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How do you deal with Losing Streaks?

12,875
Posts
6
Years
  • Age 23
  • Seen today
I was almost at the 1800's on the random battle ladder. I lost a couple matches, and played more hoping I could get my number back. Now I'm down to the 1500's ~_~
 
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FireSnow

Show me that Fighting Spirit
2,644
Posts
8
Years
I've encountered this exact situation before, one thing that helped me was just stepping back for a day or two since i do not battle well when I'm trying too hard to reach a goal. It causes me to get inside my own head and battle poorly. That day or two away from it really helped to clear the head and get me back to what was working before
 

noa

sleeping cutie
5,472
Posts
8
Years
When I lose several times in a row I just do something else for a bit to clear my head. Maybe look up some strategies before jumping back in. That's it really.
 

Sirfetch’d

Guest
0
Posts
I'm really salty and start to tilt when I lose. This applies to all battling formats and other games. Usually when I lost 3 or more in a row I just quit for the day and do something relaxing.
 

WingedDragon

Competitive Trainer
1,288
Posts
11
Years
Been there. I was over 1600 in the battle Melee then finished below 1500. As much as you try to shake it off. sometimes it just doesnt work. stepping away is best
 
12,875
Posts
6
Years
  • Age 23
  • Seen today
I'll take the advice and stop playing for a couple days. I wanted to play as much as possible now, since next week will be stressful, but I'd rather not bury my record either.
 

Damien.aspiring.fandev

Chapter 16 A New Dawn { ||:^❩ )
960
Posts
6
Years
I play on Pokémon Showdown but rather than actually being competitive
I just surprise onix-pecting opposers with themed teams, my faves
being the JJM TRio from the anime, Wigglytuff's exploration guild from
Mystery Dungeon and the Go-Rock Quads from the Ranger games since
I get to paste mottos onto everyone's faces :P
I honestly don't really mind losing, I'd be bothered if the opponent started
verbally attacking me...
Actually, does showdown count? ~_~
 
8,973
Posts
18
Years
I'm really salty and start to tilt when I lose. This applies to all battling formats and other games. Usually when I lost 3 or more in a row I just quit for the day and do something relaxing.

basically this LOL

I just get really salty (except I'm really good at not showing it much) and I keep playing until I win at least one game, and then quit for the day.
 
8,279
Posts
15
Years
  • Age 27
  • Seen yesterday
I make a mental note of what mistakes I might have made to get there, and avoid repeating them in the future. It can be useful to save a replay and look over it later to find mistakes, but most often it's immediately clear what I did wrong.

Breaks always help, of course. Watching other battles, checking out other teams and new trends, etc. can motivate me to give things another go after the break. If the team is the problem, sometimes I'll take the original idea/core and remake the team with a different perspective.
 
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5qwerty

[b][font="open sans"]WHOLLY MOLEY[/font][/b]
2,102
Posts
14
Years
  • Seen Mar 6, 2024
I feel like anything with a kind of ELO or rating system brings out some kind of gambler in us. If we lose, then we end up at a spot that's lower than where we would be at had we not even played to begin with. It's kind of that mentality that "motivates" us to keep battling (or doing whatever) to try and get our points back.

With the Pok?mon ladder, as well as some other games (League of Legends for example, something that I have had experience with), it's not entirely up to us to win, as there is a large element of luck involved. You may get bad teammates in LoL. Random Battles are also by definition uncertain. In OU I'd say it's not as luck-reliant, but you may get matched against someone who has a team that wins easily against you. And don't forget, Pok?mon is a competitive game, so the good players always win hax exists. The point is, part of what determines if we win or not is not dependent on how we play, so sometimes we take a gamble. Tilt plays a factor too, we generally tilt more if we have lost more, so we subconsciously rely on these luck factors to pull us through.

It's hard to say what I'll do if I end up losing a lot. It probably depends on the reason why I lost. If I'm using a new team I just try to fix it. If I get haxed a lot I usually quit. If I realized that I screwed up, then I probably load up another game to fix my mistakes. I think what everyone else said is true in the general case - stop playing if you lose. After all, it's not fun to keep losing and it's really just a waste of time. With OU or other tiers at least you'll have a bit of control over the team you bring (I have this one team I ladder with, and it's pretty consistent at pulling out wins), but with Random Battle it's hard to say. Analyze your mentality and see if you're fit to keep battling for the day.
 
