Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[GendoIkari]

A week ago I was a level 36 on Isotropic; in the top 100 of all online Dominion players. The last 10 days, I'm 51-57-2. Dropped to level 31. I attributed my first bad day to just bad luck, but since then I've been noticeably outplayed. I've completely overlooked things such as Tactician/Vault, Inn/Tunnel. I've lost to a player who opened Great Hall!

Has this happened to anyone else? Is there a solution? Do I need a break from Dominion, or do I need to keep trying even harder to break out of it?

*Edit* Forgot to include one anecdote... the last game I won, I was absolutely sure that I was losing; by a whole lot. I ended the game on piles just to get it over with; because I thought I had no chance... and ended up barely winning. Just shows how poorly I was doing at paying attention to what had been happening with the game.

Another similar one; I thought for sure I was winning by a bunch, because my opponent had had some bad luck and had resorted to just buying estates most turns, while I was picking up some Provinces and Duches. He bought the last Estate to win... turns out he had been buying a bunch of Silk Roads, that I hadn't even noticed!!

[Robz888]

I haven't taken any big plunges, but I will have days now and then where I lose a bunch of games in a row... and then I lose more games in a row. I think this is my problem: I say to myself, "Why are you losing!? You are a good player. You must be overthinking your decks and trying to do fancy things with Counting House. Be simple!"

But my problem is always the opposite: I play too simply, and miss cool combos if they contain cards I tend to overlook. So in the "I've been losing" state of mind, this problem is just exacerbated. I play un-creatively, I play too quickly, I don't study the board and formulate a plan, and I lose big.

So I think the best advice for overcoming a slump is to take a deep breath before clicking your money on your first hand, think carefully about each card, and be sensible but creative. Then go for it.

[jsh357]

The same's been happening to me (though I'm starting to recover).  I was only in the top 150 but still.  I think that people have gotten way better at the game on average, or at least that's what it seems like.  I've been trying to play more and more carefully, though I'm still making horrifying mistakes from time to time.

[ecq]

It's happened to me a couple of times.  It starts with a streak of bad luck, which gets followed up by poor play because the losses mess with my thinking.  Alternately, I tend to lose when I'm stressed or tired.

Also, for whatever reason, I've noticed several low-level players who play way beyond their indicated level, and I lost a game against chwhite who was listed as level 0 at the time.  He said it was probably because he hadn't played in a while.  I'll lump these into the "Bad luck" category as well.

To shake it, you need to refocus, whatever that means for you.  Step away for a few minutes.  You haven't really gotten worse; everyone loses games due to factors unrelated to skill.

[GendoIkari]

I do think there's an amount of "other people are getting better" involved. I played several games against this level 24 who was doing amazing things that I wouldn't have expected out of anyone below 40... ignoring Sea Hag to crush me with a Menagerie engine; getting a bunch of Peddlers on a board without +buy to Bishop his was to a golden deck varient...

[Davio]

Let go of your ranking, you'll enjoy it more.

I've been playing less the last weeks and subsequently dropped down to the low 30's.
I didn't mind and started to care less and less about the rankings.

Now I'm enjoying it more and taking a more fresh approach to some of the games.
And would you believe it, my ranking's going up again until my usual ceiling of 35-ish.

Don't let your ranking stifle your play or decrease your fun!
A good ranking should be the result of you enjoying the game, not the other way around.

That being said, let go of mechanical thinking, it's very dangerous.
Don't zoom in on power cards thinking there's no way around them.
Consider the board as a whole. Even a cheap Duchess can be a very nice addition to your engine.

[Young Nick]

Well now that I have reached a new high (level 37), you all have me terrified that I am going to crash and burn for the next few days. I don't know if I am going to be able to play today or tomorrow!

But actually, the hardest thing to do is to let go during a losing streak and go do something else. You need to blow off steam, but not on Isotropic.

[BaruMonkey]

Man I wish I had you guys' problems. I've been stuck between levels 10 and 15 since I started 4 months (222 games) ago, and am now slipping back into the single digits.

[Brando Commando]

Man I wish I had you guys' problems. I've been stuck between levels 10 and 15 since I started 4 months (222 games) ago, and am now slipping back into the single digits.

