Hello Summoners ^_^ I know there are a lot of guides out there but I'd like to put my ideology and own personal understanding of this excellent game on the threads. (You can never have enough thoughts or ideas)

The following steps (in bold) are my main points and ideas on how to climb in "elo" and enjoy the game more.

1. Two Words in Lobby "I'll Fill" By saying "I'll Fill" (meaning you'll take any role that no one wants to play EVEN IF THIS MEANS YOU HAVE TO SUPPORT, you will help your team organize early in lobby; and limit arguments which eventually will hurt team performance (especially in low rank/"elo"). (always remember supports carry the game in a different way, if your a good support and no one else is why not play it? Good warding and timers and communication are key factors in ranked games (and normals) that can help you turn the tides in games) Also, if your ADC is bad but your a good support you can easily help him out but it does not work the other way (If your good at ADC and Support but you choose to ADC and get a bad support your most likely going to lose your lane and eventually lose the late game, situational play depending)

2. Swapping/Communication Beside saying you'll fill in ranked (which is a great start) feel free to SWAP WITH 1ST/2ND PICKS!!! Try by all means to have your last two picks be mid and top and then swap (if necessary). Your pick order (in my opinion) should go ADC --> Jungle --> Support --> Top --> Mid. My reasoning for this is that an ADC is only semi counter-able (by range etc) However with new supports like thresh, and tanky cc based supports (nautilus, leona) supports in my opinion can be countered harder than ADC's. Jungle's can also be countered however with good laners and good warding its not as hard to (counter a counter). Obviously your top and mid are the easiest to be countered so try to leave them to the last two picks and swap if necessary.

3. Going Along with Swapping "COUNTER PICK" If your doing the previous two steps you should have a chance to counter pick which is essential to the game. Yes every player and champion can be "outplayed" more in comparison to a "counter" pick. However if lower elo's (i'd say gold 1 and lower) counter picks can easily get you an edge in the game, this giving you a great possibility to win lane phase which leads to hopefully better early team fights which --> better late game --> more % to win.

4. Picking bruisers/sustainers/initiators/peelers. Okay what do I mean by this? I mean if you have a top and jungler and support that can sustain in fights and can peel for your mid and adc your chances of winning are skyrocketed. (If not peelers at least some sort of "OP"-ness to keep your carries alive (Kayle Ulti's etc.) Most often lower ranked games are thrown in middle game (NOT THE LANING PHASE) Even if you are down 5-10 team kills after laning phase you can still win with the right team comp (and farm which I'll get to later). If you have 3 sustainers with cc for example - nautilus, irelia, vi, voli, etc. (there are better picks obviously there just a few off the top of my head). With these three roles being sustainers with good cc and (hopefully decent damage for jungler and top) you can comeback easily; as long as your carries are farming, remember this game especially with this season 3 community this game is and always will be A LEAGUE OF THROWS!

Okay so far you have great communication everyone should hopefully be on the same page and maybe you got a few counter picks in; and hopefully sustainers with cc your off to a great start and most likely a win! ^_^

Now, lets move more from pre-game (lobby) to in game play.

In Game Play Tips:

1. Base Your LvL 1 Comparisons (who has the better lvl 1 comp based on dmg and hp and cc) This is where I get frustrated with mid-low ranked players. Even if your team is not the higher level 1 comp (if you followed my previous step you should be but whatever) still counter jungle as a team! If you know they start at blue invade their red (most likely you will not face their team even numbers and hopefully not at all.) Organization in lower - mid rank is not as high as in platinum etc, so it is worth the shot. However, if your the losing lvl 1 comp do not go to their starting buff if you see them invading your buff go to their corresponding buff. Simple as that as long as you stick as a group.

2. Early Warding, Counter Jungle Wards NOT ONLY A SUPPORT BUYS WARDS this needs to be immediately understood by everyone in non high tier ranked games. There is no reason everyone (beside adc) in my opinion shouldn't be buying wards on each backing (unless item restricted therefore a jungler/support should help you out) Ward their junglers paths will give you great understanding of his route where he/she is and when you can counter gank/gank other lanes or be aggressive knowing he's in a different lane or far from yours.

