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Help me prepare for ranked and get rid of some stress

Vantooth·3/4/2015, 10:29:24 PM·1 votes·734 views

Yo, first thanks for taking the time to read this and possibly help me, and I'm not sure if i'm really at the right place but, I believe it fit in.

Here a bit of context: So I want to start this season ranked soon, last season I ended silver 1 and almost got gold but ran out of time since I started really late. But you see, I suffer of very bad stress, I like to play and I like to have competition but what ruins it all for me is getting blamed and fear of failure/disappointing others. Since I'm working for those very same thing to stop crippling me in real life, I've been thinking if I can get them to stop crippling me in game maybe it will help.

So here we are, first if you have tips and trick to deal with others opinions in league go ahead, any tip is welcome. Mind you I very rarely rage. Otherwise, being "ready" and having a plan to win and confidence before going in the queue is something I'm looking for. So I'll be listing position and champions that I play and my best bet. I'd like some insight on which champions to add and remove from my list too :P

TOP: one of my favorite position, I usually feel at home and there isn't much match up that I fear. Champions I play top: Vladimir I enjoy him a lot and find myself to usually do well enough, one of the champion I don't fear using even against counters. Singed Unless I end up against a ranged top like vayne or a good teemo I should do good, I think. Malphite I love playing malphite, it's pretty enjoyable and I don't have much difficulties. Usually, even if I fail in lane I can still make up with my sheer usefulness in team fight. Chogath I can do good, I can do bad but most of it is because I don't play him often. Renekton I used to play him a lot for a while, but I'm not so sure of myself anymore when I pick him. Shyvana I used to main her, I love her and I'm pretty confident with her, but I had some pretty hard fails recently... Riven I can use some animation cancels, but not all. I like her and can succeed, but I'm far from being the best riven around and I don't want people to say you "shit riven"...

MID: This is quite a good spot for me, but only with a rare few champions... And I get utterly demolished by zeds... Malzahar Space aids! I'm a pretty confident malzahar, and i enjoy pushing to death and beyond my lane and take down two tower pretty fast when I can :P Diana I had some fails, but I had some epic moments where I became unstoppable too, a reliable pick most of the time, I know the limits of what I can do and can't do. Fizz I picked him up because I hated going against him, I used to be quite good, but I'm afraid to play him since the nerf/buff since I mainly used his ult to cut off a path.

ADC: Far from my best place, but in dire situation I can take care of it. Caitlyn She's pretty much the only ADC I own, else I've got vayne but I usually fail much more.

Support: wooooh something I can do, but don't enjoy doing much. Soraka Woohooo here come walking HP, not very hard to play, most of time I find myself to rely too much on my ADC... Taric I'm pretty good with this game, I often find myself by mid game being able to 1v1 the enemy ADC, my top 1 support.

Jungle: My dark beast finally! I looove jungling I'm quite good (I think) at it, yet I'm freaking afraid to do it, because I feel so much pressure. Hecarim My most reliable jungler, I can usually carry or feed my lanes unless there's a decent shaco in the enemy jungle and he come to kill me early... Warwick Yeah I can jungle warwick, who can't? Vi I own Vi, but I've never really taken her to the jungle i used to play her top, I know she's pretty strong right now, should I go and learn her jungle? Trundle I've been quite successful with his jungle, quite healthy deceptively tanky early because of stat steal and great damage. I'm quite good with pillars. Elise I like elise, but... yeah people probably don't like my elise xD, unless they're on the enemy team.

Soo that's about it, I don't know if I've missed something if I did I'll edit it in, if you have any questions about specific feel free to ask.

Also, do you guys think it's better to use fewer champions in ranked or a more wide range?

5 Comments

The Chin3/4/2015, 10:51:11 PM2 votes

First of all just remember that even though it's ranked, it's still just a game and it's no big deal if you lose.

Second it doesn't matter what other people think of you, it's really really bad if you're concerned with random people's opinion of you.

Last I think it's better to have a few main champs that you're extremely comfortable with :)

Shiroi Kitsune3/5/2015, 12:00:19 AM2 votes

I'm gonna deal with the two things I have the expertise/time to talk about. Firstly, I'd like to talk about your little quip about hecarim (since it pertains to the jungle role itself). If you expect the enemy to try and kill you at your second buff, there is one simple rule to follow: be anywhere but your buff. Either clear a different camp (e.g. Gromp->blue->wolves), or go take his buff. Basically, if you waste his time by making him wait around for an opportunity that won't come, you are taking what would normally be a huge disadvantage, and turning it into a pretty big advantage for yourself. Secondly, I'd say the number one thing that really helped me at the start of the season (I get pretty stressed too), is to focus on making sure I never die, rather than making sure that I make awesome plays. You'd be surprised how much the plays come to you if you don't try to force them. This means always warding, not overextending, and playing in such a manner that you are trying to make every game a "perfect" zero death game.

Pæan3/5/2015, 1:07:11 AM2 votes

Play what you're comfortable with and know you can do well. I've promised myself (and friends) I will not play Riven in ranked until I fully understand how to be an aggressive dbag in lane. Frankly I'm not a super aggressive person so playing someone designed to always be in the enemy's face isn't my "cup of tea".

I really enjoy playing Gragas and I know his damage and how much damage he can take while his W is active. I don't really care for counters, because unless you're diamond and higher and can play nearly all champs well enough there is no point in countering your own ability by choosing someone you don't know how to play.

For the last question, learn at least 2 champions for each role and you should be good. For me: top - Gragas Jayce Shen jungle - Shaco Zac Gragas mid - Brand Gragas Ziggs adc - Draven Varus Ezreal support - Lulu Nami Braum Gragas

These are champs where I can fall back on them whenever needed because of the amount of practice I've put in. And yes, I do like Gragas :D

rescued3/5/2015, 2:42:28 AM2 votes

Hey! This is my first season ranked. Even though I haven't even been playing a year, I've found some good advice along the way and thought I'd share with you.

First: Whenever I play Ranked, I like to think of it as bots or normals. I'm like you; I get stressed/anxious easily so putting myself in this mindset helps me a ton. Plus I only play like 2-3 games of ranked in a row so I don't overwhelm myself. In between play some arams.

Second: don't worry about counters. Play the champ that you know inside out, if you know the champ you can probably outplay your opponent.

Good luck! ^^

Vantooth3/5/2015, 6:09:30 PM1 votes

Thanks for the advice/insight! I really appreciate it! I'll focus on changing my mindset first of all, I found out I usually think that I have to succeed on my first try at everything. I'll try thinking along the lines of: So what if I lose 1 ranked? I can always play more, not a big deal. I've never thought about thinking that's its just like any game mode, even if I'm usually just as serious in any queue. (people who trolls saying "it's just normal" I hate those guys... xD) Also thanks for the tips about hec and counter jungling! I guess even if it mean losing a buff it's still better than losing the buff AND dying. By the way, I usually only play at max 1 or 2 ranked a day, and if I lose I quit for the day, so that my mood doesn't swing too much.

I'll also start focusing on a few key champions, with something to fall back on if I need to fill or a sudden ban/enemy pick the champ I wanted. I guess I'll add 1 more ADC to my list :P