Strategy · 5 min read
Deciding what a contest is worth to you
Setting a ceiling on entries before the slate rather than during it.
Decide the number away from the slate
The moment to choose what you are willing to spend in a month is not while looking at a contest. Set a deposit limit in your account first; it is easier to lower one than to argue with yourself later.
A limit reduction is immediate
Lowering a deposit limit takes effect the moment you confirm it. Raising one waits 24 hours, deliberately, so that the decision is made twice.
Free contests score identically
If you want to test a construction idea without a fee, the free contest on the same slate uses the same pool, the same cap and the same scoring table. The only thing missing is the prize pool.
Know where to stop
If entering has stopped being something you choose and started being something you do, the responsible play page has limits, time-outs, self-exclusion and independent help lines that have nothing to do with us.
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Other guides
Reading a salary-cap slate
How to work out where the points on a match day actually are before you spend a dollar of cap.
Roster construction and correlation
Why stacking teammates raises both your ceiling and your floor, and where the team limit bites.
Where the points hide in each discipline
The scoring lines that decide contests in CS2, Dota 2, LoL and Valorant.