Everyone admits the rating system is screwed up but there is not one player on the boards who would not have done the exact same thing as Ross or any of the others who set out Nats, including you Chuck.
There is no possible rating I could have that would make me sit out Nats. There is no possible rating Jason, Jimmy, Moss, Fulop, Eric Craig, Pooka, Pablo, [insert any other legitimate player] could have that would make them sit out nats. Any player whos been around the game for a while can tell you that Nationals is infinitely superior to Worlds in terms of players, and fun factor. People just see the words "Hawaii" and freak out about the trip because they have some misconception that Hawaii is some magical land where dreams come true, and not just some Island where people go to get eaten by Sharpedos.
It is actually ridiculously stupid to sit out Nats for any reason, ESPECIALLY for the trip. The prizes for Nats are basically the same as the prizes to worlds. Are you telling me you're gunna pass up a chance at $5000 and the title of National Champion for a trip to Hawaii? Assuming you can stay with a friend (which is highly likely), you only have to pay for a flight to worlds, which is at max $500. Doesnt take the best Poker player in the world to figure out that 10:1 pot odds is a good deal!
In my opinion, everyone who sat out Nats is a coward, coward, COWARD, and is basically admitting their metagame is horrible. Ross and Kettler wont even HESITATE to play 30 battle road games but not a single Nationals game? (actually, ONE nats game, and it was a loss) That's basically saying "I know my metagame is bad. I refuse to play against people who actually know what they're doing. Why would I play against good players when I can just beat on the bad ones". Let's say Ross's rating before his last battle road was 2030. Are you telling me this kid will play a tourney with 2030, but NOT with 2050? He has to be SO sure that his opponents are gunna be GOD awful at that battle road in order to justify that. He knows that if he takes ONE loss, then he will lose points on the day, thus in order for him to correctly play the tournament, he has to be CERTAIN that hes not taking a loss. When you're CERTAIN you're not taking a loss in a game of luck, you just know your battle road is full of horrible players. Same goes to Kettler. Kettler dropped after round 1 of Nats after a loss "just incase I get unlucky". Where was that reasoning for battle roads pal? Can you not get unlucky at battle roads? It just makes me so sick that people try to intentionally dodge the good players.
The whole rating system situation is just so disgusting right now. I could go on for hours talking about every little flaw in it, but I wont. All I'll say is I will not be playing Pokemon next season if a legitimate system doesnt show up. People are actually losing friends over this garbage. DMTM is spinning in his GRAVE. Spirit of the Game is officially in the same place as Chivalry: dead.