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Serious question for high elo in regards to this game

still kae·1/13/2017, 4:31:14 PM·2 votes·1,504 views

Here I am again, Silver V.

 I've been here before. Also, I happen to know a friend, not at all related to me (=P), who was very bad mannered and often was permanently banned for behavior, who maintained a 3-4.0 KDA on over 15 champions including wins and losses with many games played, who has also been here. I haven't been playing long since returning to this game, and I - much unlike my friend, who is very well mannered (now), am performing just as poorly as he was, despite never int'ing, afk'ing, or saying much of anything to anyone.

Now, I'm by no means a perfect player. But, this is my 3rd role to where I am now averaging a 3-4.0 KDA on a main champion, including the few games where I tried some things out and went .20 during my promos. What I'm going to say/ask next I want you to respond carefully, as I'm really about to quit this game.

 In Silver 5, with a 1200 MMR,I seldom, if ever, feed. That's an important notation. Why? Because in Silver 5, with a 1200 MMR, there Is at least two people, who always, feed. Now you might say, well, they'll probably be on there way down. Sure, maybe, but someone is about to take their place, so it really doesn't matter, does it? Going down, going up, it's all irrelevant, in that game we're all SIlver 5.

 If this is going to be the only argument, Rito, you need to stop placing people above Bronze 5. Seriously. I don't care what rank they were - Ghostcrawler - YOU EVEN CHANGED THIS IN WOW. Why? Because when I made new Arena teams as a 2680 player I would FARM new players down against old players on their way up and it made a clownfest of everything for everyone else. Because guess what? A new player in Arena at 1500 and my ass at 1500 aren't the same damn thing. But you INSIST that they are in this current ranking structure.

 Anyway, back to me. So how damn good do I need to be to get out of Silver? Do I really just need to play some meta AD bruiser jg/top to get myself out of this elo? Something that can split push, take towers, has escape, etc. Because if this is the case then I quit. That's  not skill that we're talking about, that's viability. If I can't AP Lux mid or AP Support Soraka with the same exact carry power then I quit. I should've asked this when I started instead of years later, but here I am.

 Tell me the truth. Here, i'll even spot you one. In Arena WotLK, did you have the same chance of getting Gladiator with a Holy Paladin or Ele Shaman as you did a Disc Priest or a Frost Mage? No. Could you? Sure. Did stupid people use that as an argument? All the time. The truth was, in WotLK after the lolfest of DK's and Ret Paladins, if you were playing a dk, holy paladin or enh shaman period out of a few 1-trick-pony comps, you weren't really viable at all. Was there beast cleave? Yeah. Was there TSG? Sure. Don't fool yourself, those people would've hit Gladiator on anything. A Glad is a Glad is a Glad, the only question is how good were you on whatever you played. But I'm no Glad in League of Legends, so don't tell me x is just as viable as y because some damn pro did it - they're pro, respect the skill. So grant me the same damn decency and tell me the truth. 

 I've seen plenty of Diamonds say time and time again "we know how to climb". WTF does that mean? They didn't say 'we're good', 'we carry', they didn't say 'we coordinate with the team', hell, apparently half the time they mute the team. So please explain WTF that means. Do you mean you know how to pick Lee Sin JG and roflstomp everyone by the 20 min mark? If that's the case, nty, goodbye. 

 Lastly, and not to throw out names here, but I came to this game around the same time as Curse Nyjacky. In fact, at one point, I was his guild leader for a PvP guild in WoW. We even played the same class. Actually, we were about the same Arena rating, albeit he played 5's and I played 3's (you tell me which one's harder, lel). This kids is a Challenger in League meanwhile I'm stuck in Silver? What?

 If you told me that the guy who beat me in a regular battleground was a better player than me I would've told you that you were off your rocker. In fact, he could've beat me ten times in a row, still would've told you that you were off your rocker. The entire community would've told you that you were high. "X 1500 rated player beat y 2680 player in Arathi Basin, carried 9 other people better, must be a better player". I don't care if it was thirty times - that entire argument would've been laughed at. How the hell is this different? No, really, how is this any different? 

