I'm a mediocre poker player, grinding the micros online, but it seems peculiar that specifically .02/.05c and the .05/.10c I play very subpar, while I'm much more successful at NL25 which is where I normally play.

Anyone else have weird luck with certain stakes?

Sure. You care more about the money, and it is stimulating to play for higher stakes. It is sort of a bell curve though, if you play super high then it is tough to play your best.

I tend to do better at 25nl vs 5nl, because bluffing works better. However, you really need to study your game at 25nl, since its easy to get caught up in overbluffing, and there goes your win rate.

Look into Jared Tendler's Mental Game of Poker 2 for a further explanation of this.
It might be that NL25 is the sweet spot for you while NL5 is just plain boring.

You talk about 'playing' ... then you ask us about 'luck'? Play is play, and luck is variance. Only you can look at your stats to see what is accounting for your bottom line.

'Lots' of Players have a hard time stepping down after getting used to playing bigger, but IMO for the most part they don't adjust for the various tendencies that are bound to change from stake to stake. Ranges and getting called much lighter are what I've seen over time. The 'ole "Didn't you see the straight AND flush out there?" followed by the "I just knew you were bluffing the whole time, so I called with bottom pair."

In general, and more so online IMO, you will see more and more 'poker' the higher the stakes. Yes, you still have the 'fun' Players but for the most part the Players at these levels know how to hold onto their chips better, which allows them to play bigger.

'Card' playing and gambling run rampant at lower stakes, which may seem to lead to more suckouts in larger pots that a Player (perhaps) normally shouldn't be there at Showdown the higher you play.

All of this leads back to you. What are you doing differently (and the same) in classic poker spots? From what I've seen Players that have no issue dumping in 80+ BB PF or on a draw are looking at the $$ rather than the BB. 80 BB at 5NL is 'only' 16 BB at 25NL, which makes calling it off an 'of course' spot. The issue is that your opponents 'are' typically looking at it as 80 BB and thus their ranges are appropriately tighter.

It's very possible that you're just running better. There are plenty of posters here who will suggest that moving up so you can be in a 'better' poker game is not a good line of thinking. Yes, you can get away with some bluffs/polarizing moves but in the end the better Players will always end up with the chips. GL

This thread just sounds like the classic: "Move up to where they respect your raise"