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I ruined ten (10) ranked games doing my placements... why was this necessary?

Archlord Pie·1/22/2016, 2:57:41 AM·6 votes·1,602 views

First off, I'm primarily an ARAM player. I wanted to start playing more Rift but normals have been complete disasters every time I've tried to play them, so I figured I'd play ranked because back when I did my placements for fun last season, I discovered that matchmaking ACTUALLY adjusted based on my match results. Like, I fed out of control in the silver-level games but after a couple losses I started getting matched with bronze players who I could actually compete with. Got placed Bronze 2 in the end, though several of my 4 wins were games where I got carried.

I liked that. I thought it'd do the same thing this season.

NOPE!

Instead I got thrown into TEN mid-silver-ish games. Most of my teammates had silver borders in loading and when someone else asked something like "what were you last season" most responses were mid-to-high silver. Mine was Bronze 2, of course.

As you probably guessed, I got completely and utterly destroyed in every game I played, to the point where I was getting towerdove and 100-0ed even before either of us were 6, Lebonk could WR to 100-0 me before she had even finished an item (and I opened Null Magic Mantle...), I don't even remember what happened in the Janna game but all the CC in the world didn't stop whoever it was from deleting me every time I left base... it was a disaster.

But the issue is that, for some reason, matchmaking didn't get the message halfway through my placements and match me lower. Every single game was mid-silver level. Every single game was terrible for me. Every single game had people yelling at me for making bronze mistakes. Only one guy (the Zac in that one game) was legitimately worth reporting, but I had a lot of people telling me to go play norms (which will not happen) and others telling me to uninstall entirely.

The fact of the matter is that simply by queuing up for ranked, I ruined a bunch of games for silver-level players for no reason other than matchmaking not understanding that I do not play at a silver level and do not belong in silver-level games. Had it bumped me down to bronze halfway through, I wouldn't be posting right now. But matchmaking seriously fucked up with my placements and I have no way to explain it other than "it fucked up."

Just... WHY?

(For the record, I ended placements 2-8 and got placed in Bronze 4 and have no desire to queue up again because I'll probably match with Golds just like in normals at this rate.)

(And thank you to whichever Rioter suggested I post this in Gameplay. I really had no idea where to put it so I stuck it in Misc.)

18 Comments

Wintershere1/22/2016, 6:21:26 AM3 votes

I looked at your match history, Most of the players you were against in your last 5 games were bronze or are bronze. I believe it is pitting you against the current bronze tier which right now hold anything from real bronze players to low gold players from Season 5. Looking at your performance you have somewhat low CS and low kill participation which is what is limiting your gold and itemization. Your number of deaths isnt that bad but you have to make sure you contribute to the team when it comes to team fights. I would hesitate to blame you for those losses either way with the numbers that I see there at least from the perspective of feeding. Now your damage to champs on the other hand, that is where you might have a problem. You have to figure out how to position behind your tanks, minions, etc.. while teamfighting and use your summoners, actives, and cc to avoid being assassinated while still trying to do damage. As a mid laner, you have to blow up or do serious damage to the enemy team while your tanks/support are peeling for you. If you are positioned well then it gives them the ability to do their job and peel while you unleash your own abilities. You should be 1st or 2nd in damage to champs when the game ends.

If you aren't able to win trades with your lane opponent you should focus on CS and dodging skill shots until you can get to teamfights. Dodging skillshots and staying alive depend on how well you know the champs you are playing against as well as how well you know your own. There are lots of videos on how to improve but you should have played your champ at least a few games if not up to 10 or more games in normals(not really sure if aram counts here) before you queue up in ranked if you care about avoiding the trolls/toxic people. You can also ask for bans of a champ or two that you really have trouble playing against such as lb or zed or whoever. All that being said, remember its still a game and at the bronze/silver level the chance of queueing up and playing with the same people more than once or twice are very low so as long as you are doing your best don't sweat the toxic people. I think you are playing decent champs although keep in mind velkoz has good range but low mobility so if you are extended in the mid lane you are susceptible to ganks and assassins. If your mid-lane opponent can cs freely and is an assassin then be prepared for the dive at six from someone like LB or Zed.

Good luck and dont sweat the small stuff, its a game so you should try and enjoy it. Liberal use of the mute button can make a huge difference as well.

Slythion1/22/2016, 3:17:21 AM1 votes

I'm technically Bronze 4 (go ahead and laugh, I made the mistake of doing ranked when I first hit 30 a year ago) and actually pride myself on being matched against players anywhere from Silver 3 - Plat 4 and do well against them. Rarely do I get more than 3 deaths in a lane because after 2 I recognize that I need to play passive and farm up. It sounds to me that you where simply trying to make plays until they became fed to the point where it was too late. Try focusing on the farm game and not the "gotta kill my laner as fast as possible" method.

BluePolarizer1/22/2016, 4:54:39 AM1 votes

Your problem is that you are not playing to your strengths. I only play ranked and ARAM. I barely play normals. You must realize that playing ARAM is much more like playing support on rift than playing a solo lane. The mechanics are almost exactly the same - you don't get to farm alot, you have to hit skillshots, and you get free gold from items. As long as you have a tiny bit of map awareness (this is the part that's uncommon to ARAM players) you will climb.

John Viande1/22/2016, 12:26:46 PM1 votes

Well for the players that are gonna end up Bronze 5 no matter how many wins they get, placement matches are indeed nothing but useless.

Randomonium1/22/2016, 12:36:19 PM1 votes

The question I'd ask you is when did you do your placements last season? My guess is that you didn't do them in the first week of the season like you did this time.

Every player gets a soft reset at the beginning of the season. That means that for the first week or so of placements everyone is near the same MMR, meaning that if you are a poor player you are much more likely to go up against players who are better than you. The system isn't adjusting quickly like it did for you last season because the system hasn't had enough time to figure out where everyone belongs yet.

My advice: wait a few weeks until the ranked system stabilizes and then try again. After a few games you should wind up with people around your ability level.

Xqvvzts1/22/2016, 1:00:41 PM1 votes

Just a guess but you didn't do your previous placements at the start of the season, right?. If that's the case then your previous experience was based on being matched at bronze level when everybody there actually were bronze players. Right now bronze will have some silver (and possibly even gold) players randomly landing there because they tanked their placements.

RookPusher1/22/2016, 3:02:22 AM1 votes

Bronze 2 to Silver 2 and you got destroyed?

That doesn't seem right. I play with pretty decent players (in normals) - and I'm Bronze 5 - and I can hold my own. What in the name of god were you doing?

Surr20plz1/22/2016, 11:16:30 PM1 votes

Your problem is that you're playing ranked.