An analyst is someone who conducts analysis, or examination of structure or elements of something. In esports, analysts usually pick a few aspects or elements of a team and focus on improving them as much as they can. These aspects include things such as:
Team cohesion in-game
Team resource management
Team communication
The term analyst is applicable for a couple of roles on a traditional esports teams, so we’ve broken them down into T two categories: gameplay analysts and statistic analysts. That doesn’t mean that someone can’t do both gameplay and statistic analysis, just that those are the kinds of analysts you’ll need throughout a year.
Regardless of whether you’re a gameplay or statistic analyst, you’ll need some general skills to get the analyst job done. Here a few important ones to keep in mind:
Take lots of notes. Analysis isn’t always fast or easy, it’s better to take your time to identify and explain a problem than it is to immediately say something. When possible, take multiple passes at watching something and write down what you see and what you want to say. Writing your thoughts and observations down can help you organize them and build an easily understood comment for your players.
Remember that your job isn’t to necessarily give your players the answer to a problem they might have, but rather to figure out how you can help your players solve similar problems in the future. There’s a cognitive theory called the Dunning-Kruger Effect that, to paraphrase, states that people can only be good at something if they are capable of being aware of it. In this way, players can lack certain skills or fundamentals and never see those flaws until they are pointed out. Your job is never to belittle or flex on your players, but you have to let them know when you have seen a problem. Players will be greatful for your feedback if it helps them improve, and if not then at least you tried.
When delivering feedback, don’t put your players down or attack them. Nobody likes getting criticized to begin with, so try to be empathetic in your delivery of criticism. If you don’t, or if you can’t connect to your player, it can turn them against you, the rest of your staff and any constructive point you were trying to make. Instead of telling a player “You were doing ‘X’ wrong,” instead try to frame your notes in a way that makes the player have to think critically about what they did. You want to lead them to discover the point you’re trying to make so they can rationalize it and easily internalize it. Your main goal is to make your players better thinkers, which makes them better gamers.
Finally, good analysts help the coaching staff by creating content related to their work. Whether it’s stat packets, VOD reviews or even scouting reports, analysts should take their work and turn it into easily deliverable and digestible content for the rest of the team. On the topic of scouting reports: if you know you have a particular matchup against another school, do some research on the opposition! Look for (preferably recent) gameplay videos or statistics from your opponents so you can figure out the other team’s strengths, weaknesses and tendencies. This extra level of preparedness will pay off big for your players, who can get extra confidence coming into a game they are well prepared to play.
Now that we know some of the basics behind being an analyst, let’s look at the the differences between statistic and gameplay analysts.
Gameplay Analysts are analysts that focus on in-game interactions. They help break down game logic and reasoning, collaborating with players to create or make adjustments to playstyle. As such, gameplay analysts should be game experts, or at least play the game and can understand it, preferably at a high level.
Gameplay analysts are the ones who you want to lead your VOD reviews, since they are experts at breaking down game film. Gameplay analysts are also good at doing research on the professional scene so they can understand the pro/high level meta.
Gameplay analysts mostly use qualitative analysis in their feedback, using game theory and experience to look at the team as a whole.
Statistical analysts are analysts that focus on the competitive statistics of a team. They keep track of both game-specific stats and overall team stats, such as win rates of different lineups. Combining these stats together, statistical analysts can take an unbiased look at the overall team and try to use metrics to find problems in areas where qualitative analysis can’t.
Statistical analysts primarily use quantitative analysis, usually through spreadsheets or some other system that allows the entire team to easily understand the numbers. Quantitiative analytics can be helpful, but only with the correct application. As such, statistical analysts take care to work with other coaches and gameplay analysts. Remember: correllation is NOT the same as causation, stats can’t solely exist in a vaccuum, and numbers don’t lie.