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They are so bad, that they are better than you...

Wyenot·11/16/2014, 11:37:33 PM·34 votes·4,682 views

Has anyone been in this situation? No complaints or rage, I just think that this is an really interesting anomaly that happens and I'm curious what others think about it.

If you don't know what I'm referring to, I'm talking about when you are playing against and opponent who is noticeably worse than you to the point where they are actually "better" than you because they simply do not play how you expect them to play.

An example in League would be let's say you are an assassin. You are waiting patiently for them to use their stuns so that you can join the teamfight and do your job. Strangely, they never use them. You're prowling around trying to flank their squishy targets but their bruisers and tanks are always in the way or around. What ultimately ends up happening is you wait too long and your team dies. You have to back and you're left thinking

"Man, that was some next level teamwork and communication. They were on the ball. I mean we still killed a few of them and I'm not sure why they didn't like all in us because they are pretty even with us..."

All the while you're thinking this giving them respent, but on the other side of the chat screen is "WTF SONA WHY DIDN'T YOU ULT YOU NOOBLORD? OMG TANKS GET IN FRONT PLEASE! YOUR GUYS POSITIONING IS AWFUL!"

Another example that may be slightly clearer is in World of Warcraft if you are a caster class trying to "juke" an opponent's interrupt to make them waste it. You keep juking but they never try and interrupt you. They never do. Eventually you die and you're like "Well what the hell man. He got me and I know he just started playing like 2 months ago, I've been playing since launch...I guess he was calling my bluff every time, that's pretty skilled of him!"

Yet again, the events unfolding on the other side of the keyboard are quite different. It practically sounds like someone is beating a keyboard that has no interrupt even bound to it with a hammer on our hunter friend's side while he panics in this fight.

As you can see in both these situations one side is better than the other and the other is obviously worse than them, yet the side that is worse wins the battle in the end. It's actually pretty funny when you think about it.

So what do you guys think? Obviously all situations are different, but do you think this is a fluke or a natural thing that "should" happen in games with varying skill levels? I mean I'm sure it is frustrating for all of us with a little bit of pride to be beaten by someone because they don't know what they are doing rather than knowing what they are doing lol

47 Comments

Motajo11/17/2014, 12:57:50 AM49 votes

When you aim a skillshot to account for juking... and they don't even react to it.

FantasySniper11/17/2014, 3:03:14 AM10 votes

This happens often.

"I expect him to walk that way" *He stands in the most vulnerable spot possible, but you miss anyways.

Just try be a Spy in TF2 and play against idiots. You'd think it would be fun, but it just extends the fight and you make stupid mistakes because they start backpedaling for no good reason or end up walking into a wall, etc...

GROMMI11/17/2014, 11:08:28 AM6 votes

Yup.

I have no problem deleting Diamond Syndra mains. Silver Syndras, however? All bets are off. They're so suicidally reckless. Sometimes they kill me because I think, They would NEVER be stupid enough to flash me right now, I'd just kill them. And then they do. And I let my guard down because it was insane of them to try it. Fml..

Remlap122311/17/2014, 8:15:22 AM5 votes

OP, this is so accurate it hurts. Anyone with common sense will aim to where the opponent is going to be, rather than where they are, so that you can hit them with the ability. And then I get the guy who is either shit faced or high as a kite who has no self-preservation whatsoever and I have to play like a moron in order to keep up. I get really upset when this happens cuz I just think to myself "HE'S NOT DOING ANYTHING! He's just sitting there and playing like a complete fool and he's outplaying me!"

Then I realize that's exactly what I do to my opponents. I'm not particularly skilled at the mechanics of ARTS because I've only been playing for a little over a year, but I play very unpredictably. I try to get into my opponent's head and confuse them, causing them to misplay, then capitalize on it. I'll use an example from the last game I played. I was Karma support that just barely survived a well fought battle with my carry, who got fed really quickly cuz I landed a few good skillshots. MF backed, but I go into mid lane at 1/4 health, and the enemy team immediately looks at me like I'm lunch. The fed enemy Gragas goes in, and then I ult W, regenerating my health back up to 2/3 from near death and snaring him. Heimerdinger capitalizes on this and proceeds to burst him down, shutting him down.

