"Debunking the GBL Algorithm: the fallacy of looking at win % and the truth to reaching rank 10"

#PokemonGO: Cross-post from silph arena but relevant info regardless:I hear a lot of people complaining about how Rank 10's only win about 55% of their matches as proof GBL is rigged and the Niantic algorithm favours these high ranked playersWinning 55% of matches in Rank 10 is not the same as winning 55% of matches in Rank 8. If you put a Rank 10 in Rank 8, I guarantee they would win more than 55% of their matches. Anecdotal evidence but I as a Rank 10 played on my friends account to prove a point to him since he complained about losing leads to no end and won 21 in a row at 1900 Rank 8 - with the same team (I lost lead about 50% of the time), I'm confident in saying I can win 75-80% of the time if I was at 1900, hence why people rank and tank.Conversely if you put a Rank 8 in Rank 10, they definitely won't maintain a 55% win rate. No matter how lucky you get with leads, you're going to lose more than 50% of the time. In this scenario, the Rank 8 will tank MMR until the skill level starts to equalize and start to win more matches, bringing win-rate closer to 50% and the Rank 8 closer to their "true rating" MMR.The ELO system is designed so you win 60%+ of the matches until you don't, then it tapers off down towards 50%. This is where people start to feel like the system is rigged on an algorithm. You're not winning as much as you used to, even though you're using the same team & the old strats you use don't work as well anymore. It's easy to blame the matchmaking system but in reality you're just facing better opponents. No matter how good/bad you are and what your rating is, you will ALWAYS be in the 50-60% win-rate range if you play consistently enough.I don't think anyone can deny there is at least some element of skill involved in GBL. I can tell you that at 3000+ the matches are often decided by slivers of health. There are numerous times where I win by 1 hp - if I switched too late by 1 turn, they get to their charge move & I lose this match. There are times where I lose to CMP tie - if I farmed 1 extra fast move on the previous pokemon, I would have won. There are so many tiny victories over the course of a match but have a huge impact on the final result.If you really want to get to Rank 10 and I believe you can with any combination of meta & anti-meta picks that have synergy with each other. You need to know the ins & outs of your team against the meta, you need to know what to do almost instantly in every Pokemon match-up, because like I mentioned if you switch out too late by 1 turn, that could lead to a loss. If you throw the wrong charge move out of panic, that could lead to a loss. It goes beyond "Meganium beats my Azumarill" - I lost this match-up. What do you do in this scenario? Do you instantly switch? Do you shield and throw off ice beams? Do you try and catch a frenzy plant with Registeel? You have to have a good idea of what your hypothetical plan is in that scenario, and basically any other scenario involving your 3 pokemon & not hesistate because if you hesistate, it's likely already too late. Of course chances are you'll still lose in a losing lead, but if you start winning 1 or 2 out of those losing leads (or win 1 or 2 more of your winning leads), your 55% suddenly becomes 60% again. That's how you get to Rank 10.TL;DR It's unfortunate how trainers come up with wild theories and excuses galore as to why they can't win, when the most obvious reason is they're just not that good. The sooner you can move your ego aside and accept you're not that good, the faster you can learn & improve. via /r/TheSilphRoad https://ift.tt/2L7t3iY