How to boost your rating?

[Rikko145]

Next season, I'm wanting to push my rating as high as I can get it. (Assuming one does fairly well), how would you go about boosting it? I've heard of dropping at certain times in tournaments, but I'm clueless. Could somebody please explain these things to me? Thanks!

[Lunar Wing]

Win games. Don't lose games.

[gallade]

win battles......

[Jexar]

Just make sure you win the third round every time, its worth double points.

[Rikko145]

First two - Thanks, but that was a given. Anything else?

Jexar - Really?

[Amt]

Well, just remember when you're playing in tournaments or practicing at league to follow this guide:

http://pokegym.net/forums/showthread.php?t=149570

Definitely will give you an advantage over other players, hopefully helping you win more games - aka more points.

[Lunar Wing]

Yeah, sorry about being a little blunt about it. But Jexar is right that when you get to round three that it's worth double. Basically going 3-0 drop is the smartest thing to do.

[Rikko145]

AMT - That's off-topic. Looking for rating boosters.

[Amt]

AMT - That's off-topic. Looking for rating boosters.

That sounds really pathetic. Just win games, man. If you're good and have a bit of luck on your side, you'll get the invite next season with no sweat.

edit: contrary to popular belief, not all of my posts are sarcastic.

[Rikko145]

Lunar Wing - All tournaments, or just the bigger ones? Because if you go 3-0 at BR's or Cities, you're probly gonna be in the TC anyways, so I assume you'd play it out if you think you stand a good chance in those situations?

[Mama_Luigi]

BRs, play it out.

Cities: Depends...

[baby mario]

Don't dress like your deck.

[Cyrus]

Win games; don't lose games; don't take foolish risks with deck choice (save the turbo Walrein for a later day).

[Bloodbane]

Pooka didn't save turbo walrein for another day, he was 2nd at nats. What do we learn from that? Walreins are uber.

[LOLZ]

Next season, I'm wanting to push my rating as high as I can get it. (Assuming one does fairly well), how would you go about boosting it? I've heard of dropping at certain times in tournaments, but I'm clueless. Could somebody please explain these things to me? Thanks!

Win games, don't lose games. After the last swiss round (but before final standings are posted) if you know that most of the other possible top cut decks are auto losses, drop to safe points.

The more events you play in the more points you can win (or lose). Play in: Nats, Regs, 2 states and as many Cities as possible. GA Marathon is a good source of points.


Yeah, sorry about being a little blunt about it. But Jexar is right that when you get to round three that it's worth double. Basically going 3-0 drop is the smartest thing to do.

Please Explain that one to me.

[pkmn202]

2.) Guard your deckbox.

I've heard getting your deck stolen is very bad for your rating.

[Rikko145]

I'm liking the suggestions! I appreciate it a lot, and keep em coming! So, what we have so far is:
-Win games.
-Don't lost games.
-Don't take foolish risks with deck choice.
-Go 3-0 and drop? I'm hearing mixed opinions on this.
-Third round is worth double points.
-Attend Nats, Regionals, 2 States, and as many small tournaments my gas tank can afford. :lol:

I miss anything? Also, why is the GA Marathon specifically good? (And please tell me what that is. :tounge: I feel noobish.)

[Rambo1000]

honestly you'd probably lose points at the GA marathon

[z-man]

GA Marathon is so good because there are so many tournaments. There are huge amounts of points to be won there, and it really gives you an advantage early in the season. I'd recommend you ask someone who has experience with this what to do each tournament. I usually play out my BRs, play out my Cities if I feel I can win, drop at States depending on my record (and if I think I can win), drop at Regionals (although I wasn't loyal to that this year... which cost me big time), and drop at nats IF AND ONLY IF I can get the invite from getting a few points. Um... just play good decks, don't lose, know your rating at all time, and don't dress like your deck. The simple stuff, you know. :)

[Rikko145]

z-man, when do you recommend dropping? From what I understand, it's as soon as you lose? Or after the third round, if before then?

[kwisdumb]

The other thing to consider is that if you're looking for a Worlds invite, you don't necessarily want to "push my rating as high as possible" and instead want to reach a certain area through tactical use of dropping and such. You only need to be at a certain range to squeak in on a Worlds invite, and if that's what you're looking for there's not much of a point in risking it once you're comfortable where you're at.

Other general tips:

- Play the deck that gives you the best chance of winning the tournament. If this is an anti-meta rogue, then go for it, and if this is the BDIF, then go for it. Just be honest when making that decision.

- Be smart about dropping to conserve points. A medal or packs or whatever might be nice, but if your ultimate goal is to get a Worlds invite, there are certain times when you don't want to play out the top cut, etc.

[z-man]

As soon as you lose if and only if you are almost there. Drop when you are not confident that you can continue winning. Usually x-0 players drop 6th or 7th rounds. Just drop when you feel comfortable. If you don't know how to drop on a dime, play the tournament out. If you are good enough to get an invite, it shouldn't do too much to your rating. Drop when you are able to get a big positive -- Usually that's when you X-0 or X-1.

