What actually Makes YOU a BAD player

Just read the numbers for you TL;DRs but please don't comment unless you read the rest. You might actually learn something.

So this post is actually here to help other players who can't figure why they cant get over the 'hump'. I don't care if it helps the overall game direction or not, if it helps one then it was worth. I expect resistance for this post by many who practice these things and those who want to simply keep others down and take advantage of these flaws for fear of losing their ranking (which is a REAL thing in life in general, not just this game).

So basically, League isn't an incredibly high ceiling game like Starcraft...it is actually very accessible as far as skill to those willing to put the time in. There is this mindset going around that bad players are simply technically sloppy or don't meet 'KDA' goals which isn't usually the case...that's an experience issue, not necessarily a skill issue. There's very few champs in this game I feel like I could never master if not for the sheer amount of them...this might not be the case for everyone, but even still, these basic things are what I have seen from my 6 years of playing this game, that are hallmarks that show you are and might actually a BAD player apart from simply an inexperienced one.

1. Going for killz instead of objectives (playing to snowball while leaving your teammates out in the dust).

Sometimes a kill or getting killz (snowballing assassins) can be an objective, but when your goal is simply to rack up a hefty KDA ratio, you are going to be a bad player even if you are somehow able to meet your goal half of the time. This leads to you competing against your teammates for killz and making poor team fighting decisions (namely who to focus damage on and when). Also, this type of mentality prioritizes allowing the enemy team to take objectives while you're roaming going for easy kills to get that 'S' ranking. People confuse this with 'carrying' a team to victory when usually it carries them away from victory. Remember the objective of this game is to destroy the enemy team's nexus before they destroy yours. Go play call of duty if all you just want to rack up killz because that's the objective in those type of games. You will lose more games than win with that mindset and you'll most likely become toxic in frustration. Even though I don't play ranked, I'm certain Bronze is full of these guys.

2. Holding back DPS in teamfights in order to snipe/kill steal.

I can't tell you how many times I've played, regardless of role, where I watch people run from a winnable team fight simply because they want you to do the work and then try to swoop in after the teamfight is unwinnable to try and get themselves a kill or two. I'm not talking about risky dives here, which are obviously necessary and can have a big risk/reward payoff...I'm talking about crucial teamfight moments when your tank is engaged and you back off until you see low health bars on the other side. The only excuse for ever backing off a team fight if you're in a DPS role (which everyone is in) is when your tank/engager makes a bad dive with you being out of position. Then, if you're going to run, RUN. Don't try to salvage anything after you hung your tank out to dry.

3. Single file feeding to 2v1 situations or worse.

So your team got aced and blown through leaving more than one of their players up without full health. What do you do next? Run back in full steam without any setup to try and kill the enemies that have the lowest health. What happens next? You get CC'd and then the next player does it because you did a little damage and they want to add the tick to their killz column. This snowballs into a terrible KDA and your team loses badly. The only excuse for ever doing this is if the enemy team is deep in your base banging down the towers or nexus fast and the team needs a miracle heroic play (which does actually happen although rarely). But that is an obvious situation...there is no other situation where this is ever a good decision.

4. Not warding or using your scouting tools/face checking bush when enemy team is up.

Every inexperienced player does this. They get a pass. But buy a ward if your trinket is on CD. Or better yet, if you need some tankiness get a sightstone item. Don't be a noob. Information sets up team fights and keeps your diving players out of trouble...well, most of the time. Great players are always great warders. There's a reason why this is a 'mini-game' in LCS tournaments. Getting caught out at that level usually costs your team the game.

5. Making enemies out of your teammates.

Yes, we've all played with those bad players who do all of the above multiple times per game. It is ingrained in people who play games apart from league, much in thanks to fps deathmatches which I grew up on. This is where understanding and staying cool comes in. If you're not willing to help them buy pointing out these flaws or staying quiet, then your team might be as good as done. Yes it hard to not voice your frustration, but if you're going to do so do it as constructively as possible.

