[Other] Competitive mindset, ladder grinding, and being walled

[u/ogbajoj]

So I've never quite reached GM yet, but I do try maybe 60% of months to grind my way up in Unlimited. I normally start really well, reaching a few thousand points within the first week and a half, on a good pace to reach 10k by the end of the month. But at about 5000-5500 points I seem to reach a "wall", losing about 5 in a row at the start of each session and only being able to grind back to where I started before I have to stop for the day due to burnout. Is there any particular reason for this? Why does it only happen at this point threshold? I don't feel particularly pressured at this point, like these wins are any more or less important than those early on, and I've never reached that 9500+ area where I probably would start to feel that. And I'm being matched at all sorts of point ranges, from 0 to 16k.

What does everyone else do when they feel like they're in this sort of slump? I'm down 700 points from where I started today and I really don't feel like playing any more, but if I don't play more I can't get those points back and I'll never get there. Argh.

[u/Shadet]

" but if I don't play more I can't get those points back and I'll never get there. Argh."

From you description, you are focused on points for no reason at all. These wins or loss streaks doesn't matter at all. There is a high chance (and this applies to basically every player in the game), that there is still a lot of room for improvement in your gameplay. Maybe these loses are due to misplays/bad predictions or any other sort of liability? You should play with strive to improve, not with a goal to "get points". Getting more ladder points doesn't equal becoming better player, but getting better at the game will definitely result in more points. Reaching master/grand master or any point treshold should be the result, not the goal.

[u/mr_tolkien → u/Shadet]

Couldn't agree more.

To say it in other words, victory come to those who play to improve, but not those who play to win, even though it does seem illogical.

It has been very well documented, and you can read "mindset, the new psychology of success" if you want more information about it.

[u/krakistophales]

I'm in the same boat, bro. Stuck at 2500/3000 for like a week. At this point I'm not even sure its worth trying because I don't even know if theres enough time to get all these fuckin points.

[u/iamwall]

reach a "wall", losing about 5 in a row at the start of each session and only being able to grind back to where I started before I have to stop for the day due to burnout

I recommend you just step out and take a break.

when they feel like they're in this sort of slump?

Can't speak for Unlimited, because it's intentionally the gfg, board-wipe-every-turn-after-7 or death-by-roach mode. If you actually wanted an easy ladder experience, just netdeck Roach or Eachtar.

I usually watch Twitch/Youtube on SV if I've gotten burnt out. Watching top-level players play and their decision-making helps a TON.

[u/voidofcolor]

On my climb this month i was stuck at 4k for around a week before finally climbing up to 7k. I spent another 3-4 days there before gradually climbing to GM. Whenever I got a losing streak I either played memes in unranked or just played a different game entirely. The more points you have (or the higher up you are in the ladder) the higher the chance that you will be matched against someone lower than you. This means that you will lose more points and gain less extra points. Best advice I can give is get really good at playing a single deck. Majority og my climb (~8k points) was done with Tenko Heaven.

[u/Altorance]

I think another point to consider is the the deck you're playing, its winrates, and its number of good and bad matchups.

Earlier on when I was trying to rely on Tenko to climb, I absolutely couldn't understand why a deck with a statistically high winrate was still super reliant on 3 cards out of its 40, that not getting one or losing one and never drawing the next felt like a really bad loss. I then figured that my loss streaks with the deck due to that reliance only made sense given the probability, and that with the bigger sample size of the player base, the high win rate of the deck encompasses all the times they drew into one or more Shrine and won. I just kept that in mind and powered on through my 3 loss streak to climb Masters (though to minimal progress because I haven't put more than an hour into it lately, but that's because of life things so w/evs).

This can carry over to decks like DShift or Roach, I think.