WoW, like any other esports game, is largely about mind games. But whereas in other games you are trying to get into the heads of your opponent, in WoW you are usually battling against yourself. If that sounds a bit schizophrenic, allow me to explain.

In Counter-Strike, one of the ways you can mess with people is by talking shit to them. While this may be considered rather unprofessional, on an amateur level it happens all the time. In World of Warcraft, that is mostly impossible. Sure, you might be able to whisper a team from your server, message them on a website or even pm them on IRC. But in-arena communication in WoW is non-existent.

Now take Warcraft III. Again, you have the shit-talking approach readily available but you have much more cerebral options, too. Pulling out an unusual hero that your opponent doesn’t expect just to screw with them may not be a great idea in the long run but if you can end the game while they’re still working out what you’re trying to do then it worked. The same goes for unique, unexpected strategies.

Again, this is kind of possible in WoW, but not to the same extent. At a LAN tournament you can, as the Americans would say, throw a curve ball. But if you haven’t practiced a second comp, the chances are that it will backfire. Besides, how many of us will ever attend a LAN anyway?

No, in WoW you are constantly battling against yourself because of the way the game is balanced. Or, to be more accurate, the way it is not balanced. Although a lot of WoW players exaggerate them, you probably know the strengths and weaknesses of your class. You know which setups are free wins and which ones are nigh impossible.

But this is a doubled-edged sword. For example, I play mage/rogue in 2v2. When a deathknight/druid team comes up, I’m already beaten. Before the deathknight has even got into melee range both me and my partner have lost because we have lost the mind games as soon as we see that comp appear on-screen. There’s no way we can win – at least in our heads – and with that attitude there is genuinely no way to win.

But the other side of the sword is good for both ourselves and Blizzard. To put it bluntly, imbalance gives us an excuse. The chances are that better players than me could beat the deathknight/druid setup. But because I’ve mentally filed it under “impossible” then it’s okay to lose. For a serious professional player, this is not a good mentality to have, but for the rest of us it does a good job of protecting the ego: I wasn’t outplayed, I was out-comped.

For Blizzard, this is good because it keeps us playing. Yes, what I’m implying here is that imbalances keep us playing. There is a breaking point, of course, where enough is enough and some of us do quit the game. But largely, we keep coming back because losses aren’t our fault. And just think about when you do beat the impossible comp; the feeling is almost orgasmic.

In our own heads, we have overcome the impossible – not just the other team, but those bastards at Blizzard who like the other guy’s class more than mine; not just an opponent, but the game itself. It is that feeling that keeps us coming back for more, even if we don’t actually obtain it, the possibility alone is tantalising enough to give it one more go.

The world's first weekly esports column, The Zechs Files, returns next Tuesday.