• Log InLog In
  • Register
Liquid`
Team Liquid Liquipedia
EDT 20:37
CEST 02:37
KST 09:37
  • Home
  • Forum
  • Calendar
  • Streams
  • Liquipedia
  • Features
  • Store
  • EPT
  • TL+
  • StarCraft 2
  • Brood War
  • Smash
  • Heroes
  • Counter-Strike
  • Overwatch
  • Liquibet
  • Fantasy StarCraft
  • TLPD
  • StarCraft 2
  • Brood War
  • Blogs
Forum Sidebar
Events/Features
News
Featured News
[ASL21] Ro16 Preview Pt2: All Star10Team Liquid Map Contest #22 - The Finalists16[ASL21] Ro16 Preview Pt1: Fresh Flow9[ASL21] Ro24 Preview Pt2: News Flash10[ASL21] Ro24 Preview Pt1: New Chaos0
Community News
2026 GSL Season 1 Qualifiers13Maestros of the Game 2 announced62026 GSL Tour plans announced14Weekly Cups (April 6-12): herO doubles, "Villains" prevail1MaNa leaves Team Liquid24
StarCraft 2
General
Team Liquid Map Contest #22 - The Finalists Maestros of the Game 2 announced MaNa leaves Team Liquid 2026 GSL Tour plans announced Blizzard Classic Cup @ BlizzCon 2026 - $100k prize pool
Tourneys
2026 GSL Season 1 Qualifiers GSL CK: More events planned pending crowdfunding RSL Revival: Season 5 - Qualifiers and Main Event Sparkling Tuna Cup - Weekly Open Tournament Master Swan Open (Global Bronze-Master 2)
Strategy
Custom Maps
[D]RTS in all its shapes and glory <3 [A] Nemrods 1/4 players [M] (2) Frigid Storage
External Content
Mutation # 522 Flip My Base The PondCast: SC2 News & Results Mutation # 521 Memorable Boss Mutation # 520 Moving Fees
Brood War
General
ASL21 General Discussion Any progamer "explanation" videos like this one? Data needed BGH Auto Balance -> http://bghmmr.eu/ ASL21 Strategy, Pimpest Plays Discussions
Tourneys
[ASL21] Ro16 Group D [ASL21] Ro16 Group C [ASL21] Ro16 Group B [Megathread] Daily Proleagues
Strategy
Simple Questions, Simple Answers What's the deal with APM & what's its true value Any training maps people recommend? Fighting Spirit mining rates
Other Games
General Games
Dawn of War IV Nintendo Switch Thread Starcraft Tabletop Miniature Game General RTS Discussion Thread Battle Aces/David Kim RTS Megathread
Dota 2
The Story of Wings Gaming
League of Legends
G2 just beat GenG in First stand
Heroes of the Storm
Simple Questions, Simple Answers Heroes of the Storm 2.0
Hearthstone
Deck construction bug Heroes of StarCraft mini-set
TL Mafia
Vanilla Mini Mafia Mafia Game Mode Feedback/Ideas TL Mafia Community Thread Five o'clock TL Mafia
Community
General
US Politics Mega-thread Canadian Politics Mega-thread Things Aren’t Peaceful in Palestine Russo-Ukrainian War Thread YouTube Thread
Fan Clubs
The IdrA Fan Club
Media & Entertainment
Anime Discussion Thread [Manga] One Piece [Req][Books] Good Fantasy/SciFi books Movie Discussion!
Sports
2024 - 2026 Football Thread Formula 1 Discussion McBoner: A hockey love story Cricket [SPORT]
World Cup 2022
Tech Support
[G] How to Block Livestream Ads
TL Community
The Automated Ban List
Blogs
Sexual Health Of Gamers
TrAiDoS
lurker extra damage testi…
StaticNine
Broowar part 2
qwaykee
Funny Nicknames
LUCKY_NOOB
Iranian anarchists: organize…
XenOsky
Customize Sidebar...

Website Feedback

Closed Threads



Active: 1975 users

Getting demoted is hard

Blogs > visual77
Post a Reply
kingcoyote
Profile Blog Joined May 2010
United States546 Posts
October 05 2010 05:16 GMT
#1
To summarize my situation: I want to find what race is good for me, but am stuck in Platinum and am waiting on a demotion.

To explain a bit further, I've played Protoss since vanilla StarCraft and only in the past few months have I really considered that maybe Protoss isn't right for me. I got SC on launch, and picked Protoss because I liked the look of them. I was just a kid and had no concept of the strengths and weaknesses, and my fear of multiplayer didn't help much.

Fast forward 12 years and I get into SC2 beta, where I am forced to either grow a pair or play against the moronic Very Easy AI that is simply not fun. I chose the former and wish I had done it 12 years ago, because once that fear is gone I have a lot of fun in multiplayer.

