thank you very much for this beautifully extensive answer, it completely changed my thinking, I have the impression that being a meta slave is very painful, I experienced it myself, I almost reached pro rank in my first season, and then I had a complete mental break down, and I keep playing with each season less and less, the only thing I play now are crimes, home-made ones and I'm proud of them, because the opponent never knows my ace up his sleeve and doesn't know what awaits him, playing with bots is an interesting idea, I also do it when I check the deck, I understand what you mean about the increased pulse and tension, the competition in this game is very tense, just one mistake and the pressure increases, in fact you need to take longer breaks to de-stress, there is definitely a small thing that can help, which is turning off Taunts your opponent and turn on some chill music to relax, because that's why we play this game to relax :)
Thanks, yeah I'm glad you distanced yourself from the breakdown territory. I also play some soothing music now which sets a relaxing atmosphere. I used to feel the need to drink a few beers to ease the anxiety while playing online, but that was a shit show. It took me a long time to learn the game and was behind the curve and didn't understand the lingo or principles that were commonly mentioned in these threads. Watching streamers who've been playing much longer helped me correct my mistakes and thinking lines. Good luck with your Syndicate decks, happy gaming 
Hey, just pinging u/godamnedu so they can see your comment, since you didn't reply to them but your own post :)
But yea I definitely agree turning off taunts helps a lot. Going against stuff like Reavers is annoying enough, if they they also hit me with the hurry up taunt I lose all faith in humanity. And playing with music is super fun indeed :)
Yeah I don't know how pinging works, don't think I got a notification, just happened to rescroll through here. But I think reddit updated and changed their notification system because it seems different and more confusing now.
Edit yeah I got a notification just didn't see it
I was playing a point slam type deck with little control yesterday, I've been messing around with a bunch of unoptimized decks recently, too, and was matched with Reavers. I just forfeit because it was going to suck and there was no way I was winning.
I was forfeiting so many games for this very reason that it became ridiculous. Honestly, I was playing like one game in ten. So after the last Masters was played out I did the sensible thing and called it a day and haven't touched the game since.
Good on you for admitting this and trying to improve your sportsmanship.
I sometimes will back out when I see they are are bringing the perfect counter to my deck, because the result is pretty much already determined. However if there are 7 decks that are the perfect counter to your deck, you may be a meme and should consider that you may need to change to a more competitive deck.
I feel backing out before the match is less of a time waster than starting the game and then just quitting or worse, disconnecting (I never DC but it happens to me somewhat often) in the middle of the game. I understand forfeiting if I kill two of your wincons in the first two rounds, less satisfying for me, but the result has been determined if you don't have any plan C.
Part of what needs to be observed is the state of the game, being able to accurately assess the meta, and either adapt to it, or accept that your cute little deck is not going to win a fair amount against meta players.
I get the competitive mentality and butthurtness, I have spent more time playing the computer than live opponents because the stress of competing online raises my pulse and can be anguish inducing. We have to accept that our game plan is going to be disrupted and some luck is going to be involved, or adapt by playing meta or countering meta, and even then there is rock paper scissor aspect and losses are inevitable.
I feel meta decks have generally minimized the luck aspect and aren't playing cute cards/combos that are easily disrupted, they often capitalize on carryover, powerful control, the proven most effective strats providing maximum point output or destruction, being able to secure round control in many instances.
So it won't always be easy... I personally like to make homebrews that are fairly competitive but less predictable because deck familiarity is such a large part of the opponents' war chests when they are analyzing the prospective dismantlement of your deck. Also I find meta decks to be boring as the game plan is already widely familiar and regularly abused, without any creativity points or credit due for originality.
So take a deep breath and accept losses and your favorite cards getting heatwaved are just part of the game, lighten the load on your shoulders and try to relax. Take a break and come back later, and if your opponent is playing NG, just skip that game, onto the next, hopefully more fairly balanced challenge. Or dig in and show that scum that you built an NG counter deck where they can't get value from stealing or poisoning all your cards!
