Almost at level 30 - Any tips for ranked?

Kettlecorn Titan·11/24/2014, 4:53:43 AM·5 votes·6,066 views

I've almost hit level 30 and I'm excited and also nervous because all I've heard about Elo hell and the bronze trolls. I've heard ranked games still have trolls and people feed and don't belong in that elo. What's the best way to play ranked? Should I take one champion and one role and play them until I have 'mastered' them vs counters or should I learn every role very well and then hop into the solo Q. Also what's your favorite champion? thanks for taking time to reply. :)

38 Comments

Reynard the ƒox11/24/2014, 5:05:04 AM15 votes

The best advice for ranked I can give you is to not play ranked.

InvalidGuest11/24/2014, 5:12:19 AM10 votes
  1. You should wait until you have at least 200 wins before doing ranked, even if level 30. Lots of pros recommend this and my friend got stuck in Bronze in season III because he jumped right in after hitting 30. .
  2. Best way? I can't really say right now because of the preseason changes and whatnot, although jungling is now an extremely impactful role with the new dragon buff being extremely snowball based. .
  3. Important- be prepared to play every role. Do not be that "sorry can't support even though my pick priority is last" guy. You don't need to master it or be amazing, just be able to fill it.

A solid setup is 2 champions prepared for every lane/role with one or two lanes that you main. . 4. MOST IMPORTANT STEP!!! - never flame anyone, every loss you must blame yourself and force improvement. It doesn't matter if you are 30/0 as mid lane and every lane and jungle has fed 40 kills by 20 minutes, it's your fault and you should have rethought what you could have done to secure victory. -----------------Harsh, but if you have the "my team is so bad every loss is because my team blah" mentality you will never improve. Period. . 5. Don't buy a ton of champions to counterpick, play who you have mastered and who you are best at, even if it is in a bad matchup. . 6. Again, never rage/flame. It's just a game, remember that. . 7. Don't rage. Don't flame. This is extremely important. . 8. Favorite champion? I really like Azir Nasus Viktor MonkeyKing Trundle and Shen .

There's some general advice, good luck.

RiotRiot EdwinMols11/24/2014, 7:59:49 PM6 votes

Hey Kettlecorn Titan!

People have left some great advice here for ya, so I'll just add a tidbit.

I know that when I play League, I do so for a mixture of:

  1. **Fun **
  2. **Improvement **
  3. Winning

It's important to recognize that the reasons why your teammates and opponents are playing in Normals could be very different from why they are playing in Ranked. When I play Normals, I generally do so to have **Fun **and Improve, and when I'm playing Ranked, I do so to Win.

Before each game, think about what queue you're playing in, and what your goals are for the game. Mentally preparing yourself for that environment will hopefully help to put you and your teammates on the same page.

Best of luck!

FiendOfOne11/24/2014, 5:11:22 AM4 votes

First: Practice in normal draft, so you get used to draft mode. Second: I really suggest people play solo q through their placement matches, since duo messes up the numbers. Third: Don't tilt, don't get frustrated, just play to the best of your ability.

You will have feeders, trolls, AFKers, and everything else under the sun. A lot of ragers. You'll get blamed for things that aren't your fault - and some things that are. Honestly? I see all of these problems in Normals too. But I prefer to play Ranked because I feel like I'm working towards a goal.

Just remember: League, despite everything competitive, is still a game. Enjoy it and have fun, and dont' let other people ruin that for you.

HexTechBomber11/24/2014, 6:11:02 PM3 votes

I'll also give you a really good tip here.

Buy Wards if you can afford them. It's great when everyone is getting their 1 pink ward down on the map which can give quite a lot of vision.

I could go deep right now on so much more information but kind of at work so replying is best limited for me.

TehomCD11/24/2014, 5:32:35 AM3 votes

A lot of people specialize in one role, and it's usually a good way to climb ranking. You'll tend to make far fewer mistakes when you play the same thing over and over again, learn matchups, and just become increasingly sophisticated. You also tend to become better as a player overall, since as you rise in rank from being adept at one role, people will tend to make smarter decisions, and you pick up things from watching people or see what mistakes people will punish.

All of this is completely dependent on you being willing to learn from mistakes, however. The single most important thing you can do is to see when you made a mistake and try to never repeat it. Some people will actively write down notes after every game or even after every death to try to drill home the areas they need to improve on, and some people will go into a game trying to focus on mastering a single thing that they know they've messed up before (like missing last hits under pressure, not noticing where the enemy jungler is likely to be by losing track of game time, etc). The only people who stay in bronze are people who haven't played enough games to improve on areas where they struggle, or who are completely unwilling to admit or recognize their mistakes.

Nausicäa 11/24/2014, 9:19:48 PM2 votes

First of all few champions have real 'counters'. Its quite possible to pick any number of safe champions and do well against anyone. I would suggest you not pick champions or otherwise avoid picking champions based on the idea of counters.

