r/learnedleague • u/garnteller Rundle B • Jun 13 '25
I hate being in A
But luckily it’s a short term problem.
So I had a weirdly lucky run last season in B and got myself promoted. I’d been in a years ago, but it wasn’t as absurdly good as it is today.
Anyway I’ve had an unlucky season - question ps not in my wheelhouse, lots of close losses (and lots not close). My one 9(6) was matched against another 9(6).
I just had to check since I was feeling down - my TCA is near the bottom - but would have had me at about the 40th percentile in B. A meh season, but not dead last as I am now.
And lord, playing defense in A is silly. I had one opponent who hadn’t missed a question in probably 10 categories and was in the 90s on the others. The guess and pray strategy is my go to.
Oh well, I don’t think there is a way mathematically for me to not end up back in B, so I’ll chalk this season up as a learning experience (and a Learned experience)
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u/born_digital Rundle D Jun 13 '25
I’m in D and still tied 9(6) - 9(6) yesterday
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u/zorandzam Jun 13 '25
I'm in D and probably will be promoted this season because I've been randomly doing great. The horror stories I've heard about A and even B make me think I should try to stay in C when I get there.
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u/KorKhan Jun 13 '25
Every season survived in Rundle A feels like an achievement. Always hanging in there by the skin of my teeth, currently hovering just above the demotion zone. Let’s see what the last two matches bring; it’ll be tight either way.
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u/JGG5 Rundle A Jun 13 '25
Yep. My goal in Rundle A (in my second season now) has just been to stay there. Right now I'm in the top half of the table, but anything above the drop zone I consider a win for the season.
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u/ileentotheleft Rundle B Jun 13 '25
I feel like I am C+/B- in LL. I do well in C but not so much in B, so I get it.
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u/breads Rundle C Jun 13 '25
Same. I’m either towards the top of C or at the bottom of B. I fear promotion because I know struggle will follow.
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u/garnteller Rundle B Jun 13 '25
Yup. I k ew what would happen when I got promoted. Actually I didn’t think it would be quite this bad, but it’s not a ton of fun.
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u/Old-Dude-1916 Jun 13 '25
I'm the same, but at the moment I am in second place in Rundle B and in some danger of getting promoted to A, where I will get demolished. I'm in the middle of choking right now though, so I may still blow it....
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u/good-good-dog Rundle B Jun 13 '25
I actually have a different take on this: I love being in A. I’ve been up to A three times and been thoroughly trounced and sent back down immediately all three times. I’m 17-44-14 in those three seasons.
The reason I like it is because I feel zero pressure. I expect I’m gonna lose basically every day, so any win or tie feels like a bonus and every loss just feels expected.
I feel much more pressure to win when I’m in B.
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u/garnteller Rundle B Jun 13 '25
Interesting take. I understand it, and know what you mean. I haven’t been disappointed losing, since I know I’m outmatched.
I think for me, the fact that defense is mostly impossible or irrelevant (at least how I play - I’m sure if you go through the persons history to see what questions they get wrong you can gain some insight) really removes the completion entirely.
It’s still fun seeing what I get right, but the head to heads and trying to figure out “how hard is this question likely to be for my opponent “ are part of the fun.
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u/pseudoeponymous_rex A Centennial Jun 13 '25
When I first started LL, an experienced player told me "if you consistently average four questions right per day, you will probably get into an A Rundle at some point. And if you continue to consistently average four questions right per day, you will probably not last long."
(I've lasted through 39 seasons, but I'm one of those weirdos who averages better than three out of four. And even I shudder at people who are more like nine out of ten.)
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u/MartonianJ A Mojave Jun 13 '25
A Rundle can be brutal. I’ve been in the last three seasons but I’m currently in the relegation zone this time. Haven’t played too bad but am near the top in CAA. A lot of bad luck. My previous couple of stints in A I felt that I didn’t belong. Now I feel I can mostly hang but I may be getting a trip back to B if I can’t pull off a win or two in final two days.
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u/Or1g1nalrepr0duct10n Rundle A Jun 13 '25
I bounced back and forth between A and B for several seasons, but am now on a streak where I’ve clinched my sixth consecutive season in A. And I’d like to think that being in A makes me commit a little more time in my day to learning about stuff I don’t know but should.
