CS's final -- and I think interesting -- response (my question: we *should* get an email telling us we're going from winning to losing in a battle, right?):
"Yes you will. The only thing is, sometimes you may get messages that make you think you're leading when in fact you're not. If two teams are very close in a battle, the recruit may give some slightly misleading responses. We understand that it can be frustrating and plan to improve recruiting."