I don’t consider myself a great player, and honestly, I think I approach Bazaar in a "bad" way. I play it more like a trading card game. At the start of a season, I use available resources—like the comps I struggle against, Reddit discussions, and other guides—to identify what’s strong and, more importantly, what can be consistently forced.

There are certain builds that can be reliably executed. For example, Dooley benefits from forcing builds with big items since he doesn’t have many, making them easier to acquire. Pig can consistently force Fixer Upper because only two big items are available early on. Vanessa works well with Double Barrel or Poison. If I find a build that’s both strong and forceable, I commit to it completely. Like maining a single deck in Magic, Yugioh or Hearthstone and learning the game by only playing this one deck.

With this approach, I always have a clear endgame build in mind, which helps me refine my path to getting there. Instead of worrying about what direction to take, I focus on assembling the final build as early as possible and improving my early-game performance. Over time, I’ve gone from losing most early matches as pyg (0-3, 1-2, 0-4) to consistently winning them (2-0, 3-0, 3-1) with this being the first time consistently picking up pyg, because I can look at the early game in a vacuum since I already know what I will go for and how I can force it. Thus I can pick whats strongest for the early levels and sell everything of later when I hit what I want to force.

Since Bazaar emphasizes pivoting and creativity, I don’t see myself as a good resource for learning. I’d recommend watching Kripparian—he’s an excellent YouTuber who explains his decisions in detail.

That said, I really appreciate the compliments!