Imo, some players think 1v1 skill is the end all be all and negate other very important factors. Here are the most important skills that will dictate 'success' which in itself is a subjective term:
1v1 Ability:
Practicing 1v1s will obviously teach you ACM in a very controlled environment which can then be applied to more dynamic MA situations. Imo 1v1 takes the most fundamental ACM knowledge to be successful at, but isn't necessarily the most important skill in the MA in being successful. Being a 1v1 artist doesn't necessarily mean you can handle a 1vX, since a 1v1 requires no global awareness other than the fight at hand.
Aiming:
Probably just as important as ones ability to 1v1 is how well you can aim. Think of situations where you start off in a 1v1 with an enemy on the fray of icon range. You miss a couple easy shots and all of a sudden it's a 2v1. You kill the first guy on your third try but now the other con has you saddled and dead to rights. Had you killed that bogey on the first try, you would have been able to engage the 2nd con when he was 3k out. Getting ganged in the MA is directly correlative to one's failure to dispose of threats in a situation they deemed safe. The speed at which you eliminate threats in the MA will ultimately dictate if you get ganged.
Situation Awareness:
(a)
This is the most instinctual and experience based skill set of them all. Decision making in a multi plane environment. With every decision made comes Risk/Reward. Reward can be defined as a kill, risk defined as death. Accurate risk/reward assessment is something that can only come with experience. Aggression can also be defined as ones decision based on their risk/reward assessment. For example, if one engages four cons despite deciding he has less than a 10% chance of survival, this would be insanely aggressive. On the other side of the coin, if one avoids an engagement because he has a 10% chance of death, this would be insanely passive. All of these variables can be juggled into maximizing an individuals killing efficiency.
(b)
Another important aspect of SA, the rate at which you check your views. How many times/minute do you check all your views? This number is directly correlative to how clear your understanding of your surrounding is. You can never check your views too often and if you consistently are missing threats, you need to increase the rate at which you check your views.
Teamwork:
How well does one set up bogeys for his allies and how well does he use his allies for easy kills? You could call this being an 'opportunist', knowing the exact time to engage a con when he is clearly preoccupied or in an very unfavorable position, but this is actually a skill, being able to see this stuff.
Boom and Zoom:
How well does one retain advantage against overwhelming odds below him? Anybody can dive in and kill someone, but I evaluate one's B&Z ability in being able to kill bogeys below while being able to keep an advantage over the swarm. Diving in, turning, and getting ganged would be an extremely poor use of this altitude advantage.
Dogfighting:
Being able to stay alive in a dogfight where multiple cons are trying to turn/B&z you. I would argue this skill is actually the pinnacle of being versatile in all other sets, 1v1, Aiming, SA, all of which are equally important to being adequate in this skill. You can be a great 1v1 pilot but end up ultimately being inadequate in a dogfight due to lack of SA or aim. There's nothing great about saddling up a bogey just to get picked by one you didn't see.
These are the skills of a fighter as I see them in the MA. Imo, the ones who are most versatile in all the skills listed are the better pilots, not just being great in any one category. What do you consider in defining one's skill?