12,875
Posts
6
Years
  • Age 23
  • Seen today
I feel like anything with a kind of ELO or rating system brings out some kind of gambler in us. If we lose, then we end up at a spot that's lower than where we would be at had we not even played to begin with. It's kind of that mentality that "motivates" us to keep battling (or doing whatever) to try and get our points back.

With the Pok?mon ladder, as well as some other games (League of Legends for example, something that I have had experience with), it's not entirely up to us to win, as there is a large element of luck involved. You may get bad teammates in LoL. Random Battles are also by definition uncertain. In OU I'd say it's not as luck-reliant, but you may get matched against someone who has a team that wins easily against you. And don't forget, Pok?mon is a competitive game, so the good players always win hax exists. The point is, part of what determines if we win or not is not dependent on how we play, so sometimes we take a gamble. Tilt plays a factor too, we generally tilt more if we have lost more, so we subconsciously rely on these luck factors to pull us through.

It's hard to say what I'll do if I end up losing a lot. It probably depends on the reason why I lost. If I'm using a new team I just try to fix it. If I get haxed a lot I usually quit. If I realized that I screwed up, then I probably load up another game to fix my mistakes. I think what everyone else said is true in the general case - stop playing if you lose. After all, it's not fun to keep losing and it's really just a waste of time. With OU or other tiers at least you'll have a bit of control over the team you bring (I have this one team I ladder with, and it's pretty consistent at pulling out wins), but with Random Battle it's hard to say. Analyze your mentality and see if you're fit to keep battling for the day.

I agree with the part of Random Battles being luck based a lot. I admit, I do end up with decent teams a majority of the time. This is part of the reason I almost hit 1800. All it takes is 1 Pokemon to win a game. This replay is an example of me obviously losing, then bringing it back at the very end with 1 pokemon. It happens more than it should

http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7unratedrandombattle-647602339

Also, if you get Mega Blaziken with Swords Dance on your team, you pretty much win guaranteed. I have found no way to stop it. Heres another example

http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7randombattle-650925136

Another one which I don't have a replay saved for, is 5 members of my team being weak to Vanilluxe, with one being neutral. He started with Vanilluxe, used Autotomize, and swept my team. I couldn't do anything about it

Not only is it luck based on which teams you end up with, but you also factor in the normal pokemon things, such as moves missing, critical hits, etc...
 
12,875
Posts
6
Years
  • Age 23
  • Seen today
Down to 1400's after another losing streak. If I play more I'm probably going down to the 1300's. I don't feel like making a new account and I doubt I'm getting my rank back. Losing sucks. I hate everything about watching my number drop when I had it so high, I was starting to think I was decent at this game; so tilted now..I'm gonna find another game to kill time with because this is starting to upset me, for now im just gonna sleep -_-
 
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Frozocrone

Fighting a bigger fight
1,472
Posts
9
Years
I usually take a break.

Doesn't apply much to competitive Pokemon these days since I mainly game on Switch and haven't touched Showdown in forever, but for all the competitions on 3DS (for mega stones and stuff) I would take a break for at least an hour and do something else, like listen to music to cool off.
 

Link119

The Self-Proclaimed King
107
Posts
16
Years
  • Age 33
  • USA
  • Seen Apr 4, 2018
I get irked, but make sure to never take it out on others and to never discredit my opponent, even if hax decided the match...

Sometimes I need a break from playing to breath a little...Watch some youtube, play the casual side a bit, breed some new mons, whatevs...Do something unrelated to pokemon...Just make sure it never stops being fun...
 
8
Posts
6
Years
  • Age 22
  • Seen Apr 6, 2020
Man, I've always found the best way to deal with losing streaks is to just take a break. Usually, how I do it for any competitive game, not just Pokémon, is once I lose two in a row, it's break time. Take a few hours off and come back later, or maybe even the next day.
 
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