rank benchmark grinders with not much experience (<100 hours in lg), and make average mechanics look insane on clips

control & pacing:

+ not every fight should be max aggression
+ slowing tempo can increase accuracy
+ forcing awkward angles matters
+ "winning" a fight is not just higher LG%, it's sometimes forcing your opponent into getting lower LG% than usual
+ focus on the difference between LG%, the bigger the gap the better ig

styles: (added 19th september, refined 21th september 2026)

+ there isn't one correct way to play LG
+ some players are more aim heavy, others are more dodge heavy
+ aim-heavy players tend to rely more on mouse control, while dodge-heavy players use movement more actively to manipulate relative movement
+ most good players are somewhere in between
+ don't force yourself into a style; experiment and see what naturally works for you
+ your style is flexible and can change as your movement, aim, reading, and understanding improve; don't bind yourself into "i'm a dodge/aim heavy guy", its like those high/low sens discourse which i find meaningless
+ may also have unique/generic strengths and weaknesses so keep that in mind

prac:

+ play actual humans
+ review habits, not only accuracy
+ isolate weaknesses (yes, jade palace ground benchmarks on kovaaks might help you on this one 👀, except dodging, do that in game)
	bonus (23th sep 2026): scenarios that might help with lg: close fs dodge (iirc), revolving/devolving tracking (thin, v2, og, wtv), frog house tracking, aimbeast wise maybe most of the scenarios that are ground reactive related might help because everything feels a bit more random compared to vaaks where you can only do so much when it comes to randomness.
+ don't train exhausted constantly
+ improvement is delayed feedback
+ don't romanticize struggling alone. ask better players questions if they're willing to help
+ play any time that you can; every day would be ideal but it is hard to get games unless you have a partner/you know enough people that are willing to farm you for an hour or two straight, with breaks ofc

speaking of better players, when receiving advice from top players:
+ top players often compress things they've internalized into very short advice
+ advice can be correct while still being difficult to understand or apply
+ ask what problem they're actually seeing and why their suggestion helps; the ideal thing would to both get a vod from them + their analysis
+ don't blindly copy a playstyle; experiment and see what works for you
+ sometimes you need to experience the problem before the advice makes sense

mindset (14th july 2026):
+ define your goals clearly
+ winning =/= improving
+ improving -> winning
+ don't let ego decide what you practice
+ it's okay to lose if you understand why
+ if you play casually, accept casual results
+ quality first, results later
+ "refinement never stops"

progress check (early game):

- against players around your level or better, are your fights lasting longer than before?
=> if yes, you're probably improving your movement, reading, and composure. (this was written 14th july 2026)
the longer the fight and the closer the lg acc is, the more you are probably equal to the guy you are dueling. you get the chance to either stomp them or move on to the next opp if you are bored, honestly your call! (18th sep 2026)

progression "guide" (not really, more like concepts that tend to build on each other):
+ note: treat this as a map with destinations. go to the places that you want to go, then hop back to the older places if there is something you needed from that place.

stop panicking

+ smoother smaller corrections
+ stop shaking
+ stay calm against strong opps

movement awareness

+ stop random ad spam
+ understand that movement affects aim
+ intentional movement > random movement

mirror / anti-mirror

+ get comfortable aiming while moving
+ understand relative movement
+ make it 2nd nature
+ don't think in "left/right", think in relative directions
	- mirroring generally lowers the required mouse speed
	- anti-mirroring increases relative speed and can throw off the opp's aim
+ neither is always correct; switch depending on the fight
+ don't force either one, adapt
+ pay attention to what your opponent is trying to achieve
+ eventually you'll stop consciously thinking "mirror" or "anti-mirror" and it'll become intuition

slight angles

+ stop fighting completely head-on
+ tiny off-centering already helps
+ changes apparent speed (how fast opp looks on your screen)

reading

+ notice habits/patterns
+ prediction lowers required mouse speed, though if its purely prediction, then its a 50% chance that you are right. informed prediction can form from reading, which actually gives you a slight edge (updated sep 18th 2026)
+ understand what the opp wants to do

control / adaptation

+ slow down sometimes
+ force awkward fights
+ adapt instead of autopiloting

don't try learning everything at once or ur brain will explode 💔

and as a final note:

+ for most people, becoming "decent" usually takes around 100 hours of lg
+ to actually get good, you'll need a few hundred hours (300-500)
+ could be decreased if your background is kovaaks but probably only by ~20% at most
(creds to admins on SKITZO LG, now it's "public" x76) - 30th aug 2026 small update

wrote this when i got around 20-40 hours in lg (i dont really count my hours in lg tbh) and 110 hours on quake live. haven't put many hours in compared to other players put in compared to other players but with some observation, attention and experience from other titles, patterns start showing up pretty quickly

power got cut off so kept writing this on my phone

this is the best i could do atm lol

update (june 3rd, 2026)
or just play quake duels

even clan arena teaches you a lot more things that might transfer better for 10-15 mins per match
+ tracking (which lg already does but this put you in more chaotic situations with more weapons (hitscan and projectiles), which adds variety)
+ movement
+ positioning (as a whole or for rail shots)
+ reading movement (ground and float/flying for rocket/grenade juggles)
+ pressure management
+ adaptation

if you are good at lg and dont mind helping newbies (instead of yk, dogging on them since we are building a newbie friendly community...), then dm or just chat in the forum post thing on discord to maybe fix/add more to this thing i wrote (welp as of 21th sep 2026, no one gave a shit. oh well, at least i got a friend who does field research work for me)

30th aug 2026 another small update: yes this sometimes still exists, or i havent been around for long, or its js that everything is all sarcasm with no authenticity, we are all trying to put an act online at the end of the day...

big update:
things you should prioritize after playing the game:
+ don't turn improvement into a rat race. you're here to build a skill, not prove that you're better than somebody else
+ you don't have to hate the process just because you're not where you want to be yet
+ sometimes you're going to have a shit session. that's part of the process. don't turn one bad day into a verdict about your ability
+ don't confuse suffering with progress. struggling harder doesn't automatically mean you're learning faster.
+ take breaks when you need to. sometimes the best thing you can do for your aim is stop playing for a bit and come back with a functioning brain
+ don't let the internet convince you that you need to perform a certain identity to be “good.” experiment, steal ideas, discard what doesn't work, and eventually develop your own style
+ make a garden, not a rat race
+ update 6th sep 2026: stop circlejerking unless you are homosexual
+ you're allowed to actually enjoy the fucking game.

these are the things that i have realized after hopping off lg and competitive games for a bit. i have since then improve my life little by little. mental not too great and i still hate going on discord, but at least i see effort in my own life, even though my sleeping time is now 2am sleep/7:30am wake up...