Now, I'm looking at my race selection and wondering if Protoss really fits me. I chose it because it looks cool, and stuck with it because of familiarity. I manage to fight my way up to Platinum league before deciding to take a good look at Zerg and Terran, and now I expect to be demoted soon, but I'm still not.

In my last 30 or so games, I've had a pretty poor win rate and have increasingly found myself against Gold and even Silver league players. After every game that I lose (which is most, since I'm not used to Zerg or Terran at all), I expect to see the demotion, but I'm just not getting it.

As a Protoss, I might still be Platinum, but even then I think my skill has slid enough to not warrant that league. As Zerg, I'm probably high Silver. I'm still just working the fundamentals and trying to keep my money low, my supply uncapped and my spawn larva flowing.

I hope I get the demotion soon. Even though I don't care about my win/loss record, I would like to be matched against people that are at my current skill, not my skill a month ago in another race.

***
Reborn8u
Profile Blog Joined January 2010
United States1761 Posts
October 05 2010 05:48 GMT
#2
I play toss, im diamond. I played vanilla and never got into starcraft like I am now.

I suggest you learn 1 solid standard opener for each matchup and get them as tight as you can, and learn how to adapt to a wide variety of situations from them.

Then learn a few strategies that can work in every matchup. There are cheeses, like cannon rush, dts, or voids. More standard style like 4 gate or 3 gate robo. That way you can master the opener for them sooner.

Play 10 games as zerg/terran vs ai and just learn theyre tech tree/timings/strengts and weaknesses. Learn what to look for when you scout.

WATCH EVERY DAY9 DAILY sun through thursday at 10 pm eastern us
http://www.ustream.tv/day9tv
I'm pm'ing you my sc2 info, friend me and I'll help as best as I can
:)
FC.Strike
Profile Blog Joined April 2010
United States621 Posts
October 05 2010 05:51 GMT
#3
Join -> F10 > N
Repeat x5

Play a few games. If you win then keep playing. If you get stomped every time, repeat the above steps.

Your win/loss ratio needs to stabilize before you get demoted. I had to lose over 40 games in a row before I got demoted directly from diamond to bronze (was testing something)
--------------------------> My Smiley Face Disagrees, Your Argument is Invalid -------------------------->
Scarecrow
Profile Blog Joined July 2009
Korea (South)9172 Posts
October 05 2010 06:35 GMT
#4
You're still being matched against people at roughly your current skill level. League is irrelevant.
Yhamm is the god of predictions
shannn
Profile Blog Joined May 2010
Netherlands2891 Posts
October 05 2010 07:14 GMT
#5
On October 05 2010 15:35 Scarecrow wrote:
You're still being matched against people at roughly your current skill level. League is irrelevant.

This.
The division you are in and the rating u have does not say anything about your skill.
Your hidden MMR however does. It matches against opponents with the same MMR regardless of division and rating.
That's why you see people from silver division playing gold/platinum sometimes or even diamonds.
The more you lose the lower your MMR becomes and will get you matched with even worse players than you are currently facing.

And besides. The best way to learn a game is to get crushed heartlessly by a way better opponent.
http://www.teamliquid.net/forum/viewpost.php?post_id=6321864 Epic post.
CooDu
Profile Blog Joined September 2010
Australia899 Posts
October 05 2010 07:20 GMT
#6
I do agree with the above comment regarding your league being irrelevant. I've found struggling against a harder opponent to not only be rewarding win or lose, but a good learning experience.

I used to find it really hard to lose, and get pretty riled up about it - but it just opens your mind to smarter, better play. I swear when I first got smashed by my opponent I watched the replay in a dream, lol.
Just a simple guy, going wherever this journey takes me.
shannn
Profile Blog Joined May 2010
Netherlands2891 Posts
October 05 2010 07:54 GMT
#7
Most beginners don't like to play vs better opponents which they'll 99% of the times will lose from.
They hate losing which is understandable. However you learn more when you lose thus if you play an opponent that is pro you will improve much faster and will be faster to indicate where the weak points of strong players are which you would also get by playing vs equal or lesser skilled but on a slower pace.

That's why it's always better to play against better players than yourself since those players will punish every mistake you do unlike equal/lesser skilled players.
http://www.teamliquid.net/forum/viewpost.php?post_id=6321864 Epic post.
kingcoyote
Profile Blog Joined May 2010
United States546 Posts
October 05 2010 16:20 GMT
#8
On October 05 2010 15:35 Scarecrow wrote:
You're still being matched against people at roughly your current skill level. League is irrelevant.


True, my league is irrelevant, but I'm pretty sure I'm still not being matched at my current skill level. Using completely arbitrary numbers, let's say I worked my way up to a rating of 800 as Protoss, and then switched to Zerg. My rating will immediately start to slip, but my actual skill isn't slipping, it plummeted.

