How to get rid of Ranked Anxiety/Auto Piloting

ToxicityIsKey··17 votes·20,259 views

I'm wondering how to get rid of ranked anxiety and autopiloting. I can't play ranked casually, I know some can, but personally, I struggle with starting an actual match and playing without pressure. I have anxiety towards things like losing, failing my teammates, or even my teammates failing me. I usually don't blame teammates for messing up mechanically or mentally, nor do I get very tilted, but I still don't feel comfortable in a ranked match compared to normals. I tend to make the excuse that I'm playing a normal game to warm up, but instead, I end up just playing normals and logging off. Are there any strategies or any mindsets I could use in order to be more comfortable with playing ranked? Secondly, I want to get rid of my autopiloting habits. Some solutions I thought were playing less mechanical champions in order to pay attention to things like summoner cooldowns, minimap, etc. I'm primarily a jg main, and I know the importance of awareness around the map. I have the game knowledge for playing jg, but I can't apply any of it if I can't consistently pay attention to the map. Are there any solutions to getting rid of autopilot?

39 Comments

Novalas21 votes

I actually deal with ranked anxiety every time I queue up for ranked! Fun fact, it's so bad that I tend to spend more time playing ranked on my other accounts vs my main because I tend to under perform on this account.

That said, I'm able to handle it to some degree and I'll walk you through what I had to do to better handle this and improve my mental in ranked games.

First steps first, you need to determine what's causing the anxiety. Are you stressed because something is on the line? Is it IRL factors contributing to the anxiety? Do you not like getting scolded? (as a jungler, I sympathize) For me, personally, I found that my anxiety kicks in when LP is on the line. This is specifically because I DESPERATELY want to climb the ladder to prove to myself that I'm good at the game.

Once you determine what's causing your anxiety, the next steps are to look for resolutions. In your case, since you've said it's mostly IRL factors, I'd suggest making sure that you've completed ALL necessary obligations before playing a game. Create a to-do list. Knock out your homework, clean up your room, do your laundry, etc. Afterwards, lay back and queue up while feeling good about yourself because you knocked out your to-do list.

But you're in the same boat as me; you want to grind but losing impacts that. This one's a toughie. What I've found is that I need to look for victories in my losses. That is, when I lose a game, I take a good, hard look at what caused the loss. Did I contribute to the loss? If I did, what can I do to prevent that from reoccurring in future games? I'll go as far as looking back at a replay until I figure out where the critical mistake was. Once I determine what the failure was, I do what I can to avoid making those same mistakes. Finding something of substance that I can improve on; that's a victory in my eyes, regardless of the game's outcome.

When it come's to your environment, do what you can to make yourself comfortable. I tend to wrap myself in like... 12 blankets, put on slippers, and listen to loud anime music at full volume while I play. It's what I refer to as "The Zone". Determine what your version of "The Zone" is and get into it whenever you go into ranked. It's ritualistic, almost, but it helps!

Outside of that, I've always found that an easy method of dealing with the ranked blues is finding a duo queue partner. Preferably someone who you're comfortable with. I have a habit of duoing with one of my IRL friends whenever I'm on tilt and, within a game or two, I tend to be back in my groove if I'm playing with someone that has confidence in me.

Anyways, I think that about sums it up. Ranked's a spooky place sometimes and you're not the only one who's dealing with it, friendo!

Blades in Exile1 votes

Don't you worry though that you might cause your irl friend to lose lp as well? I have a good friend that plays league but i always worry that i might drop his rank by playing with him even tho i want to.

Novalas3 votes

It's always a concern of mine in the back of my head. Being on comms with a friend (partially to get them to talk to you about the game so you focus on the game) has helped to keep me from worrying too much about that.

Baron Von Bangin1 votes

Go to bed! Did you forget about daylight savings?

miserias1 votes

Thanks Novalez this was super helpful, I tend to do the same in other games and it translates comparably.

Shoun8 votes

Literally don't give a fuck and just play, forget about losing lp, forget about climbing. Make risky plays and don't be afraid to die. Forget about trying to carry the degenerate shithead teammates that will flame you for everything you do, let those fuckers carry you. If you win, congratz, you just had fun, if you lose, fuck it, you probably ruined someone else's mood, but they're a part of this shit community so no need to feel sorry for these autistic donkeys.

/fullmute all, mute emotes, and never type. Play the game the way you want to play it, don't worry if you get reported in the end of some games for "intentional" feeding. Riot doesn't do shit about actual toxic players, let alone you, as long as you don't type anything in-game, pre and post chat, you'll be fine.

