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[doesitgoboom]

The last 3 days I have hit a slump so bad it has me shaking my head. I cannot figure out where my play has gone so bad. I know am newer and have a lot to learn yet but it seems I am now getting crushed. Not that rating is that important but as I hit 4200 I have been beat back down to 3700. Just trying to improve and be more competitive.

[AdamH]

Losing may not be very good for your rating but it's a really good way to get better at the game. Without more details it's difficult to give you any relevant advice, but if there are games where you don't understand what happened, why you lost, or what the best strategy might be, I'd encourage you to post them in the Help subforum.

If there are cards or deck types you feel like you struggle with, well it's harder to talk about those, but maybe there are some articles about them? You could just play a bunch of games with a particular card, see what happens when you always go for it, see what happens when you always ignore it, that type of thing.

[Burning Skull]

Have you tried watching WW's Dominion videos while drinking morning coffee? If you can explain to yourself all the decisions he makes you are a competitive player already.

Also, are you good or not you will be on a losing streak from time to time anyway, that's fine.

[JW]

Have you tried watching WW's Dominion videos while drinking morning coffee? If you can explain to yourself all the decisions he makes you are a competitive player already.

Also, are you good or not you will be on a losing streak from time to time anyway, that's fine.

Here's Wandering Winder's channel: WW's channel

AdamH's Youtube channel also has a lot of games and he explains his thinking in detail, though it also has unjustified dislike of the best card in Dominion, Black Market. Adam's channel

[Jimmmmm]

I wouldn't read too much into a ratings swing. For a long time I stayed around the early- to mid-4000s, and then all of a sudden in the space of about a day I shot up to over 5000 for no apparent reason and have pretty much stayed there since.

[Awaclus]

I wouldn't read too much into a ratings swing.

Especially if it's the Goko rating.

[Jimmmmm]

I wouldn't read too much into a ratings swing.

Especially if it's the Goko rating.

Well yes exactly.

[Witherweaver]

Try being more better and less not better.

[Titandrake]

Posting in the Help subforum is a great starting point, but it doesn't scale well to improving over many games.

In every game you lose, try to identify something your opponent does that you didn't do. What that something is could be a big-picture strategy, or it could be a small ordering difference in when they buy actions. The log viewer is great for this.

If you agree with what they did, try to do that better next time. If you don't agree, consider changing your mind because they did beat you that game. You can post those games here for a 2nd/3rd/nth opinion.

The main thing is to become more observant of your opponent's play and your own. Although it can be hard to identify mistakes, it's impossible to identify mistakes if you can't recall what you and your opponent have done in studious enough detail.

[Cave-o-sapien]

I found that drinking while playing decreased (slightly) my odds of winning.

[iguanaiguana]

I found that drinking while playing decreased (slightly) my odds of winning.

Are we talking first or second glass? Because there's a critical difference and I will maintain that the first glass of beer/wine will make you a better dominion player 1000% of the time.

[Drab Emordnilap]

I found that drinking while playing decreased (slightly) my odds of winning.

Are we talking first or second glass? Because there's a critical difference and I will maintain that the first glass of beer/wine will make you a better dominion player 1000% of the time.

Well, sure, first-glass advantage has been shown to exist on most boards.

[Burning Skull]

I found that drinking while playing decreased (slightly) my odds of winning.

Are we talking first or second glass? Because there's a critical difference and I will maintain that the first glass of beer/wine will make you a better dominion player 1000% of the time.

Well, sure, first-glass advantage has been shown to exist on most boards.

Yeah, drinking is OP.

[Beyond Awesome]

Posting in the Help subforum is a great starting point, but it doesn't scale well to improving over many games.

In every game you lose, try to identify something your opponent does that you didn't do. What that something is could be a big-picture strategy, or it could be a small ordering difference in when they buy actions. The log viewer is great for this.

If you agree with what they did, try to do that better next time. If you don't agree, consider changing your mind because they did beat you that game. You can post those games here for a 2nd/3rd/nth opinion.

The main thing is to become more observant of your opponent's play and your own. Although it can be hard to identify mistakes, it's impossible to identify mistakes if you can't recall what you and your opponent have done in studious enough detail.

Also, some games can't be helped ex. bad opening split, chapel missing the first shuffle, etc.

[Cave-o-sapien]

I found that drinking while playing decreased (slightly) my odds of winning.

Are we talking first or second glass? Because there's a critical difference and I will maintain that the first glass of beer/wine will make you a better dominion player 1000% of the time.

This is semi-anecdotal, but I found that a single beer had an adverse effect. I wouldn't otherwise feel any effects of having drunk the beer, but I would notice I was losing more.

[pacovf]

Clearly you should have drunk more. Then you would not notice it anymore.

[Elanchana]

Suggestions from someone who is set on improving but hates to dwell on the past and has trouble reading logs:

1. Read up on the general side. Browse ds.com and the wiki. Get intimately familiar with deck types, combos, counters, etc. so you can know what you're getting into with each game as quickly and easily as possible.

2. Play unrated. There's nothing wrong with protecting your rating/level by going into practice mode. You can experiment and get experience with particular cards, combos, or overall strategies without your mistakes making a dent in your "reputation".

3. If your opponent lets you, overanalyze. Adam Horton's method of pinpointing all the basic card types works really well, and I like to supplement that with what I call the "theatre student method": goal, tactics, obstacles (as specific as possible).

4. Stream! There's nothing that makes me as critical of my own play as knowing that someone's watching and judging me. If you can get active people in your stream chat, you'll be getting advice and critique of your play IN REAL TIME! It's much faster than having to post in the help subforum and explain everything after the fact, and even your rating won't suffer as much because you'll be able to apply new suggestions as soon as you learn them. Of course, this only works if you're comfortable streaming in the first place, but it's still worth mentioning.

[pubby]

It's a proven fact that anyone who watches 50 Wandering Winder videos will reach level 30 shortly after.

[SCSN]

It's a proven fact that anyone who watches 50 Wandering Winder videos will reach level 30 shortly after.

Is this a recommendation to avoid them?

[assemble_me]

It's a proven fact that anyone who watches 50 Wandering Winder videos will reach level 30 shortly after.

Is this a recommendation to avoid them?

Srsly, 30 seems like a lot when you start playing. Though, after being stuck in the low 30's for almost a year I'd really like to make some progress

As some people noticed:

- Watch streams or recorded streams / yt videos. They don't have to be live, but that has the advantage that other good players may answer questions or reply to suggestions of what you would do. Watching videos helped me a lot. WanderingWinder is a very good player and has gotten mentioned already, there are many more out there like Stef, Mic Qsenoch, Adam Horton, SheCantSayNo....

- Keep calm, even if it looks like you're getting really unlucky. Luck happens. Dominion is a card game, even if you play perfectly, you may lose against an opponent who plays less perfectly. That can be pretty tough and is a question of temper, too. But I think trying to keep calm is something that has helped me recently. Also, you have to accept that you're going to make a lot of mistakes. Even the best players in the world make them.

- It's nice to play against people you know on a more or less regular base. This way you also won't run into idiots who start flaming when you start to think a little on a complicated board.

- It never hurts to look through a log after the game.

- Use the Help section if you can't figure out what you did wrong on specific boards.

[terminalCopper]

there are many more out there like Stef, Mic Qsenoch, Adam Horton, SheCantSayNow ....

Playing her must be terribly slow.