[Toxic]

I say that if you are good enough to deserve a World's invite then you will get one. But that's just me.

[Rikko145]

I understand now. Thanks, guys! Sorry about all the questions, but I have another. What is the range you squeak in at?

[ALEXARD]

Don`t get stucked in your local league, go to other locations, this is not optional since you can`t choose the opponent but beating players (in the game) with a higher ranking boosts your ratings for about 20% or even more, and defeating lower ranked players gives you 30% less than usual, during Regionals and States this are quite significant, in BR or CC i wouldn`t bother for it.

Attending to only Big tourneys would work too, winning with a perfect score in 4 BR can be easily beaten by attending to 2 SC, win 4 rounds in a row and drop after that, you would get like 150+ points this way instead of 120+.

[Gengar16]

Go to a LOT of cities. The K value is worht 16 which is half of any big tournament and there are lots of them.

[losjackal]

Go to a LOT of cities. The K value is worht 16 which is half of any big tournament and there are lots of them.

I second this. My son, a Junior, won four Cities...I think we attended at least 6? Obviously harder to do in Seniors and Masters, but as someone else said, it's not necessarily about winning the whole thing, but winning X number of matches worth anywhere from 5 to 10 points each.

On that point, my son was lucky to go undefeated at a States and then a Regional tournament too. He may have been able to win either one with a single loss too, but the difference to your rating of 6-1 vs. 7-0 is roughly the K value of the tournament!

I think that's what some people are saying about dropping when you are X-0 (even after the "third round"), if that next round might be a loss for you. Take the points and run! Otherwise, a 3-1 record is the same thing as a 2-0 record....and could even be worse if you lose to a player with a markedly lower rating.


In closing, some people gave us advice throughout the year of "don't worry about your rating, it doesn't matter until you play the games at Nationals". I can see that advice being generally sound. But if you strive to do better, boost your rating as high as you can throughout the year, so you have as much of a cushion at Nationals. Players in the top 20 of the current rankings can walk out of Nationals with an even or slightly losing record and still keep their invitation. Players near the cutoff right now need to go X-0 drop to get the invite! That makes Nationals a little more like work and less like fun, and given the uncertainty of the format, I'm glad we're in the former camp this year.

[z-man]

Don`t get stucked in your local league, go to other locations, this is not optional since you can`t choose the opponent but beating players (in the game) with a higher ranking boosts your ratings for about 20% or even more, and defeating lower ranked players gives you 30% less than usual, during Regionals and States this are quite significant, in BR or CC i wouldn`t bother for it.

Attending to only Big tourneys would work too, winning with a perfect score in 4 BR can be easily beaten by attending to 2 SC, win 4 rounds in a row and drop after that, you would get like 150+ points this way instead of 120+.
I love your math. Teach me plz. League doesn't award K points >.< Beating higher ranked players does give you points, but your math only proves that 93% of statistics are made up. The point gain/loss are entirely determined by your win probability (changes depending on your rating and the opponent's rating). I'd love to see a play get 120 points from any number of BRs. You can't even get 150+ points by 4-0ing states best case scenario. That'd be 32*4 = 128 < 150 AT BEST (if this happens... I'll applaud you).

Don't worry about the actual numbers. Just play VERY WELL and go to the majority of the tournaments that you can go to. Just don't worry about ratings... if you are good enough, play all of the tournaments through and you'll get your invite. I'd worry about increasing your skill before increasing your points. Wait until masters for the nitty-gritty dropping stuff... seniors just rewards skillful play alone.

[ALEXARD]

If you read carefully through the thread it was stated that 3rd round wins doubled your rating/ranking, and nobody denied it Z-men brain, assuming that was true, how much is 128 + 32 (2 doubled wins)? considering you are always defeating players with a higher or equal ranking of course, but since a good performance gives you a higher winning chance, your earned points will be less than 16 every time you win.

Your local league is what just a few of us understand as the store where you go to play Pokemon TCG oftenly, and most likely the nearest location where premier events such as BR or CC are being run.

[TheDarkTwins]

The best way to make it in, is to win over 70% of your games, while playing in every event you can. Since 2006, I have a 73% winning percentage and that has got me 5 straight invites to Worlds.

Drew

[Jason]

Possibly best to be at an over 80% win ratio, This season, I ended with 84% :)

[Qwachansey]

I have seen people repeatedly come in late to tournaments in order to play against the players who have already lost a few rounds and so are likely worse than the 3-0 or 2-0 players. People do this in order to gain a few points, but it is rather against the SOTG and I am not sure if it's allowed at all.

