A better way to play
These are the texture packs that i would recommend.
512x: Aquatic Made by iSparkton for SuchSpeed
256x: Blue Rose Made by Pana
128x: Dark Sea Made by iSparkton
64x: Winter Frost Made by NotroDan
32x: Tangerine Made by Latenci or Sprite Made by Subverse
16x: Infinite 16x Made by FinsGraphics
Anything under 16x really won't look good.
Mods.
Ah. Most people who PvP in Minecraft use 1.8.9. For the best people, they use 1.7.9. However more and more servers have switched to 1.8.9 so here are some mods that will be useful if you like to pvp.
Casual players don't really use mods for PvP but people who like to do
1.7 Animations. Link This mod makes your pvp look like its 1.7. Used by "Blockhitters". Made by OrangeMarshall.
Mouse Delay Fix. Link This fixes the mouse delay. Made by prplz
Vanilla Enhancements.Link This mod allows many different things. Small things that you might want to change. To use, "/econfig". Made by OrangeMarshall
And of course, Optifine.
I made this because I wanted some other people to have some basic things to get started with. Most people who do play probably already have their own texture packs and mods installed already. Hopefully this helped you.