10 Steps to Climb in Ranked
This list is nothing new, but these things most definitely help, especially if you are having difficulty climbing. In no particular order:
1.) Say something nice or don't say anything at all (just like your mom said). It's true. There are relatively few people who will accept criticism. Imagine if someone told you what to do. How would you react? Yes, feeders are annoying and dumb mistakes can be costly, but don't rage at people. It only makes things worse.
2.) Have fun. It's just a game and life goes on. You win some you lose some. Accept that and you will do and feel much better.
3.) Know when to stop. Have you lost 5 in a row? It's probably time to call it quits. Just accept that luck has not been on your side or maybe you are just not in the mood to play. That's okay. Just chill for a while and come back to league fresh. There's no need to make your teammates suffer.
(notice how nothing is about actual gameplay yet; so much relies on a positive mentality)
4.) Limit your champion pool/play champions you know well. If you seem to be losing more games than winning, take a look at your match history. How many champs are you playing? Maybe pick the few champs with which you have done well. Play the odds. Each champion requires subtle nuances to achieve success. Playing a different champ each and every game can be costly. Save your experimentation for normals or bots where you can experiment without the cost of making others (and yourself) fall in the ranks. Even if a certain champ is "so OP right now", play what you are comfortable with.
5.) Know your items. If you are unsure about what items to build there are several guides out there and some people (not all) are willing to help in the boards on League's site. Having the right build can make all the difference between dominating and being dominated in lane. Take a while to go through the items and read about them. Think about your champ's abilities and passives. What will go well with them? I mean, the game itself even has a recommended page.
6.) Proper runes and masteries. These can be a little bit more subjective but there are certain musts. For example, it only makes sense to build Windspeaker's Blessing on a Janna or Soraka given that it increases the power of heals and shields. Have a few rune pages ready for different opponents. I main Janna and have an MR defensive and AP aggressive depending upon who I am laning against.
7.) Limit your deaths. Easier said than done. If you are a carry champion your average KDA should not be something like 4/9/2. Yes, there will be games when you do poorly but that should not be the norm. I don't know how many times I see, say, top lane or mid lane fall behind and keep engaging 1 v 1. You may sometimes get a kill, but it's not likely. Switch into defensive mode, POLITELY ask your jungler for a gank, ward, and turret hug if necessary. You may lose some farm, but it is certainly better than dying.
8.) Don't blame the jungler. Don't be that guy who falls behind and automatically blames the jungler. They have their priorities and they may be pressuring other lanes or farming 'til 6. No, not every jungler will be great, but blaming them will only make everyone on your team do worse.
9.) Read your opponent. Have in mind, before laning, what your opponent's goals are. Will they be passively farming or going for first blood? Are you facing Panth top? Does he have long sword and a health pot? Yes, he is going for an early kill, and he may very well get it which brings me to the last item on the list:
10). Familiarize yourself with all champs. Go through and look at what each champs abilities are. How well are you going to do against Tahm if you don't know what his passive does? In the instance where you're facing Panth top with the long sword and health pot,know that he does not scale well into late game. As boring as it may be, you may have to farm and defend for 20-30 minutes.
gl;hf :)
