You are scared and you shouldn’t be. I’ve seen it time and time again. Without fail. Capable people, intimidated by their opponents because they are a higher rank than them. You are always on the same level. If you know how to play the game you’ll be on the same playing field.
Rank Doesn’t Improve Their Chances
Just because your opponent is a higher rank doesn’t mean that they have a higher chance of winning. It does indicate a general level of skill and knowledge, but that is the only thing that it does. Rank is just a badge, a stripe of color, a piece of metal, it doesn’t mean anything in the end.
For some reason players give their opponents a sort of buff when they are a higher rank. They act like they do higher damage, move faster, have lower cooldowns, have higher health just because they have a shiny piece of metal beside their name. Players will self-sabotage themselves, they may even be in the same skill level, but will lose because of their mentality.
In League of Legends this problem is very common. Let’s take a player who is gold versus one who is diamond in the mid lane. As far as I am concerned they both have a chance to win their lane, but the rank intimidates the gold player and thus they will perform worse. Affirming their fear. A diamond player doesn’t do higher damage all of a sudden, they don’t move faster, they don’t cast spells better, at the end of the day he can only use that champion the same way you do. What separates a higher level player and a lower level one, is their thought process and their choices.
Think like a high-level player and you’ll become one. So don’t be intimidated, just perform your best and you’ll be surprised how well you can keep up.
Rank Does Not Equal Skill
Do not confuse that rank equals skill, because it just isn’t the case. Rank is a product of algorithms, points, or whatever system the game uses. The system can be cheated, people can manipulate it. They can get boosted which is where a player pays someone who is more skilled to rank up their account. They can also hack their rank, going into the code of the game to change it. I’m sure there are a lot of other methods, but the point is that rank itself isn’t enough to gauge skill. There are a lot of high ranking players that aren’t good at the game.
Skilled players are higher ranked, because they will naturally climb higher due to being good at the game. If you are skilled you will most likely become a higher rank, but just because a player isn’t highly ranked doesn’t mean that they aren’t skilled. Just take it all with a grain of salt, they may be good or they may not be.
“Team” Game Rank vs Solo Game Rank
Rank’s in different types of games having different values of credibility. Team games such as League of Legends aren’t accurate in displaying their skill by rank, because most of the time victory is dependent on the quality of teammates one has. Solo games are more reflective of a player’s skill because whether one wins or loses, it is because of them, they have no one to blame but themselves and thus a high ranking individual is indicative of such skill. Games like StarCraft 2, Chess, any one vs. one games are examples of rank reflecting skills.
Don’t Let Your Rank Define Your Capabilities
The game is yours to take, the great equalizer is the game itself. Any rank—any player—has the same opportunities so take it! Don’t let your rank dictate what you are able to do, because you can do just as much as everyone else. The professionals play the same game as you so act like it!
The World Is Yours So Get out There
Just like in our games, in life it may be easy to be intimidated by people who are in a higher place than you. You may think that they inherently have an advantage over others, that they are just better than you. You can do whatever they can. It’s your life—your game—so get out there and play it for god sake!