Pick the champions you like and are comfortable with. At the same time be aware that this game is not 100% balanced and some champions are simply better than others. If you're going to stick with 1-2 champions make sure they arent trash/troll tier like Urgot Galio, Morde ect.

That id said i would concentrate on 2 roles and work on 2-3 champions per role to get good with. In addition have a back up role in case you the other 2 are taken. Support is good as a back up because its generally not highly contested and rarely draws bans, you can also pick up some decent support champions like Soraka or Sona for low IP.

Hyrum Graff11/24/2014, 10:15:02 PM2 votes

My best advice is to start playing draft, but NOT to play ranked right away. Before you play ranked, I would....

  1. Specialize in 2 roles.
  2. Be competent (I can take this role and not feed or otherwise give my opponents a huge advantage) in 4 or 5 roles.

The easiest way to do this, IMO, is to main 2 champs who share the same roles, who can both go to similar lanes, but who have different matchups. For example, Morgana and Karma. Learn their matchups, and the way they synergize with teammates.

As importantly, you want to learn how to keep a team working as a team. Ex: how to influence the champ select atmosphere so everyone gets a role they are at least comfortable with.

Raid Boss Shiba11/24/2014, 11:35:45 PM2 votes

If you have friends who are Gold or higher, play some normal games with them. If you can hold your own in those games (and not rely too much on the skills of your friends), then you have a strong shot at reaching Silver+. Ranked is a messy field with players of all kinds of attitudes and all kinds of skill level. There will always be players who are in ranks that do not reflect their true skill (either better or worse), so getting paired with those kinds of players may make the game a lot easier (i.e., plat+ smurfs) or much harder (i.e., players who had their friends play their accounts to boost ELO). While you cannot control who 3-4 of your teammates are, you could control how well you perform, and that will account for a lot of how well you do in ranked. The other 3 important aspects are: (1) the individual skill of your teammates, (2) the teamwork you guys have, and (3) the lack of making bad plays or throws.

I cannot tell you if there is a "best way" to play ranked. Ideally, you should be able to play all 5 roles well. However, starting off, I'd suggest you should learn to play 2-3 roles really well (i.e., better than people in the same ELO). If you could have 2-3 roles you play really well, you will climb to your ELO height. For example, my strengths are top and mid, but I'm also good at jungle and support, while ADC is the weakest of my 5 roles.

Now, after knowing which roles you're good at and/or enjoy playing, it's good to pick up at least 1 hero in which to fit these roles and really know how to play that one hero. Some people may prefer learning all champs, but since realistically some champs are definitely better than other champs in the current meta, I figured that being really good at a few champs is better than trying to be good at too many champs. Don't over-extend yourself on champ choices. Ideally, the 1-6 champs you learn and excel at are ones who bring strong utility and/or team synergy. Examples are: Mao for top/jung, Janna for support, Warwick for top/jung, Annie for mid/support, Lucian/Corki/Jinx for bot.

Baval11/25/2014, 2:59:46 AM2 votes

There are definitely issues with ranked play, but if you belong at a certain rank you can get close to it. Not every gold player can carry to gold, but most should be able to carry to mid-high silver.

Dont go ranked right at level 30. Pick 2 roles, and play tons of games at level 30 as them, with at least 2 champs per role (or do like i do and pick 1 champ who can go multiple roles and is rarely banned with 1 backup champ)

If you try and master all roles you will likely only be mediocre in all roles, and thus less likely to be able to carry to your rank. Remember even LCS teams specialize their players.

If you specialize in 1 role then you will be at a loss when you cant get it, which isnt actually common if you have good communication with your team in pre match lobby. A typical message i send at the begining of select would go something like this:

Me) Mid pref, top second pref Me) I can support if i need to but im worse, and i cant adc or jungle

If someone else is above me in pick and wants the role i want ill say something like

Me) Its your call, i will support if i have to but we have a much better chance of winning if i dont.

Communication is key. Most players are willing to compromise as everyone wants to improve their rank. You must also be willing to compromise. Also, mention some bans you like to see as captains will often take at least 1 request if they see them.

Even so, having a backup role that youre still strong at means you have twice the chance of getting one youre good at. Even at last pick, its common for me to get mid or top.

Lastly, make sure youre at least adequate at support. Its the most common last pick role without communication, so its important you know how to do it decently enough in case you get stuck with it. If you plan on maining support then thats great and you can ignore this.

Scane11/24/2014, 3:17:00 PM2 votes

Yea just practice and at least get up to 200 wins like InvalidGuest said. Try using your favorite champ and climbing ranked with it.

