Years ago (2011ish?), I came across a dude online who was ALWAYS dueling in QL. I remember one time we were chatting and he told me he went through what you are now describing.

At the time I knew him best, he was a solid 'elite' duelist, so I was surprised at the path of hell he had to get to where he was.

He was telling me about how he went through a shit period of learning to duel (he called it the 'funk zone' iirc). He told me he had 3-4 boxes filled with broken mice that he smashed or ruined during the 'funk zone' days. Had to be about 50 mice in those boxes.

He said he kept all those mice as a reminder to what he went through and to never go back to those days again.

I asked him how he got out of it.

2 things he told me:

First, He found a great duel partner (an online friend). Apparently, they dueled each other a ton and helped each other a lot. That made it fun for him (and his duel partner).

Remember how in QL, a person could spectate on servers? That is how I ran across him. So once in awhile I would pop in and spectate what he and his duel partner were doing. Very interesting stuff.

He told me watching or spectating pros is good for some learning, BUT actually playing against a partner is the power. By playing/scrimmaging with a partner all the time they both knew all the maps and every nook and cranny of everything associated with dueling.

Then when he played against others, he would do very well. (against slugor, griffin, etc)

When he scrimmaged against pros (yes, rapha included), he could hold his own - eventually losing, but fun to see him snag frags against some of the best out there.

He never played professionally, but I think he could have been more than capable.

Think how players (or teams) will boot-camp before a tournament. They learn, they get better and they stay sharp. That's what his online duel partner did for him.

Second, take a break from playing the game to re-set the mind.
Sometimes he would be gone for weeks. But when he came back, he always felt great (rusty at first), but great. Ever notice how after a tournament most players take a break? Similar to that way of thinking. (Burn-out is no fun.)

He stopped dueling eventually (2016ish?) because of work and real life. So I doubt he ever dueled QC, but I could be wrong. We lost track of each other and his steam account is dormant. (Maybe he has alternate acct, I dont know.)