You asked for a way to get rid of anxiety, this is the way, you may or may not climb but that doesn't matter, when you feel liberated and unrestricted, you make room for improvements in your plays.

I've played this game for at least 7 years, tolerating toxic players and trusting in Riot's shitty system to punish these players, I was naive and stupid, I played by the rules and all I got was a slap in the face by Riot and the shit community. I finally cracked not too long ago after submitting evidence of not only toxicity from my teammates but also my opponents to Riot, and what do I get? a copy-pasted reply saying that they couldn't do anything, and let me tell you, the day I stopped giving a fuck was the day I truly felt like the game was fun again, I was no longer anxious about ranked, I played better, I could see improvements, and mentally, I am in a great place.

TLDR; Just play the game the way you want to play it, do not feel obligated to please anyone, especially this community, because you will ultimately be disappointed. Forget all the uplifting bullshit tips that you get from this garbage of a community, this is the real answer.

Kudosaki1 votes

I needed to read this Shoun, thank you.

MalAndato1 votes

you know... this is one of the best advices I ever read. Thank you.

FullmuteAll play4 votes

I used to have the same feeling I got rid of it in 2 ways (doesn't mean they are good ways to go, but they helped me)

  1. Spam many ranked
  2. Go ahead and queue for ranked sponteneously right away
Daunt2 votes

I've been spamming rankeds for like 6 years now and i still have ranked anxiety. At least for me it never seemed to go away but i think i can say it's a factor not related to the game itself. Meaning that if you have ranked anxiety you most likely also have social anxiety or some other form of it which transfers over to League.

no to toxic3 votes

Just become high so you will feel bad for being a dissapointing son who wastes life on drugs instead of being bad aat a videogame wich changes nothing in your life.

Child of the Pit1 votes

Considering there are humans which can't escape the anxiety of death, or have a preety cruel real life, the videogame will change your life by making you escape reality, not a good way to go at it, but still a way.

Xidphel2 votes

So how do you do as your title says?

ToxicityIsKey1 votes

I do know some strategies but still, I struggle with these issues. I use champions that have low mechanical difficulty so you focus more on what's going on in the game, rather than how to hit a skill shot. Also, I try detaching myself from wins or losses in order to not go on tilt and to not autopilot as much. Although I don't know how to properly cope with things like ranked anxiety or auto-piloting I try to use some of these strategies in order to improve my gameplay. I'm rather inconsistent with these things though.

What Is Smite2 votes

For the ranked anxiety there's not really a way to get past that other than don't think about it. Every player wants to win and advance on the ranked ladder, for me before a game starts I look at both our team comps and figure out what my team brings to the table and what the enemy team brings to the table. After that I figure out what my teams win conditions are and what I need to do in order to meet those conditions, yes its quite a bit of thinking to do but it distracts me from any anxiety that I might have.

To break your habit of auto-piloting I suggest picking up other roles besides jungling, that will allow you to break your habits and form good ones. Along with good habits it teaches you to see the game through a different players perspective which in turn you can apply to your jungle ganks and pressure application. The three roles I play are: Top/Jungle/Support, Top/Support teaches you to track summoners and wards while Jungle helps you with minimap awareness. The main thing to take away from playing other roles is the micro gameplay, once you get a good grip on those your macro gameplay will improve tremendously.

That's about all I can offer on these subjects, remember it's just a game and nothing you do will majorly impact your life. League is a game of expectations, you're expected to play to the best of your abilities but even if you don't that's okay everyone has their good and bad days.

Cubical2 votes
  1. This is a game and ranked mode will ultimately contribute to nothing ever
  2. treat ranked as normals and have fun, no pressure
  3. No pressure usually = no stress and higher performance
Michael Sykes3 votes

if anxiety would be that easy to solve, this world would be different

kurnubego2 votes

Well, you should feel anxious. It's actually weird when people don't. It's natural to care about things which effect your status. And playing ranked does exactly that given the hierarchy context of the game. It is how it should be.

Now how you deal with it is another matter. But good place to start is treat it like an opportunity to become better than you've been before. If you really care about becoming a better player, you'll use ranked as a tool to learn and it will provide a lot of enjoyment, new realms to explore. I mean, you get hard match up you know nothing about? After you lose there, you know something. Next time you'll be better. Take solice in that. However if you just auto-pilot 'fur funzies' you'll get smacked and ... won't learn much at all. It does require attention.

