A Short Guide to Low ELO (A Diamond Guide)

Heyo guys! After recently experiencing low elo play again on this smurf, today I decided I would like to create a detailed guide to help some of you unexperienced players understand why you're struggling to improve in lower elos (Bronze-Silver) and why you feel if as you are in "Elo Hell". Before we go into any further details, we need to understand exactly what this "Elo Hell" really is.

Understanding "Elo Hell:"

"Elo Hell" is a term coined by the LoL community (and possibly before) that refers to a rank (or ranks) in which players are doomed to be stuck in forever because of the amount of newbie/troll players being randomly selected in their teams and making them endlessly fail games. However, "Elo Hell" does not really exist; its primary foundation is built upon the psychological response to extreme cases of frustration, product of the inability to improve past the required boundaries to consistently climb the ranking ladder. To provide an example, one of your teammates in makes a critical mistake game after game. Eventually over time, you will naturally begin to experience "tilt", which drastically effects your playstyle, critical thinking and mood. You become irrational, irritated and next thing you know you're flaming your team out in chat, starting a wildfire. Those very teammates you've flamed are negatively impacted by your tilt, causing them to tilt in the next game and the next and so on. This creates a system that essentially converts players into toxics, trolls, memers, etc which negatively impacts the environment in which new players are meant to learn and grow. So, what exactly started all this commotion? While some of this comes from the average Joe tilting, the MAJORITY OF THE ISSUE SPAWNED FROM UNREALISTIC EXPECTATIONS BY UNEXPERIENCED PLAYERS.

The "Superiority Complex" and Unexperienced Players::

Many unexperienced players legitimately believe that they are extraordinary players that do not belong in the Elo that they are placed in. They believe that their play is flawless and that their team is "too stupid" to win games, which results in a loss for them. Many of these players will:

1. Blame their teammates for any and all mistakes.

2. Frequently flame their team without any following logic or reasoning.

3. Refuse to listen or learn from anyone other than themselves.

4. Commonly troll a lobby because they didn't get their role or something they wanted.

**THESE TYPES OF PLAYERS ARE A HUGE RED FLAG FOR PLAYERS TRYING TO IMPROVE. THESE PLAYERS CONTRIBUTE TOWARDS OVER 90% OF THE TOXIC/TROLL COMMUNITY AND WILL MAKE THE GAME MISERABLE TO PLAY.
**

What Can I do About All This?

While you cannot control or change this cycle, it is important to be aware as a learning player and to have the correct mindset in order to "work around" the mess. Let's talk about the difference between the mindset in low elos and higher elos.

Mindsets:

The huge differential that separates the mindset between low elo players and higher elos is general game knowledge. Higher elo players understand how to react to certain situations better than lower elos based on the fact that they have a **better understanding of the game. **

**Example: **

**Low elo: **

:" GANK MY LANE YOU NOOB JUNGLER I'M GETTING CAMPED YOU WUKONG COSPLAY LOOKIN' FUCK."

"Shut the fuck up and get gud kid."

Higher elo:

: "Hey jungle, I'm getting camped really hard by the enemy jungler. This is a really great opportunity for you to snowball the other lanes while they don't have any jungle pressure. I'll just play safe and farm it out.

"Alright buddy, will do. I'll drop a few wards for you and try to counter gank him on my next rotation.

Example 2 (mistakes made):

**Low elo: **

:"FUCKING WHAT THE FUCK MALZ WHY DIDN'T YOU PING THE ROAMING MID LANE."

: "Shut up noob and watch the minimap. Get gud kid."

Higher elo:

: "Jesus Mid, why didn't you ping the roam? We had to burn our sums!"

: "Crap I'm really sorry, I wasn't paying attention. It won't happen again."

: "It's fine buddy. We'll just give them lane pressure and wait for our jungler.

:"Alright, I'll roam down too after this wave."

What Higher Elo Players Do That You Don't:

Now, let's get down to what exactly higher elo players are doing in comparison with you.

Higher elo players:

1. Are Mechanically Better Than You: While mechanical skill isn't the primary derivative in climbing elo, higher elo players are more consistent mechanically, resulting in a higher champion effectiveness ratio and fewer mistakes overall.

2. Understand their Roles and Limitations Better Than You: Higher elo players generally have a strong understanding of their role on a team and understand the boundaries and limitations of that role.

3. Position and Farm Better Than You: Higher elo players rarely mis-position themselves in a way that would put them at critical risk. They also farm more effectively, resulting in higher gold ratios through-out the game.

4. Understand How to Recover Better Than You: Higher elo players understand how to recover from being behind by taking better advantage of the opponent mistakes.

5. Have a Better Mindset Than You: As discussed before, Higher elo players have a better understanding of the game, resulting in a better attitude.

6. Understand How to Snowball their Advantage Better Than You: Higher elo players understand how to properly snowball their advantage, which makes it more difficult for the other team to recover.

There are a lot more pointers and A LOT more I could say that I don't have time for in this guide, but I really hope this helps some players that are learning understand the game a little better. Please feel free to add this account if you need help or any advice, I'll be happy to assist! Thanks for reading y'all!