Game stats:
Defeated: 45 ( 39% )
Won: 7 ( 6% )
Drawn: 31 ( 27% )
Survived: 30 ( 26% )
Resigned: 1 ( 1% )
Total (finished): 114
Playing: 6


What's not very nice is the hits my GR has been taking (May 2012 GR: 2317, down 1693 places from April), which I suspect are due to losing or drawing games with players whose GR is lower than mine.

I do suppose that my next move is to try and push my Drawn games up above my Defeated games.

The Good: I'm getting reasonably proficient at playing for draws, and I can usually negotiate one if I survive and thrive to the midgame. In fact, I typically start every game by negotiating a few combinations of three-way draws with some other powers, ESPECIALLY powers on the other side of the board. If I'm Italy, I want England and Russia working together. If I'm France, I want a Juggernaut, etc.

The Bad: My plans are destroyed by other players CDing more often than anything else. I've usually got a Plan B, but not always. And because of the way I prefer to spread my points out, which is over a half-dozen or so long-phase games, I tend to play a lot of low-point, high-CD games (although the long phases tend to keep the CDs down AND provide more leverage for negotiating big draws when they happen).

The Ugly: And because I'm in a lot of low-point games, my GR is subject to some pretty huge swings. Low GR gives me a huge boost in a win, high GR crushes me if I lose or take too small a cut in a draw. And it's precisely BECAUSE my GR is currently subject to such huge swings that I'm not all that worried about it. I just want to get Draws over Defeats.

The Decision: Bank more points and get into some tougher games, perhaps by cutting down on the number of games I'm in at one time and shortening the phases. Tougher games means fewer CDs, which means tighter games where my plans won't fall apart as regularly due to human error. It also means that my GR won't suffer as much from big draws when they become necessary.

I might have to play a few live games this weekend to build up the starting capital for this.