You don't need to necessarily do all of these, as it will depend on the person. These are some techniques that have worked for others in the past though. These will be in no particular order:

1. Play! - Play as often as possible. You can't become a strong warlight player without putting in some time. You should play against players who are at or above your level. Expect to lose over half your games. Invite some of the higher level ladder players to games. Some will decline, but some will accept. For team games, try to join realtime games with higher level players (especially on 3v3 EU).

2. Analyze - Look over games between high-level players. Try to get in their heads and think why they did move XYZ. You should especially focus on how they pick, and trying to find the reasoning for it. Also, be sure to analyze your own games afterwards, and see why you won or lost. Try not to make the same mistake twice. And if you make the same mistake twice, don't do it a third time! Ask high level players to look over your games and give suggestions on what you did wrong if you can't find anything.

3. Take your time on turns - Take as much time on each turn as you can without it being boring. Think of as many possibilities and paths as you can. Try to predict what your opponent will do each turn, and what is the best way to counter it. Try to think ahead, and think about how this turn will affect future turns.

4. Special focus on picks - Picks are very important, especially in higher level games. Spend a lot of time learning how to pick well, and how your picks will influence the rest of the game.

5. Join one of the highest-level clans you can get into - This one is not a way to become successful, but rather to make a couple of these other points easier. It's easier to make friends in your clan, and you can discuss strategy with them, as well as playing them. NOTE: Simply joining a clan will not help you improve; you must apply one or more of the above points while in that clan for it to help.

These are five things that may help you improve your skill on warlight. Remember to have fun while doing these!

Feel free to add more ways to improve your skill below; this is not an exhaustive list by any means.

I have to put a huge emphasis on the "Analyze" part. Understanding how each template is played at top level is what allowed me to become an elite player in just a few months. I would spend a couple of hours looking over games played on the ladders (Swe, Master of Desaster, Deadman, Timinator, etc.) and understanding the logic behind the picks, moves and overall strategy. To put it into perspective, I joined 101st with 20 games and Lynx with 100 games because I'm a small player, but a big analyzer.

However, once you have the theory down... Then yes, you need to practice and play in order to go from "Elite" to "Top"! The hardest boundary to cross...

Picks are definitively the most important part of a game, in my opinion. Use those 3 days wisely!

Edited 7/19/2016 21:49:52

Play the real time ladder, open games for 1v1's don't help since the competition and templates are normally crap.

Also most players on the rt ladder dont mind giving advice on what you did wrong after the game if you ask, or at least it used to be like that when I did it.

Edited 7/19/2016 21:58:31

Play strategic templates against different people and play them regularly to keep them fresh in your mind.

Listening/competing in WGL (mostly for game analysis and thinking of different things the opponent could do).

Could a moderator move this to "Strategy"?

Edit: Thanks!

Edited 7/20/2016 00:17:19

6) when you play important games study your opponent style and try to adapt to it.
Especially when it come down to picks and prediction moves.

Play a safe style vs someone is worst than you. Play risky vs someone is better and he is willing to beat you at least half times.

Most players are better at certain types of games, e.g. multiday/realtime, SR/WR, 1v1/team. You should explore them all to see what you're good at.

For team games, its essential to communicate and co-ordinate. And I think generally the best level of play is on multiday team games, where different players have discussed the play over a few days.

Also, just some general advice, never change your mind, if you change your mind and it go's tits up, you'll be forever sad you changed your mind, but if you stick with your orders and it go's tits up, you were never going to do it right anyway, so its all good

Watching good players in WGL making analysis and a great emphasis in picks helped me a lot. Games are often decided on picks, especially in high level playing.

Understanding the picking mechanics is essential for a high game skill. Knowing that in your 123 picks you will always have 1 or 23 in case of picks getting stolen, or that combinations like 46 and 56 are impossible are needed to make picks that work well together no matter the outcome of the picking phase.

4 6 are possible. Like 1 4 6.

No they aren't. Ignore Gnuffone, he's mistaken.

1 4 6 is not possible.

If you get first pick and get your 1, they get their 2, and 3 or 1 and 2. You then get your last two, if they took your 2 and 3, you get your 4 and 5.

If they got first pick, and had a different 1 than you, they get their 1. You get your 1/2. They then get their last picks, thus leaving you with 123 124 125 or 126.

Edited 7/22/2016 07:13:36

You are simply right ^^
I don't play 1v1 since long time ago and i may starting forget how to play and how thing work in this game =)

gnuffles is such a newb!!!