My first match as Zerg, I might really be only a 200, but I'm going against an 800. The next match I might be 210 against a 780, etc. I still think I have awhile to go before I'm playing people at my level, because the matchmaking is taking my Protoss skill into account, which is fairly irrelevant since I'm playing Zerg now.
SONE
Profile Joined May 2010
Canada839 Posts
October 05 2010 21:37 GMT
#9
On October 05 2010 16:54 shannn wrote:
They hate losing which is understandable. However you learn more when you lose


this only applies if you are smart enough to figure out why you lost, not just because "x" is a better player than "y"
Please log in or register to reply.
Live Events Refresh
PiGosaur Cup
00:00
#78
PiGStarcraft490
Liquipedia
[ Submit Event ]
Live Streams
Refresh
StarCraft 2
PiGStarcraft490
ProTech96
ROOTCatZ 53
MaxPax 48
StarCraft: Brood War
Britney 15273
GuemChi 4103
Artosis 604
Dota 2
monkeys_forever609
Counter-Strike
minikerr10
Other Games
summit1g11396
tarik_tv5668
C9.Mang0605
shahzam426
Trikslyr160
ViBE151
Maynarde123
ToD103
Mew2King28
Organizations
Other Games
gamesdonequick1621
BasetradeTV279
StarCraft 2
Blizzard YouTube
StarCraft: Brood War
BSLTrovo
sctven
[ Show 13 non-featured ]
StarCraft 2
• Hupsaiya 47
• RyuSc2 36
• AfreecaTV YouTube
• intothetv
• Kozan
• IndyKCrew
• LaughNgamezSOOP
• Migwel
• sooper7s
StarCraft: Brood War
• RayReign 14
• BSLYoutube
• STPLYoutube
• ZZZeroYoutube
Upcoming Events
RSL Revival
9h 23m
Replay Cast
23h 23m
The PondCast
1d 9h
KCM Race Survival
1d 9h
WardiTV Map Contest Tou…
1d 10h
Gerald vs TBD
Clem vs TBD
ByuN vs TBD
Rogue vs MaxPax
ShoWTimE vs TBD
OSC
1d 14h
CranKy Ducklings
1d 23h
Escore
2 days
RSL Revival
2 days
WardiTV Map Contest Tou…
3 days
[ Show More ]
Universe Titan Cup
3 days
Rogue vs Percival
Ladder Legends
3 days
uThermal 2v2 Circuit
3 days
BSL
3 days
Sparkling Tuna Cup
4 days
WardiTV Map Contest Tou…
4 days
Ladder Legends
4 days
BSL
4 days
Replay Cast
4 days
Replay Cast
5 days
Wardi Open
5 days
Afreeca Starleague
5 days
Soma vs TBD
Monday Night Weeklies
5 days
Replay Cast
5 days
Afreeca Starleague
6 days
TBD vs YSC
Liquipedia Results

Completed

Proleague 2026-04-20
RSL Revival: Season 4
NationLESS Cup

Ongoing

BSL Season 22
ASL Season 21
CSL 2026 SPRING (S20)
IPSL Spring 2026
KCM Race Survival 2026 Season 2
StarCraft2 Community Team League 2026 Spring
WardiTV TLMC #16
Nations Cup 2026
IEM Rio 2026
PGL Bucharest 2026
Stake Ranked Episode 1
BLAST Open Spring 2026
ESL Pro League S23 Finals
ESL Pro League S23 Stage 1&2
PGL Cluj-Napoca 2026
IEM Kraków 2026

Upcoming

Escore Tournament S2: W4
Acropolis #4
BSL 22 Non-Korean Championship
CSLAN 4
Kung Fu Cup 2026 Grand Finals
HSC XXIX
uThermal 2v2 2026 Main Event
Maestros of the Game 2
2026 GSL S2
RSL Revival: Season 5
2026 GSL S1
XSE Pro League 2026
IEM Cologne Major 2026
Stake Ranked Episode 2
CS Asia Championships 2026
IEM Atlanta 2026
Asian Champions League 2026
PGL Astana 2026
BLAST Rivals Spring 2026
TLPD

1. ByuN
2. TY
3. Dark
4. Solar
5. Stats
6. Nerchio
7. sOs
8. soO
9. INnoVation
10. Elazer
1. Rain
2. Flash
3. EffOrt
4. Last
5. Bisu
6. Soulkey
7. Mini
8. Sharp
Sidebar Settings...

Advertising | Privacy Policy | Terms Of Use | Contact Us

Original banner artwork: Jim Warren
The contents of this webpage are copyright © 2026 TLnet. All Rights Reserved.