3. Oracles and Timers Yes the oracles is a little less attractive now that it has a timer on it (I believe 5 minutes?) However mid-late game BUY THEM (usually supports, or top/jungler if fed). As long as you keep timers on the objectives (your buffs enemy buffs and especially dragon/baron) you can clear their vision and be right on top of baron/dragon as it is up. Getting a majority of drakes (dragons) can give you a huge advantage overall in team gold even if you are losing. Make sure you have what I personally call "scout warding" (their paths to dragon/baron) before you attempt (unless they are man down/you just won a fight or lanes are pushed out aggressively so enemy team has to defend lanes first)

4. Early Counter Jungle Gank In middle to low ranked games I cannot count the number of times there is a guaranteed kill on the enemy jungler at their 2nd buff. (if they start red i mean their blue and vice versa) Depending on what team you are on, mid/top can pancake the enemy jungler (obviously with your jungler as well) with proper warding and get a early first blood or early kill. Shutting down the enemy jungler is worth losing a few cs in lane and will slow down the ganks giving you more lane dominance eventually anyways. (this will obviously be easier the more communication and wards you have)

5. PRE BAIT FIGHTS! Once again lower ranked games people do not ward as often as they should; so that means ganks are easier than they should be in these games. Because of this lanes should "pre-bait" fights for their jungler (this is a definite for top lane and bot lane). Your jungler cannot be expected to be perfect and this is a team game so help him/her out! If you are bot lane pre bait a fight so your jungler can "gap close" and surprise them. What do I mean by this? If i'm a support (usually a tankier cc based) I'm going to pre bait a fight let me give you an example. Lets say I'm nautilus support and I have a good gap closing jungler. Even though my bot lane is warded in river and tri bush and in lane I CAN EXPECT GANKS FROM MY JUNGLER!!! How? Pre bait a fight before your jungler gets in their ward vision (I will pull with Nautilus Q and AA to Stun) then the enemy team (if they have the advantage in lane which is when you would pre bait a fight) they will get aggressive and try to capitalize on "my mistake" to initiate against them. More than likely the enemy laners will continue to fight and easily get them out of position for your jungler. (if your jungler or your significant other in lane does not get this concept simply pink ward and clear wards when applicable).

Farming This is primarily for top ad carries and ap mid champions. If you are losing ever lane but every lane has 2x the cs and you are getting more objectives your chances of winning are still up there. Lower ranked players stop farming after lane phase which dramatically decreases your chances of winning ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS farm, whether it be lanes or jungle. With proper warding even if you are down you should be able to farm lanes out with some sense of safety/security.

Summoner Spells Do not under estimate the power of teleport in lower ranked games. If you are warding as I suggest you do; (alot and properly) teleport can be such a huge game changer as most other teams either won't have it or will overlook it being too aggressive in fights. Also with counter jungle warding a teleport can be a easy jungle kill. Based on your comps try to have at least one exhaust and most carries should have flash (in my opinion) cleanse for adc if they have a huge cc bot lane is essential and usually overlooked.

Peeling/Team Fighting/Positioning This will be my last tip for all of you summoners out their. Along with my previous tip you should have at least TWO peelers for your team/carries. In team fights as a carry ap or adc, you need to be positioned well to deal damage but not out of position where you can easily be assassinated or killed quickly (Carries should not have to bait and should be the peelers primary teammates to keep alive). Peeling means using CC (crowd control, stuns, slows, etc) to keep your carries (your squishiest teammates) alive from the enemy team. If the enemy team has good gap closers/assassins you need to keep them off of your adc first; keeping them alive will keep your damage output high and increase your chance of winning the team fight. Always compare peeling ability against your enemy team. If you have one more peelers/cc based champ one needs to keep your carries alive and the other should cc the enemy adc/ap carry depending on their positioning. This is all situational and based on team comps but you should get the general idea.

(Out of Game Tips)

Knowledge and outside of game helpNone of us know EVERYTHING to this game. Compare builds (I use LOLKING) people use other sites. Check and cross reference builds see which one works right for your team comp and your play style. Watch pro or semi pro streams to watch different people's playing style and maybe you can change something about your own game play to increase your chances of winning.