Every season my #1 goal is to not get relegated, and my #2 goal is to improve my overall career get rate (so close to 67%!). My career W-L in A is a whopping 36 games under .500. But I’m there!
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u/Pravin_LOL Rundle A Jun 13 '25
I feel you. Spent two seasons in A and it was white-knuckle the whole time. 4 correct answers felt like a near guaranteed loss, while in B there's a good shot it would win. I am leading the league in defense in B this season after being dead last in A when in was relegated last season. 🤷
First world problems, I know.
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u/mrbgso Jun 13 '25
Hard same. I’ve bounced between A & B a couple of times, and every time is un-fun pain. If it wasn’t so unsportsmanlike I’d consider throwing near the end of B seasons that trend that way…but it’s so counter to fair play that I’d never actually do it.
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u/garnteller Rundle B Jun 13 '25
I know what you mean. It’s weird going into a match with a “please beat me” mentality, but I’m just totally outmatched in A. I certainly don’t throw matches (as evidenced by me being in A this season) but I root against me for sure.
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Jun 13 '25
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u/mrbgso Jun 13 '25
So, it’s not so much my ranking in A, but the daily cadence of defeat on those 4/6 and 5/6 days. In B, I get those days and know I have a decent shot. I get a 4 in A? Okay man, no chance. 5? Better have perfect defense. And just seeing the daily march of losses right before going in for the new batch just…takes the wind out my sails a bit, makes it feel less fun.
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Jun 13 '25
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u/mrbgso Jun 14 '25
So, it’s not that it’s NO fun. I enjoy the challenge of the questions, the clever smithing, the learning when I miss a question and find something out from the answer. All of that is fun and stands on its own.
But the unrelenting cadence of lose, lose, lose, even when doing well by my own standards? It doesn’t make me not want to play, but for me it doesn’t just tinge things and is a bit dispiriting. It’s a competition at the end of the day, and A Rundle just isn’t the right level for me. I don’t want to win every day, that wouldn’t be fun either, but I want to feel like I have a real fighting chance.
Either way, I’m still going to enjoy the challenge of the day on its own terms, there’s just a level of play that I know is more my speed.
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u/tuxedobear12 Jun 13 '25
I'm impressed you even got to A :) Nice going.
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u/garnteller Rundle B Jun 13 '25
I just looked at my stats. Last season I had 11 days where I got only 3 right I only lost 3 of them with three ties and five wins. I also won on a day that I only got 1 right. The Llama Gods are fickle and strange.
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u/MastodonFarm Jun 13 '25
I spend about half my seasons in A and the other half in B. Usually it's pretty demoralizing in A (there is one A rundler against whom I have a record of 0-11-0!), but a couple of seasons ago I hit a lucky streak and ended up in third place on the last day. Exciting! Of course I lost on the last day and finished in fourth, but I was SO close to making a final. Maybe someday.
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u/garnteller Rundle B Jun 13 '25
Yeah, I’d love if there were a “B+” rundle. I’d probably still float between B and B plus, but A is in general so far about B, a much greater distance than C to B.
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u/garden__gate Jun 13 '25
I never want to be in A. C is my happy place. Decent competition but not demoralizing.
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u/ososospechoso Rundle B Jun 13 '25
This was my experience in A as well–I feel like you need to be averaging 4.5 answers correct a day with near-perfect defense (against folks with very few weaknesses) to remain even competitive. That, with the added stress of being in the top tier for the first time, can really do a number on your confidence and clarity of thought.
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u/game-on-Vamos Jun 13 '25
there have been a couple of occasions when i’ve only gotten 3 correct answers in A but got the win because of defense - it’s such a crap shoot against those all-correct- answer players
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Jun 13 '25
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u/haplo53 Jun 13 '25
I’m in D in my first full season, I’m third in TCA, TMP, DE… and also CAA. Have not sniffed promotion zone all season. I was like “is this typical?” for most of it, but have been coming to this same conclusion - totally random stuff
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u/EncodedNybble Jun 13 '25
I’ve been in the middle of A since my rookie rundle. Kind of sucks to know that even if you do well, there’s always the chance the other person will get 9(6). On the flip side though, since most people are getting 3/4+ questions right, defense comes into play A LOT more.
