Welcome back reader, today we are going to introduce the concept of raging against the meta. Before we can begin this discussion we need to define a few terms before we get in too deep.

Meta

Simply put, meta is an idea or thought that is aware of itself. It can also mean love, but that would be a different discussion all together. What we determine to be meta is based of a units performance, and how efficient it is, when applied to the game.

40K is a game with so much data being processed, that if we train ourselves what to look for, we will recognize patterns develop. These patterns are what we call meta, and we hold them dear to our hearts. Once we have all our data figured out, and we start playing games, we begin to test our own metas, against the grand meta of the game. Again we are just adding, and observing data to the pool.

This game also takes a while to complete matches, so it can take a while to collect enough data to see if something is simply good enough to be meta. This is where we can utilize the internet, we can go on chat boards and compare notes. Reinforce what we have seen, and recognize new patterned we haven’t thought of, what works in one meta, may not work in another meta.

Meta is always changing, there are so many working parts to what makes meta, meta! This can make it difficult to keep up with everything going on. Now, thanks to all the hard work of meta mondays! We have all this information compiled onto one page, and we have discussions weekly about the changes. Here we can see winning list, what makes them work, and how to beat them.

Raging

The raging part is going to be an inward look within to help us identify how to beat the meta without having it beat us first. If we constantly just gather data from the internet with nothing to compare it to, then the meta can start to look bland and uninteresting. This can lead us to falsely identifying mistakes that are made in a match, with one simple phrase.”I lost because it was XYZ meta list.”

It may feel justified and we may be absolutely right in our analysis. However when we come to those conclusions, how can we honestly expect to walk away a better player? If anything we’re just going to make that match up harder for us the next time we face it! Since we know meta is going to be there, we have to look past the nonsense and look back at our matches and find the times when we made a bad play. Identifying our own shortcomings is the only thing we can control, which isn’t going to care what the meta is, as long as you are growing.

Mixing it all together

The first step to changing anything is to start the thought process, “what do I want to change.” Start writing down your ideas, thoughts or anything you want to achieve. Personal growth does not have anything to do with meta, you may adapt to a certain meta and learn some valuable skills that will stick with you longer than the meta. We just have to fight the urge to blame our shortcomings on anything other than what it is, our game could use some work.

Once we have a good idea where we want to be, we need to place some mile markers. We need to come up with a system that rates us on how we perform doing different task in the match. If our target priority is our strong suit, maybe there are some matches where we could have moved more guns into a target. Perhaps while taking out our key target, we greatly exposed ourselves and lost the game there. Without being able to step back and look at the bad, how can we expect to make our good plays, into great plays?

There are countless ways to record all this information, whatever methods we use, it only matters if we capture it. Snapping a picture at the start of the game and every subsequent turn after that should help. When your opponent is moving, jot down what happened in your turn, write down what opponent is doing. Good record keeping is going to help us establish good trends so we can analyze where we are falling short.

I don’t have any set in stone about getting better, but I feel if we can get on the right level mentally. Perhaps, we might just be able to become the best players we can, while maximizing our fun scores. My goal for this blog is to provide everyone with different perspectives and maybe some drills that will help all of us grow.

What can I do to help?

First of all we are going to have to clear the air, I like to view this site as a form of a dojo. We are training for our wargames, by learning how to analyze data that is right in front of us. So I need data from you guys!

I’d love to get battle reports sent in, pictures and descriptions! I’d love to analyze games for you and give free back, in the form of a battle report and possibly my opinion of after action report! Being active is another great way, like, follow, but most importantly comment on what I’m talking about! I’m open to discussions, as long as we can remain civil and promote growth for everyone.

Please message me personally if you would like to discuss anything in private, with more of a personal touch on it. Discord is another way to find us!

Now that the introductions are out, I now promote all of you to the rank of Meta Rangers! Congratulations recruit, we are all on our ways to making the world a better place!

I look forward to the future, and it’s great to be talking to myself on the internet again!

Stay classy Rangers