1400 is where people stop using dumb sets with quick claw and absorb bulb or start having a sense of risk assessment. Most players who can play decently can expect to be between 1350-1450 on average. I hover around 1380 myself when I still played. This is around a 60% win rate?
I do have to say that the 1600 thing comes from the fact that there are a lot of posts where someone will claim something is overpowered and try to justify their opinion with their rating.
I classify win rates like this:
1000: You either never played the game or out of 10 battles, you win 5 and you lose 5. Tough I think the new ladder system doesn't let you fall behind the 1000 mark.
1200: Generally, you win 6 and you lose 4
1400: Generally, you win 7 and you lose 3
1600: Generally, you win 8 and you lose 2
1800+: 9 wins and 1 loss, but if you got to that point, I might as well say you need to find better things to do.
That's how I see it, anyway. It would be nice if showdown actually displayed how many wins and how many defeats you have instead of just your score.
And too bad Smogon seems to be agreeing with the 1600+ thing, because if you want to partake on the suspect tests now, your ladder score has to be over 1750. Very close to that 9 wins 1 loss I stated before.
My Ladder score, as of now, I think is 1340. I tends to flutuate between 1190 and 1260, but I got out of that range once I got a 4 Win Streak. And it's such a shame
for us to part that once I get to the 1400 range I won't be able to experiment with some gimmicky teams anymore before being instantly called an idiot. I wanted to try a team with Salamence, Galade, Typhlosion, and probably just other Pokemon I like. IN OU. YEAH. If my old team where I used random assortments of my favourite Pokemon with random natures actually made me go on a 6 win streak, then I'm sure this will work. (I may post my old showdown team here if you guys want, it'll be pretty good for a challenge, that's for sure.)