 Anyways, rant off, feedback welcome.

18 Comments

koallla1/13/2017, 5:14:27 PM2 votes

Ranked has nothing to do with KDA or kill participation or creep score. There is only 1 statistic in ranked that matters and that is whether or not you win or lose the game. And the best players win the most games because of the choices they make in games that no one else does which allows them to win where others would lose. The game is about decision making you could farm all day and only go for free kills and stand under your turret so you can never be killed and that could leave you with an awesome KDA and creep score and you could say hey even though my team lost im way better than all of these players look at my stats! but in the end those stats are meaningless because you lost that game and a better player in your position would have been able to win it.

Trenitaliyah1/13/2017, 4:58:51 PM1 votes

Truth is someone gets stuck in this magical elo hell, and someone manages to climb it, you'd be amazed by how many good players are out there stuck in divisions and leagues they don't belong to. The ones telling you to learn the game in order to climb or play the meta or whatever they think it's right to climb are - most of times - luckers, or people who spend a huge amount of time playing that some way or another they do climb indeed, or people who play their games with friends and get it easier. They're not ever going to change this matchmaking system, they're not going to do anything at all about this MMR (this being an absolutely disgusting creation imho), they're not going to help, so things are simple: either you try to enjoy your games playing whatever you think it's fun to play and spend time enjoying your champion whether it be defeat or victory, or you can tryhard it with a friend that helps you get rid of the scumbags invading your ranked games.

SecondChanceHero1/13/2017, 7:13:55 PM1 votes

A post detailing the principles and tenants of "Proper Climbing Technique".

Applying these principles in every lobby you ever queue up for will dramatically improve your win rate as you learn to better manage your circumstances in lobby and in game:

{quoted}

There are many climbing tricks higher level players use to help climb the ladder and I'll get to those in a moment, but the best advice is still, and always was, that there is no substitute for experience in this game so acquire as much as you can in as many ways as you can and always look to find ways to improve your individual play on a game by game basis!

As for what many higher level players term "Proper climbing technique", it consists of the following (keep in mind these techniques were gathered for solo q ranked play and with the new addition of Dynamic queue many, perhaps even all of them may be less useful than they were in the past) pieces of advice:

  1. Specialize! Sure, many players say you should be able to play many roles and be a versatile player, and this is definitely a good thing. However, to become a master of a trade instead of a jack of all trades requires intense effort and focus and means you will need to specialize your play style. Its wise to pick one specific role and to master a smaller pool of champions to play within it, perhaps only 2 or 3. Be ready and willing to play whatever is required of you in any game, but be polite in lobby about your preference for, and dedication to, a specific role and champion. If you are an extraordinary Lulu player out of the support role (as was the case with a poor silver player I met while smurfing early last season named Zeretov who showed far greater skill than his ranking indicated and so he became a student of mine, 6 months later he's a diamond level player and quickly climbing even there!) explain this to your team in a polite way and tell them if they need further convincing they need only to op.gg you to see you are indeed an excellent Lulu support. Most players appreciate this kind of teamwork in lobby and will go out of their way to let you do your thing because they are hoping to benefit from that 70% Lulu win rate! Everyone likes a free win!

  2. Op.gg your teammates before every match. This will allow you to do a couple of things. You can easily identify an optimal role and champion for each player and this information can be communicated in lobby to help organize your team and get everyone on the same page quickly and efficiently. You can also identify when matchmaking has paired you very poorly and you've been unlucky as you will be able to identify certain "red flags". That player on a 7 game losing streak? Likely on tilt and in a poor frame of mind to play ranked. You can soothe this player, pump him up, motivate him, or simply dodge the game instead of risk a loss (Use your dodges!!!! Use them wisely! They cost nothing but time. It doesn't matter if you are in promo matches, a loss costs you LP and MMR, a dodge costs you a fraction of the LP but no MMR and only a small amount of time for the first dodge of the day!) Have a duo with a sub 60% win rate? Red flag, act accordingly. Have a player playing a champion for the very first time ever in ranked? Red flag! Use your third party resources, they are of immense help when making a serious effort to climb. In addition you can monitor your MMR+ (or your MMR relative to the division you are playing in) and this can help you determine how much LP you stand to gain from a match should you win. If op.gg says your MMR+ is 150 or better and you are seeing 30 LP gains from wins get ready to skip a division and bypass promos after another win or two! You can also identify opposing players who are very skilled and warn your team and craft a game plan to shut them down early so they don't get going and carry the game! Use that op.gg mates.

