Before I begin, I want to explain a bit about my League backstory and what makes me qualified to even talk about League of Legends in the first place. For one, I have a computer and working WiFi (Thanks Mom and Dad). More topical of a fact, however, is that I have spent a large portion of my life inside Summoner's Rift and believe my perspective to be unique enough that it is worth sharing. I hope you agree.
During seasons 4 and 5, I peaked at Gold II while playing about 20 games per week. While in my early college years, I took a bit of a break only playing during season 7 where I hit low gold. Now, in my senior year of college I play anywhere between 25-30 games per week which sits me nice and pretty at Gold I. I'll keep the blog posted if I ever hit Platinum (edit: I hit Plat 2 about a month later). But barring school work, exercise and going out with my friends, I'm pretty much constantly on League.
Let's jump right into the tips I used most while climbing to the upper echelons of gold and beyond.
Number 1. Always take responsibility for what happens in game.
"But Billy... you only make up 1/10th of the champions in any given game." This is true. But it is also the only 10% of the game you have any control over and if you're looking to climb, it isn't going to happen by getting magically matched up with better teammates. Let's put it this way, if you artificially simulated 1000 games of League of Legends in Iron IV, Silver I or Challenger, the matchmaking system is such that if you had an exactly equal impact on the game as the enemy in your respective position -- you would come out of those games having won 500 and lost 500. Give or take a couple games. This isn't to say you can't play better than your enemy and lose or play worse than your enemy and win. I'm just pointing out that in order to climb you must consistently out perform your enemy laner and the other team.
Number 2. Main one champion.
You may have heard this tip before, but stick to one or two main champions. The reason I say this is not to bore the living hell out of you and make you hate the game of League of Legends. Rather, I'm telling you this because if you've ever mastered a champion you know you can kill creeps and fight champions in your sleep. Not having to spend mental energy on these vital aspects of the game allows you to better focus on your wave management, mini-map, other lanes, enemies item builds and the many other advanced concepts you need to learn in order to get better at the game.
Number 3. Watch streams and YouTube videos of professionals.
One of my favorite sites to learn from is Skill Capped's YouTube channel. While watching these videos take in one or two key tips and try to focus on applying them to your next game. Once you feel like you've learned those skills to the point of unconscious competence, rinse and repeat. I cannot tell you how deep this game truly is and being able to utilize resources from different people is going to help you broaden your own skills much quicker than you could on your own.
Also if you're anything like me, you'll probably be quite entertained.
Number 4. Plateaus.
This is the tough one. We've all been there. Stuck between two divisions. Doomed to a life of constant relegation and promotion that never seems to move the needle too far in any direction. Many players in Bronze refer to this as Elo Hell, but the truth is it happens at all ranks. You hit a string of what seems to be bad teammates mixed with unlucky plays that result in a brutally even mixture of wins and losses. You're not climbing and you don't know why. Well first of all, not all plateaus were made equal. There are often a two main reasons for this type of prolonged invariability within your rank.
Reason A: You've hit your current maximum rank. Everyone knows their skill level is limited somewhere. Even if you're a challenger player there are parts of the game you haven't perfected and as such, have things to work on. When you get to that point where you're playing your best and still getting beat with any regularity, its time to study. Study the game, study what the players strategy is against you, and study whatever you can in order to improve your game. At this point, only an increase in your base skill level will carry you forward.
Reason B: You're tilted. You can't get over a bad loss from 10 games ago. All mental injection you've tried to employ in order calm you down has been thrown out the window. You take trades you know you shouldn't and yell at your teammates more than you ever imagined you would. Sure, its easier to lie to yourself and ignore the reality that you aren't playing your best League of Legends. But as life often goes, the easy decision isn't always the right one. How do you fix this? Take a break. Take an extended break. Take such a long break, you have to play a normal match just to see if you still remember how to play the game. Tilting isn't the most fun ever, but playing while tilted is just a waste of your time.
Number 5. Have fun.
If you aren't enjoying the game you happen to be spending hours at a time playing, its probably time to turn it off. Burnout is a real thing and it happens to us all. After all, we're only human.
See you next time,
Billy
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