I do fine in normals, but terribly in ranked.

unban swifty·Feb 5, 2015·2 votes·4,128 views

I have no idea why! I play totally fine when I'm in Normal games and I usually have a totally level head about everything.

But whenever I try to play Ranked, I play way worse than I normally would. I HATE this! I've been playing Normals for a long time because of this, I WANT to put my practice and skill into ranked because I feel like I could actually make it to at least gold, yet everytime I play ranked I go really negative and end up losing most of my games. Even with champions I almost always play well with.

Anybody else have this issue? Is it just some subconcious stress? lol idk Also, if anybody wants to help teach me a bit about playing ranked if it's different or something, that'd be great!

11 Comments

The ChinFeb 5, 20152 votes

ranked is also harder because people are playing their best champs in their best roles and are more diligent with CSing and warding - in normals most people are learning new champs, new roles, mostly just trying to have fun...

Deep Terror NamiFeb 5, 20151 votes

Personal mistakes due to elevated stress may very well contribute, but also consider that players generally take their Ranked games a little more seriously so the competition will definitely be a little better on average.

What I do ("did", not playing ranked atm due to internet sucking) when my Ranked games aren't looking too good like I may be on tilt, I simply take a break and either stop playing for a little while or go do some Normal games til I got my mojo back.

Best way to climb Ranked according to your true skill is to never play when you aren't at your best.

unban swiftyFeb 5, 20151 votes

I see what you're saying, one of the things I noticed is that when I'm playing ranked is that I'm expecting everybody to play their role to it's highest potential.

I need to just learn to play it for myself and get better myself instead of relying on teammates to carry their weight..

(e.g. my pet peeves are supports who don't ward, junglers who don't try even try to get dragon, top laners not being present in team fights, mids not calling mias on roaming laners)

I know and admit that I make faults like this myself from time to time but at least I work on it. when I try to help them out by letting them know to do certain things in the future, they get mad at me and it just puts me in a bad mood. I'm going to TRY to play a game where I don't try to teach anybody, I just play for myself. We'll see how it goes in the morning.

eyes wide shutFeb 5, 20153 votes

play ranked pretending all of your teammates are beginner bots. don't expect anything but stupidity, and you will only be surprised.

CLG FactorFeb 5, 20151 votes

Because having to play with solo queue randoms is ammoyinmg

TrentBatNAFeb 5, 20151 votes

Just lie to yourself that this is normals.

XtremeyFeb 5, 20151 votes

maybe MMR? i used to play fine in normals vs low bronze, but when i first starte ranked i was matched vs mid silver and performed slightly worse.

QuantumLightFeb 5, 20151 votes

its just stress over playing ranked. Back when i started ranked i got that a lot... totally deserved my bronze 3. but i played well in normals. Now days i get gold/plat in my normals, and do better cause in ranked cause its all bronze ppl xD. Just relax when your playing ranked. its the exact same game as normals... dont worry about it :)

also ranked players are more serious... they usually play better.

BrozkeeFeb 5, 20151 votes

I'm not sure what your rank is but my suggestion, something I've been doing recently is just always playing ranked. The competition is usually harder due to everyone playing their best champs instead of practicing new ones so you may lose more at the start, but that will help you get better as long as you have the right attitude and try to learn. I used to only play ranked on certain days of the week at certain times and only after I had played normals to warm up... Etc. but over thinking it like that made me really nervous which made me tense which made me not do as well. I may not be doing a whole lot better than I was before this switch win wise but I feel like I am improving personally and I definitely don't get as mad and stressed as I used to. so ranked is at least much more fun :) and I count that as a win!

Sirin GioroFeb 5, 20151 votes

When you play ranked (especially as your main role) you need to think that "oh well I guess i'm going to carry four trashes this game!" because your team most of the time, is retarded. You do well in normals because usually people play the role they want to improve on in normals, and people play their best role (especially first pick/2nd pick) to try and carry their team in Ranked solo. Before playing solo Q, I win a lot in normal games. But when I started to play ranked, I was super bad. Ended my provisionals at 3/7 W/L and placed in Bronze I, barely climbing out of silver. Plus, people don't really try in normals because, "hurr durr it's normals."

Also, there are two types of people

"zz I lost two solo q games in a row let me rest and play some normals" "zz lost two solo q games let's play more"

For me, I just keep playing ranked. Dropping LP and division is inevitable, I've dropped to Bronze II twice and climbed to Bronze I less than five games every time, so it's whatever. Just don't get the tilt to your head. My friend dropped from Silver V to Bronze II and now he's really discouraged. He gave up on ranked... At the end of the season, you're probably placed in where you belong to.

GummyBearWookieeFeb 5, 20151 votes

It's a mental block. There's two ways around it. One....you'll eventually not care over time....but that's going to take a long time. But there's really nothing else. The only other option is to hire yourself a toady that randomly selects you for a ranked game or normal draft with your eyes closed every time...I don't recommend the latter.