Therefor "just have fun" is NOT valid approach for ranked if improvement, mastering the game is something which you derive your sense of meaning and engagement. I don't think that "playing for fun" is all that much enjoyable at all. Sure .. funizes haha. However, fun is not where people derive their sense fulfillment. As true in games as it is true in rl.|

Also, more exposure always helps. But, as I've said, treat it as opportunity, not a scary monster who's there to judge you. Easier said than done. But the issues of anxiety in regards to ranked as exactly the same as anxiety because of failing something rl too.

WELLSFARG0 BANK2 votes

I used to get severely anxious and didn't ranked for years on my account. My hands would get sweaty and my motions were jerky on the mouse. I would typically under perform and spend a lot of time analyzing the game. A few things have helped me with this, one was being more mindful of what I'm feeling. When I do start to feel anxious, I spend a few seconds reminding myself that this is still a game. If I play badly, that doesn't make me a bad player. We all can have bad games, missed skill shots, make a bad decision in a team fight, etc. In time, repeating these little things to myself have helped. Take deep breaths through my nose nose has physiological and mental benefits. All those advertisements out there about "just take a deep breath" are used for a reason :). Slow, controlled deep breaths will help anyone calm down. Finally, the biggest thing that helped me was taking the time to learn more about league. My anxiety was based on my performance. Once I spent time actually understanding the mechanics of the game as a whole, and then specifically on the role I wanted to play, my anxiety has decreased significantly. I noticed now that I can still get nervous when I'm in a series, but on a whole I am less stressed with this game now. I'm sure Riot enjoys the benefits of this the most since I play more and spend more when I'm happy!

Saibbo2 votes

I tend to make the excuse that I'm playing a normal game to warm up

Oh gosh that's 100% me XD. Literally I'm the same, I tried to create a second account as a "smurf" to try to "learn" to play ranked just with nonchalance, but at the end, basically I played and got to a high rank that I never reached before, since ofc I never played many ranked games, and now it got to me again in that account too xD

ToxicityIsKey1 votes

I meant to say How do you get rid of Ranked Anxiety/Auto Piloting? =P

Quiet Dude1 votes

I get a little* intoxicated when I do ranked. Takes the edge off.

*= not really a little

Taliyah Rocks1 votes

I used to tryhard a lot in ranked, by that i mean that i always picked my best champions, and try to satisfy my team composition as best as i could.

But then i said "f*ck it" and played whatever i felt like playing.

It may or may not have affected my winrate, but it did relieve some of the stress. It helps remind you that this is just a game for fun.

I don't advocate this tactic when playing high Elo though. Evrything works in low elo so even when you have a 'troll" pick you can still win.

In the end of the day, if you have fun, you'll have a more positive attitude and a clearer mind, which might translate to a better winrate.

General Esdeath 1 votes

Just force yourself and after like 20 games it goes away

ForFoxSakes1 votes

I play other queues or alt accounts.

Whenever I dont want to lose progress on my "main" solo queue, I'll dabble in flex or on another account so I don't care as much about but that doesnt mean I'm trolling. Then when that account/queue gets all caught up or surpasses my other one I'll say that's my main and go on my former main acct and just play that there. I just find I dont have that pressure when I'm not on the "main acct or queue".

IE - my flex now is higher than my solo queue, so my solo now has nothing to lose so there's no pressure in playing it

Ifneth1 votes

Hey, I wanna help you. Can you answer some questions?

  1. When, exactly, do you feel anxious?
  2. Do any thoughts go through your mind when you do?
  3. Why do you think you feel anxious?
  4. If you weren’t anxious, then what would you do?

Answer these and I can give you some help.

[sg-poppy]

ToxicityIsKey1 votes
  1. I feel anxious when queuing up, high pressure situations and I've noticed my environment changes the way I play. For example if it's cold its definitely a lot harder to play, when people are watching me play or when I'm forced into a position to carry.

  2. I don't have much thought when I do feel anxious. All I do is try to stop it and get through the game as fast as possible without much mistakes or throws, I feel like I'm auto piloting while playing.

  3. Probably my environment and outside stress, studies etc. Also I really want to improve at leagues and I feel if I fail a game or my teammates I wont be able to, even if I know better it still feels bad to lose.

  4. If I'm not anxious I can do a lot more mentally, physically and in general my focus on the game is heightened by a huge amount. I'd consider myself a pretty good player and from experience I know what to do in most situations and have the mechanics to keep up with it. I could do more risky plays and go for more mechanically intensive calls. Not only that but my shot calling would be much more clear and concise with the exception of team orientated shot calling, because everyone can make mistakes and communication is hard for solo queue.