Remember that the other side probably has some of these guys as well. So if you're going to help do it without making them an enemy. It cant' be helped if you tell them and they make an enemy of you...we all have to deal with those toxic players. But refusing and disciplining yourself to not make enemies of your teammates will help you from becoming the toxic player you hate to play with.

6. Calling for a surrender when your team is winning because YOU are having a bad game.

There's nothing I can say here other than the amount of gutless players I've ran across truly disgusts me. In FPS death matches you don't surrender. You fight to the end and you do it because it makes you better even when going up against impossible situations. It's why you play the game. Finish it regardless of the result. Let the other team earn their win. That attitude carries over into your early game play! I'm not talking about when someone afks or dc's for the rest of the game and your team is getting slaughtered being 5 levels behind. Sure, surrender then if 4 of 5 agree. I'm talking about somewhat close, VERY WINNABLE games.

The problem here is people who perform badly and do all or some of the things above, are more likely to surrender and call for surrenders because they think the situation is hopeless without actually seeing the bigger picture or being able to see the bigger picture. It has become an epidemic. Unless you are in a ranked TEAM, there should be no reason for you to surrender. Playing against better competition MAKES YOU BETTER in the long run. If you feel you've hit the wall and just want to give up unless you're winning, go play a different game that doesn't require you to be on a team where you can quit whenever you want. League is not that game. This game is fiercely competitive and that's what makes it fun...not just racking up pretty wins. What if players in any sport, threw in the towel as regularly as League of Legends players? Those sports leagues would go out of business really really fast. You want a casual 'always win' League Experience?...go play against bots and learn how to stomp them. You'll win every time (hopefully)! There's nothing wrong with that!

7. Learning only YOUR champion(s)/role/lane:

The greatest swordsman in known history, Miyaomoto Musashi made it known in his Book of Five Rings that if you want to only learn how to use the sword, you may as well not learn how to use it all, when talking about learning how to use other weapons. The same concept applies to League of Legends. If all you know how to do is one thing then you are practically worthless when it comes to a dynamic game like League. You will believe you have all the skill in the world when in reality you lack tactics, strategy, and the understanding of your enemy. You will fall into the hated 'outplay' mindset of trying to go beyond your true skill level without practice, discipline, or knowledge of your enemies' abilities. You will pass over objectives and opportunities that would actually help your team even if it comes at the cost of your KDA.

This also leads to the toxic frustration and loathing that we see so much. How many times have you seen people dodge from a game wasting everyone's time? We all pretty much know why this happens: It's usually because they didn't get who they wanted to play. They were either banned or picked by someone else on their team. And instead of learning to play someone else or a different role or lane, and expanding their versatility, they'll dodge, afk, or intentionally feed. Seriously, if that's how you approach the game go practice and play a different champ or role or lane against the bots, because you aren't ready to play this game against the level of competition it has. You will quit sooner than later out of frustration and miss the fun that this game has to offer (well, at least until Rito breaks all the fun aspects which they've been pretty good at season 6 imo).

8. Refusing to play defensively when you are behind:

So the boat has holes in. Instead of taking some time to patch them, you continue to bang your hammer into them creating wider and wider gaps. Eventually you drown. We've all seen it, we've all done it. There's nothing wrong with playing aggressive in this game but there's nothing wrong with playing passive and allowing your teammates the chance to bail you out at times. There's nothing wrong realizing you are outmatched. Guess what though? The game is still winnable if the enemy team hasn't downed your Nexus yet! So learn to play defensively and safe. This will help with new champions you're not very familiar with as well as lanes and roles. You will learn when the windows of opportunity come for you to shine and you will become a better player.

But if you take the kiddie mentality of constant diving and feeding in trying to catch up, you can be the sole reason why your team loses the game! While this is actually a viable strategy in putting constant pressure on objectives, it is not a viable strategy against experienced players. This is where the term 'punish' comes into play with LCS. Yeah, playing safe isn't fun, but neither is dying 10-20+ times a match depending on which mode you play.