Fun fact:
If you want to analize the board correctly in a game with 6 picks per player you have to check this combinations:

[[1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6], [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7], [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 8], [1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 7], [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 9], [1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 8], [1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7], [1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 9], [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 10], [1, 2, 3, 4, 7, 8], [1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 8], [1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 7], [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 11], [1, 2, 3, 4, 7, 9], [1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 9], [1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 10], [1, 2, 3, 5, 7, 8], [1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 8], [1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7], [1, 2, 3, 4, 8, 9], [1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 11], [1, 2, 3, 5, 7, 9], [1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 9], [1, 2, 3, 4, 7, 10], [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 12], [1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 10], [1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8], [1, 2, 3, 6, 7, 8], [1, 2, 4, 5, 7, 8], [2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7], [1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 12], [1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 9], [1, 2, 3, 4, 7, 11], [1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 11], [1, 2, 4, 6, 7, 8], [1, 2, 3, 6, 7, 9], [1, 2, 4, 5, 7, 9], [1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 9], [1, 2, 3, 4, 8, 10], [2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8], [1, 2, 3, 5, 7, 10], [1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 10], [1, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8], [1, 2, 3, 6, 8, 9], [1, 2, 3, 4, 9, 10], [1, 2, 3, 4, 8, 11], [1, 2, 3, 6, 7, 10], [2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8], [1, 2, 4, 5, 8, 9], [1, 2, 5, 6, 7, 8], [1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 10], [1, 2, 3, 5, 7, 11], [1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 11], [1, 2, 4, 5, 7, 10], [1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 12], [1, 2, 4, 6, 7, 9], [2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 9], [1, 3, 4, 5, 7, 9], [1, 2, 3, 4, 7, 12], [1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 10], [1, 3, 4, 6, 7, 8], [1, 2, 3, 5, 9, 10], [1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 11], [1, 2, 4, 6, 8, 9], [1, 3, 4, 5, 8, 9], [1, 2, 3, 6, 7, 11], [1, 2, 4, 5, 8, 10], [1, 2, 4, 5, 7, 11], [1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 11], [1, 3, 4, 5, 7, 10], [1, 2, 3, 6, 8, 10], [1, 3, 4, 6, 7, 9], [1, 2, 3, 7, 8, 9], [1, 2, 3, 4, 8, 12], [1, 2, 4, 6, 7, 10], [1, 2, 3, 5, 7, 12], [1, 2, 5, 6, 7, 9], [1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 12], [2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 9], [2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 8], [1, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8], [2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 10], [1, 2, 3, 4, 9, 11], [1, 2, 3, 6, 8, 11], [1, 2, 3, 6, 9, 10], [1, 3, 4, 5, 7, 11], [1, 2, 4, 5, 9, 10], [1, 3, 4, 5, 8, 10], [1, 2, 3, 5, 9, 11], [1, 3, 4, 6, 7, 10], [1, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8], [1, 2, 4, 6, 8, 10], [1, 2, 3, 4, 10, 11], [1, 2, 4, 7, 8, 9], [1, 2, 4, 5, 7, 12], [1, 2, 4, 5, 8, 11], [1, 3, 5, 6, 7, 9], [1, 2, 5, 6, 7, 10], [2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 9], [1, 2, 3, 7, 8, 10], [1, 3, 4, 6, 8, 9], [1, 2, 5, 6, 8, 9], [1, 2, 3, 6, 7, 12], [2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8], [1, 2, 4, 6, 7, 11], [1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 12], [2, 3, 4, 5, 8, 9], [1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 12], [2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 11], [2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 