The vast majority of players in League Of Legends can be found in the lower two tiers of the ranked system: Bronze, and Silver. Both are notoriously considered “Elo Hell,” but almost entirely only by the players who reside within one of the two.
The people who claim that Bronze and Silver are full of “ragers, feeders, and AFKers” might not be inclined to believe it, but from my personal experience there are just as many toxic players in both Gold and Platinum, and from what I hear from friends in Diamond, it is the same there. The point is, it might always seem like the odds are against you.
Yet, statistically speaking, if you are not the one who is going to go AFK, wail at your teammates in all-chat, or feed the enemy Teemo to the point that one mushroom will result in a pentakill, then there are only 4 out of 5 people on your team who could fit that criteria, as opposed to the possibility that 5 out 5 of your opponents could be “players who ruin the game.”
The main thing to think about here is your own play. How you can affect the game. So here are a few tips I have to share, as a mid-platinum level player looking to Diamond before the season is out, that I believe most lower-tier players miss out on. (I was guilty of not doing most of these before rising.)
1. Map Awareness
Map awareness is incredibly important, and if you do not possess it, you will likely always be one tier below the rest of your play, which is most likely Bronze. Always have one eye on the minimap – you can’t rely on your teammates to tell you when someone is MIA/SS. This is Solo Queue, it’s up to you.
(Season 1 video that helped when I first started!)
2. Buy and Use Wards
Warding goes hand in hand with map awareness, and will prevent you being slaughtered by 5 opponents coming out of the fog of war. Granted, Riot Games was kind enough to gift you with the warding totem, but a single short lasting ward is never enough. If you have cash left over after going back to base, always fill up with wards. If you have vision of the enemy jungle, you will see where the jungler is planning to go, and you can avoid the death, or possibly counter and kill him, or steal his buffs. If you have vision of your side of the map, you know where it’s safe, and can see if someone is invading – which again can result in a kill for your team.
Pink wards are incredibly valuable and important. They only cost 100 gold, can reveal invisible units, deny enemy vision of an area, and last permanently if placed correctly. Denying enemy vision is one of the best things you can do, as the only way they can get vision of that area is to move into it, and as you have vision there, you will see them go – and this usually occurs when they are most likely placing a ward alone, which you can easily take advantage of and secure a free kill.
3. Smart Trades to Gain Advantage
Knowing when to trade is incredibly important, and is something most players don’t know at the lower tiers. It is knowing when to move to attack the opposing laner, and when not to. A great video I watched on the topic:
It may be over an hour long, but that’s about the time you’d spend playing two games, which is a small sacrifice to increase your win chance in all future games.
4. Learning Positioning is Key
Learn your roles – then learn all the other roles, as you will likely be left with the last one noone else wants at some point. Know where you’re supposed to be in a team fight.
- The ADC sits at the back shooting whatever he/she can, preferably high priority targets, but not if it puts them in a dangerous situation.
- AP carries are similar, yet should be just behind the front line so as to burst down the high priority targets, poking the enemy front line without wasting their main damage on them.
- Supports should be just in front of their ADC, ready to neutralize enemy threats advancing on them.
- Tanks stand in front of the team, soaking damage, and either drawing aggro from the enemy team or “peeling” for the ADC – again preventing enemies from getting too close and personal.
- Bruisers jump in on the enemy high priority targets and bash them about.
These are generalisations, but should work for most scenarios.
5. Attitude and Communication are Determining Factors
Go in to win, and come out winning. Do not go in to win and then insult your teammates in all-caps if they do something wrong. That will only further ruin their play, or cause them to return the favour, which puts you in a situation where neither of you are playing but spending your time typing, while the enemy are taking Baron.
Or, they might quit the game if you upset them. Don’t talk unless necessary. Make sure you use your pings, warn teammates of possible ganks and enemy wards, try and intervene if your teammates are raging at each other, but if all else fails, mute them and carry on so that you can focus on the task at hand.
While these skills may not get you out of the lower tiers of play immediately – you will advance if you possess each of them, as well as a certain level of mechanical skill (which can only be obtained through time and experience playing the game.) You will definitely increase your chances of winning if you know each of them.
It is impossible to explain exactly how to improve upon each one in a relatively short article on the matter, and would take forever in text to do so, so I would highly recommend you search each concept on YouTube, as there are many great guides there. Don’t be afraid to spend a few hours watching higher levels players play, it is a small time investment compared to the time you ultimately spend playing League Of Legends. I can assure you, and well worth it.
To round off, here’s a video of me dying to minions:
Published: Sep 19, 2014 12:24 am