When to start ranked placements?

Niyumi·9/4/2015, 9:42:44 PM·1 votes·1,350 views

Basically, the title. At what point should I start doing ranked placement matches? I just want to make sure I'm prepared for whatever horrors await me in ranked queues. :P

I hit 30 a few weeks ago, and I've got 18 champs I enjoy playing in various roles (I can do all roles rather well, but my ganking while jungling is a bit iffy). I'd like to think I perform decently in-game, and I always have a decent KDA (If I'm doing well, 4-5+:1, if I'm losing, ~2+:1 (not always, just generally)) unless I'm just playing like crap, or it's 1 AM, or something like that. I've gotten better at keeping an eye on the map and checking it every few seconds, and I know how to ward and play for objectives and all that.

Basically, when would you recommend doing placements? I've got ~700 games (ish) in normals, and about 50% winrate.

24 Comments

Merxamers9/4/2015, 9:47:43 PM1 votes

if you can play one or two champions in each role, you'll be fine. You have 650 normal games? Go for it, dude. If anything, the people you play with and against will likely be worse than the people you play with in normals

TheSavedOne9/4/2015, 9:49:13 PM1 votes

Honestly, if you know you can carry games go play ranked. Dont rely on your teammates because everyone is toxic. also, i recommend playing one or two roles and maining one or two champs in that role!

OhBoyItsaMegaman9/4/2015, 10:13:37 PM1 votes

When you are ready to see what your ranking is, you are ready to play ranked. No sooner, no later.

Regardless of what you estimate your skill level to be, you should be prepared to be disappointed. I say this just because there are a lot of people who go "well I do just fine in normals, I usually win lane, I usually carry, etc. etc." but it's because they have a low normal MMR. Being put into games with people who are high Bronze to low Silver can be a drastic step up in difficulty, and your performance will be significantly worse than it was in normals. But again, this is not a reason to hold back from playing ranked. You play ranked when you are ready to find out what division you belong in.

Amelie9/4/2015, 11:42:58 PM1 votes

You might want to work on your rune pages first. They're a bit of a mess, plus you don't even have full tier 3 rune sets yet.

Really simple basic pages: AP: Magic penetration or hybrid marks, flat armor seals, flat or scaling magic resist glyphs, AP quints AD: Attack damage marks, flat armor or health seals, flat or scaling magic resist glyphs, attack speed or damage quints

Also for masteries, for your AD page, I would suggest to put your last 9 points in the defensive tree instead of utility.

If you do your placements now, you will likely end somewhere between high Bronze and low Silver... as long as you don't lose too many matches. Good luck!

Baseball3b9/5/2015, 1:38:14 AM1 votes

Definitely work on your Rune Page a bit. Aim for 1 AD and 1 AP page as a minimum.

Also, if you're really dedicated to climbing, I'd pick 3-4 champions for each role and just master them. Learn their lane match-ups, their strengths, weaknesses, teamfights, etc. You really wanna feel extremely comfortable with them.

Any questions or if you need help, feel free to PM me in game

S2C2Xd9KOy9/5/2015, 4:34:15 AM1 votes

Probuilds.net is a great resource for mastery pages and runes you should be learning for different champions, also levelling orders on champions and build paths. Get your rune pages sorted (at least 1 AD, 1 AP. Or 1 ADC and 1 AP if you play ADC's more often than basic AD champs.) then learn some champions. If I were you I would still wait another month or even 2, but seeing as its close to the end of season, maybe get your rune pages in order and get your champion skill up a bit and then head into ranked whenever you feel you can.

Lugg9/5/2015, 6:30:10 AM1 votes

If you have over 500 games in normals, you should definitely be ready for ranked. If jungle is your worst role, tell your team that right off the bat. Personally I love it when a teammate tells me that they are weak at one role. That let's us keep them out of it and we have a better chance to win.

If you haven't yet, make sure to watch some of the youtube instructional videos for ranked. They have some good info.

Rîver9/5/2015, 6:35:22 AM1 votes

Start placements as soon as you can. At the end of the day it will be the same as playing normals and as your skill increases so will your rating regardless of placements

Gimilee9/5/2015, 6:06:29 PM1 votes

NO. Do not start early. Please. Its good that you have a low amount of champs, as it will help a ton. Make sure you have 3-4 main champs you play and 1 for every position. Get extremely good with 1 champ and you should beat those who are mediocre at all champs.

Try to get tahm, ekko, or azir in every game. Practice in silvers vs plats in Custom mode and always play on the silver side, if and when you can beat a plat in-lane then go for the placements. Check your cs constantly, aim for 175 at 20 minutes. Ward every time you get the chance, and buy wards at 9 and when ahead.