10], [1, 2, 3, 4, 9, 12], [1, 3, 4, 5, 9, 10], [1, 2, 4, 6, 9, 10], [1, 2, 3, 7, 8, 11], [1, 2, 5, 6, 8, 10], [2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 11], [1, 2, 4, 7, 8, 10], [1, 2, 4, 6, 8, 11], [1, 3, 4, 7, 8, 9], [1, 3, 4, 6, 7, 11], [1, 2, 3, 6, 9, 11], [1, 2, 3, 5, 10, 11], [1, 3, 4, 6, 8, 10], [2, 3, 4, 5, 8, 10], [1, 3, 4, 5, 8, 11], [1, 2, 3, 6, 8, 12], [1, 3, 4, 5, 7, 12], [1, 3, 5, 6, 7, 10], [1, 2, 4, 5, 8, 12], [1, 2, 4, 6, 7, 12], [1, 2, 3, 5, 9, 12], [1, 3, 5, 6, 8, 9], [1, 2, 3, 7, 9, 10], [2, 3, 4, 6, 8, 9], [1, 2, 4, 5, 9, 11], [1, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9], [1, 2, 5, 6, 7, 11], [1, 2, 5, 7, 8, 9], [2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 10], [2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 9], [1, 2, 4, 7, 8, 11], [1, 2, 5, 6, 9, 10], [1, 2, 3, 7, 9, 11], [1, 3, 4, 6, 9, 10], [1, 3, 5, 6, 7, 11], [1, 2, 3, 7, 8, 12], [1, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9], [2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 10], [1, 2, 4, 6, 8, 12], [1, 3, 4, 7, 8, 10], [1, 2, 5, 6, 8, 11], [1, 2, 5, 7, 8, 10], [2, 3, 4, 5, 8, 11], [2, 3, 4, 6, 8, 10], [1, 3, 4, 6, 7, 12], [1, 3, 4, 5, 9, 11], [1, 2, 3, 8, 9, 10], [1, 3, 5, 7, 8, 9], [2, 3, 4, 5, 9, 10], [1, 2, 3, 6, 10, 11], [1, 2, 4, 5, 10, 11], [1, 2, 4, 6, 9, 11], [1, 3, 4, 6, 8, 11], [2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 11], [1, 2, 6, 7, 8, 9], [2, 3, 5, 6, 8, 9], [1, 3, 4, 5, 8, 12], [1, 2, 4, 7, 9, 10], [1, 2, 5, 6, 7, 12], [1, 4, 5, 6, 7, 10], [2, 3, 4, 7, 8, 9], [1, 3, 5, 6, 8, 10], [1, 2, 4, 5, 9, 12], [1, 2, 3, 6, 9, 12], [1, 2, 5, 7, 8, 11], [1, 3, 5, 6, 8, 11], [1, 3, 5, 6, 9, 10], [1, 2, 3, 7, 10, 11], [2, 3, 4, 6, 9, 10], [1, 3, 4, 6, 8, 12], [1, 3, 5, 6, 7, 12], [1, 4, 5, 6, 8, 10], [1, 4, 5, 7, 8, 9], [2, 3, 5, 7, 8, 9], [1, 4, 5, 6, 7, 11], [2, 3, 4, 5, 9, 11], [1, 2, 4, 7, 9, 11], [1, 2, 3, 8, 9, 11], [1, 2, 6, 7, 8, 10], [1, 3, 4, 7, 8, 11], [1, 3, 6, 7, 8, 9], [1, 2, 4, 6, 10, 11], [2, 3, 4, 6, 8, 11], [2, 3, 4, 7, 8, 10], [1, 3, 4, 5, 9, 12], [1, 2, 4, 7, 8, 12], [1, 2, 5, 6, 8, 12], [2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 11], [1, 3, 4, 5, 10, 11], [1, 2, 5, 7, 9, 10], [1, 2, 4, 8, 9, 10], [1, 2, 5, 6, 9, 11], [1, 3, 4, 6, 9, 11], [1, 2, 4, 6, 9, 12], [2, 3, 5, 6, 8, 10], [1, 3, 4, 7, 9, 10], [1, 2, 3, 7, 9, 12], [1, 3, 5, 7, 8, 10], [1, 2, 4, 7, 10, 11], [1, 2, 3, 8, 9, 12], [1, 4, 5, 7, 8, 10], [1, 2, 6, 7, 8, 11], [2, 3, 4, 6, 9, 11], [2, 3, 4, 7, 8, 11], [1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 10], [1, 4, 5, 6, 7, 12], [1, 3, 5, 7, 8, 11], [1, 2, 5, 6, 10, 11], [2, 3, 4, 5, 10, 11], [1, 3, 6, 7, 8, 10], [1, 2, 5, 7, 9, 11], [2, 3, 6, 7, 8, 9], [1, 3, 4, 6, 10, 11], [1, 4, 5, 6, 8, 11], [1, 2, 4, 7, 9, 12], [1, 2, 4, 8, 9, 11], [1, 3, 4, 7, 9, 11], [2, 3, 5, 6, 8, 11], [1, 3, 5, 6, 9, 11], [2, 3, 5, 6, 9, 10], [1, 2, 6, 7, 9, 10], [1, 2, 5, 8, 9, 10], [1, 3, 4, 8, 9, 10], [2, 3, 4, 7, 9, 10], [1, 3, 4, 6, 9, 12], [2, 3, 5, 7, 8, 10], [1, 3, 5, 6, 8, 12], [1, 2, 5, 7, 8, 12], [1, 2, 5, 6, 9, 12], [1, 3, 4, 7, 8, 12], [1, 4, 5, 6, 9, 10], [1, 2, 5, 7, 9, 12], [1, 2, 4, 8, 9, 12], [1, 3, 5, 8, 9, 10], [2, 3, 4, 7, 9, 11], [1, 2, 5, 7, 10, 11], [1, 4, 5, 7, 9, 10], [1, 4, 5, 6, 8, 12], [1, 4, 5, 6, 9, 11], [1, 3, 4, 7, 10, 11], [1, 4, 5, 7, 8, 11], [1, 3, 6, 7, 8, 11], [1, 2, 5, 8, 9, 11], [2, 3, 5, 7, 9, 10], [1, 3, 5, 6, 10, 11], [1, 3, 4, 7, 9, 12], [2, 3, 5, 6, 9, 11], [1, 3, 6, 7, 9, 10], [2, 3, 6, 7, 8, 10], [1, 2, 6, 7, 9, 11], [2, 3, 5, 7, 8, 11], [1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11], [1, 3, 5, 7, 8, 12], [1, 3, 5, 6, 9, 12], [2, 3, 4, 6, 10, 11], [1, 3, 4, 8, 9, 11], [1, 2, 5, 8, 9, 12], [1, 2, 6, 7, 10, 11], [1, 3, 4, 8, 9, 12], [2, 3, 4, 7, 10, 11], [1, 3, 5, 7, 10, 11], [2, 3, 6, 7, 9, 10], [2, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11], [1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 12], [1, 4, 5, 6, 9, 12], [1, 4, 5, 7, 8, 12], [1, 3, 5, 8, 9, 11], [1, 4, 5, 7, 9, 11], [1, 3, 6, 7, 9, 11], [1, 4, 5, 8, 9, 10], [2, 3, 5, 6, 10, 11], [2, 3, 6, 7, 8, 11], [1, 3, 6, 7, 10, 11], [1, 3, 5, 8, 9, 12], [1, 4, 5, 7, 9, 12], [1, 4, 5, 8, 9, 11], [2, 3, 5, 7, 10, 11], [2, 3, 6, 7, 9, 11], [1, 4, 5, 8, 9, 12], [2, 3, 6, 7, 10, 11]]

