this game is a mind f@ck

I hear you, man. I try to keep the following bits of info around in my head to keep me sane.

It's a game where as far as we know, we only play with and against other human pilots - and there is a rock/paper/scissors element to it in terms of the individual match ups on the field of battle. There are a lot of factors that will determine how successful you are in any given set of matches. If you rocked yesterday with your hanger and are getting hammered today - something else is likely affecting you. Different opponents, different luck of the draw.. Figure out how you can pilot those same mechs more successfully before making any significant hanger changes.

I'm floating between Diamond and Expert. When I'm down in Diamond I can play aggressively. I can push for map control and affect the flow of the match and be on the top end of damage and beacon caps. When I float up to expert, I need to play much more defensively and act in a support role, even with my knife fighters or I get wiped off the map. Once I hit expert I've spent more time watching the last few minutes of the match than I have since I got my 5th hanger slot.