At those levels, I wonder if it wouldn't help to ask anybody 10+ levels higher what you're doing wrong if you get a chance to play them. (I used to do this religiously but less so now...) I'm always surprised that people 10 levels below me never ask me why I beat them. Often it's a little unclear, but sometimes it's pretty simple and they're trying something crazy that would never work.

[timchen]

The first thing I think, is to use the point counter! Save your energy on more important things.

Beyond that, I would just say look back and see if you can recognize what errors you have made in those lost games.

[BaruMonkey]

The first thing I think, is to use the point counter! Save your energy on more important things.

Beyond that, I would just say look back and see if you can recognize what errors you have made in those lost games.

I do use the point tracker, pretty much every game.

And I find looking through logs of losses to be... disheartening? I'd much rather relive my wins, like my last turn here http://dominion.isotropic.org/gamelog/201204/23/game-20120423-184257-d5c076ec.html

[RisingJaguar]

The first thing I think, is to use the point counter! Save your energy on more important things.

Beyond that, I would just say look back and see if you can recognize what errors you have made in those lost games.

I do use the point tracker, pretty much every game.

And I find looking through logs of losses to be... disheartening? I'd much rather relive my wins, like my last turn here http://dominion.isotropic.org/gamelog/201204/23/game-20120423-184257-d5c076ec.html

I doubt you should be searching for games on councilroom.com or anything with your spare time.  But it is VERY good practice to look at the game after you just finished when its fresh on the brain and see how it all turned out.  You will increase your skill greatly if you focus on the opening, why or why it didn't work out.  Say the first.. 7-8 turns?  There's not enough time to focus on the whole game, or admire your fun combos because that's almost always the product of your opening. 

Asking the other person is a good idea too.  When I was levelling up, I often asked top opponents whether my moves were good or not.  I'm sure you'll run into a couple that find it annoying but I'm sure more often then not, they wouldn't mind and probably enjoy it. 

[sitnaltax]

I'm just coming off of a slump, and I think I know how you feel. My worst was when I dropped from my previous high of 33 all the way down to 25.

My advice is to take 5-7 days off. Wait until your motivation has changed from "I want to break this slump" to "I want to play Dominion." If you're like me, it's not really about the rating, but it's about proving to yourself that you're a good player. You are, but when you're frustrated about a slump, there's a little part of your brain that screws with your carefully tuned risk/reward intuition. This makes your play worse, so you make mistakes that you otherwise wouldn't.

By taking some time off, you let the dangerous frustration fade away, and you give your brain some time to process the patterns. Maybe still read the forums to keep the game in your mind. Yeah your rating will sink a little more, but that's just the uncertainty rising--it drops away anyway when you start playing again, and heck even your skill rating will go back up that little bit faster.

[theory]

I used to rage a lot in Dominion, and even quit for a couple months at a time.  Losing on a Torturer board because your buys never lined up, or having your opponent hit a KC-Possession at the best possible time, or seeing your opponent pull off Turn 5 Talisman-Watchtower -> Treasure Map x2 topdecking.

It really seems cliche, but it's true: as soon as you stop caring about your rating you feel a lot better.  Isotropic will disappear soon and everyone will forget your rating anyway   Right now my hiatus meant my ranking has sunk to its lowest point in a while, and I couldn't be happier because it has taken all the pressure off of winning.

Man I wish I had you guys' problems. I've been stuck between levels 10 and 15 since I started 4 months (222 games) ago, and am now slipping back into the single digits.

Mo' ranking points mo' problems.

[Papa Luigi]

I've never really cared about my ranking. I recently went on Council Room to check my stats for the very first time and I have more losses than wins. Oh well. It really helps if you don't think about it. I remember I used to play Call of Duty and Halo and stuff on Xbox Live, and I used to actually care about my k/d ratio, but it's just an exercise in frustration. It puts you on edge, causes you to not play "for fun" but instead for the ranking, and all that tension causes you to get worse.

Hell I remember sometimes my friends would come over and I'd get all nervous if they wanted to play a game on my Xbox because I was afraid they'd hurt my stats.