Because Gragas thought I went full McIntosh, he recklessly dove in without taking into account Karma's kit. This Gragas wasn't a bad player by any stretch of the imagination, but because I caught him off guard with a gutsy play, we managed to shut down a very skilled and fed APC. So yeah, basically what I'm saying is whether you're a noob that has zero self awareness or a Diamond V YouTube streamer, confusing your opponents is a very good way to cause your opponent to misplay.

Nausicäa 11/17/2014, 7:27:17 AM4 votes

The only legit example of this being the case i can give is when you try to use a skill shot and predict where the enemy will move or dodge, except they either just stand still or dont try to dodge at all and u end up missing.

pro crastinat0r11/17/2014, 4:38:49 PM4 votes

I get this vs some caitlyns. they will literally ignore the first 3-4 waves of farm and just auto harrass. not exactly outplaying me (as I can usually avoid dying and end up 30+ cs up) but i can tell you that shizer is annoying as hell

Byrnes11/17/2014, 8:14:04 AM3 votes

Hard to predict your opponent's actions when they are working in complete chaos. haha.

ThatAutofillSupp11/17/2014, 11:21:40 PM2 votes

whenever i try to trick people and pretend I'm wukong's decoy by pressing S, then they end up killing me xD or when i actually decoy they know its not me and go forward like they actually know when I'm about to do

SpecterVonBaren11/17/2014, 3:28:21 AM2 votes

One of my favorite things to say when I play Nami is that the biggest counter to Nami is to just stand there. In paticular I remember this one game against a Lucian where he would never move when I used my q, I would prepare for him to move up or run away and he'd never do it, it was so frustrating. Or a recent game where I was MF and an assasin had just barely escaped getting killed by three of us and I was walking through our jungle back to bot lane and he gets the jump on me and kills me (I was only missing like 20% of my health), and I'm just staring at the screen going, "Why would you stay in our jungle on such low health?!"

Stars Shaper11/17/2014, 12:30:56 PM2 votes

This happens when you are not evil enough to fagocitate said enemy because you step into their skill level after relaxing too much seeing that they are indeed worse than you.

No hate, just a consideration ased on my own experience xD

Salt and Veigar11/17/2014, 3:12:11 AM2 votes

And then the one time you just go for it they get their shit together and beat the ever loving crap out of you

Killer X 1211/17/2014, 6:47:14 PM1 votes

Yea, this usually only happens at the start of games for me. After i see how a person plays i adjust my gameplay accordingly. Like I'll be throwing Nid spears to account for dodges, and people will just stand there lol.

Or you see someone walking alone, you don't have it warded, they start going towards you so you back off since you don't know where everyone was. Then you see them all pop up mid and realize that the person was totally trying to get themselves killed lol.

JustMyBassCannon11/17/2014, 8:08:45 PM1 votes

If you play aggressively, this issue never comes up. Playing aggressively can cause inexperienced players to panic or make the wrong reaction to a situation. You gauge that reaction and use it as a base for your future actions.

l AM SCRIPTING11/17/2014, 9:45:17 PM1 votes

The saying goes that an untrained amateur is the only thing that can be more dangerous than a seasoned veteran. This is admittedly true to some extent, however, League of Legends is such a mechanically formulaic game ( or at least, it becomes one once you truly understand the game) that a good player vs. a bad player should, after perhaps overcoming the initial hurdles of reading your opponent and then adapting to their skill level/playstyle, be able to beat them pretty consistently assuming no other unaccounted factors (such as ganks etc.). This is from a reactive low diamond point of view mind you, as I'm a reactionary player for the most part, so I can't really speak on behalf of hyper aggressive players.

Drunk Rummate11/17/2014, 10:01:40 PM1 votes

Sometimes executing the "correct" strategy is not the actual correct strategy since it depends in part on what your opponent is doing.

You don't see LCS teams running a single top laner against a duo top lane - they double jungle instead because it's too risky to lane 1v2.

In soloqueue people are so set into a single strategy that when they get a curveball thrown, they often don't react to it, and it costs them. Fortunately, playing the meta out regardless of what your opponent does works in 9/10 situations, but it doesn't always work, especially depending on how that cheese strategy pans out and whether they catch people out with it ;)

FiendOfOne11/17/2014, 11:12:08 PM1 votes

This just... this whole thread. I've been crying from laughing so hard.

I have a couple of friends who are level 9-11 currently, and I am helping them learn the game. So when we do games together, I mess up because I'm expecting ranked or level 30 play. In retrospect, now I know why. Thank you. All of the thank you.

