Elo Hell Does Exist (Read First)

I know the title is troll bait, but for the sincere among us, I hope this post offers some value and opportunity for self-reflection.

For the longest time I realized that "Elo Hell", as used by the general community, does not exist. It's an excuse, or rather a delusion, used by people who don't want to look at their own errors in judgement, lack of game knowledge and attitude. But I was still a badie and still wanted to think luck was against me for being "stuck" where I was. As a result, several seasons later, I'm still struggling to shake off many...many bad habits. And the climb is hard, but I made it so.

So here's the real wake-up call to people who believe in "Elo Hell". It does exist. You just don't understand what that means.

Hell, for the vast majority who believe in it religiously, is a place of punishment...for the decisions the punished has made. Elo Hell does exist. Those of us who had once believed in it, and those still woefully trapped in it, just don't remember what hell is.

Have you ever been in a game where a player 1v1s a 3-item Vayne with ult, gets destroyed and then says something like, "whoa, Vayne is fed!"? Has your top laner ever died to a L2 all-in by [enter favorite L2 top laner here] and gotten frustrated by it? Has an ally ever chased for a kill into the enemy jungle and gotten ambushed? But they almost got 'em, right?

Is that the first time the duelist died to a Vayne in that situation? Is that the first time that top laner lost the L2 fight? Is that the first experience the aforementioned chaser has had with dying to try to finish somebody off? Really? Now you're starting to get it. Now you're starting to see why it's hell.

And the decisions you and I make may not be as blatant, but they are likely recurring. We all develop biases in all aspects of life and league is no exception.

Good players do die to Vayne. High elo games do see L2 all-ins result in first blood. And, yes, even Challengers and pros (rarely) are seen chasing for a kill, only to witness their own demise. But have you watched a quality stream where this happens? Are they surprised by it? No. They have learned before what happens in these situations, but either miscalculated or had a lapse in, what has otherwise proven to be, good judgement. They know they made a mistake.

Keyword: they

They blame their own action, remind themselves of the reason for the outcome (often to educate their stream viewers, they remembered instantly in most cases) and then shake it off and focus. A hard-stuck diamond friend of mine told me, not too long ago, to watch my replays and find my three biggest mistakes. Then write them down, focus on eliminating them and reevaluate to see if I've improved. I'd like to think it's working. In about a season's time I went from being in the bottom 1/3 of players to the top 1/3. I'm by no means excellent yet, but I'm focusing on improving and it works.

Life is about learning and applying knowledge to improve your outcomes. Do so in league, have more fun with it and experience more satisfying wins and losses. Get out of Elo Hell, by changing.