Guide: How to improve your game without improving your strategy

We've all been there. That personal wall where we feel we are superior, but still can only manage a 50% win rate (if that much). Here is a short list of ways to help your online battles without going in-depth into in-game strategy.

Perform regular physical activity

If you perform regular physical activity, you just become better at everything else. Physical training helps the development of the nervous system. It will also help promote proper hormone regulation, particularly serotonin. If you feel well, you'll play well. Work to achieve that state of zen before going online.

15 to 20 minutes of exercise is enough for a good day's climb up the online ladder.

Eat a "Balanced Diet"

Notice how I put "Balanced Diet" in quotes? That's because I'm not telling you to eat boiled chicken and veggies 6 times a day. If you want to lose significant weight that's fine, but the cost/return of this for your online ranking is so far out of whack you might as well start chanting prayers to the Norse gods. You will spend far less effort for a similar gain.

What I mean is, don't play when you're hungry or after eating a big meal. Don't drink 5 Red Bulls or cram yourself full of sugar while playing, you're bound to crash. Don't pig out, and don't starve yourself.

Be aware of your own condition

Have you had a stressful day at work/school? Are you in a terrible mood? Are you seeing the screen fuzzy? Have you had too much to drink this morning, you depraved alcoholic? Then don't play online ranked.

Whenever you don't feel in the best of conditions, stop playing online and just play a custom battle with the AI for a while until you get back to a normal mindset. Remember that online ranked battles are NOT a means to the end; it IS the end. Keep your mind and body in top shape before moving online.

Warm up

There's a reason why professional players in all competitive events warm up. There's actually two: the first one is to prevent injuries. Only really applicable to sports, right? Wrong. Carpal tunnel and cramps can occur at any time, and it's just as serious to you as a broken leg to a football player. If your back, neck, or hand is hurting during the heat of battle, then you will not have full concentration on what matters. Stretching your body and fingers will give you one less thing to bother you in a battle.

The second reason is to grease the wheels (so to speak) and wake your body and mind to perform at their best. Think of singers doing vocal exercises. That is the reason you should always warm up with a game vs the AI before going online. This is the mental version of the previous reason. If you haven't played for a while, you'll need to get back into a winning state before you are ready to win.

Set yourself a stop loss for the day

Of the tips I'm presenting, this is probably the most practical. All the other stuff you surely already knew. However, this is one trick not everyone thinks about, and it has such an incredible impact on your ranking you won't believe your eyes when you put it to action.

What you should do is as soon as you lose 2 online games on any given day, STOP PLAYING. You can certainly play against AI if you are bored; it's what it's for. But do NOT, under any circumstances, go online after losing twice in a day. There's a reason why compulsive gamblers lose their money: it's because they don't know when to stop while they are ahead. It's the same here; if you start losing battles, your mindset starts to fail you and you'll lose your zen. At that point, you're concentrating more on trying to make up for a loss in a battle and less on the tactics of said battle.

Be polite

This is it. The Big Bertha, the Cadillac, the mother of all tips. The one tip to rule them all. If you follow this one as consistently as possible, your rankings well definitely improve. What is this mystery tip? Most of you probably guessed it already. The tip is: Do NOT ever, EVER rage at your enemy. Remember how I placed all that emphasis on zen? The moment you start becoming a jerk, you have already lost because your winning mindset is gone. Even if the opponent is acting like an idiot, even if you get cheesed every game, you should take it like a warrior rather than some unwashed heathen. The best, and most honorable, way to put an idiot in their place is to dominate them through superior tactics, NOT stooping down to their level.