Preamble: Rather than post this in reply to every 'why did I get banned' thread that pops up, I figured I should make a post about this instead.

Introduction:

It sucks to get toxic or idiot teammates. But taking frustration out on them does not solve the problem, and usually only makes your situation worse.

If you harass them then they will not listen to you, and may in fact stop playing so they can argue with you. If they are arguing in chat, they aren't playing. The less time they spend paying attention to and playing the game, the more likely you are to lose.

The problem you have here is that you are not communicating in a way that is going to get you what you want from your teammates.

If teammates are harassing you, responding will only antagonize them further and ensure that they will keep harassing you. If you instead mute them then you won't have to see any of the rancid bullshit they type, and you won't be feeding their behavior by giving them attention.

Cooperating with teammates is hard, especially if some of them are idiots or are toxic. But it's not impossible to do. These situations are winnable - and even avoidable - a lot of the time.

As such I've set out to provide a guide for players who don't know how best to deal with frustrating teammates.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Basics: - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

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Avoiding punishment:

1. If you're going to say something, avoid offensive language, this includes hate speech, gross implications, %%%, cuss words, etc. Even if it's not hate speech it can upset other players, so better safe than sorry.

2. Don't make implications or insults towards other players.

it's simple, if you piss someone off by insulting them or cussing at them, they will be more likely to want to report you after the game.

Dealing with Frustration:

If you absolutely need to rage, do it through another avenue that your fellow players cannot see. It's not wrong to be upset, and you shouldn't repress your anger. You just need to find ways to let it out without negatively impacting others. Here are my recommendations:

• yell at your screen or into a pillow. Vocalizing rage can be very cathartic. It will help you to get your anger out without your teammates knowing. (Just be wary of disturbing people in the real world if you live with or nearby other people)
• alt tab for a few seconds to open up a notepad and type up a storm. Type as if you are talking to the player that is upsetting you, say everything you want to say in that notepad, then delete it (or wait until after the game to delete it) and alt tab back in to play.
• AFK, just for a few seconds, just enough to get up, pace a few steps, and calm down. Trust me, your game will go much better if you take time to calm down before returning to it.

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Advanced - How to get the help you want from your teammates:

1. How to give feedback: Don't address individual players directly when talking about their bad actions.

• If they are trolls or toxic, they will only react even worse.
• If they are doing badly and tilted, they may feel singled out and get defensive.
• If a player is struggling or making mistakes, it is easier to talk in terms of "we" the team. For example, "We need to ward around baron like, 30 seconds before it spawns next time so that we can approach it without the enemy catching us." Instead of, "You shouldn't have tried to make a baron play without vision."
• Or another example, "It will be safer to wait under turret for the lane to push to us," instead of "dude stop farming so far out it's not safe"

2. On keeping team morale up: It's really important for team morale to make teammates feel like you respect and support them. If they feel like you have their back, they will have yours as well. They will listen to your calls for plays to make, and they will be a lot less likely to argue with you or report you after the game. You can accomplish this a few ways:

• By complementing them for good plays, even if they are not the ones responsible for that play going well. This will motivate them to do even better the next time because they know that they will be recognized and appreciated for doing well. For example, "Great job Top and Jg." After a gank occurs top-lane that results in killing or forcing the enemy laner to burn significant cooldowns or recall leaving their turret undefended.
• By consoling them when a play goes badly. This will make them feel like you respect them as people even if they are playing poorly. It will let them know that you aren't just watching their every move waiting to criticize mistakes, and it will minimize how much tilt they experience from their play going badly. For example, "Hey man, I'm sorry that didn't go well. It's ok though. Better luck next time, right?" After a failed gank that wastes significant cooldowns or gets the jungler or laner killed.

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Out of game:

There's other things you can do outside of game as well.

1. like taking a 5 minute break to get up and walk around after a frustrating game. Getting your blood flowing and shaking your limbs out will help your mind to reset from that experience so that you don't carry it with you into the next game and make mistakes merely because you are frustrated. This is a good time to get a snack or a cup of water, or take a short walk outside.

2. Additionally, it is important to get sufficient rest, nutrition and hydration before playing. If you have the nutrients you need to keep your brain functioning well, it will be much more resilient to frustration and you will be less likely to tilt after a negative experience.