Introduction
Playing online Diplomacy for nearly 10 years, I find my greatest enjoyment lately comes from migrating around the different Diplomacy communities to seek out new unfamiliar elite players. The thrill of the high-level game is a part of this, but even more so I am drawn towards interactions with exceptional players as I find them to be the most fascinating people. I love to talk Diplomacy with like-minded players, and I get captivated in learning about their game psyche. Top players come in different packages with different secrets to success, yet there tends to be some DNA common to them all. Allow me to be your metaphorical DNA sequencer and share with you some of these common characteristics.
1) They are the Voice in the Room
Elite players are, almost without exception, SUPER chatty individuals. This tendency is usually the first telltale sign of a great player in anonymous games.
It’s hard to imagine a quiet player who consistently solos. You’re not going to solo very many press games using a gunboat mindset; you need to be in constant communication building alliances, negotiating treaties, gathering information, influencing people to do what you want them to do, and (when necessary) spreading propaganda. There’s a relationship-building aspect to the game. The better players understand this aspect, and typically invest in crafting and promoting their likability factor.
I notice top players often like to put in extra effort to be entertaining—whether it’s drafting a limerick, or being a source of humour, or having deep personal level conversations that forge connections with players. Strong players appreciate that some matches are decided based on likeability; sometimes a losing or angered player decides to throw their support behind the player they like best (or dislike least). Building relationships and persuading others in a way that doesn’t come across as insincere or pushy takes time and finesse. I’ve noticed that many top players have careers in oratory-based fields, such as law, clergy, sales, or politics.
I’m sure this is no coincidence. Anybody who has encountered Conq (#1 player PlayDiplomacy, #1 player Nexus, WDC Finalist) is familiar with him being the perpetual friendly, eloquent and empathetic voice in everyone’s ear—which has been known to create Pied-Piper-like influence over players’ actions.
2) They are Students of the Board
We might call this the 7-player chess aspect of Diplomacy. To consistently succeed, you need to understand the board itself extremely well and have a sense for what your opponents are planning to do. You need to have the capacity to plan and predict a few moves ahead. Smart players realize that it’s not about where you are in the Spring, it’s about where you will be in the Fall. They factor into their plans not just their moves, but the ripple effects created by those moves that will last far into the future.
The best way I’ve found to sharpen this skill is by playing two-player games, gunboat games, or WebDiplomacy’s latest bots games. These variants remove some (or all) of the “diplomacy” aspect of the game so that you can focus on perfecting board mechanics. Try to work out what moves you would do if you were in your enemies’ shoes—then reverse-engineer your own moves as a counter to your enemies’ likely moves. swordsman3003(*Top 10 gunboat at WebDiplomacy/BrotherBored.com blogger/ODC finalist) has many amazing extremely detailed articles and journals on this subject and CaptainMeme (Creator of DiploStrats YouTube channel/WebDip Mod/Nexus Finalist) had even done his university dissertation on stalemate lines.
3) They Act on their “Spidey-Sense”
Skilled players can often sense when an ally is about to stab them in the back. They sense a shift in mood or a change in conversation style, notice suspicious actions, or simply perceive that their ally has a great backstab opportunity. A skilled player does more than just sense a coming backstab; they react. By contrast, there are a lot of players who sense a stab coming, yet for some reason don’t act on this suspicion. They wait until the knife is in their back to react, even though by that point the damage is done and there’s little more to do but shake an angry fist.
If you feel a stab coming, then call the other person out, get prepared for it, or make a preemptive strike. I’d rather be labelled paranoid than foolish. Tarsier (*Top 10 veteran at PlayDiplomacy) would often say his first sign of an impending stab is a sudden drop off in communications. If they stop talking or change how they’re talking, prepare for problems.
4) They Treat Allies as Equals
Alliances work best when both sides are equally satisfied. Nobody grows faster than the other, nobody is trying to steer an advantage in their favour, nobody is more vulnerable then the other, nobody is assuming more risk. This is a bit idealistic, but you get the idea. Occasionally offering to take a bigger bite of risk or suggesting for your ally to take a center is an investment in a strong alliance, and a strong alliance can get you incredibly far.