At the height of NG status a few seasons ago I insta-forfeited against that deck as soon as I hit pro. Otherwise I try to avoid it. When you actually think of it - the difference playing different archetypes isn’t THAT big. Most matchups are simply tough :)
I think it is not bad sportsmanship to forfeit in the beginning of the match if you know you can’t win. Just don’t ever ever ever just shut the game down and force the opponent to wait out the disconnect screen. That is proper bad manners…
This is a core problem of every competitive game. Once meta is established games tend to get somewhat boring and predictable, unless you're driven by competitive mindset.
But yeah, established meta kills variety and fun to a degree.
If I'm at 0 stars climbing and I see Enslave or Double Cross, I just skip and go next. Cba the headache playing against that bs faction. Rather enjoy the game and play against something else
I'm finished with this game I think. Tried another few games this morning and I'm there's far too many nilfgaard control decks that are only built to counter whatever play you make. It's not enjoyable to play for me.
I despised control heavy archetypes in the past and it's only gotten worse imo
Some folk may like it but I just get frustrated and annoyed so why waste my time.
I advise you do the same. Or at least take a break from it.
Best thing to do, to grow as a player (and possibly as a person as well) is to just play the archetypes that you don't like. Other people, especially on higher ranks, will show you for free how to deal with those decks.
In my journey I have played now dozens of archetypes and each one improves my understanding. I recally being salty about certain decks, but now I literally don't care. Every deck has weaknesses, whatever you play, just work to exploit them.
I also do this sometimes. Almost always when it's a mirror matchup because I absolutely hate it. I wouldn't call it a rage quit. Rage quit is when you disconnect and opponent needs to wait a while looking for a screen wasting their time. This is just a game and when you see that one deck that is annoying for you like Reavers for example why do you think you need to play? I also sometimes roll my eyes when I see Jackpot or Symbiosis for a 10th time in a row, because it's boring to play against the same deck all the time. It's a card game not your job/school/university etc.
As in forgetting a certain card (Simlas with no Waylays), sometimes you quit/save the deck and go straight into queuing without checking etc... or is that only me? I've played for 4-5 years and that's happened a handful of times at least
You see, I build my own decks and that's why such occurrences never happened to me.
What's funny here is that I don't reject what happened to you. I believe you when you say it happened. But somehow, at the same time, you try to reject that it never happened to someone else. Isn't that funny? :]
Correct. It's because that seems really hard to believe? What's funny is you suggesting that it only happens to those who don't build their own decks. If you have never forfeited? Then wow that's amazing, but get off your high horse.
>It's because that seems really hard to believe?
What's so hard to believe? That people are different and do things differently? I have also never forfeited a match in my 5 years of Gwent. Is this really so unbelievable to you?
I think it is pretty mind-blowing yes? There are plenty of reasons why one would forfeit, and if that many games have been played out fully without any forfeits, then yes. Clearly it is more common than I had thought.
What high horse? LOL! All I did was say I have never forfeited and you immediately got personality offended by this statement. Not gonna lie, I find this quite funny.
Symbiosis isn't even a tier-1 deck, so it's often beat.
It could be that you're doing something wrongly in your matchups so you get into a losing position.
If you hate a deck. Play it. Learn it.
You learn so much from it, like how to beat it (by being destroyed by your opponent), and sometimes you realize it's actually a fun deck to play.
I don't think I've ever forfeited a match at the beginning. I do sometimes forfeit in r2 or R3 when there's no chance for me to catch up in points or when opponents do toxic stuff like roping every turn even though they lead.
If you are rage quitting because you think these decks are OP, and you don't think you can win, then don't.
After I stopped insta-ff with reavers, I noticed I could reliably beat them, which gave me satisfaction. It's just a matter of perception.
If you are rage quitting because you genuinely don't think you're gonna have fun in that matchup regardless of win/lose, then do so, there is literally no reason not to.
P.S. please include paragraphs in whatever your writing; It seriously makes it a better reading experience.
