Talk:Elo rating system/@comment-4742522-20120207175126/@comment-3358335-20120211024059

The current meta was established by people that broke the last meta. The last meta was developed by people that broke the one before that. So blindly following the current meta does not guarantee a win or even necessarily present you with the best chance of victory.

That being said, making people play outside their comfort zones will lose you games. Most people have the inability to adjust, so if you don't blindly follow the meta then they play worse because of it. Even if that means that you need to play outside your own comfort zone in order to ensure they stay in theirs.