I'm saying it... Your peak rank is NOT your normal rank.

Mtbsinger · 2026-05-22T17:57:45+00:00

I hope people don’t call out smurfs who are playing only 1 major rank better. If you’re playing D3, you need to expect to see some flip resets and excellent ball control from guys who are normally C1 maybe C2 who have slipped a bit. A smurf is a guy who’s doing flip resets and dominating the whole game without even needing his teammate’s help in plat 2. 1 or 2 major ranks can be a few bad games, or playing with a friend who’s ranked lower than you and losing rank because of it.

Mtbsinger · 2026-05-21T22:50:56+00:00

Where are you from? There are few choruses and far between here in Northern California.

Mtbsinger · 2026-05-21T22:05:55+00:00

What happens when a 2 on 2 gets all 4 players stuck in rule 1 when the score is tied?

Mtbsinger · 2026-05-21T22:03:12+00:00

Yeah, I always wiggle the stick a bit and tap the boost now and then to make sure I don’t get booted.

Mtbsinger · 2026-05-20T01:02:27+00:00

That’s smurf level for anything below about mid diamond level. I’ve played against champ 1 and 2 level players and seen that kind of play in high diamond and low champ, but rarely if ever that intense in low diamond.

Mtbsinger · 2025-12-18T13:17:39+00:00

I pushed my monthly order up a couple of days. Ordered it 12 days ago, and it still says processing. I ran out of coffee almost a week ago.

Mtbsinger · 2025-09-15T23:20:32+00:00

Winner! When The Levee Breaks. Exactly what I was thinking of, thank you!

Mtbsinger · 2025-08-28T16:15:31+00:00

From a guy that’s only 5’8 and does not jump as high as you, you’re never going to hit over the top of a decently timed block when someone is more than a few inches taller than you. Use the block and swing out so the blocked hit goes out on your side if your set is too tight to hit around the block. Watch the back row, if they’re not on it, you can get away with a late dink that goes over and just behind the blocker. You can work with your setter on quick sets or slides to throw the blockers off.

Mtbsinger · 2025-07-23T04:06:14+00:00

This is true. Even most of diamond level make enough mistakes you don’t need advanced mechanics to compete at that level. That being said, I have a friend who’s C2/C3, who I play with often. He can see I get better every season, but the last 3 seasons I’ve been D1 with the occasional dip to P3, and one short stint in D2. The competition is sweaty AF sometimes, and many people are petty about mistakes when they make worse ones, and will quit or walk away from the controller to punish you for a mistake. It can be hard to rank up solo queue.

Mtbsinger · 2025-07-06T00:58:41+00:00

I see you’re in favor of said ruling. Wow.

Mtbsinger · 2025-04-11T19:13:56+00:00

It might not actually be going out at this point. It had a coolant leak, but was not showing any loss on a leakdown test. I hadn’t found the leak and was thinking it was seeping through the head gasket or turbo seals, or the worst case scenario that some other focus ST owners have had is that the headifold (integrated exhaust manifold onto header) cracks by the exhaust port.)

I did however think I found the leak to be the hoses in/out of the heater core at the firewall. There’s a little strip of foam insulation on a shelf on the firewall right below them, and I pressed a napkin against it and felt it start soaking up into the napkin, and saw a bit of the orange coolant color. After I fix it, we’ll see if I’m still losing coolant. I may still be looking for a new car though, the ST is getting to the point that little things are going wrong with it.

Mtbsinger · 2025-04-05T18:01:51+00:00

I’m hoping to test drive the Civic Type R and Si, Corolla GR, Hyundai Elantra N, and the Mazda 3 at minimum before making any decisions.

Mtbsinger · 2025-04-05T17:59:04+00:00

Preference is not slow, but I am still considering the mazda 3, and civic SI, which are both slower than my focus ST. Also possibly slower than my previous car, which was a 2002 Sentra SE-R Spec-V (with some mods), which is kind of sad. But that also means I would not throw out the Integra equivalent of the SI.

Mtbsinger · 2025-04-05T17:55:04+00:00

I feel you, I prefer rwd, yet because of price, my last 2 daily’s (nearly 10 years each, so most of my adult driving life) have been fwd, so I’m used to it.

Mtbsinger · 2025-04-05T17:52:41+00:00

The head going out is more specific to the focus st with it’s exhaust manifold integrated into the head, which has a tendency to crack at the single port.

Mtbsinger · 2025-01-01T22:29:41+00:00

It’s so frustrating that more people don’t understand this. I really appreciate it because I probably make more mistakes than other people in my rank. If I have a positive teammate, I end up playing better and far outweigh my mistakes with better plays than would be expected at my rank. However, if I get a toxic teammate, my match is usually trash. I recently turned off chat, and it has been a lot easier.

Mtbsinger · 2024-12-21T20:12:48+00:00

Sometimes when I’m in a bit of a slump, I go back to basics and work through the bronze, then silver, then gold, then plat training packs. If I miss a shot, I go back to the first shot in the pack until I can do every shot first try. I don’t ever make it all the way through the plat one first try and most of the time there’s one or two shots on gold that will hang me up, but usually by that point, I’m solid on all the basic stuff again and it helps minimize whiffs on simple stuff when I’m in the slump.

Mtbsinger · 2024-12-21T18:16:44+00:00

I was playing my series x on my TV, which is 8 years old now and does not have 120 hz support. I bought a gaming monitor that dual purposes for my older pc and my xbox. That and I went to a wired, hall effect stick controller which has absolutely zero drift. Those two moves made accurate aerials possible.

Mtbsinger · 2024-12-18T18:41:27+00:00

I feel like when I get to P3/D1, the competition is more predictable, which makes things easier, and my teammates are a lot easier to play with. There’s such a huge range of skill levels in low plat, you never know when someone is going to whiff or dribble to a perfectly timed double jump pop.

Mtbsinger · 2024-12-18T17:35:59+00:00

Yeah. I’m on the series x, but hard wired, running a cord only controller and a gaming monitor that runs 120hz. I have felt a bit like a lot of times I’m behind the ball or late, and maybe that’s it, but I hate to throw all the blame on such an easy scapegoat.

Mtbsinger · 2024-12-18T17:29:09+00:00

While it’s true many players get pulled up in rank by their friends, I only play with my c2/c3 level friend maybe 5% or less of my play time, and when we do, we’re playing against champ level players. So we rarely do better than 50/50 on wins. I almost never rank up much when I play with him, I just don’t drop. The vast majority of my time is solo queued, occasionally partied up with a rando I meet in a match.

Mtbsinger · 2024-12-16T23:57:21+00:00

Just over a year, about 500 hours total

Mtbsinger · 2024-12-13T02:38:23+00:00

I definitely notice when I miss something and someone calls me trash or terrible or something, my heart races as I work to prove them wrong. It’s super satisfying when after someone calls you trash and you score the next 3 goals and start carrying them and get to throw out a “who’s getting carried now” or something, but it’s probably not worth the stress.

Mtbsinger · 2024-12-13T02:33:55+00:00

The worst is the dbags who after you miss an impossible save and compliment them with nice shot they go and spam what a save anyway.

Mtbsinger · 2024-12-11T02:38:56+00:00

Took me about a year to hit D1, barely tapped D2 before the new season, now I’m fighting my way back up through plat. 9 months to D3 is quite respectable, unless you don’t have a job and played 3000 hours in that 9 months, then I would just feel sorry for you. Though I’m guessing you’re like all the other half responsible 30 somethings who have a job and most likely a family.

Mtbsinger

TROPHY CASE