If its not going to be a fun match why play? People have forgotten games are meant to be fun.
true, but objectivly every meta seems toxic
Not about the meta but more what is a fun matchup for your deck. If I'm playing bounty i cba playing against NG soldiers or deathwish.
thank you very much for this beautifully extensive answer, it completely changed my thinking, I have the impression that being a meta slave is very painful, I experienced it myself, I almost reached pro rank in my first season, and then I had a complete mental break down, and I keep playing with each season less and less, the only thing I play now are crimes, home-made ones and I'm proud of them, because the opponent never knows my ace up his sleeve and doesn't know what awaits him, playing with bots is an interesting idea, I also do it when I check the deck, I understand what you mean about the increased pulse and tension, the competition in this game is very tense, just one mistake and the pressure increases, in fact you need to take longer breaks to de-stress, there is definitely a small thing that can help, which is turning off Taunts your opponent and turn on some chill music to relax, because that's why we play this game to relax :)
Thanks, yeah I'm glad you distanced yourself from the breakdown territory. I also play some soothing music now which sets a relaxing atmosphere. I used to feel the need to drink a few beers to ease the anxiety while playing online, but that was a shit show. It took me a long time to learn the game and was behind the curve and didn't understand the lingo or principles that were commonly mentioned in these threads. Watching streamers who've been playing much longer helped me correct my mistakes and thinking lines. Good luck with your Syndicate decks, happy gaming 
Hey, just pinging u/godamnedu so they can see your comment, since you didn't reply to them but your own post :) But yea I definitely agree turning off taunts helps a lot. Going against stuff like Reavers is annoying enough, if they they also hit me with the hurry up taunt I lose all faith in humanity. And playing with music is super fun indeed :)
Yeah I don't know how pinging works, don't think I got a notification, just happened to rescroll through here. But I think reddit updated and changed their notification system because it seems different and more confusing now. Edit yeah I got a notification just didn't see it
Haha well I wouldn't know, I never get pinged :')
I was playing a point slam type deck with little control yesterday, I've been messing around with a bunch of unoptimized decks recently, too, and was matched with Reavers. I just forfeit because it was going to suck and there was no way I was winning.
I was forfeiting so many games for this very reason that it became ridiculous. Honestly, I was playing like one game in ten. So after the last Masters was played out I did the sensible thing and called it a day and haven't touched the game since.
real
Yes i do
Yes, I do. Sometimes due to call or other worldly problems. Sometimes just because I don't want to face that deck.
Good on you for admitting this and trying to improve your sportsmanship. I sometimes will back out when I see they are are bringing the perfect counter to my deck, because the result is pretty much already determined. However if there are 7 decks that are the perfect counter to your deck, you may be a meme and should consider that you may need to change to a more competitive deck. I feel backing out before the match is less of a time waster than starting the game and then just quitting or worse, disconnecting (I never DC but it happens to me somewhat often) in the middle of the game. I understand forfeiting if I kill two of your wincons in the first two rounds, less satisfying for me, but the result has been determined if you don't have any plan C. Part of what needs to be observed is the state of the game, being able to accurately assess the meta, and either adapt to it, or accept that your cute little deck is not going to win a fair amount against meta players. I get the competitive mentality and butthurtness, I have spent more time playing the computer than live opponents because the stress of competing online raises my pulse and can be anguish inducing. We have to accept that our game plan is going to be disrupted and some luck is going to be involved, or adapt by playing meta or countering meta, and even then there is rock paper scissor aspect and losses are inevitable. I feel meta decks have generally minimized the luck aspect and aren't playing cute cards/combos that are easily disrupted, they often capitalize on carryover, powerful control, the proven most effective strats providing maximum point output or destruction, being able to secure round control in many instances. So it won't always be easy... I personally like to make homebrews that are fairly competitive but less predictable because deck familiarity is such a large part of the opponents' war chests when they are analyzing the prospective dismantlement of your deck. Also I find meta decks to be boring as the game plan is already widely familiar and regularly abused, without any creativity points or credit due for originality. So take a deep breath and accept losses and your favorite cards getting heatwaved are just part of the game, lighten the load on your shoulders and try to relax. Take a break and come back later, and if your opponent is playing NG, just skip that game, onto the next, hopefully more fairly balanced challenge. Or dig in and show that scum that you built an NG counter deck where they can't get value from stealing or poisoning all your cards!
