I think you have that backwards? In competitive gaming I was always of the mentality, and taught the mentality, that you shouldn't play to win. You should play to not lose. The best players I've spoken and played with also share this mentality.
For example, in competitive games in general focus on minimizing mistakes rather than focusing on capitalizing on your opponent's mistakes.
Particularly in combo-based fighting games, worry about your ability to execute rather than when to execute. Without fail you should always be able to 100% execute a combo without dropping it, even if you don't always go for the best combo for the scenario. Always going for the best combo but unreliably executing it and dropping it will lose you more games on average.
For example, in competitive games in general focus on minimizing mistakes rather than focusing on capitalizing on your opponent's mistakes.
Particularly in combo-based fighting games, worry about your ability to execute rather than when to execute. Without fail you should always be able to 100% execute a combo without dropping it, even if you don't always go for the best combo for the scenario. Always going for the best combo but unreliably executing it and dropping it will lose you more games on average.