  3. Ignore LP at all costs. It does not matter for any player below diamond 1. Focus on increasing that MMR so you can skip divisions and climb even faster!

  4. Dodge games that look like a loss in champ select. Bad team comp with no frontline and an awkward off meta pick? Don't lose MMR and LP, sacrifice that 3 or 10 LP and a little of your time and keep that MMR intact! Super troll in lobby? Dodge! Uber toxic premade in lobby? Dodge! Don't sacrifice MMR and LP when all you have to do is wait a little while for the dodge timer to be up. Dodges, in essence, cost nothing but time.

  5. Always play when you are primed and ready! Don't play when you are tired, or hungry, or have too many distractions around you. Ranked is a serious game mode and you need to be in a serious frame of mind to work with your team in a well coordinated fashion.

  6. Take breaks! Don't spam games one after another unless you are a high level player smurfing for some reason. Take your time in between games. Everyone needs a break to properly prepare for the next match. When you lose two ranked matches in a day, stop playing ranked! Make the goal every day to win as many ranked games as you can until you lose your second match of the day. When you get on a groove you will find you average better than 4 wins for every 2 losses each day of a given week which can lead to some pretty impressive climbs! If you get in the zone on a particular day and reel off a streak of 8 in a row or something find an obvious benchmark stopping point and let that be the end of your ranked session for the day, perhaps that 8th win got you promoted, let that be how you end the day, on a high note. This will keep you motivated and eager to get back down to business in a serious fashion the following day.

  7. Avoid playing ranked during peak usage hours. Weekends and the time frame immediately after school lets out is a very risky time to play ranked. A lot of casual players will be on then and they tend to perform more poorly when compared to the average teammate during primo ranking hours.

  8. Always work with the team! Even if some one is a dick with a capital D to you remember it requires the efforts of all 5 members to win on a consistent basis. Find ways to ignore the flame and blame game and focus on being productive. Be a leader, a communicator, and a team organizer regardless of how you feel about that jungler who just fed doubles to your lane opponent. Teamwork is op, be a team player.

  9. Feel free to One Trick Pony! This has been, for the past several seasons one of the best ways to climb quickly. One tricking will allow you to get into a groove with your champion and reel off wins at a prodigious rate as playing your favorite champion becomes so second nature it feels less like manipulating a character and more like wiggling your toes, or taking a breath, an extension of your body. Getting into this zone and playing by reflex frees your mind to pay more attention to the map, communicate more effectively, and craft more intelligent game plans in game because playing your champ is like being on autopilot. It allows you to focus on the strategy you need to implement to achieve success.

  10. If all else fails and you feel stuck, make a new account and start over! Its far easier to climb quickly on a fresh account that has never played a single ranked match because fresh accounts have increased MMR and LP gains in their first 50 lifetime ranked matches, starting with the biggest bonus in the first placement match on that account and slowly decreasing over the next 49 lifetime ranked matches. Smurfing can lead players to quickly achieve a higher ranking on a secondary account than they have achieved on a primary account and playing against tougher competition then can teach new lessons, gain you new experience which can then be applied on your primary to get it going the right way on the ladder. Alternating play on these accounts can lead to a feedback effect where each keeps climbing higher than the other!

Always happy to help out around the community, hope this advice can help get you where you want to be mate! Best of luck on the Rift!

Edit: rRunForest also sent you a friend request. Bit busy at work atm, but I'll be on the boards on my phone as I usually am.