"I shouldn't be banned for telling the troll to kill itself! I just want justice!"

We've all heard this argument in the boards before. Someone has a troll in their team and think that by flamming the troll they are getting justice. Soon enough, the inevitable analogy comes up: "The best way to stop a bully is to stand up to him".

However, those people (who are probably new to the internet) fail to grasp the difference between a real life bully and an internet troll. For all of those making this confusion heres a quick guide:

In real life you can punch a bully in the face. Nobody wants to be punched in the face.

In the game, you can only argue with the troll. That's EXACTLY what the troll wants.

The troll is not going to be offended by anything you say. You can get really creative with your offenses, he will just laugh it off while giving another kill to the already fed Jinx. There is an old internet rule that if you're not familiar with, you should be: DON'T FEED THE TROLL. A troll wants to create a negative reaction. By fighting him, you're giving him exactly what he wants.

"So what should I do?

Mute, shrug it off, report, move on. There is literally nothing else to be done that will have a positive impact.

Focus on the other 3 people on your team. Make coordinated plays. Learn to split push and bait objectives. If your comp allows it, make isolated picks. It's hard as fuck, but a game with a troll is actually manageable, at least in low ELO.

"But I wunna serve justise!1!"

As sad as it may sound, besides reporting, there is NOTHING YOU CAN DO. The very nature of an online game ensures that the troll will win if you play his game (at least until we get an option to slap people in the face via internet). A troll's goal is to have you respond in a negative way to him. If your idea of justice is talking shit to the troll, you're feeding him exactly what he needs. You give him a double win: he gets to ruin your game AND your day at the same time. Not only that, but you show him that what he is doing works, inciting him to do it again on his next games.

By changing your attitude towards a troll you might not only have more enjoyable games yourself, you're also reducing the odds of him trolling other players, as he will gradually see that he doesn't get the reactions he wants. And as a bonus point, you prevent yourself from being banned.

Sources: 4 years in League and a crap load of years on the Internet.