Just Do It!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RrgIHaAitLo

It's been 4 months since my last significant ranked experience. I played one ranked match 2 months ago with my "main" Garen, but I started focusing solely upon support 2-3 months ago and so I was out of practice. Plus, like I said, it was only one match. So when I jumped into ranked again last night, I knew I was going to be rusty, and I decided to try out Redmercy's challenge, as detailed in the linked video.

I didn't believe so simple a challenge could have such a great effect upon, yet I'm now 3-0 in my first 3 ranked matches in months. The first match saw our team down in gold for ~41/46 minutes, with their gold lead going as high as 10.4K at one point. My third match, we were behind for ~32/44 minutes. However, by following Redmercy's tips, I was able to help us climb our way back into both. This other video of his also helped. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JMt_nPhCeZQ

Like Redmercy in the video above, even when I (and the rest of our team) had a rough start, I had faith in myself (and my team) in those 2 comebacks. It's all about playing to the situation and knowing what you and your team can offer. In that first win I used my "vulnerable" status to bait the fed Yi time and time again, drawing him into my team... only to pop Zhonya's, polymorph him, etc. He and Yasuo were the only threats, and Yasuo was picking up everyone's scraps more than he was making plays himself, whereas Yi was hyper-aggressive.

In the third win, there were a lot of little plays that helped turn the tides. For example, it meant Trist killing me to reach 2/0, but I hooked Blitz under our turret to give Kalista her first kill, knowing she needed the gold more than I did. Some may say "not worth," but I wasn't scared of Trist. I was more scared of the Blitz. They bashed him after the match, but he was hitting enough hooks that we had to respect him as a threat, even if he did make some stupid plays. And the results speak for themselves: Trist (6/12/5), Kal (10/6/9).

It helps that, in both matches, I was playing champions loaded with utility (whose relevancy isn't at all dependent upon being ahead) in complimentary team compositions ( ; ), but still... I did this as a support, the role people say is the hardest to carry with. And I'd argue that I did carry my teams. 5/4/28 with Naut, good for 69% kill participation, the highest in the match (2nd was 63%). 3/6/25 with Lulu, good for 67% kill participation, tied for highest on the team, and 2nd highest in match (enemy Yas had 73%). All this thanks to following those 5 simple tips in the video I provided.

They really do work, guys. Everyone should at least try them. I went from hating ranked, and tilting in matches like these, to never feeling a match is lost and doing everything I can to prove that fact.