It's why it's a numbers game. It's really not a game of 'skill'.
It's commonly said in sales, marketing, and seduction that it is a 'numbers game'. In all 3 areas, the idea of a 'numbers game' is a half truth and I think it is a dangerous half truth. I'll leave my sales and marketing analysis out of this response and focus on the seduction domain. Seduction has some commonality with the sales and marketing disciplines from business.
In seduction, there needs to be some numbers. It would be very difficult for a man to seduce without doing any approaches in-person, sending 0 DMs on social media platforms, and not swiping/sending in-app messages on the major swipe apps. To that extent, there needs to be some numbers through some activity.
At the same time, without a fundamental grasp of sedution, almost no amount of numbers can save a man. For instance, if a man is an obese, acne-ridden neckbeard of average or below height who lives in his parents' basement and has a McJob at best, there's almost no amount of numbers that can save that man. A man would be to have some fundamental offering that is appealing to some group of women. Another example is Eliot Rodger. One of Eliot Rodgers' grievances was the fact that he had a BMW 3 Series and wasn't getting females to flock to him. A BMW can be considered a solid car. Some people have claimed that BMW stands for 'Brings Me Women'. The biggest problem that Eliot Rodger offered nothing else that women would consider appealing besides a relatively new 3 Series. He wasn't tall and he was socially awkward. In addition, he only did a total of 1-2 lifetime approaches on girls, both of which lasted under 30 seconds. Eliot Rodger would have needed at least a Ferrari to overcome his shortcoming. He might have needed a Ferrari and a Patek Phillippe watch to impress girls. Even he had a Ferrari and Patek Phillippe, he still would have needed to at least initiate a verbal conversation by saying "Hello, I am Eliot. I have a Ferrari and Patek Phillippe. I am awesome. Are you single? What is your name?"
I have so many friends who have never heard about 'game' but who are just good looking, NORMAL dudes who would wipe the floor with mystery.
The best seducers I have known never read Mystery or other well known seduction gurus.
One of the best seducers I have known (triple digit notch count) had mediocre verbal game at best. He got his notches based on his 6'4" height, light brown hair, and blue eyes. It was the kind of cookie cutter White male look that played well with bougie White women in Dallas. Additionally, he had status as a former NCAA athlete. Because his look played well with bougie White women in Dallas, he went to bars that bougie White women in Dallas tended to go to and he would approach them in the 1-2 hours before closing time. In many cases, the women were somewhat intoxicated when they first met him.
Another really good seducer I know has a totally different style of initiating interactions than the man above. He tends to have a sixth sense for the most batshiit crazy women in the city and finds his way to them. He typically finds batshiit crazy women on swipe apps, sets up dates, and then uses his personality to complete the initial seduction. I don't think his personality is anything special but apparently his target market does,
I think both of these men understood their target markets and found ways to be successful with them.