With everyone carefully watching their WATL rating number bounce up and down I figured I would keep track of mine and post them for the sake of conversation.
Important context: Our venue had No Professionals. At the start of the season I was third highest rated thrower but might have been underrated. Throughout 2024 our top seven throwers were fairly interchangeable providing excellent parity. Could I climb to 600 in a crowd of equals? Let's take a look.
Here is how it progressed week by week through the 2025 Winter League.
I started the year at 498
Week 1 - Won 4 matches (Against all lower rated competition) - 584
Week 2 - Won 4 matches (All lower rated) - 697
Week 3 - Won 4 matches (All lower rated, One was a one point match) - 776
Week 4 - Won 3 matches (Two against higher rated) Lost 1 match (One point match against lower rated) - 817
Week 5 - Won 4 matches (All lower rated) - 869
Week 6 - Won 4 matches (All lower rated) - 914
Week 7 - Won 4 matches (All lower rated) - 945
Why did I suddenly do so well? Despite the fact that I practice 5 days a week, my guess is that the new rating system rewards consistency. I didn't go for Killshots because I didn't have to. I won the majority of my matches with a 10 point spread. Instead of taking chances I focused on accumulating points.
Winter league record: 27-1 with 134 Bullseyes, an average score of 53.1 and a high score of 58. In addition I scored 1487 points. In the WATL World Ratings I landed roughly Top 20 among Amateurs and Top 200 Overall.
I understand that the system is in Beta and this first season must be considered a bit of an experiment. In the beginning it felt like I jumped up very quickly so I wondered if there would be a lack of stability. However, it seems like the more matches I had on record, the smaller the gains. It appears to have leveled out.
Throughout 2024 the league board was a mess. Throwers of nearly the same skill level were literally playing different games against each other so looking at the numbers never told you who was improving. This year we finally got to see a clear picture. The confusion is gone.
What we saw in the ratings was a split in skill. The people who were getting better, quickly moved up and everyone else went sideways or dropped down. A lot of people, including myself, have criticized the new rating system as voodoo but after this season I have changed my mind. I don't know if it is working for everyone but it definitely worked for me.
Based on our Winter League at LongHouse Axe, the system turned out to be quite predictable. We had 18 throwers competing with 6 of the top 7 climbing above a 600 rating. If you asked me at the beginning of the season who I thought would end up on that level, I would have picked those same six people.
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