So I've been masters since season 1. I've broken 1000 points a few times and stayed competitive my team mates who are all low-mid GM level. Within the past week I've gone from mid masters in an extremely competitive division on EU to being demoted to Diamond.. I've NEVER slumped this bad ever. I've had losing streaks, or played a handful of bad games but I mean I'm playing worse than I ever have and I have no idea how to fix it. Should I just completely step back for a bit and see if that helps? Should I just say fuck it I suck , get over it and continue to grind out games? I'm completely stumped and extremely frustrated with myself..
Keep in mind I'm moving to Poland in 3 weeks to live and train in a newly formed pro house there. I'll be playing upto 11 hours a day. If I get into another slump there won't be an option to just "walk away for a bit". I'm just lost and I don't really know what to do. If anyone has any advice that could help I'd appreciate it.
You're moving to a pro house in 3 weeks. Take a break for a few days and play another game so you can get your mind refreshed when you come back. Practice hardcore and be ready for the house Don't wait to pull yourself out of your slump til then though. Maybe hang out with some buddies/family for a while before you make the move. Hopefully you're back to tip-top shape soon!
On April 16 2012 12:19 Whole wrote: Try to find a common reason for your recent losses. IMO, that should be your first course of action.
Totally agree, there is always a reason why you're losing. It's never because "you're in a slump". Don't ever grind games mindlessly, that's just a waste of time. 11 hours of raging and saying you're terrible is worse than 1 hour of trying to genuinely improve through looking for weaknesses in your play and seeing what you did wrong.
I fell about this far once, too. This was 6 months ago and I've yet to recover (was Master, now diamond.) It's... soul crushing.
Best advice I can give is keep the game in your mind, don't forget how to play, but get the fuck away from ladder. Play custom 1v1's a lot, with players of varying skill levels, and don't keep track of whether or not you're back at your old level. Just play unranked games. Then, when you feel ready (perhaps right before going to Poland?) try the ladder again and maybe you'll remember how it all goes and have that extremely encouraging winning streak back up to high master.
Man don't even worry about it. Losing streaks and slumps happen to everyone. The fact that you were mid master for so long and are able to give good players good games means that you are absolutely capable of having a much higher ladder rank than you currently do. I'd say give it a little time, (1 day maybe?), watch some pro streams, and try to center yourself before getting back to the grind.
I'm going through basically the same thing, though a little less than you (haven't been demoted yet). But I was able to get to around rank 11 masters at one point, after being high diamond/low masters for the previous seasons. Then this season, I just cannot beat people in macro games. I have a less than 50% win rate, and I'm not even top 50. I'm facing more diamonds than masters at this point. I'm pretty lost as well. Hope you get over this slump, OP. personally, before laddering I always watch some kind of inspirational video to get me into the mood. It might help you out too. Here's my personal favorite:
Good luck OP, hope you get back into masters and do well in the training house
On April 16 2012 15:05 Alphonsse wrote: Man don't even worry about it. Losing streaks and slumps happen to everyone. The fact that you were mid master for so long and are able to give good players good games means that you are absolutely capable of having a much higher ladder rank than you currently do.
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.
Take one day to only look at replays matches from the top pros of your race. You will learn so much about decision making.
Just watch their first person view and ask yourself why are they doing this all the time.
edit: When I am slumping, I take the opportunity to do dumb stuff since I am playing worse opponents. As zerg, that means going 2 base +2+2 roach hydra all in vs protoss, going roach hydra bane vs terran, 10 pool ling / drone all in vs hatch first in zvz, etc etc etc. It's just a good time to do dumb stuff and see how it works out.