Is the ELO ranking a better gauge of player abilities?

[Copper]

The ELO system is flawed when used with any game outside of Chess.
Chess is the most balanced wargame there is, nothing else can compare.

The ELO ratings were based on this premises, using them in other gaming societies, the balance factor is removed and thus it only become a relative stat like W/L/D or winning %. A true skill rating will be impossible to calibrate with all the variants of the different gaming systems.

Now you do increase your ELO ratings by playing higher level rated players, but you also increase your ELO by winning games, even against sub par level rated players. All you have to do is win to gain, albeit a smaller gain, but still a gain.

The luxury of another type of stat to measure one's skills against another will always be on someone's project list :)

I chose the middle road, ELO is a good stat to use, but not the only one that determines the skills of a player.