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Escaping Bronze and Moving Up in the (LoL) World

39221361DEL1·8/3/2015, 8:10:44 AM·1 votes·697 views

Hello,

I started playing League of Legends in early 2013. Got to level 30 in pretty good time and tried my luck with ranked and didn't get very far. I like to think that I main support but I have (some) experience playing in all roles to different degrees! I try to keep calm during my ranked games and whatnot. For ranked, I usually go with support since that is the role I am most comfortable with and it's the one with the most champions that I enjoy and have experience with. So anyways, getting to the point now.. I've been stuck in Bronze IV ever since I came back to LoL earlier this summer. I think I've gotten better since I left in 2013 and I have been winning most of my non-ranked games. When doing my promotions, I won 5 and lost 5 so I thought I was at least somewhat average. I got put in Bronze III but then it started going downhill. I'm not saying I'm #1 by any means but I don't think I'm a terrible player. I just feel like I'm constantly put on teams that give up early or aren't that experienced. I was wondering if any had any tips to make matches in Bronze go a bit more smoothly. I want to move up but I find it really hard with the teams I'm put with. What can I do to help whatever team I'm on? What can I do as a support that can help our game go well?

3 Comments

14kIP well spent8/3/2015, 8:18:35 AM1 votes

People in Bronze think they are way better than they really are. Basically, they have a death wish. The trick to getting out of Bronze/Silver as support is saving team mates from themselves. You can't make people take lanterns. Play carry supports like Annie or baby-sitter supports where co-operation isn't required - like Zilean. They won't take a lantern, but they can't deny a Zilean revive. Leona is definitely a bad idea for Bronze. Just because you have a sense of when to make a play doesn't mean your team will go with your all-in. You're just asking for trouble.

67chrome8/3/2015, 8:47:14 AM1 votes

I was wondering if any had any tips to make matches in Bronze go a bit more smoothly.

As a support player that shot out of Bronze into Silver right before I was crushed by a ton of homework I might be able to help.

Main strategy I used? Get everyone talking in champion select. Get everyone talking so they get on at least their 2nd favorite roll, get everyone talking so there's some agreement on who to ban, get everyone talking enough so you all have a decent first impression of one-another and start thinking you're buddies.

Most of the games I've lost in Bronze? Mostly has to due with a lack of teamwork and/or moral. If you get everyone working together, kindle a bit of team-spirit, and have a solid first impression so you aren't just acknowledging someone's existence when you noticed they died 3 times in lane? You'll have a decent time 9 out of 10 games. LoL heavily rewards teamwork after all, and people that tolerate one-another will work together much better than people that hate each other.

Team-spirit and Moral are pretty low-effort to get on your side compared to the alternatives at any rate. Main thing to keep in mind here is that not saying anything is being neutral, not positive. And avoid the urge to correct people on what they're doing wrong. It already happened.

What can I do as a support that can help our game go well?

Lots of things.

If you win lane (which is mostly up to you and not your weak early, strong late marksman partner), you get 2 people on your team ahead and 2 people on the enemy team behind, 1 more than most lanes.

Take lanning seriously - supports are frequently very strong early-game champions, and marksman are usually heavily reliant on your plays to make the most of a lane.

Also - vision control. A lot of assassins are extremely powerful if they know exactly where every one of their opponents are, allowing some pretty clutch plays where you can pick off an opponent where nobody can help them. Over just diving in on "1" opponent and finding 2 others backing them up.

Finally, supports are all about the "smarter not harder" mindset. Even though you can't overpower your opponents, there are plenty of tricks you have as a support to deal with a wide range of problems. Get in the right mindset, and it's pretty crazy what supports can actually accomplish.

Sona Ping8/3/2015, 8:55:37 AM1 votes

Win/loss in placements isn't what mattered. It's who you were winning and losing against, right?

The funny thing is, you don't seem to grasp the reality of the situations in your games. " I just feel like I'm constantly put on teams that give up early or aren't that experienced." Of course they don't seem that experienced, you are getting matched with Bronze IV players! lol You need to help the game go smoothly in all aspects, (even chat). You can't expect your team to do things you want them to, you would need to go and help them play better instead. Like you can't the team to their own devices, if they are having trouble in one lane, you take your 80CS advantage up top and and win that 2v2, e.g.

For Bronze, you just need to play well, that's all you need to do. And what will really help, is to have your teammate work with you by playing so they don't really even have to try to work with you.
For supports for example, for "just playing well" with Sona and then shielding/healing someone when they let themselves take free damage and giving poke to even out their bad trades, they'll have better results. They will effectively "play better" without doing anything, they'll be cooperating with you even if they are basically ignoring you. Nami, they might only notice they are not falling when they should have, if even that, but you would be stopping them from taking damage and catching enemies they wouldn't be able to otherwise. Or Lulu, she can cover for so many mistakes. She can get an ADC going simply from stopping the enemy from taking advantages.
That's how you can carry as support, or any role. "Just playing well" and covering for your team's mistakes while letting the enemy team make theirs is enough to give your team a huge advantage.