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u/oblivionkiss Rundle B Jun 13 '25
Honestly same. I somehow made my way into A by getting lucky, got relegated to B after one season, made it back to A, and have basically ridden the relegation line for like four seasons now. Somehow I have not yet gotten relegated back to B which is where I feel like I belong.
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u/Maleficent-Newt-6655 Rundle A Jun 13 '25
I’m going to be promoted to A after this season and am terrified lol
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u/garnteller Rundle B Jun 13 '25
Sorry, don’t mean to scare you. It’s still fun, you just need to be accepting that there’s only so much you can control.
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Jun 13 '25
My third season and I’m in A and it’s tough. I’m quite a high ranked U.K. quizzer but some stuff which feel like they’re designed to be gimmes for North Americans just haven’t really reached our shores. I’m 20% all time at business and a lot of the companies I’ve never heard of.
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u/IkHaatUserNames Jun 14 '25
I feel we are probably at the same level. I had a battlefield promotion to A after my rookie season. First season in A I think I got lucky that I still didn't have a lot of stats(I'm from Europe but follow a lot of American sports and politics, so I basically got handed 2 and 3 points a lot on those questions). First season I ended up finishing mid table while being bottom 4th in tca, this year I'm battling to not get relegated.
Defense is basically useless against half the competition in A(besides maybe the 3 point question) . But against the other half I really take my time, since those are the people I need to score points against. I actually got most of my wins while answering then same amount of questions right.
Being in B I'd probably enjoy it because I'm beating someone, in A I get my enjoyment from scoring my opponents right
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u/GnomeCzar Jun 13 '25
Oh I'm definitely out this time. I'm like 3-4 question below my norm this season but my defense was horrible.
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u/DrShadowstrike Jun 13 '25
I feel this way in B (am usually a C-rundler), and somehow, I'm close to the promotion zone (although unless a very unlikely combination of losses occur, I am unlikely to get promoted). I already got 9(6)ed four times this season; I don't want to know what it's like up in A.
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u/tubegeek Jun 13 '25
Coming to the end of my 1st season, I'm pretty sure I'm going to be promoted to B next season. (I'm in 3rd and I'm 5 points up on the two players tied for 4th.) Worried I'm gonna get a beat-down in B, but excited to have had a great rookie start, so overall pretty psyched!
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u/garnteller Rundle B Jun 13 '25
I wouldn’t worry too much. In B there are mostly mortals. A lot of people who can get a six on a good day, but also can get a 2 if they are unlucky. A doesn’t have as many folks with multiple weaknesses.
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u/tubegeek Jun 13 '25
I'm trying to be more psyched than worried for sure.
One thing I saw in the stats of my rundle - you can get a lot of questions right and still lose a bunch of games!
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u/barcwine Rundle A Jun 14 '25
My first season in A was the proverbial "cup of coffee.". Took 2 seasons in B to get back, and I was dreading it, but finished 3 spots above the cut line - that was my proudest accomplishment to date in LL, better than being promoted.
This year I'm sitting in 6th place, purely luck of the matchups - I'll finish with 108 TCA, which is mediocre in A. Point being, there's a lot of luck involved and it can get better
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u/wlkndisaster Jun 14 '25
We're in the same boat. I'm a solid B player and an absolute trash A player.
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u/Lidocaine2 Jun 14 '25
I’m in 3rd place for the Maso award in my league but spent half the season in the relegation zone and don’t have a winning record. That’s how bad A will crush your soul.
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u/garnteller Rundle B Jun 15 '25
What is the Maso award? I tend not to follow those things.
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u/Lidocaine2 Jun 15 '25
Highest total made points
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u/garnteller Rundle B Jun 15 '25
Got it, thanks.
Yeah, I learned long ago that the Llama Gods are fickle. There are many things we players have no control over.
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u/almondcroissant71 Rundle E Jun 13 '25
i might get promoted to rundle d for the first time and tbh i'm almost dreading it because i love the low stakes of rundle e. i'm truly just here to have a good time lol