A Noob's Story ... From Silver 5 to Gold 5 in 60 games

Let me start by saying I suck at this game. I do dumb stuff in almost every game. I miss skillshots. I make dumb decisions. I don't rotate fast enough. Bla bla bla. With that being said, I see a lot of posts on here saying "I can't climb because _______". Simply put, you are wrong. I was Gold 5 at the end of last season and after placements I got Silver 5. Instead of complaining about how f'd up this reset/placement is, I just decided I would climb out as fast as possible to prove to myself that I am worthy of my previous season's rank. Here I sit today in Gold 5, already back in my previous season's rank. The climb was actually enjoyable and I ran into some really good players (along with some bad ones). In the 63 games I played to climb, I had only 1 afk on either team (of course it was on my team during game 1 of Gold V promos). Now either I am insanely lucky, or people are exaggerating the number of AFKs that they are having in their games. Instead of whining and complaining about why you cant climb and how this meta sucks, maybe you should just adapt and learn from every game. YOU CAN CLIMB TOO! Here are a few tips that I found very useful for myself. They may help you, they may not, but take a peek and see!

1. Select a few champs/roles and stick to them. I climbed primarily with Wu and Lux going jung and mid. To me, Wu is just so much fun and when played properly, he is a leader for your team. What I mean by that is, nothing screams, "GO IN!" like a Wukong ult. I get to decide when my team engages. More often than not, my initiation is what starts our team fights and I love knowing my team is waiting on me to land that devastating ult on their back line. His early game is kind of tough but after your first clear its easy sailing. Lux is my "utility mage". I love the fact that I can be 1/4/2 (because remember, I suck and sometimes get owned in lane) and still make a game changing snare or shield for my team. The two games that stick out to me with Lux are games where I got absolutely destroyed in lane (by Lee sin and Talon) and yet literally made game winning snares on carries later to win us the game. Long story short, master a few champs and stick with them so you know what they can and can not do.

2. Believe in the throw. People want to type "gg" the second somebody gives up first blood. It takes one good team fight to turn things around if you are behind. Just one. If you can stall out the game so death times are ridiculously long, you can always give yourself a chance to win. It takes one ace to turn the tides. The easiest way to do that is to just group up and travel as 5 if your team is getting its face pounded in. Easier said than done at times but more often than not, this will help stop the bleeding. There is safety in numbers!

3. Ignore the ragers, haters, trash talkers, etc. In the games I mentioned above where I got owned by Lee and Talon, I had members of my team flame and talk all sorts of shitt. My response? Not a damn word. Just keep grinding with your head down man. Turn the game around and wait for their apology afterwards. I used to flame back and rage and curse and name call ... for what? It's not going to help me win or have fun which is why I play in the first place so there is no point in doing it. It's also nice to encourage teammates. Bot lane gets a double kill? Nice work bro! Top lane dies to a gank? No worries man, I'll rotate top if he pushes again! Let them know from jump you're a team player and the entire attitude of that person may change. Stop the raging before it happens!

Kills do not matter. Dying does. I mean kills do matter, but they are not an end all, be all on how somebody performed. I do not average insane kill amounts with either Wu or Lux or really any champ. How often do you hear people say, "I have 8 more kills than you!" or "My damage is way higher than yours"? Im guessing often. Well guess what ... that dont mean squat. Deaths on the other hand do. Stop dying people! Play safer! Don't force plays that aren't there and for the love of god drop some damn pinks! Vision is life. Save a life, buy a pink!

Well I'm getting tired and am going to wrap this up. TLDR ... climbing is not hard if you actually concentrate and learn from every game. If what you are doing is not working, its time to switch it up baby. If anybody wants to add me in game hit me up, i'm always up for some climbing ;) Plat here I come!

Edit: I originally posted this in the wrong section, thought I'd put it here instead.