Be conscious of potential causes of frustration for an ally (like getting boxed in or assuming a disproportionate amount risk); this could save you from a backstab. If it makes strategic sense for your team and doesn’t create too much risk, don’t be afraid to concede over a center. CS (Top 10 veteran PlayDiplomacy) was completely selfless, which helped him build extremely strong alliances in most games he plays.
5) They Champion their Needs
Good players plan for safeguards as much as possible and advocate for their personal interest even while being a good ally. You can be extremely trusting and generous to your allies in the beginning, when you’re investing in relationships and trust—but don’t leave your throat exposed for too long, and minimize this as much as possible in the end-game when likelihood of stabs are at their highest. Routinely confirm that your alliances and neighbouring treaties are still in force, and address concerns immediately as they come up. Diplomatically set expectations with your allies that they must ask permission if they are going to transit close to any of your centers. Get players to explain their plans to you so that you can recognize deviations from their stated objectives.
There is an art to this, as there’s a fine line where precautious becomes perceived more as paranoid (which is a less flattering look and has a tendency towards contagiousness). In games with MadMarx (former #1 at WebDiplomacy/peak rating record holder) our alliance was in a perpetual state of negotiations and renegotiations; it was just baked into our daily discussions.
6) They Value Trust as a Precious Currency
DIplomacy is a game where it’s very hard to avoid lying forever. However, trust is currency in this game; do not spend it frivolously. Once one player’s confidence in another is damaged, it’s often strained (or gone) for the remainder of the game—so be very sparing with overt lies that will catch up with you, or blatant betrayals that leave a bruise of resentment.
Far too often, I see players playing too aggressively and too fast, creating a counterproductive mid-game in which nobody is willing to work with them. The Hanged Man (Top 10 veteran WebDiplomacy/The Masters 2013 Tournament champion) is extremely talented with managing the commodity of trustworthiness, which affords him a lot of diplomatic influence, which gets him extremely far in his games almost every time. People know he uses his lies very sparingly which makes him appealing as an ally choice. By the way, you can weaponize this concept against your competitors; you should seize almost any opportunity to discredit your competitors. UmbleTheHeep (former #1 Nexus player/Creator of ‘The Briefing’) was highly skilled at damaging an adversary’s trustability and reputation through his persuasive ability, which allowed him to control perceptions and narratives within his games.
7) They are Thick-Skinned
The best players are the ones who know how to roll with the punches and put the right face on tough situations. Regardless of how ugly a stab is, you may still have use for that person later on—so avoid burning down bridges beyond repair if you can. Your bitter enemy today might be a mutually-ideal ally later in the game; it would be a shame to let hard feelings stand in the way of opportunity.
Octavious (former #1 Ranked WebDiplomacy / Online Diplomacy Championship 2013 winner) is a very aggressive and ambitious player, yet also one of the most reserved and gracious. He often responds to getting stabbed with a tip of his hat, the closest I ever got to a reaction from him was “My righteous and entirely justified fury is tempered by how well that turned out 🙂”.
This type of playstyle makes it very easy to maintain a viable dialog throughout hardship, which serves him very well in his games. This takes some judgement, as while there are some players who appreciate the good-sport spirit there are others who see this as a free pass to stab whenever they want without consequence—in which case friendly-but-firm is often the best approach.
8) They Play Smarter, not Harder
Not every gain must come through brute force. As the old saying goes: “war is the ultimate failure of diplomacy.” Many players fail to consider this aspect of the game and default to aggression over negotiation. Rather than spending three rounds trying to fight your way into the one space you need to have any opportunity, a “trade” with your neighbour might be the better and quicker way to resolve this. Or perhaps you can offer support against an enemy that’s been threatening that neighbor as an exchange. There may be many other incentives you can propose.
