Originally published at: Welcome to the Losers’ Club - StimHack
Discuss the latest article here.
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Thank you for writing that article. The points you raised are applicable not just in to Netrunner but for mental health in general. Whatever you are feeling, talking to others can be very helpful. Most people are not only understanding but have felt that way many times before.
I’m glad you were able to turn your weekend around and leave with plenty of positive experiences.
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Hi there, loser’s club noob, you forgot rule #1 : you do not talk about the loser club =)
I made last place in my nat in 2016, I’ve been in the same place as you were (+ I had doubts raising) 
An important thing to do is to find game reasons and take decisions, or enjoy the warm place like I do.
If you don’t enjoy being there, then netdeck your way up to better places. Or be a True Johnny™ and escape the club by your own strenght, which at least gives you great excuses if you stay in that club
From 64/64, I made mid-field non-netdecking at my nats this year, missing +/- top 12 / 48 by no luck, making one of if not the best 2016-2017 progress.
So don’t worry, today’s salt is tomorow’s suggar !
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Great article! One thing that popped in my head was some advice from Marshall Sutcliff on the Limited Resources Podcast (odd that I listen to an MtG podcast even though I only draft about 3 times a year).
Sutcliff often will say, that focusing on your win-loss record can be misleading because there are times where you just have a metric crap-ton of bad luck. And at other times you can have a 3 kilo surge of good luck. But non of those are indicators of what kind of player you are.
Rather, the question is: At any given point during a match, are you making the best possible choices? Are you doing the little things that will give you a few slivers of percentage points? If so, then you are playing well–despite what is happening at the table. Essentially, control what you can control and give everything else to Jackson Howard.
(breathe. pause.)
And while I agree with that, it still sucks to lose. Even when I try to take that advice, sometimes it’s hard. Does it lower my chances of tilting? Sure. But even then, there’s a feeling that the Netrunner Gods are out to get me and it just feels unfair. Why Wotan? WHY?
Ultimately, I think the self-awareness you mention in the article (realizing that you are upset, processing it with other people, doing something ) is a huge key to deal with feeling down–because sometimes you can make all the good in-game decisions and Janus will give you the ole Double Faced Middle Finger.
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Almost everyone been where you were, and I hope that anyone who has a bad time at their first tournament comes across your article. Personally I’m jealous of you that you got to go to worlds, and I’m particularly jealous because the next time you beat one of your friends at a GNK or casual meetup you’ll be able to lean forwards and whisper to them “You just got swept by the worst player at Worlds. How does that make you FEEL?”
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Ha, yeah I told him I was sorry for putting him on blast. We were roommates at worlds. I love that guy but man he can talk!!!
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Thanks for your thoughts!
I wasn’t the worst but I was pretty close to the worst. I was only at the bottom table at round 4. I had a little bit of success to bump me up a few tables.
Well, you can say “17th worst” or something and it’ll still have the same effect! 
Anyway, I don’t actually recommend you say that to someone (unless they’re your friend and you know they’ll take it as a joke)!
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Oh, this one’s easy. You’re worshipping the wrong Netrunner Gods. Accepted practice for competitive players seems to be to direct all offerings to Jackson Howard.
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Great article, Kevin! Thanks for being so candid. I really appreciate the underlying positivity. If we can’t recover from losing, the fear of losing takes away from the fun of the competition and ultimately pushes us away from playing altogether. A very important message indeed!
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What a fantastic representation of a dismal run through swiss! Not like I’m cheering for your experience, but god, we’ve all been there, and you just lead us through that journey like we were doing it ourselves. It’s always a good reminder that losing can just happen, and isn’t always a bad thing (nor is it always indicative of your skill as a player). The Netrunner community is the best, though, isn’t it? Just getting back out there and hanging out with dudes is the best salve.
Also, +1 for @Joseki’s game Metal Pilot! That game is super sick. Also, I heard @crfluency wasted @bluebird503 at it (like just destroyed), so I wanted to bring that up real quick just to make Kyle feel bad But for real, though! If any of you meet John and he has the game on him, ask for a demo! It’s Mech Anime: The Card Game, and it kicks ass.
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Great point—every tournament is an opportunity to see if you can play better than the one before, and as hard as it is to shrug off the bad beats and hard times, trying to learn new things and play consistently well is a much more rewarding focus in the long run!
Well said
Great article! I also had a poor performance at Netrunner - even though I’m in the top 200 - and felt a lot of the same things. I’ve done poorly at Netrunning at Worlds two years in a row now, but I still have an amazing time. Being honest about being bummed about your poor performance is great advice though!
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On a slight parallel topic, did you notice that since Jackson stfu-ed, then there is no more Account Siphon, mmm ?
COINCIDENCE ?
Thank you very much for your honest report. This is how you sometimes feel if you are not fighting for the top cut and in general more fighting for 50:50 at a big tournament.
I was coming in 193 / 227 at the Euros event and it was feeling awkward! Booking for 3 days and only playing the first day…
Sometime I can get some motivation even out of a bad tournament when I have done something amazing like beating a top player the first time, beating a deck that was unlikely and it was based on my informed decision, so more looking on additional achievements which really count for me!
Yeah it kind of stinks but with all of the side events I ended up getting to play a lot of Netrunner. So booking multiple days was still worth it to me.
Jackson did not stfu. He returned to the Mainframe to watch over us. He will return when we are worthy.
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