Sorry if that is spaming :/
But I guess someone can hide my post if so as it is that new great strategy forum, right?
Or simply I'll edit it if to void post if it is spam.

that's sultan's cheatsheet for french brawl btw

Git gud

Important advice : take in account all the tips given here, learn from each experience,
but above all, create your own strategy !

All the really good players I've met had their own way to play the game,
a way they're the most comfortable with. So you have to learn to know yourself,
and to choose which elements you will keep and what you'd throw away while building your own gameplay.

It's pointless to copy a strategy you've seen without understanding it, unless for testing,
or you'd get lost more than anything... And contrary to what Hades said, don't hesitate to change your mind !
If you never change your mind, you could avoid regrets but you'd become too predictable,
and well, changing your mind and thinking more and more upon your strategy is the best way to improve !

How to Improve Your Skill at Warlight: BE A WACO

Pretty cringey advice,l I think having a natural interest in the game will allow you to improve quickly. The type of template matters too, diplomacy and FFA games require different skills than 1v1 or team games. Just play whatever you enjoy.

Does anyone have a list of possible pick combinations in a game with four starting spots per player?

[1, 2, 3, 4]
[1, 2, 3, 5]
[1, 2, 3, 6]
[1, 2, 3, 7]
[1, 2, 3, 8]**
[1, 2, 4, 5]
[1, 2, 4, 6]
[1, 2, 4, 7]
[1, 2, 4, 8]**
[1, 2, 5, 6]
[1, 2, 5, 7]
[1, 2, 5, 8]**
[1, 2, 6, 7]*
[1, 3, 4, 5]
[1, 3, 4, 6]
[1, 3, 4, 7]
[1, 3, 4, 8]**
[1, 3, 5, 6]
[1, 3, 5, 7]
[1, 3, 5, 8]**
[1, 3, 6, 7]*
[1, 4, 5, 6]**
[1, 4, 5, 7]**
[1, 4, 5, 8]**
[2, 3, 4, 5]*
[2, 3, 4, 6]*
[2, 3, 4, 7]*
[2, 3, 5, 6]*
[2, 3, 5, 7]*
[2, 3, 6, 7]*

*In cyclic move order, you will go first on Turn 1 if you get this combination.
**In cyclic move order, you will go second on Turn 1 if you get this combination.