Close but no cigar (just like Graves)

Hello, my name is Dukues, my friends call me Duke, Dukes or Dukus (and if your like me and type too quickly mispell your summoner name "Dukues")

I thought I would share my league career story and what effect the game has had on my life and what I have learned. This thread is long and probably will not help many, or at least anyone over Silver, but maybe it relates to someone else out there. The main story is my goal to reach Gold by the end of the season and how I came close, but did not quite make it.

Video games have always had a large impact on my life (Most likely too much as some would say and I would tend to agree as well). Whether I was in grade school, middle school, high school, or College, video games have always been a source of entertainment for me. So it is no wonder I continue to use video games as a source of entertainment in my life. I have played League for roughly 6 years, but mostly nonstop since season 3. Since I have played the game for so long and have spent much time and money on it, changes to the game mean a great deal to me. And since I like games that have a competitive aspect, ranked means a great deal to me.

Back in season 2 I received my bronze ranking (which like most players shocked me since I had played a great deal of league games). That rank transitioned over into season 3 where the new ranked system (with LP and ranked tiers) was implemented part way through the season. My current Elo transitioned over to a ranking equal to bronze 4 (yikes). Seeing as how I had friends in higher bronze or silver, my rank upset me and I knew I had some climbing to do. My goal for that season was to reach silver, which over time I met by the end of the season.

So since season 4 my goal has always been to get gold since I had recently reached Silver. At first I did not think much about it until a bunch of my friends started reaching Gold while I was stuck in Silver 2 or Silver 3. I Kept thinking "man I am as good as them, how have they achieved this and I am stuck?". Well I never got over that hurdle, and finished season 4 in Silver 3.

This brings me to the current season. I have had friends quite playing the game, and have made some new friends through different people I know. My friends who were gold last season got back to gold pretty early in this season. I went 7-3 in my promos at the start of the season (with the large rank reset) and obtained silver 5. I quickly jumped to silver 3, and shortly after received silver 2. I have sat in silver 2 for most of the season, dropping to silver 3 but then being promoted back to silver 2 multiple times over the season. To give you an idea, the number of times I have been promoted to silver 2 over the last 2 years is 12 times, and have been demoted to silver 3 11. Each time I was demoted it was pretty big demoralizing slap to the face. So this leads into the my last 2 weeks of my season experience.

The last two weeks: http://www.lolking.net/summoner/na/23340687 - look at the graph to show what happened over the last 2 weeks. I knew the season end was around the corner and the only way to reach Gold before season end was to play more ranked games. I way getting tired of ranked since I had already played 350ish games this season but had been stuck in silver 2 or 3. So one weekend I made a push and I ended up going on a huge losing streak (like really really bad losing streak). I had never really had more wins than losses over the season, but I was at least close to 50%, usually like 2 or 3 more losses than wins. But after this losing streak I found myself roughly 15 games below a 50% win streak and about 50 lp in silver 4. This was the only time I had been in silver 4 the entire season (as I skipped from S5 to S3 at the beginning). With about two weeks left of season and having my lowest elo/mmr of the season, I figured my dream of obtaining Gold was looking really poor. I was very demoralized but at this point I knew I had lost so many games that my luck had to turn around (and my play obviously). I knew my true mmr was around silver 2 and not silver 4, so I just started playing games knowing I would have to start winning sooner than later. I ended up going on a 18-1 streak (still seems unreal) and ended up back in silver 2 with some LP. I told myself, well this is your last shot to try and hit gold. Once you get back down to 0 lp in silver 2 your done because F being demoted again. Well over the course of many games I ended up reaching my silver 2 promos, not once, not twice, but 3 times. On my 3rd try (all of which happened last weekend) I had finally reached silver 1. Now... i have been in my silver 1 promos a few times, but had never reached it. It actually took 8 tries over the last 2 years to reach silver 1. Now this was Sunday, so I knew I only had a few hours that night, and then Monday and Tuesday night to try and reach my dream of Gold before season end. Well, I went on a 6 game winning streak and got into my gold promos Monday night. Now being in my promos made a dream already met, but knowing the standard history from friends and the forums, and my own history with promos I felt the chances of actually being promoted were pretty slim. Well, sadly I was right and went 0-3 in my promos :((. Luckly, at least 2 of the games were pretty competitive instead of the bs trolls, super afk, or unmatched teams you normally get in promos. Sadly,I wish this story had a better ending but figured I would share what I have learned with the few points below.