I see games lost as players fight over high-effort low-gain disputes while other participants run around grabbing all the “low-hanging fruit.” Keep the big picture in mind. Consider all options of how to get to your goal. Seek out economical ways to get what you need. Strong players value efficiency.
9) They Manage the Game Beyond the Game
If you want to fall under the label of ‘top player,’ then you want to get involved in leagues, tournaments, or ranking systems. Of course, a great player—perhaps by definition—wins matches. However, if you want to reach the acme of excellence you must understand that you are playing a bigger game than just one specific match. For example, there’s your reputation. If you’re playing in a tournament or league, your reputation carries over between games—and you’ll need to get good at managing that.
Skilled players are also knowledgeable about different scoring systems and differing rule sets, and are able to adjust their strategy to take advantage of the rules. The best players even keep tabs of who is in a given match and factor that into their play as well. Brumark (Online Diplomacy Championship 2020 winner / PlayDip Top 20 player) understood this extremely well, and would cleverly pull punches in the early rounds of the tournament to conservatively control his score so as to not put too large of a target onto himself. Instead of maximizing his scores each match, he invested in the success of players he felt he could work with (or possibly beat) in later rounds. He played a deeper game than most players can even imagine: he deliberately influenced the composition of players at the final table, and then defeated them all to become the champion.
It’s fairly common for skilled players to keep up-to-date spreadsheets that track stats and numbers so that they can fine-tune the level of aggressiveness they need in a particular match to achieve their tournament goals.
10) They Embrace Their Differential Advantage
The last thing top Diplomacy players share in common is that they are each unique. A unique approach to Diplomacy is necessary to ascend to the rank of “top” player because the merely strong players (who a top player must defeat) have mastered the other necessary skills. Certain tactics and diplomatic ploys, although they are powerful, are too well-known at that highest level. Paradoxically, certain well-regarded methods of play are too well-known to consistently succeed against the best players.
All the top players have an x-factor that enables them to subvert expectations of how games ‘ought’ play out, allowing them to achieve levels beyond the reach of other players. This is what drives me towards seeking opportunities to play top players, as I’m enthralled by the opportunity to peek into their idiosyncrasies like looking into a box of Cracker Jacks to discover what surprise lies within. With enough time and study, anybody can learn the tactical playbooks and sharpen their interpersonal skills to become a very proficient Diplomacy player. But to be a unicorn, you must move past the science of the game and embrace the artistry.
Some of my favorite unique talents i’ve discovered from different top players over the years:
EVR (Nexus Gunboat champion and Nexus Season 5 finalist) had an innate ability to see far-reaching butterfly effects of every action. This follows the old hockey adage of “skate to where the puck is going.” He was able to see beyond just where his next build was coming from, and instead forecast where problems would arise for his opponents and opportunities for himself— often overlooking possible short-term losses. His tactics were far subtler than most, and his plans for grand success were far-sighted.
GoHornsGo (Nexus Season 2 Finalist, Cascadia Open 2021 Champion, Host of The Diplomats ) had an ability to connect with players on a deep personal and sentimental level which allowed him access to unintuitive trust and favour.
PoserTom (Nexus Season 3 and 5 Finalist) was teflon for long periods of his game when it came to getting caught with blood on his hands due to extremely subtle puppet-mastering skills. He would be friendly with everybody and convince them all that they were his only ‘real’ friend in the game. Most players would have no idea he was the root of their hardships until it was too late.
Charliep007 (former PlayDiplomacy Top 10 player) had a mind for upsetting traditional tactics through highly unconventional and unpredictable strategies, putting opponents off-balance and creating an unstable board which would lead to solo opportunities. He took a lot of risks, but coupled with a strong tactical skill he was able to parlay the risks into disrupting the strategies of the players around him and recover quickly on occasions where the risks did not pay off.
Conclusion
You too could become a top ranked Diplomacy player. It may take years of practice, but if you make a deliberate effort to become better you will definitely improve. If you set out to master the skills I have identified here, and if you embrace your uniqueness, your fellow hobbyists may one day speak of your achievements with awe and reverence.
