The Mental Game of Counter-Strike: Stoicism and CS2 

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this is sick and a super unique angle - im sure youve already read inner game of tennis but for anyone else, that book was HUGE for improving my play and is another great read for the mental

Stoicism has been a major influence in my aspirations for who I want to become for the past couple years. You chose well with Marcus Aurelius being your first book on the matter.

There's a line from Star Trek: The Next Generation where Picard tells Data that “It is possible to commit no mistakes and still lose. That is not a weakness; that is life." I think that also applies here.

dude i’ve been reading meditations and never thought it would be THIS applicable, very nice job

"Be tolerant of others and strict with yourself." Wow Wilson really is a stoic when it comes to CS2. Way to go great videos!

I needed this. I am currently in a slump and literally everyone shits on me. Even obviously worse players than me and it's infuriating. I will try to be more stoic in game.

The fact that you actually read meditations makes me love you so Much more!!!

If you’re too scared to lose you cannot be a winner.

Wilson is so chill. Probably why I can enjoy his streams even when I'm working on homework

5:26 my best work, i have peaked, there is nothing in my life that will be better than putting two sprays together.

That ak in dm looks sooo clean.

It was saturday 16:14. I lost 2 games and whole games was raging on team (and map either.) I felt relly angry, and when i disconnected from second game a notification came about this video from your discord server..... You even dont know how this video was helpful..... (and timed also, i still thing god sent this video to me)

I’m sure Marcus Aurelius would be proud his journal can translate into video games, even though he had no idea what tf a video game is

That has been my go to book for a very long time. I think anyone who reads meditations becomes a different person by the end of it.

Very good video and messaging. It's actually exactly what I needed from my games yesterday. Thank you.

in love with every words you said in this video, i play CS with friends and sometimes they just messing around with throw game and having fun, but in the end realize that i should not forget to having fun too and also it is competitive on map mirage it can go up and down doesn't affected to other map or premier or faceit anyway , Thanks for making this video Wilson and remind me of CS2 should be

I’m watching this right after a game my team ultimately won and made me question my frustrated reactions to the “obstacles” within my game and how it influenced the rest of it. Made me understand that spending more energy on these will just take from everything else. Great Video!

Great vid! Def a lot to take on and most def will try to apply it to my games

Nice to see a fellow based classic enjoyer. I love how you explain strong mental since Ive been focusing on that for a while. Great video

This video gave me so much happiness and even more dedication to the game, im definently implamenting this in my games. Thank you

I’m glad you decided to spread the word of stoicism. Ryan Holiday has amazing books covering different subjects based on stoicism if you get interested in reading more!

was reading meditations as well, along with letters from a stoic. this is a neat video of applying stuff from those books, awesome vid wilson ;)

I love the video best one yet for sure this is the talk I've been needing for cs and in general! Keep it up Wilson I can see the hard work coming through!!

this has to blow up this is legit the perfect video

I love Marcus Aurelius. Someone gave me that book at a pivotal point in my life and it really helped me. Btw your editing has gotten so good. I like the shot of the pyramid on ancient, and the skit with the toxic player.

Excellent video. Over the last few years, I've learned to calm down and not attach so much importance to rank. I still play ranked and will always look to improve, but when you take a step back and realise that it's not that serious, you begin to have a better experience.

This is EXACTLY what I needed right now, thanks a lot Wilson.

I was waiting on a video like this for years, thank you so much mate

I like your video style so much, in depth with meaning!

Actually one of the best cs videos I’ve ever seen. Well done.

I was thinking for a long time on reading some of his books and thanks to this video I finally ordered it, thanks for the recommendation, quality video as always keep it up

Damn good video! CS just got deep haha! I started playing not that long ago and after 6 months I've learned how to handle the toxicity for me, which is exactly the same methods that you are mentioning. Glad not to be alone!

This game helped a lot with daily struggles and this video summarize that connecting with Stoicism

That's some original content over here! Love it!

this is solid stoicism outreach brother

Nice video really. I think mentality is more important than we thought in this game (as in other things in life) there is also 1 thing that this game taught me. Don't worry or stress about things that I can't change it. If there is someone on the enemy team who plays very sussy and if I get mad, getting tilted and writing "nice cheats" or arguing with them is not helpful at all, quite the opposite. Accept whatever situation you are in and just improve no matter what area of life is

Wilson, my son, you have truly earned my respect here. Stoicism, while very broad and deep, doesn't require very deep understanding to be helpful for the average person. And, even better, CS is a very good and a very tangible example for the dichotomy of control, and for the ways to deal with it. There are clear in-game actions that can be taken; be it muting a teammate or opponent, choosing to communicate or not, choosing to play in specific ways -- do you buy that A1S for your teammate? The choices you can make are in some cases very well defined. There are other things Stoicism has on offer that are also very applicable to CS, among other things in life. E.g. Chapter 3 of Enchiridion by Epictetus, although this always sparks debate, is a great way to look at your elo/rating or stats in general. Also, video gud 👍

Gooood Wilson! Goooood!!!! You deserve many many more subscribers!

Great video. My contribution: we can't always win, sometimes we're having a bad day. Rather than beat yourself up for ti, be happy for your opponent who had an easy win or landed pro-level plays. Shift from self-beating to happiness for someone else. And remember, when you win a 12-0 it is difficult for your opponent, you can't always be the winner, sometimes things take us down a path of being humillated, but really, it's just a game, a new one will come next and eventually it will pass and won't really matter whether you win or loss. Fun and joy is what we need to have, regardless if you win or not. Thanks.

thanks to this, i think im gonna start playing again, i dont really have any friends to play with anymore, but the whole point of cs for me was always meeting new folks and getting better at headshots and recoil patterns, cs is like a club, but online. crazy.

thank you for translating this stoic advice from Marcus to something us gamer-brained goobers can understand, this is a beautifully made well of wisdom that you've shared, i think i can apply a lot of these tips to many other experiences in life besides counter strike. bravo, wise wizard wilson

I needed this video!