PoisonedPeace11/25/2014, 3:41:52 AM2 votes

If you've been playing draft mode, go right to ranked. Now is best time since it will get soft reset at the beginning of season 5. Learn some champions really well and learn the game. Don't rely on learning from streams and pros only though. Make sure you use your games as teaching moments most.

wilee11/25/2014, 5:47:12 AM2 votes
  • Have fun! If you keep a sense of humor about the game, your fellow man and life itself, it's a blast.

  • Never, never, never respond to an unkind word. With any kind of response. At all. For any reason whatsoever. That doesn't mean you can't communicate with the unkind people. Just pretend they didn't say the unkind things.

  • You might feel frustrated, but don't hassle people who are playing very poorly. That could (and will be) you in some other game, I guarantee it. Help them, encourage them not to hate themselves over one match, and try your best to carry the game.

  • I personally think it's more important to be "good at the game" and well-rounded than it is to specialize in 1-2 roles and/or 1-2 champions, at least before (say) Gold. But I bet a few expressed the opposite opinion in this same thread. You can succeed either way, or somewhere in between.

  • Unlearn bad habits; everyone else picked up a lot of bad habits 1-29 and you almost certainly did too. Learn good habits. Watch videos. Lots of people make good videos; gbay99 and Foxtrot make some nice videos which are applicable to the game in general.

  • Buy wards. Place wards. Even if you think it's someone else's job. If you return to base with 1550g, you don't have enough money for a BF sword, you have enough money for a ward with 1475g left over.

  • If you find yourself getting annoyed or frustrated, take a break and do something else.

  • Remember that "silver level play" doesn't mean you can hold your own in a lane against a silver player. It means you can stomp an entire team of bronze opponents by yourself. Same idea for "gold level play" vs silver opponents. Etc. Remember this when you're annoyed that you're stuck in Bronze 3 and "always lose because of bad teammates".

  • Reach out to people when you need help, and help others when they reach out.

  • Play the game to have fun and to win, not to get to a certain rank. Rank follows behind the other two.

Kidda11/25/2014, 7:02:58 PM2 votes

I made the mistake of jumping into ranked at 30, fortunately for me I was placed in silver, but you probably want to do both of your suggestions. Find a main role and champion, spam games, learn them inside and out. Caitlyn is currently my main. But also you need to know how to fill, most commonly these roles will be support and jungle. You NEED to know how to do these. Mid, adc and top and will probably be taken care of if you can fill jg or supp. I would advise having 3 champions you are comfortable with for each role. Best of luck!

Makra11/24/2014, 6:00:03 AM2 votes

Don't play ranked yet, like others have said. Find a few champs you're really good at, and when you can CONSISTENTLY carry the game with them (or help your teammates carry if you're supporting) in normals, you're probably ready for ranked. Also, in ranked champ select understand that pick order > call order. You can mention your preferred role and try to negotiate avoiding your worst role, but ultimately if you're last pick you have to be prepared for whatever is left.

TAYL0R SWIFT11/24/2014, 7:09:23 PM2 votes

I agree with all that has been said, you can't expect to do good if you haven't learned the game fully yet. Just like everything in life you need the PRACTICE. Although I have hurt my elo and mmr by doing some dumb stuff and duoing with higher elo players. I have learned a lot. I am not really one to worry about my ranked status, mainly because I know it's just a game. I will leave one tip here, it goes hand in hand with what other people have said: compliment your team on EVERYTHING. I tell my team mates great job at csing and getting wards placed getting kills/towers. I do it so they know I am aware of whats going on and truly want to win. Also it helps me "in a way" of when I want them to do something they almost always listen. Plus who doesn't like to hear somone say you are doing a kick ass job in your lane :D Udyr

Dr Endeavor11/24/2014, 4:13:38 PM2 votes

A lot of good tips in here... but the biggest thing to realize is that you are a solo player in a team game.

What that means is you cant make other people play better, you can only play better for yourself.

This means:

  1. When doing team fights, you have to learn when to help... and when to leave people to die because of their bad choice
  2. The vice versa of #1, if you go in on something... expect no one to help you (you wont be disappointed this way when they don't)
  3. Make the best of the situation at hand... if the enemy team isn't paying attention to you... take towers. If they are, try to run them around the map so your team can take towers
  4. Don't chase Singed
Leti the Yeti11/24/2014, 7:52:08 AM2 votes

good luck

you will soon develop your own opinions regarding elo hell

now as people told you, raging doesnt help, but I found nothing really helps and its just luck ;l

redniwediS11/24/2014, 5:47:26 AM2 votes

It's usually said you should wait until you have X wins under your belt, but that only shows how familiar you are with the game. My personal recommendation is to watch the ranks of those you face in normals closely. Once you're seeing a solid number of silver or higher players on the enemy team you are ready for ranked.

No one likes bronze, so why not practice till you can skip it?

HexTechBomber11/24/2014, 5:40:27 PM2 votes

Best thing to do, pick a few champs for the lanes you plan to play.