PUT THE BLAME ON YOURSELF! Okay, yes, I understand that your team could be completely trash but do not rage! Focus on things you can do to help your (possibly not as talented) team out! Raging and yelling at them will do nothing but make things worse (I am being a bit of a hypocrite because I do rage from time to time but it does nothing but makes things worse!) Even if you are playing perfectly in your mind you most likely could have farmed better, warded better, positioned better, etc.

GIVE FEEDBACK INSTEAD OF RAGE Make sure you give positive feedback to help your team, don't TELL them what to do (differently) but give them ideas and options they can do to hopefully help them out (even if you are 100% right people will be less likely to listen if you TELL them what to do instead of giving them options/help.)

I hope this guide is a bunch of help to all the summoners out there as my goal is too climb elo/rank and help this community out to better all of our experiences online!

P.S. I do stream and would like some followers (this is in no way an advertisement for my stream just thought I would post as it couldn't hurt!) www.twitch.tv/watchoutbuywards

Good Luck and Have Fun in all of your Future Games ^_^

If everyone did this, there would be no tribunal and no need for the honor system. Well said!

Haha thanks; yeah this is I guess my ideal LOL system ^_^

huh nice guide!

Thanks

Great advice overall, I'm still learning how to climb the ranked ladder, so I take any advice I can get. Just two things that struck me as slightly odd.

1.

If you have 2x the cs of your lane opponent, how are you losing your lane? I don't think a lost turret equals a lost lane, what's more important is how big of a threat you are come midgame with skirmishes and teamfights. So you will definitely be a bigger threat if you have twice as much cs as your lane opponent, and they only have 1 tower on you.
I just wish more people would understand the power of farming. I usually get yelled at if I go clear a huge minion wave just as my team decides it's a good time to go all in on a fight. I'm glad I'm not the only one that thinks farm > kills.

2.
Peeling is great, but if your adc has half the cs of his opponent, then no amount of peeling will help, as he will do no damage in comparison. Also, I think it depends on what you are playing and your team comp. As you said, assassins and others with gap closers should jump the enemy ad/ap carry (whichever is fed most) to take them out asap in a fight.
What I'm having problems is when that happens on both sides, but their bruisers are more fed, the fight usually ends 5 for 3, 4 for 2 or something similar. I think I might need to work more on protecting my team than killing their adc, but I don't really know when to do what.

Otherwise, great stuff.

I worded the farming part wrong. I don't think losing a tower/turret is really losing lane if you have 2x CS either; however I was stated "after" lane phase is where I'm telling lower ranked teams to CONTINUE FARMING, I am stressing more the mid-late game (after primary laning phase farming). However on your (farming vs. team fighting) if you are getting your lanes pushed hard your team shouldn't engage without you however everyone should be working on pushing out the lanes so that when you do team fight they can't back door easily (there's nothing more irritating to me than a adc or top laner (without teleport) going to clear a wave thats still river parallel or farther out forcing the rest of the team in a bad spot either to protect objectives or themselves (depending on team comps and situational gameplay, who's dominating etc.) ; however you also need the proper warding so you can push out with some security; also you need positioning to be in a spot to protect baron/drag/buffs. (objectives).

And on the 2nd part (thank you for your long reply/criticism by the way) however if the adc had a good support and continues to farm AFTER laning phase the cs problem/differential shouldn't be that extreme therefore protecting your adc should be viable in team fights. Always depends on team comp and farm and positioning and k/d ratio's at the time of the fights. I would tell you when to protect vs. killing their carries but its all situational based.

Thanks for clarifying, I also try to tell my team to keep farming, but within reasonable limits. Also I always help with warding, even if I'm the adc picking up a ward here or there shouldn't set you back too much. I might have to try to give out more advice like go farm and try to protect my team more than go in on their team. Guess the decision making comes with time and practice. Just gotta stay at it I guess, though I don't have so much time to devote to the game nowadays, and I also like to watch pro streams.
Think I'm very good mechanically and win my lane like 9,5 times out of 10, but my decision making, team comps, teamfighting (positioning) and stuff like that still needs work. So I'll be content in bronze even though I made it to silver last season with no problems.
Thanks again man, guides like this should really be appreciated more.

I'm a big fan of intelligent conversations on the internet. Can I hug you guys?

of course you can hugs for days op!