A Bronze V's Guide to Surviving Ranked

#1 try to have at least 6 champions you can legitimately call your mains or sub mains.

• why six? because with the dynamic queue, the auto-fill, and the possibility of someone banning your champ it's best to have a champ for every lane that you can play well and a back up in case things dont go your way. the way the lanes work you should be able to have a tank for top, a fighter for top and jungle, an assassin for mid and jungle, a mage for mid and support, a marksman for bottom - preferably two if you are maining that role, and a support - a genuine support.

#2 three is the magic number of rune pages

• why three? well - because 2 rune pages can cover your basics of physical damage versus ability power champs, but then you're left with weak stats for your auto attack champs and defensive champs. with three rune pages you can cover ability power or penetration which can be shared between assassins and mages, on hit or attack speed which can cover your marksman and jungler, and tanky regen stats for your supports and tanks. that way you always have a rune page for your champ even while swapping between lanes. more is always better but three covers the bronze basics.

#3 dont tilt and dont flame

• this is legitimately the easiest way to lose your game and to lose your account. just dont do it. if you cant stand playing in bronze with randoms then make friends and try 3v3's and 5v5's. right now the dynamic queue set up is just awful for solo players - especially those in lower tiers. it's not worth losing your account over. you wont get that money that you spent on skins back. if you try your hardest you might actually win - there's no guarantee that the enemies wont have a troll on their team also. so if you stay calm and help your team you might make your teams troll reconsider his/her actions and come out on top just by playing really well and doing your job. that's better than surrender at 20 gg comments by a lot.

#4 you're always gradually climbing

• a lot of people forget that as long as they have a 51% win rate or better that they're going to be moving up in the ladder. mmr means a lot so when you start getting on constant win streaks you going to eventually be paired with players with relatively the same skills or knowledge of the game as you. maybe even more than you. learn from your losses and your wins both.

#5 read the patch notes every update

• you never know what crazy things you might learn about champs from patch notes. what used to be a major counter to your champ or an instant lock champ might have become the worst possible decision you could ever make. it always pays to look at them even if you're just glancing. 15 damage could be the difference between starting Q and starting E

#6 use your summoner spells for every possible situation that ends with a positive outcome.

• lots of people forget that they can prevent their opponent from healing just by spending their ignite. sure it goes on cooldown for 300 seconds, but whats 300 seconds in a 20 minute match? the chance that you'll get a kill with it is very slim as is with all of the mechanics in game. it's much safer to just use it to prevent your opponent from out healing you.

• teleport can be used to distract enemies and it only goes on a 200 second cooldown. bronze players are some of the most kill hungry players alive. if they think you just jumped into a 2v5 they'll crowd around that light and wait for you. that might be all it takes to save your teammate if they're smart enough to keep running.

• if you bring cleanse make sure you can use both quicksilver sash and in your build. it's really the only way to effectively use cleanse. use it for ignites and exhausts as they're the main focus of cleanse.

• ghost works better than flash in a couple of instances. 1 would be if you're never planning on walking through the jungle. 2 would be if your champ already has a high base movement speed. 3 would be if you have a built in flash or dash. make sure to take full advantage of ghost by walking through the minion wave. if you do that your opponent has to go around them and cant keep up. most bronze players forget that minion waves block their path and will try to chase you through them.

• suck at last hitting minions? take smite. it's not just for junglers. seriously. it's not. never was either. i think it also stacks with relic shields passive so if you're always having to deal with adc's that wont let you last hit the cannon minions start bringing smite and pop them before your greedy marksman can. you also get access to a cheaper form of sunfire cape which will help you take drakes faster. it's up to you. you even get wards for your smite or a nifty slow that would allow you to help out with ganks. if your enemies arent paying attention you could scare them with a chilling smite and make them think they're getting ganked.

• flashing forward will prevent you from taking damage from an incoming projectile if you manage to flash over it. if you flash away from it it will still damage you. try to combine flash with builds that include zhonya and mobility boots. mobility boots take 5 seconds to activate and zhonya lasts for 2.5. if you flash out of the zhonya you should be able to easily get away as long as you dont encounter any caster minion basic attacks. it's pointless to put flash on champions that have no mobility and no escapes. just bring barrier heal exhaust etc. they're more efficient overall.

• barrier is under rated on assassins. if you combine barrier with your built in dashes and flashes you can build glass cannon without fear. it works against ignites and will allow you to regenerate health if you've gone below the death threshold right as you activate it since it counts as positive health. do not stick around once you've used barrier. it's only effective on lifesteal/regeneration builds as a way to prevent yourself from dying as you heal. combined with heal it makes a great support/tank choice.

• heal can be used as a mini ghost to get away. dont be afraid to use it early if you can prevent an ally from being snagged by thresh/leona/darius/blitz. just because double heals heal for less when used at the same time doesnt mean you have to use them at the same time. it doesnt mean you have to even use them for the heals. the movement speed buff is enough of a reason to use it.

• use exhaust on the tanks. it makes taking them down so much easier. if you're about to get dived use it on the person who's diving you. you might just get a kill from the grave.

#7 report those who flame, harass, and afk without prejudice.

• if you want to play in a community where everyone respects each other and you have a fair chance of winning the only way to do that is to help take out the trash so to speak. hold players accountable for their actions but do so politely and in a mature manner. it doesnt require you to trash talk back to them or insult them or even stand up for yourself. all standing up for yourself does is paint an even bigger brighter target on you for them to enjoy taking shots at and you'll feel worse after it's all said and done because you wont be able to report them for their negative behavior and you'll be worried that your own personal negative behavior got you reported. just inform them that what they're doing is against the summoners code and against the EULA. then if they respond negatively just mute and report. it helps if you actually know what the rules are before trying to tell others what they're doing wrong. it helps even more so if you're also following the rules. fyi calling someone a troll then asking for reports against a player will get you suspended. dont do it.

#8 have fun

• no seriously. it's just a game. i know it's disappointing to not be able to make it to gold before the end of the season. personally i've missed out on a bunch of my favorite champions victorious skins and i wish riot would come up with some other way to reward players who make it to higher leagues, but it's not my decision. i dont like the idea of the meta, but once again that's not my decision. what is my decision is to play the game or to not play the game. the moment you stop having fun with a game you should stop and try to reconsider your approach. if a game isnt fun for you then something is wrong. games should always be fun - even when you're losing. losing sucks but if it's really just a game then the loss is negligible at best. dont let this game become a crutch in your life and dont let this game become a reason for you to not enjoy life. matches are sometimes hour long struggles for no gain. that's just the nature of a game like this. that's why you have all year to try to become better. no one expects you to sit down and instantly become challenger. it's just not something that happens. chase dreams but dont chase fiction. everyone was born with wings all you need is to learn to fly. theres nothing wrong with walking in the meantime. its easier to enjoy the view and relax when youre not always trying to keep yourself in the air.

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#9 study the important items and know what they do

• for the most part item knowledge is one of the things that can set a player back in terms of skill. in bronze i wont say you should know every item, but you should definitely know most items and at the very least know how the unique role items work. the main items to consider reading up on are as follows - - all of which have some form of in game "clarity" feature to let you know when and how to work around it. if you know how to deal with it without having to spend time in the shop browsing for a way to beat it you'll have an advantage.

#10 DJ sona almost guarantees a win

• because who doesnt love good music?