Go into Normal Draft Pick mode and practice practice practice, honestly don't start ranked right now. It'll be easier if you do so at the start of Season 5 officially as the reset won't happen till Season 5 begins and were in pre-season right now.

M4nTiCoR311/25/2014, 10:55:32 PM1 votes

Honestly, hitting level 30 means nothing as far as your actual ability to play in and compete in ranked play. Here are the major considerations you need to seriously ask yourself before you dive in.

  1. Do I have a large enough pool of champions. You must be able to play multiple champions in multiple roles competetly in order to seriously bring them into ranked. Competent doesn't mean X number of games with either, but a deeper understanding of all their abilities, and match ups, and the mechanical skill to reliably pull off their combos.

  2. Rune pages and masteries. Do you have a dedicated set or two for every champion you plan to bring to ranked? If not stick to normals and do research until you have the IP/RP to put them together. You will be at a distinct disadvantage if you don't and a liability to your teammates. In competitive play every edge matters, and while deviating from pro meta suggestions is fine to a point...there are set ups that are better than others. Make sure you bring one that is reasonable to the table.

  3. Identify your goal. If your goal is to play casualy and have fun, ranked may not be the best place to enjoy the game. It is filled with players of all walks, but by and large they value winning above all else, and that leads to some very toxic behaviors. It also leads to very high degrees of intolerance for anything outside the current meta as they see it. Lots of words will be thrown your way and sadly few of them will be nice unless you are carring your team...sometimes not even then. If your not into that or ready to ignore it to a point then I caution you as its way less high stakes in normals, and even they can get chippy at times.

Is your goal however is to climb the ladder due to that competitive nature in you? Then set yourself up for success. No one passes the test without putting in the study. Spend time outside of the game learning as much as you can. Try and get film of yourself so you can see your mistakes and learn from them. Nothing opened my eyes more than watching a friends commentary on my play one day. It's like hitting the film room in any sport...super important to improvement. Dedicate time for practice and time for experimentation outside of ranked, then time for actually buckling down and climbing. Remember to mix it up. Every session of play should have time to process and practice what you learned before you tackle it again. Treat it like a sport and put as much effort into practice and preparing as playing ranked and you will see more success than mindlessly bashing your head against the same problems every game.

Good luck, see you in the fields.

M4nTiCoR3

Eagleheart11/24/2014, 11:40:36 AM1 votes

I would have previously told you to not be afraid to dodge if you've got a toxic lobby. But with the new leaverbuster I have since dropped this.

So, I have modified the mindset a bit and present you with this: Don't go into ranked expecting any of your teammates to be polite, competent, and communicate. Seems rude, right? You bet it's rude, but you'll be surprised at how less surprised you are if you don't expect people to actually be good.

Depend upon yourself, not your team.

But don't 1v5 and all that, this applies more towards the lobbies.

Acidic Puddle11/24/2014, 4:59:41 PM1 votes

Expect nothing....

juice loosener11/24/2014, 5:50:59 PM1 votes

I'm not sure but I think if you're new to ranked your MMR will be based on your Win/Loss Ratios in normal. In theory you should have better match ups if you have a more wins than losses.

FarRockBF11/24/2014, 7:12:02 PM1 votes

Don't do it.

Zen Fury11/24/2014, 7:23:09 PM1 votes
  1. Don't play ranked
  2. If you want to play ranked, play normal draft. A lot. Hundreds of games.
  3. If you want to practice a particular role, play team builder. The waits can be long sometimes but it's better than getting into e-pene fights in a normals lobby.
  4. Make sure you can play all roles. That doesn't mean you have wreck at all roles. That just means you must be familiar enough with a role so as to not suck. Being a liability in ranked is a sure way to earn the rage of your teammates.
  5. Keep your focus on objectives. Chasing kills (especially in unwarded jungles) doesn't win games and is a sure way to stay in bronze.
Joesus Christ11/24/2014, 8:29:50 PM1 votes

yeah, dont jump into ranked when you hit 30, play normal drafts and get used to playing all roles. dont go into ranked unless youre comfortable enough that you understand draft, a handful of champions for each role, and the essential basic mechanical functions of playing(last hitting, looking at minimap, warding, objective control, NOT chasing kills, etc).

Sukishoo11/25/2014, 3:01:27 AM1 votes

Best advice... DON'T. If you are just about to hit 30 then it's NEVER a good idea to even think about ranked. Get at least 300-500 wins in normal pvps first.

Silvonius11/24/2014, 6:07:28 AM1 votes

As others have said, DO NOT start playing ranked yet. I suggest having at least 500 normal wins before you start ranked. That may seem extreme, but i started ranked right at 30 and it took me 900 ranked games to get out of bronze. Now, you may be better than i was, idk, but if i could go back I'd rather have done another few hundred more normals and placed comfortably in mid-silver rather than being stuck in bronze.