Banger vid, Wilson.👌👌

Love ur videos !

have a pretty strong mental, and that has gotten me decently far in cs. this video was good.

We getting deep with this one

Awesome video man. Thanks. Dropping 1300 elo since CSGO made me pretty, emotional. I found some peace and got 300 of it back. This video will get me the other 1000 back. Or not. Who cares. It's just a number.

honestly needed cause i think ive been inconsistant cause of my emotions getting worse thoughout the day

Great video Wilson

wise words sploingus 🙏

Amazing video, honestly

peak cs2 content

A worthwhile message and wise words. We would all do well to heed the enlightened advice of Sploingus Aurelius.

Never have high expectations, never get disappointed. But CS2 fights really hard for the right to disappoint even with super low expectations lol

cool... just cool.

this really takes me back to when I read Sun Tzu and recommended my entire team to pick up the book because it would make my insane strats make sense.

Good stuff.

damn i fucking needed this

WilsonCS2 is my new favourite mental health channel

this vid saved my mental

AMAZOING VIDEO 💯💯💯💯

Yes

Good vid chill with the ad plug tho

major W Wilson great video

Zeno, Epicurus and Aurelius. What wonderful people to have lived. And very depressing to see how little part self reflection plays in people's lifes nowadays.

The people will say "jmonkey" and you mustn't francis rage.

Good video 👍

valve being stoic is the best.

Lmfao, this is great 😂

I guess youre kinda right about the elo thing lol but i feel that it only applies to if youre above 20k elo in premier or above 2k elo on faceit but if im risking losing level 9 in games im doing really good in it pisses me off. im good enough to be a useful member of the team and clutch up sometimes but im not good enough to carry every game. matchmaking in both faceit and prem is bad as hell right now and nobody plays the game seriously is the issue

I walk the whole map on vertigo so I can flank the T and when I get 2 kills my team calls me hacker and starts dying in my molly flashing everyone and throwing away the whole game getting 24 kills makes you a hacker this is the CS we live in now cause of cheaters the legit players think everyone is hacking

Dude I was thinking about it a couple of month ago but never went deep with it

i needed this video, just lost 1k elo for TK'in a toxic team mate. Gotta be better like Marcus!

at first it was hurtful losing elo and being stuck at level 2 playing soloq. then became comfortable with fact that its impossible to reach higher levels alone. so every match now is just pure chill and training. when i get 5stack to grind for elo, then im going to feel pressure for wins, but now, faceit is just boot camp, playing seriously and etc, but without pressure for losing.

How to throw nade like 9:47 - is that simply jumpthrow or ? Cause its looks like different

idk if you've ever read The Art of War, but it's extremely applicable to CS lol

another W

thank you for trying ive been abused far to long by cs, its time the towel gets tossed

A greek god looking guy, talking bout stoicism... This shud be good 💯

The fucking goat istg.

the community needs videos like this, thanks Wilbur (o゜▽゜)o☆

Damn, aint we all toxicated CS players trying to find peace in ourselves.

His faceit games are getting to him

Wise Wilson o7

this is a nice video. my man sllurm just told em to look at it, however i beleive this borders turn the other cheek and when u dont bully or punish people they continue to do X. i just ruin their game and i rank up and they dont and then i dont see them anymore.

can i get a link or something for your crosshair please

I switched to gay valorant but i still watch your videos because they apply just as much especially this one!

wow im so fast (part 2)

i feel like no one is playing this game to have fun, i cannot meet the expectations of my teammates, i will probably just uninstall

War Thunder is now our main game, boys!!

It doesnt matter how good you are if you are 15000 or 5000 there will still be people who will call you a noob and a bot and that you should stop playing. Do not ever listen to that crap.

ok i have aserious question: are you and willyosu related in any way? if you aren't/have never heard of him, PLEASE watch one of his videos i swear you guys sound the same and kind alook similar

i might just be a snowflake but sometimes toxic players hurt my feelings 😪

I love how every white guy our age discovers stoicism for the first time and is like “this is my life now.” Lmao. 2:24 This is true for everything too. In OSRS PvP if I try to focus to much on factors I can’t control such as RNG I’ll lose. But if I buckle down and focus on predicting and counter playing my Opponent then I’ll win. Gotta focus on what I can do to counter his plays and less about how annoying his plays are.

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The stoic approach to CS is acknowledging thebtoxicity and cheater problem. Then first then ypu have to.look for a solution before resorting to accetptation for greater goals. There is no greater goal in CS. The stoic approach is to leave. Being proud of enduring pain isnt stoicism. It's victim mentamity. Our society is plagued by this.

Can't wait for the next video where Wilson ties CS2 to philosophies in Marxist theory

Dude I have worked a long career in sales and I also have played basketball for years. It's very easy for me to have the proper mindset in those areas. I know all about internal locus of control and not worrying about variables outside of my factor. CS2 has this constant feeling that it's not responsive and that the game is cheating me based on what I saw on my screen. The entire game itself is the bullshit variable, it makes it impossible to stay cool. With all that said, I simply cannot play this game anymore. I would not be able to play basketball if a perfect shot phased through the net somehow and didn't go in and I can't play this fucking garbage. CSGO was way better about this.