League of Legends: 50 Tips to Help You Climb Ranked in Season 10
By Josh Tyler
Tips for Mental
21. /Muteall. Always.
99% of what people say in chat is useless in helping you win. Whether you call it “banter” or “insults” your teammates joking with/flaming each other isn’t going to help your ultimate goal of winning the game.
Even when your teammates type something in chat that is related to the game, like flash timings, objectives they want to set up for, or suggestions for how to play the next fight, there’s always the possibility that it will be couched in passive-aggression or flaming. Don’t risk the possibility that your teammates tilt you for the extremely unlikely chance that chat is used purely for gameplay.
22. If the game seems unwinnable, you are responsible.
Every time you’re in a game where it seems like every one of the enemy lanes got fed, their jungler out-pressured your own, and you seemed to never have a chance, know that there was something you could have done. Whether it was not roaming to help your jungler when he died at his red buff to a cheesy invade, not warding that gank, or just mechanically misplaying an all-in, small mistakes can kill the entire game. It may be hard to accept, but you have to be incredibly nit-picky as to what you did wrong in a given game that you lost, especially as you get to higher elos.
23. If you were ahead, you should have carried.
There’s nothing that I hate more than hearing players whine about the games where they started out 3/0/2 in lane but then all their teammates fed so they lost. That’s a load of bull feces. If you got ahead early, you should have carried and it’s no one else’s fault but yours that you didn’t.
I know, I know, your teammates may have played poorly and made the game tougher for you, fair. But when you have a lead it’s your responsibility – no one else’s – to properly leverage that to get objectives, draw and absorb the enemy’s pressure, translate your lead to other lanes, and (this is the most important) don’t die. Every time you die as the fed carry, that is your fault and you need to be examining how you threw your lead rather than spam-pinging your teammates who are so far behind.
24. If you are behind, you probably aren’t going to carry.
On the flip-side, if you’re the guy who went 0/5/1 in lane you need to give up this fantasy that you are going to be the guy to carry for your team. No one is afraid of a Jax with components of a Tri Force split-pushing when their fed Riven can just 1v4 the rest of your team. Instead, if you fall behind, you need to build and play in such a way that you can aid and assist your team.
A large part of that is building defensively or for more utility. But you also need to alter your style to be more defensive than aggressive. If you’re a Warwick jungle, use your ult and fear to CC a diver or assassin, rather than to initiate. Protect your carries rather than trying to get yourself back in the game.
25. Identify and kill your bad habits.
I recommend watching your own games (or better yet, have someone else watch your games) every week or so. Pick three to five things you see that you’re constantly doing poorly and write them down. Before every game, remind yourself to improve on these bad habits and after the game evaluate how you did with regards to these habits. Purposeful practice makes perfect.