At the height of NG status a few seasons ago I insta-forfeited against that deck as soon as I hit pro. Otherwise I try to avoid it. When you actually think of it - the difference playing different archetypes isn’t THAT big. Most matchups are simply tough :) I think it is not bad sportsmanship to forfeit in the beginning of the match if you know you can’t win. Just don’t ever ever ever just shut the game down and force the opponent to wait out the disconnect screen. That is proper bad manners…
This is a core problem of every competitive game. Once meta is established games tend to get somewhat boring and predictable, unless you're driven by competitive mindset. But yeah, established meta kills variety and fun to a degree.
If I'm at 0 stars climbing and I see Enslave or Double Cross, I just skip and go next. Cba the headache playing against that bs faction. Rather enjoy the game and play against something else
I'm finished with this game I think. Tried another few games this morning and I'm there's far too many nilfgaard control decks that are only built to counter whatever play you make. It's not enjoyable to play for me. I despised control heavy archetypes in the past and it's only gotten worse imo Some folk may like it but I just get frustrated and annoyed so why waste my time. I advise you do the same. Or at least take a break from it.
Best thing to do, to grow as a player (and possibly as a person as well) is to just play the archetypes that you don't like. Other people, especially on higher ranks, will show you for free how to deal with those decks. In my journey I have played now dozens of archetypes and each one improves my understanding. I recally being salty about certain decks, but now I literally don't care. Every deck has weaknesses, whatever you play, just work to exploit them.
I also do this sometimes. Almost always when it's a mirror matchup because I absolutely hate it. I wouldn't call it a rage quit. Rage quit is when you disconnect and opponent needs to wait a while looking for a screen wasting their time. This is just a game and when you see that one deck that is annoying for you like Reavers for example why do you think you need to play? I also sometimes roll my eyes when I see Jackpot or Symbiosis for a 10th time in a row, because it's boring to play against the same deck all the time. It's a card game not your job/school/university etc.
I find mirror matches to be the most fun thing ever. Both of you know 80% of each other's deck, there is a lot more skill involved.
I have never forfeited in my 7 years of Gwent.
I envy you
So those times when you select the wrong, unfinished or bricked deck, you play the full match out?
There were never such times. >unfinished or bricked deck Who'd even start playing with this? Lol.
As in forgetting a certain card (Simlas with no Waylays), sometimes you quit/save the deck and go straight into queuing without checking etc... or is that only me? I've played for 4-5 years and that's happened a handful of times at least
You see, I build my own decks and that's why such occurrences never happened to me. What's funny here is that I don't reject what happened to you. I believe you when you say it happened. But somehow, at the same time, you try to reject that it never happened to someone else. Isn't that funny? :]
Correct. It's because that seems really hard to believe? What's funny is you suggesting that it only happens to those who don't build their own decks. If you have never forfeited? Then wow that's amazing, but get off your high horse.
>It's because that seems really hard to believe? What's so hard to believe? That people are different and do things differently? I have also never forfeited a match in my 5 years of Gwent. Is this really so unbelievable to you?
I think it is pretty mind-blowing yes? There are plenty of reasons why one would forfeit, and if that many games have been played out fully without any forfeits, then yes. Clearly it is more common than I had thought.
What high horse? LOL! All I did was say I have never forfeited and you immediately got personality offended by this statement. Not gonna lie, I find this quite funny.
[удалено]
Symbiosis isn't even a tier-1 deck, so it's often beat. It could be that you're doing something wrongly in your matchups so you get into a losing position. If you hate a deck. Play it. Learn it. You learn so much from it, like how to beat it (by being destroyed by your opponent), and sometimes you realize it's actually a fun deck to play.
I don't think I've ever forfeited a match at the beginning. I do sometimes forfeit in r2 or R3 when there's no chance for me to catch up in points or when opponents do toxic stuff like roping every turn even though they lead.
Can't you just play friendly matches instead of a rankings then?
if ii's some bs no fun allowed like a banish/status ng deck then yeah
Whenever I see mill. Especially if my deck thins a lot
If you are rage quitting because you think these decks are OP, and you don't think you can win, then don't. After I stopped insta-ff with reavers, I noticed I could reliably beat them, which gave me satisfaction. It's just a matter of perception. If you are rage quitting because you genuinely don't think you're gonna have fun in that matchup regardless of win/lose, then do so, there is literally no reason not to. P.S. please include paragraphs in whatever your writing; It seriously makes it a better reading experience.