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[Solo Q Secrets #004] ELO’s Like Money – Use It Wisely
NOTE 1: I don't have ELO to back me up. My rank is still climbing, but I still have wisdom to share, and I do play with many high-ELO friends. I've written a book about League, and I run my own business as a life-coach.
I share what I've learned here aimed to help others. I offer people Fresh, Creative Ideas they may not have heard. I offer a chance to EXPERIMENT and potentially IMPROVE your game EXPERIENCE. I know you can appreciate the time it took to write, and I trust you'll be gentle and kind. But, hey... if you gotta hate, or take sides, or pick fights -- best of luck to ya, I'm sure it'll take you far in life ;) NOTE 2: Like my other Solo Q “Secrets”, these are just my own experiences, and conclusions I’ve discovered. I’m a human being, I’m sharing things I feel will help others. They are SUGGESTED EXPERIMENTS. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [Solo Q Secrets #004] ELO’s Like Money – Use It Wisely Quote:
Why does this happen? And why is it … relatively common? Well, I’ll explain my understanding of it all… My understanding is this: This raging guy isn’t upset at me. In fact I’m probably the best support he’s played with at this ELO, because I play ‘normals’ with very high level players who teach me, all the time. They love me and have said, and I quote: “Dude, you deserve a *way* higher ELO” and "I don't really like ADC in normals unless it's with you." Plus, I watch carry + support streams daily to unwind instead of TV. (Plus, I’m really positive & smart :P:P:P) Annnyway... He’s upset that he’s burning through his precious ELO, game after game. He’s upset that he’s majorly unprepared to play a competitive game with a bunch of (often immature) strangers. He wishes he could handle playing with new people better, and he wishes he had more friends online to play with, but he doesn't. He’s upset that he’s a small fish in a big pond and he's pissed that he doesn’t know what to do about it. He wants to feel good, powerful, productive, and impactful in his match. And he almost certainly wants to win, and hates losing like it’s genocide. He’s upset because he wants to win, is currently losing, and doesn’t know what to do about it. So he lashes out at the closest thing. He doesn’t rage at the jungler who’s been wasting time in pushed lanes. He doesn’t rage at the mid who wont buy a single ward or hug his tower, despite being ganked 3 times in 3 levels. He doesn’t rage at the solo top who won’t pull his lane, and keeps over-extending, which only makes the junglers job harder. He rages at the guy next to him. The extremely helpful, co-operative guy who *volunteered* to play whatever role the team needed, so he could have the only role he’s good at, AD Carry. He rages at the support player who’s giving him every advantage in the world in lane, which he keeps wasting. When it comes down to it, the smart move would’ve been for me to roam and go “support” someone who wasn’t going to waste my investment in them. But hey, Mr. Rager’s right about one thing, I make mistakes too, just not the ones he thinks ;) What Feels Better Than Winning A Lane? I’ll tell you… …it feels better to know – with confidence – that you can handle and win nearly any lane. What makes more sense to you: 1. Stumbling around in confusion against tricky lanes you’re not used to (like the intense CC of Blitzcrank/Ashe when you have no ‘escapes’) or 2. Entering the game with the confidence of a pro, practiced and prepared to deal with most matchups? Another question: What would you rather do… …have the 1 champ you’re decent with for solo-top banned, and you end up going against a skilled Yorick top… …or have 3 champs prepared, that you’re solid with for solo-top, and have some good foundations for handling Yorick’s mass-ghouling-ownage? See, here’s the thing: In basketball or football or martial arts, you wouldn’t be caught dead jumping in headfirst to the big leagues, where pro-level play and try-hard, serious competition gathers. Nope, if someone tried to convince you… “hey, just go try out for the major leagues, it’ll be fun!” – you’d say “no way.” You’d learn the foundations first. You’d build your confidence first. And then, when everyone around you was telling you what an excellent player you were, you’d start to get ready to try out for bigger circles. Oh, yes, I know, you already *feel* confident – but let’s be honest:
And even more importantly… can you spot strengths and weaknesses on your own team?
