How to get out of Bronze (From someone who got out of Bronze):

So, I still see a lot of people complaining on the boards about how, "They belong in gold but got placed in bronze" and how, "They keep getting bad teams who bring them down". I want to level with you. Because I feel that feeling, and I was in the exact same place a short while ago.

Here's the first step to getting out of bronze though: Realizing that you are bad. Now before you get mad at me, I'm bad too. I'm still bad. But I have a mission to become better. You wouldn't have gotten placed in bronze if you were a gold level player. Nor would I have.

The fact that I ended up in bronze means that I deserved it. The fact that I climbed out means that I am learning, slowly, to become not just a better player, but a better teammate.

So, now that we've accepted we're bad, where do we go from here? Learn from your mistakes. A good idea is actually to record your games and then watch them after if you can, and see what you could have done better. Maybe you should have gone and helped your team with that dragon instead of pushing top lane, but you tunnel visioned. Unless you go back and see yourself make the mistake, you may never know what you did wrong.

Another thing: Don't play what is strong. Play what you are good at. Unless those two are one and the same, then go ahead, by all means. But you will almost always do better on a champion you have mastered than one you haven't. I can play Jax into almost anybody and win because I know Jax well enough to beat his worst matchups. It's all about knowing what you can or can't do with a champion and using that.

One of the most important things you can do to get out of bronze is to be POSITIVE. Don't play if you had a bad day. If you had a good day, then do play! The better your mentality, the better you will play! Most of my wins came on days that I woke up and was in a good mood and just jumped in a ranked game. It helps to encourage yourself though! Tell yourself mentally, "I'm gonna win a ranked game today!" It can actually help!

Also be sure to encourage your teammates. Compliment them for good plays, and I mean more than just the obligatory, "gj" in the chat. Say something nice about their play if you saw it, if not, just try to say something a little extra. Try to shake off mistakes too. If your adc gives away first blood, be forgiving. "Don't worry, it happens to everyone sometimes, the game isn't over". Teammates are also much more likely to listen to advice or suggestions if you are kind to them. Your Darius top is much more likely to play safe if you tell him that it's okay that he went 0/3 to Riven, and that you'll come help as soon as you can.

If you can find a duo queue partner who is solid, I also recommend doing that as often as possible, but not everyone can. If you can't then just try this, as this is how I got out of bronze. Much of this advice came straight from Sky Williams too, so I would urge anyone trying to climb out of bronze to look him up and hear what he has to say, as it helped me a lot.

Best of luck!