Mama didn't raise no liar.

Now let me preface this by saying that this is gonna be a long post. You have been warned.

Okay, so where to start? At first I wasn't really climbing the ranks, I was just playing the game for fun. It was only during Platinum that I understood how much I liked the mechanics so I gave myself the goal to go as far as I could go, hopefully Crystal.

The climb had 3 stages I feel.

1- Bronze to Gold. This is the easy stage. Everyone is relatively newbie so you can carry matches by yourself with not much trouble, just need some game knowledge.

2- Platinum. Yes, an entire stage dedicated to platinum. Platinum is hell and here's why. You are in a stage that you can still get matched with very new players in silver, and your next stage is Mythril, AKA, the alt stage. So even when you get people from a rank above you on this rank, you're very likely to see people that can't play their characters. Platinum is just a crapshoot, you have to hope your team isn't TOO bad and carry it.

3-Mythril through Adamant. Mythril is a bit of a crapshoot due to the alt thing, but you also get matched against alts a lot so just carry. You get stuff like Diamond her more often and if those are alts, those guys are crystal anyway. Diamond is where your game knowledge will be put to a test. Adamant is where you'll realistically not be able to carry on your own. You need to trust your team and do your job. Trying to carry a bit is good, but if you do it too much you're just gonna tilt cause you can't carry a bad team vs a team of crystals/adamant.

General tips for climbing:

-Block, don't dodge. Block should be your instinctive reaction. This isn't 012, blocking is a LOT safer. Only dodge when you KNOW you WILL dodge.

-Actually look at your oponent's and most importantly teamates names. This is especially important at higher levels. You'll be able to glean a lot of information this way, like who to trust, who is the weak link and who you should focus on.

-Take breaks when you go on a losing streak. I went from 62% win ratio to 49% in Platinum due to just going 3 days where my free time was tilting at the screen. Don't do this. Get some bad matches? Go play something else. Study. Work on your next day job. Play your alt. DO NOT KEEP GOING.

-Only summon when you are very isolated or you trust your team to insta summon. Do not expect people to stop to summon. They should... but they won't.

-This may be unpopular but... mercy is not something you should have. Unless you are fighting friends, if they have a bot on their team, tear it to shreds. If you know a player is worse than the rest of the team, destroy him, tilt him. This may be pragmatic but... people will do the same to you. Unless you know the guys on the other side are chill dudes, don't assume they are.

Going into Terra tips now:

-Experiment with attacks early on. Terra has two to three very specific playstyles depending on the attack you use, and while one is getting nerfed soon, you should decide which you generally like more before comitting.

-Terra is good at poking and reactive plays. Going in, even with Chaos Wave, is only good if you're sure you can land a wall rush or an HP attack. This may seem obvious for a marksman, but Terra's charge mechanic makes it especially bad if you find yourself in the middle of the enemy team and you missed.

-A lot of marksmen outduel you. Charge is very good but it makes everyone except Ultimecia have a distinct advantage in a 1v1. Do not 1v1. Circle targets like crazy, pick people off. This is what Terra does, not dueling.

-Tornado. Just. Tornado. Charged Tornado is an amazing defensive AND offensive tool. While it's gonna be nerfed, the draw-in is not the important part. The staying power and the verticality is. It's the best way to cover your escape, hit people directly above you while they don't expect it, put an obstacle in assassin's paths. Fucking use it.

-Your worst matchups, besides like half the assassins of course... and Sephiroth cause he's an assassin, I swear, are probably Ace, because of how fast he is he can abuse your poor charging self, and shantotto, who outprioritizes you or just ties with you with her every spell. Keep moving when it comes to ace, Shantotto is more, don't even attempt to attack her unless she's attacking someone else, your moves will get blocked or worse.

Finally, a word of thanks to the comunity. Whilst fragmented into very positive and very negative sides, the non negative nancies are a joy to be around. Special mention to /u/LuckyL90 and /u/antiqueteacup for being especially cool fellows to talk to.

That's my whole spiel. Thank you for letting me indulge, and now to get some rest and clear my mind before steeling myself to the climb to Crystal A!