[z-man]

If you read carefully through the thread it was stated that 3rd round wins doubled your rating/ranking, and nobody denied it Z-men brain, assuming that was true, how much is 128 + 32 (2 doubled wins)? considering you are always defeating players with a higher or equal ranking of course, but since a good performance gives you a higher winning chance, your earned points will be less than 16 every time you win.

Your local league is what just a few of us understand as the store where you go to play Pokemon TCG oftenly, and most likely the nearest location where premier events such as BR or CC are being run.
I actually lol'd. Nobody took that claim seriously... at least so I thought. That is absolute nonsense that winning in the 3rd round doubles your points. It was made as a joke, and we were supposed to move on. Stop being so gullible :P

Also, you created an error in response based on using the improper terms for a concept. League is a weekly/semi-weekly group of people at a location under the "league" system. If you meant local tournaments, say local tournaments. Don't be wishy washy.

Qwachansey, no rules breaking there... and no SOTG violations either. It is not dishonest. Players can choose when to enter and when not to. The ELO system is balanced in such a way that when a good player plays a bad player, the good player can win less points than the bad player can. It all balances out. I have never seen anyone respectable do that, and I'm not sure I have seen any qualifiers ever do that... it isn't very smart after the season gets started and people start getting their points into line.

[Qwachansey]

Well, it can be considered unfair that the loosing players have to play much better ones who plan on going to Worlds.

[Jaeger]

Possibly best to be at an over 80% win ratio, This season, I ended with 84% :)

Not talking down to you guys Jason, but it is a little harder to do in the US especially with single matches (donks play a larger roll)

[ALEXARD]

You are the one being picky over terms, I will save you the work of googling it in order to avoid misleads or your fear to accept you are wrong.

"At its simplest, it may be a local group of amateur athletes who form teams among themselves and compete on weekends"

"A league is a unit of length (or, rarely, area). It was long common in Europe and Latin America, but it is no longer an official unit in any nation. The league originally referred to the distance a person or a horse could walk in an hour"

The doubled rating was supposed to be a JOKE... you mean here !? where nobody let`s go the tiniest thing, that`s the worst claim I heard so far. Anyway you got your answer about the formula, and the claim was never denied because very few people here manages TOM, since I am not as guillable as you assume, I actually researched about it, and it seems to actually happen, but only in the program during the tourney, your published K value at PP! remains almost the same most of the time, but you can notice the slight change during either rounds 3-4 (this is never constant), 6 and 9. Seems to be some sort of glitch manually corrected before reporting, but some players happen to keep the bonus in their records... but a doubled 2 is no that spectacular, and talking about that, BR results show me a K value of 2 instead of 4.

Is imposible to choose your winning rate, you just play through the tournament and do your best to win, I am still right about the huge advantage that states or regionals can give you over CC and BR, if you actually want a worlds invite is better to save your money to travel during SC or RC seasons to as many leagues/tournaments/premiere events locations as possible.

[Rap Tor]

About dropping, if you plan on playing at worlds, you need more experience. Like you know against good people dropping before cut can be a bad idea as you will lose this chance to play against better people then say the first few rounds. Also playing I the top cut can give you extra pressure, you will need some experience of dealing with that in worlds, so why not here, basically. If you don't have much experience in the top cut, I would suggest actually playing it out. If you are good enough to play in worlds you shouldn't be trying to bend the system so it happens.

[Darkmot]

I've heard of dropping at certain times in tournaments, but I'm clueless.
LEt me explain how dropping really works effectively:

THe first thing you have to do before you drop in a tournament is to make sure, that your rating is already high, so there is no dropping until you have at least the rating you wanted to reach.
In order to safe your rating dropping is sometimes a good choice in later rounds only, assuming, that you won more Games than you lost, or went undefeated.
Sometimes it helps to find out who the next oppenent is and what he plays, but that's not always possible, so you should make a plan before the tournament starts, how many games you want to play.

I hope that answered your question.

[Son_of_Apollo]

It's not difficult. Just win. If you're not confident about your matchups in the next round, drop.

[Rikko145]

Z-man - I'll be in Masters this next season.

[Alazor]

Invite lots of friends to play with you in a tournament where no one really plays, so they can lose against you and then you drop.

[jeffrey123]

dude! you took 64th at US NATS 2010! I thought you were a "hero?"

lolz

[Rikko145]

As far as a town that is smaller than half the high schools in our state (literrally), I was. :lol:

[grassmaster239]

Actually, No one cared. And

Population of Winamac Indiana, (the town I used to live in if anyone cares) 2,464

Most high schools don't have that many people.

[Rikko145]

lol, nice attempt. Wait, let me rephrase that. . . no it wasn't. The South Bend High School (whatever the official name is), and several southern schools. I have friends that go down there, and there is a (evidently "small") graduating class of 850+. Last time I checked, 850 (attendants) x 4 (grades) = 3400. And 3400 > 2,464 (if that's even correct.). So try looking into things or at least asking somebody that knows before posting instead of making things up to try to spite me. Have a good one.