EPTOn April 16 2012 16:08 Hairy wrote:
This.
Remember - losing a match does not mean you are bad at the game (it doesn't even necessarily mean you are worse than your opponent), and dropping rank / league does not mean you got worse at the game! Everyone wins games and everyone loses games. Every single game, won OR lost, increases your experience and knowledge; you don't become a worse player by playing more games!
However, if you're getting angry and frustrated by your losses, playing on tilt, or are not bothering to analyse your replays anymore because the players you are facing are 'bad' players who "you should be beating anyway" etc; stop! That is not the right attitude. Have a small break, relax, and when you play again be sure to concentrate on playing well (NOT on winning), and analysing your own replays to look for areas of improvement.
When I was demoted league a month or two ago, I realised that because my rank had been slipping I was focusing more and more on winning, and less and less on just trying to play well. My fundamentals were going out the window as I was so 'panicked' at trying to make sure I beat those 'bad' opponents my own play was suffering greatly. Make sure you are playing for the right reasons.
GL
EDIT: this is not surprising in the least, actually. As you get closer to moving into the pro house, you feel more and more under pressure to do well and increase your ladder standing to give a good impression. Thus, with so much pressure to win, you are less and less relaxed and you are concentrating on the wrong things. And as you drop in ladder, this only makes the problem worse; you feel even MORE under pressure to win (to the point of almost panicking that you are only diamond now), and so you simply cannot play your best.
This is why people who "tank their ladder rating" give such good feedback on the experience. They no longer care about their ladder rating or losing games (they already lost 25 games intentionally, so what does it matter if they lose one more?), and so they are able to just relax, forget about trying to win, and can instead concentrate on playing well.
This.
Remember - losing a match does not mean you are bad at the game (it doesn't even necessarily mean you are worse than your opponent), and dropping rank / league does not mean you got worse at the game! Everyone wins games and everyone loses games. Every single game, won OR lost, increases your experience and knowledge; you don't become a worse player by playing more games!
However, if you're getting angry and frustrated by your losses, playing on tilt, or are not bothering to analyse your replays anymore because the players you are facing are 'bad' players who "you should be beating anyway" etc; stop! That is not the right attitude. Have a small break, relax, and when you play again be sure to concentrate on playing well (NOT on winning), and analysing your own replays to look for areas of improvement.
When I was demoted league a month or two ago, I realised that because my rank had been slipping I was focusing more and more on winning, and less and less on just trying to play well. My fundamentals were going out the window as I was so 'panicked' at trying to make sure I beat those 'bad' opponents my own play was suffering greatly. Make sure you are playing for the right reasons.
GL
EDIT: this is not surprising in the least, actually. As you get closer to moving into the pro house, you feel more and more under pressure to do well and increase your ladder standing to give a good impression. Thus, with so much pressure to win, you are less and less relaxed and you are concentrating on the wrong things. And as you drop in ladder, this only makes the problem worse; you feel even MORE under pressure to win (to the point of almost panicking that you are only diamond now), and so you simply cannot play your best.
This is why people who "tank their ladder rating" give such good feedback on the experience. They no longer care about their ladder rating or losing games (they already lost 25 games intentionally, so what does it matter if they lose one more?), and so they are able to just relax, forget about trying to win, and can instead concentrate on playing well.
Thanks this actually helped a lot and really pointed out my mentallity right now. On an average day when I play players my own skill I can go on losing streaks and still watch my replays, I don't know when or how I started getting lower but then I got so frustrated at myself thinking "I shouldn't be losing to these people" that I didn't want to have anything to do with the game and stopped watching my replays.
Moving into the house, I'm going to be living with some top level europeans and I don't want to be shoved aside because I was only mid masters. I wanted to peak again and show that I can compete, At least on ladder. I'm just going to watch some replays, streams, and vods and get back into it tomorrow and get myself back into masters.