SleepyLionCub11/17/2014, 11:23:17 PM1 votes

I notice this alot in games. Its... unsettling.

Elemon11/18/2014, 12:39:36 AM1 votes

This is basically why cockroaches are so hard to kill. You can't ever predict them because they don't have any clue where they're about to go, either...

Axxlon11/18/2014, 3:13:24 AM1 votes

I was topping Ryze against a Darius, and he was legitimately the WORST CSer I have ever seen in Ranked so far.

...yet he still manages to get the lucky kill on me and auto-win the lane from there. :|

Cubelios11/18/2014, 4:38:11 PM1 votes

Buying a pink in low elo. Almost worthless. It wont clear a ward because the other team isn't gonna ward anyways.

FiniteApple11/17/2014, 1:26:23 AM1 votes

Played game with a gold jinx. She disconnects for 10 minutes and then ends game at 1/15 item 3144 summoner 3

BlackRoze3011/17/2014, 1:42:46 AM1 votes

I notice this most with skill shots. You're always aiming for some kind of juke but a lot of people seem to panic and just run in a straight line but you end up missing cause you expected them to "play smart" and juke you. Its funny cause sometimes it is a next level double prediction and other times its someone on the other side going "O SHIT I SUCK IM GONNA DIE! AGASDGASDF"

NoMonku11/17/2014, 7:08:42 AM1 votes

It is because you have too much experience. You expect a lot "more" from them then they are actually capable of, so you end up mind gaming yourself into losing engagements. Since I'm at gold, which I consider a middle area, what I end up trying to do is gauge my opponents "skill" early on in the laning phase by offering myself to take losing trades to see if they know what they are doing. From this, I can tell if they know what they should be doing and if they do, I'll start playing more safely. If they DON'T jump on me, though, I'll start playing more aggressively and abuse them. Sure Tristana shouldn't beat Caitlyn in laning phase, but if she is going to play scared of me and let me get free E + auto off without hitting me, I'll take it.

Fluppets11/17/2014, 9:39:35 AM1 votes

This has happened to me ALOT when playing Cassiopeia.

People either don't know what Cassio does or they think she's weak; what happens is they dont even try to dodge my Q's or they run up to me when they should be running away so I miss my Q's, being completely worthless until I get my poison back up of course XD

That's rly weird and frustrating because you know you're better and you know they have no clue how to play against Cassiopeia, but it's exactly that lack of knowledge that gives them an edge...

Spacesuit Spiff11/17/2014, 10:16:22 AM1 votes

Yeah, I was actually just thinking about this. I don't really try to mind game my opponents because it's hard to tell whether they're too dumb to fool and it's safer to just crush them with things that have zero counterplay; I'm looking forward to hitting diamond and actually consistently playing with opponents that I can trust to be indoctrinated into the logic of this game.

An example of this I can remember from back in the day is that swordfighting game in wii sports resort. I got to the highest rank against bots by learning all the tricks of that mode, and then lost to my younger cousins when they flailed the remote around because I'd forgotten how to win against that.

AetherKingdom11/17/2014, 3:37:21 PM1 votes

they not bad u bad

Radial11/17/2014, 4:10:58 PM1 votes

I call it the normal game juke.

Silverthane11/17/2014, 5:05:08 PM1 votes

lol this is hilarious. ive fought vs ppl like that and have been in a position like it as well XD

like when im just pressing shit cos i panic and suddenly we win and im all like "lol wtf even happened"

AloneInTheCrowd11/17/2014, 5:12:13 PM1 votes

Q Q

iluvalar11/17/2014, 6:32:21 PM1 votes

It's not the same game at all. But it's much more visible for me in Battle field 4. I know well the maps and the standard strategies and I tend to be 1 step ahead of the ace squad. Having a kd ratio over 2:1 on them. An entire groups with mics of level 130 which I lure into a corner of the map without objectives at all. I am their nightmare. But then randomly there is that level 11 that walk into that same useless zone of the map and he manage to get a 4:1 kd ratio on me in multiple consecutive games lol. He don't even know all the maps yet lol but he is the only one flanking me effectively.

It happens all the time. It's the same in most games. There is that optimal strategy and that strategy just beside that beat it. The trick is to mix them in the correct proportions.