What I have Learned:

1. Although league is a game, you can actually apply some things you learn from it to life and vise versa. In life you need obtainable goals, such as in league. Mine has been to get Gold. Remember, goals need to be obtainable so I cannot think I want diamond or plat as I know I am not at that skill level. Also, Just like in life, if you want something you have to try for it. No one is going to give you the things you want in life. This has become more clear to me than ever in my life, and I have started applying this thought to my life. I also started applying this thought to league, and started reading guides, reading patch updates, reading boards, etc. If you want it bad enough you have to earn it. The game is not going to give you Gold just because you feel you deserve it. If it did, the entire server would be gold or higher lol.
2. Life is unfair, and so is league (at least from time to time). You will always have ragers or afks, etc. on your team but remember so will the other team at a some point. Silver is a cluterfuck of a clusterfuck, and you really never know who or what you are going to get. Just keep playing and improving, as those are the two things you can control.
3. If you are stuck at a certain rank (like I have always been), there is something in your performance holding you back. I am still trying to figure out what all of these things are, but what players will tell you and what I have focused more on is your cs, warding/clearing, map awareness, objectives. Being a low mmr player, none of us do these things perfect, but if you focus on improving game to game and controlling what you can control, it helps slow down the game every positive thing you do helps increase your team's odds of winning. Like ward placement and clearing for example, I have always placed a lot of wards but I realize most of my ward placements have always been random and I waste a lot of wards. I still do, but over the last week I have really focused on saving wards and placing them in better locations, which has seemed to help more than I originally thought.
4. The game changes based on your rank. I remember reading a thread recently from a Diamond player saying he thought Silver was rather difficult since it is hard to know what you will get for a teammate and if they will follow up on ganks, objectives, etc. The truth is, I have been in silver forever (I call myself the king of silver) and there is a difference between your average silver 4 or 5 player than your 2 or 3 or 1. Over the course of a game the differences can seem small, (and this is of course assuming the player is at their actual mmr). For example, in bronze or lower silver you will see more random team fighting and chasing and solo doing w/e than you will see at higher levels. (not much more since it is all still silver, but a little more). You have to figure out where you are, what you are seeing in most of your ranked games and adapt. The higher you reach in silver, on average the more consistent your teammates may be and you may have to adapt accordingly. Although, I think the reason silver 2 is the clusterfuck or clsuterfucks in silver because one game you will be playing mostly Gold 5-silver 2 players and the next will be silver 3-silver 5. So silver 2 is where I see the least consistent gameplay from game to game. This is why you will see a lot of gold, plat, diamond players say "play carry champs" and basically carry yourself out of silver. If you have the skills you can do it. I am not as skillfull and realize I rely a lot on my team, especially at silver 2. So i pick my play style and champs as such.
5. I would suggest always use basic knowledge, such as have a tank, some ap, and some ad. More times than not all ad games are rough, but sometimes it works sometimes it doesnt. I also am a huge fan of using AoE champs, such as wukong, ammumu, malphite, any AoE mids, etc. I think these champs are very useful, especially for low elo team fights.
6. This list is random as fuck and my points are pretty all over the place. My apologies.
7. Supports can carry!
8. Always take a break, especially when losing. I myself am very guilty of just binge playing and going on large losing streaks. I am mad, i play worse, and even though you feel you might not have an overall impact on the game you do and need to be in a good mood to play.
9. Play each ranked game as if it is important. There is a balance between having fun, but playing seriously and to win. I believe I have been stuck so long partially because in the middle of the season I have already played a couple hundred ranked games and just get into robotic mode (especially in silver 2 or where your actual mmr is). When you do this you are not playing to make big plays anddont play your best to get the win and therefore are not maximizing your chance of winning.
10. All other things you read on the boards. And have fun. Its a game, and although it may mean a lot to you (like myself) remember there are more important things in life.

Anyways, I really need to get back to working. Season 6 looks interesting and I am unsure how I feel about it. I am afraid I am going to have a bad early rank reset and start the climb all over again. Just remember, if you play your best and continue to learn you will climb, and even if things are looking bad you can always persevere and overcome them.

For all my silver bro sand sisters out there I feel you. Season 6 will be yours and possibly mine as well! And for anyone in silver 1, I really really feel the pain. (Although Fuck Sivir as a free skin - champ is already free as it is). I like how Riot went from having an Elise skin in season 3, to Morgana and Sivir, when there basically free and owned by everyone.