Something commonly found among league players of all skill levels and ages is the mentality that they are, for the most part, better than their team. It’s extremely rare, especially in lower levels of play, that a player will blame themselves for a loss. It’s always their teammates’ fault. Getting higher ranked in League of Legends involves a lot of things: mechanical skill, game knowledge, map awareness, teamwork, and so on. The most important thing, over the course of many solo queue games, is to maintain a positive attitude.
It’s not easy
Don’t get me wrong, there will certainly be games that are basically out of your control. When your top lane feeds a Jax to a 6-0 mark 10 minutes in, there’s really not much you can do at that point. However, League is such an incredibly constructed skill based game: 99% of the time there’s something you could have done better. It may not have won the game, or even made it close, but the focus should be on improving as a player each and every game, regardless of the outcome of each one.
Focus on your own play
This is definitely something to do that’s easier said than accomplished. There will be times, from unranked to diamond, that you will be at a loss for words. You will have terrible teams, but you will also have great ones that don’t ask you to do much at all. I’ve sat through a few too many 10+ game losing streaks.
Trust me: taking a break, for as little as 10 minutes to a day or so, is the best course of action to avoid plummeting down the ladder. Even something as simple as telling a joke or being friendly in some way, especially before buffs spawn, during a game can go a long way. Don’t jump down someone’s throat when they give up first blood. Instead, focus on yourself, always look for any miniscule amount of room for improvement in your own play, and in time you will rank up easier than before.
Published: May 7, 2014 09:27 am