Ladder or ranking is the best overall performance indicator (given ideal conditions, no cheating). It is a system of averages. I was a top 80 player in Age of

Ladder or ranking is the best overall performance indicator (given ideal conditions, no cheating). It is a system of averages. I was a top 80 player in Age of Empires: AoK and easily beat the crap out of everything from below the top 100. Above me, I could compete with most players on some maps on some days, top 50 would beat me in a best of five, but top 20 usually eat me under competitive conditions. Most of them were already pro gamers back then and trained hard to maintain their ranking. It piles up. Micro management especially. Being constantly a couple of milliseconds faster in organizing stuff and decision making is like a formula 1 driver who is 0,5 faster per lap. Worlds apart with 60 rounds to take.