Ifneth2 votes

Glad you replied.

  1. Play League alone in a warm room. Most League players welcome the chance to carry a game. It’s a test of all their skills and a moment to remember—for better or worse. Songs have been written about this moment. I recommend Ignite by Zed and Legends Never Die by Against the Current. These quotes stand out,

Ignite “Everyone’s watching through your eyes. There’s only two options: win or die. Win or die. Win or die. It goes from a spark to an open flame. Now destiny’s calling out your name. So reply. So reply! And ignite!”

Legends Never Die “They never lose hope When everything’s cold And the fighting’s near. It’s deep in their bones. They run into smoke When the fire is fierce.”

The people who say carrying is what you have to do when all else fails have forgotten what this game is all about. It’s not about the pro-builds, the meta-game, or whatever fancy thing has been brought in to ‘solve’ the game this time. It’s about outplaying your opponent and leading your team to victory. Every game, from the humblest Bronze V to the World Championship, has been won this way.

When one player stands out from his teammates, whether by getting a huge lead or by saving the game, his performance stands out so much that shoutcasters and audiences say that he’s carrying the game. It’s a moment as glorious as any like it in a traditional sport. In some sense, it’s to be sought out, both by climbing the ranked ladder and shining in competitive play.

Now, this doesn’t mean that you should take foolish risks in hopes of creating situations where you can show off your skill, but it does mean that you should embrace them when they come despite your best efforts. Hope this explanation helps.

  1. I think I’ve found the problem. Your anxiety feels overwhelming, and so you push it to the back of your mind and try to get the scary situation over with as quick as possible. The next time you feel anxious, stop and let yourself feel it. Then, ask yourself why you feel that way. Try to do this afterward if you can’t in the moment.

  2. Finish your homework and study for your tests before you play. When you feel you can’t get better because you lost a game, ask yourself why you feel that way. Address the thought. As for losing, you will play many games as you climb. A player with a 60% winrate will need 30 games to climb one division, ignoring streaks.

  3. Think of that every time you get anxious. Think of how it would make you feel. See that the anxiety is getting in your way—not just of improving in general but of winning a particular game. Let that be your motivation day to day and in the long run.

ToxicityIsKey1 votes

Thanks! [slayer-pantheon-thumbs]

Ifneth1 votes

You’re welcome! I’d love to hear from you later about whether this helped or not.

[sg-ahri-2]

Elixors1 votes

When I started playing ranked, back in mid season four, I was nervous. Nervous where I was going to be placed, where I was going to be able to get up to and whether that day would be the day I dropped down to the lower ranks. After a year or two, I began playing ranked a lot more like normal matches, granted I wasn't NOT trying to win, but I was a lot more relaxed and if we won, we won, and if we lost, so be it. I think it has to do with the amount of time you play the game and whether or not you care about climbing ranks all the time [slayer-jinx-catface]

lolibus1 votes

that goes away on its own when you play more rankeds

andzki1 votes

I had it when I first started playing but with flex/solo I don't really care about ranked because flex is a joke and solo is an int fest

ToxicityIsKey1 votes

I wanna thank you all for your help! I didn't know the league community was this supportive and had this much in common, I thought I was one of the few cases with ranked anxiety. This is one of my first posts so I was worried, but you guys showed me that the community is supportive and helpful XD. Thanks for all your help, I will improve and I hope all of you guys will as well!

JonasGangsta1 votes

Have you considered becoming toxic? You'll have nothing else on your mind except the need to type shit to your teammates :)

LostFr0st1 votes

While I don't know if this is a viable option for you OP, but I have found muting all sounds to be useful. I then wear headphones to seal the outside sounds out too.

DeathBurst1 votes

A few points:

  • You don't HAVE to play Ranked. If you enjoy the game more playing Normals, no shame in that ;) Now if you WANT to play Ranked and just can't because of anxiety, that's another story.
  • For that, the best advice I can give you is that you're expected to lose at least 45% of your games, even while climbing. You WILL lose at least 4 every 10 games, so you need to accept the idea and don't worry about losing games, it's normal and logical. What's important is being self-aware and owning your mistakes. If a game is lost because of you, you need to honestly admit it and correct it (and even when you do mistakes but still win in the end), but if the game is lost but you did not major mistake, keep positive and push through it ;)
  • And for auto-pilot, yes, using less mechanically intensive champions do work. Personally, I have my best performances with Garen Top and Sona Sup, when I can focus on warding/looking the map/pushing the right objective at the right time, and I don't have to think about what QWER I should push in what order.

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