If you can’t do these things, and a whole lot more, you’ll be in for a rough time during Solo Queue. And I know, if you're like me -- you’re eager to play, you wanna rock ranked, and this stuff isn’t the easiest to learn. There’s not some giant resource that explains these incredibly important foundations. You learn them through practice and making mistakes and getting raged at. A lot of them can be learned in Normal Draft. A lot can be learned through reading the forums. And really, by far the best way to learn them in my opinion, is to watch as many pro matches as possible, especially when you can hear their TeamSpeak. Solo Queue is like the “major leagues” of LoL. I know, it’s not exactly like it, but it’s the closest comparison I’ve been able to come up with. And the point is… Don’t f*** around with the major leagues. It’s begging for trouble. At least, it has been for me. My ELO is absolute junk, and it`s because I made lots of mistakes, and probably still do. But I`ve learned from a lot of them. One thing to note, is that there`s currently no rules or limits or guidelines on joining ranked games. Anyone can solo queue, and so… …you’ll get all kinds of people playing with you. The chances you’ll play with kind, caring, co-operative, open-minded, people ***** happy to learn and grow and improve together – with Riot’s current matching system – are basically none. In solo queue, you’ll be playing with egotistical, arrogant, almost insanely selfish people of all ages and maturity levels. You may even be one of these people. If you’re gonna throw your hat in the solo queue arena, then you’re gonna be with a pool of other people who have a lot to prove. They’re mostly focused on 1 thing – increasing their ELO – and they don’t respond well at all to anyone who even HINTS at decreasing it with a loss. So how can you have a better experience? How can you not be miserable and fed up with solo queue? Well, I can only tell you what I`ve learned from my experience. Remember, this stuff is an experiment, it`s something to try if you`re having a sh***y time in solo queue. So, my current idea is that… if you’re gonna get into it – 1. Be confident, be prepared, be practiced, be masterful. What do I mean? I mean practice. I do NOT recommend jumping into the solo queue scene until you’ve a decent mastery of micro with say… 3 champs in each role of the current meta (Solo Top, Jungler, Mid, Support, AD Ranged Carry). F***ing practice. It's what I needed to do, and still do :) Like anything in life, the people who have an easy, enjoyable time with things, are those who practice. And even more than that: Have fun practicing. Take a breath, or take a break. Embrace the losses, play Normal Draft, realize it’s a game, start your own clan, and have fun. LoL has a player pool and thriving community of millions – it is actually possible to find friends who are fun to play with. I could write a whole post on how to have fun in LoL – or in life, but for now – you’re smart people, figure out ways to have fun, and if you can’t… consider not playing. Doing un-fun things is kinda… um… not recommended, lol. 2. Model the masters; pay attention to the greats. Watch PRO streams closely. Absorb their awesomeness. They do millions of little things that are different from most players, and those all add up to make them great. Find a streamer or two to watch for each role you want to improve in. What I'm sharing isn’t magic guys. If you want to succeed and have an easier time in *anything* in life, following the footsteps of those who have paved the way is fantastic. Modelling the masters is key. Many of them give back to the community through tutorials, Q&A, and more. Here are some of my faves to watch:
You can also follow them on twitter and pick up nuggets of wisdom you might not find anywhere else. Watching these streams has drastically, majorly, hugely improved my play, my ability to contribute to a win, and my confidence and ability to shut ragers up with my KDAs, which seems to be the only thing they even come close to understanding, lol. And the flipside? I've learned tons and tons from the massive thriving LOL community. Read the forums, checkout sites like SurrenderAt20, LOLKing, Mobafire and more. Here's YurdleTheTurtle's Beginner's Guide To Ranked, to get you started: na.leagueoflegends.com/board/showthread.php?t=1194168 And here's Lethadind's "Why You Lost (Extended Edition)" http://na.leagueoflegends.com/board/....php?t=2764637 And many people find jungling to be the most "weird"/"new"/"awkward" role in ranked, so here's Atyres "Jungling For Beginners" - but it actually goes really deep. http://na.leagueoflegends.com/board/....php?t=2311452 ELO’s like money (to most players). Everyone starts out with a certain level of ELO. When you were fresh and hadn’t played any ranked, you were started off with an average amount of ELO (1200, I believe). That ELO is a gift. You didn’t “earn” it, and you may not “deserve” it. Keep playing ranked and you’ll find out fast, whether you fit the ELO system, or not. Quote:
Even if you’re not, and they’re 100% responsible for their dismal decline into ELO hell, they will find ways to blame you, rather than admit they’re unprepared and burning ELO like it’s going out of style. They’ll act like you’re the devil, they’ll treat you like you’re stupid, they’ll rage at you – anything to help them feel better about another sh***y game where they made tons of errors, and did not play perfect. It’s kinda funny, actually. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- TL;DR? The reality is, that most people jump into ranked, unprepared, never having watched any professional players or practicing lane-matchups, mid-game/late-game, etc. and they end up burning ELO *fast*. Then they have the amazingly un-fun experience of trying to rise out of ELO-hell, but they have no cred, and everyone around them are mostly other unprepared ELO-burners. Myself included. Maybe you really believe you were prepared and confident to play with hyper-competitive human beings in a flawed ranking system? That’s fine, maybe you were. What I’m proposing here is that when Season 3 resets, you take my experiment to heart, and prepare yourself even better. Personally, I think it’s a good idea, and a great thing to try. But of course, you don’t have to… whatever you do, gl hf ;) Thanks so much for reading, and I’d love to hear results if you try it! Like this? Read more of the series: [Solo Q Secrets #001] Surrendering Wins Games [Solo Q Secrets #002] Boring S*** Gets You Kills [Solo Q Secrets #003] The Skills Of Strangers (Or... Not) [Solo Q Secrets #004] ELOs Like Money - Use It Wisely [Solo Q Secrets #005] P-P-P-P-P-Pokerface. [Solo Q Secrets #006] Breathe In (The Soul-Crushing Defeat) [Solo Q Secrets #007] Clash Of The Titans … Personalities [Solo Q Secrets #008] Kills, Kills, Kills… Using Smart Aggression Secrets Think this series should be seen by more people? Reply and BUMP IT or... ...CLICK THIS LINK TO TWEET THIS POST TO YOUR FOLLOWERS ;) Thanks so much, guys! Keep ryzin'! |
Not sure who's guide it was, but the best advice I ever saw to prepare for ranked was "find a role/champion and master it". That doesn't mean never learning other roles and champions. It means spending enough time with a given champion in a given role that basic things like last-hitting and skill sequences become second nature.
tldr; Unless you can manage at least a 10 game winning streak with a champion in in normal, you have no business playing that champion in ranked. |
It's my guide, Vortical42, actually, it's more of an experiment I'm trying -- and I appreciate you adding some good tips you've come across.
I agree partly with this, I suggest being comfortable in all roles and, like you said... "master" one :) |
Not a bad guide at all.
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He was saying another guide had that information in it, and I agree.
You should have a running knowledge of every single champion in the game before going to ranked - what I mean by this is that you need to understand what their abilities do and it's best if you even understand how their combos work - even if you've only played with them once, it's a good idea to try every champion out. You should have extensive knowledge of 3 champions for every role - meaning you can reliably use their abilities (especially the skillshots) in an effective manner, "better than average" is how I would describe this. You should also have near-perfect knowledge of at least one champion. You should be so good at Singed, for example, that even Teemo can't beat you, because you know him inside-and-out so well, and you understand all of his counters, and how to counter them in return. From your "one perfect champion" you should expand on the extensive champions until you have 5 perfect champions - one for each lane. If you ever reach this point you will be at Diamond, and no longer need to listen to what anyone says, because you will now be making your own rules. |
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Lethadind just nailed it, in much less words than I did. It may be a bit rigid, 3 champs, 1 perfect, etc etc -- but the attitude and guidelines I fully, fully agree with. That's a great start on how to prepare for ranked. Thanks, Letha! |
This is a pretty solid list of everything I did wrong, starting ranked as soon as I hit 30.
750 now, and I only play normals - it will be a *long* time before I feel prepared to do ranked again. That said, I may give in and do my placement matches for season 3... but odds are, that won't go as well as my placement matches for season 2, and even with a 1400 start, I dropped a long way down. Am I better prepared now than I was then? Absolutely. Am I prepared enough? Nope. |
Sereg! Thanks so much for this feedback :)
It sounds like you've been through it, and it sounds like you've learned a lot since. You might be "more ready" for it than you think, but always feel it out, and take the time make sure you're prepared, if possible, for best results. To me, really, solo queue isn't about whether you're a "good player" or not, for the most part. Quote:
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This is the biggest thing I've learned. When I lose, I usually think to myself. How did I play? Often I think through some of my biggest mistakes and say yeah that could have been better. Sometimes I realize that had I played better, it could have made the difference in the win/lose. But the biggest thing is that it was almost always a fun game. Before I could think this way, I had to follow sentients words of taking a break after each game because I got too worked up about it. Anyways thanks for the post. |
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Sometimes people dismiss my ideas, experiments, and wisdom because of my current ELO, so it's great to have it backed up through your story. I wanna have fun in game, and I want others to have fun too, and I know that I'm taking the time and energy to try and help that happen :) Thanks again, Who! |
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