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Super Newb to Normals, Please Help! :3

eggee·1/4/2015, 11:23:40 AM·3 votes·6,479 views

Hi guys! So for the longest time I've avoided pvp. When I first learned how to play, my friend who was teaching me, told me to just avoid it. So for the longest time and even now, I'm still afraid of it. I've played a ton of bot games (the QUEEEN of bot games) and just back in November, started to play ARAM. I'm level 30 now and I've only had roughly under 30 normal games so far.

I'm just really scared to play because I'll get flamed at for not being very good at playing normals. I've played support for most normals (yes I'm a girl) but only to learn the mechanics of it. I definitely hate being support but I can't really play any other role for fear of it. Most of my normal wins are due to playing with friends, but now that I'm 30, I'm being put in games with people who are ranked silver and low gold and the occasional bronze, which is silly to be afraid of I know, but I just feel so inadequate. ;c I'm such a scaredy cat and I want to play normals with "ease" without friends.

So if any of you have any tips and your experiences, please share! It'll be nice knowing I'm not completely alone in this field, or if I am, >.< sorry.

P.S. I have a smurf, and playing normals on that is completely fine for me since everything is low level. I just wish I didn't let my friend get to my head about avoiding pvp completely.

46 Comments

RiotPhreak1/4/2015, 11:22:40 PM15 votes

The best thing you can do is just play. You just kinda have to get over the fear of it all.

If don't end up being very good, your Matchmaking Rating will decrease and you'll play with weaker players. The inverse if true of course if you do super well. Eventually, you'll end up playing with players at your skill level. So don't worry about it!

What you're seeing with your smurf is that playing with/against real people doesn't have to be scary. Just play! Enjoy it! :)

Roaranor1/4/2015, 10:37:47 PM5 votes

Baby girl you're golden. Bots are better than 90% of the player base.

To be honest, there's no real secret to getting over the fear. I didn't have it in norms, but I had it when I first started playing Ranked and still get it every now and again since I don't try to climb that often. You just have to suck it up and try it out. First time is likely going to suck, but that's alright. Let your team know at the beginning that you're kinda new to the role, and do your best. As you play it more and more, you'll learn the differences between playing against someone else as opposed to a bot and you'll adjust. The fear will gradually decline along with your growth. After awhile, PvP will feel normal and you'll wonder why you were scared for so long.

Playing with friends is actually really nice because you can count on them to be supportive knowing ahead of time that you're still adjusting. Some randoms will try to help if you tell them early on in the game, but at this point it doesnt matter who you play with. You just want experience. If you see that someone has nothing productive to say (only flaming for being inexperienced which is really dumb imo), just mute them and keep practicing. Play champs you enjoy and do your best.

You got dis. =u=

Sirin Gioro1/4/2015, 9:54:37 PM3 votes

dont sweat it, just a game you know
/mute toxic players
play with friends
add players that you think are nice when you play PvP

you should just play pvp instead of avoiding it avoiding = accomplishing nothing

I used to be scared of Ranked and I need to go to the bathroom before playing a match (YES THAT HAPPENED), but after I kept playing it I just treat it like a normal game now.

Hi 1351/4/2015, 11:07:10 PM2 votes

[deleted]

Declined1/4/2015, 10:05:20 PM1 votes

Remember it's just a game, people play to have fun, if someone's being a douche towards you, you just mute them and move on, they aren't worth it.

If you want some general advice about the game, I wrote this to help people better understand the laning phase.

Literal Karma1/5/2015, 2:37:01 AM1 votes

What most people don't realize is that fear and confidence are two sides of the same coin: "I can't do this" vs "I can do this."

Internalize the fact that you're new to playing against people, but don't let that be something that scares you. Everyone, even Phreak and Bjerg, was new to norms at some point. Just make it your goal to play enough so that you don't have to worry about it being your first time or your second time or your thirtiest time.

If you'd like some quick general advice on how to play each role, I can do that.

Don't ignore your farm. Kills are worth roughly 15 creeps. If you're out cs-ing your opponent by 15, you have the gold equivalent of a kill lead. This is even important for supports because sometimes people just leave entire lanes worth of free farm. Also, the goal of League when playing against people is to do things for free. Punish them for not protecting themselves/objectives. This is important on a macro scale (let's take the tower/dragon/baron) and on a micro scale (I should hit the enemy when he's stuck in his auto attack animation/when he's in my range). Just remember that as a lens to look at each match with and your game will improve, giving you the confidence you need to shed the "I'm a newb" mindset. :)

GhastlyGhoulMan1/5/2015, 4:33:58 AM1 votes

Honestly Magical Potato, I completely sympathize with you. I had the EXACT same fear of PvP because I was afraid I would suck (or at least people would tell me in chat that I sucked). And then I tried it with some friends, we lost, we had a good time (even won some). I also watched videos like LeagueCraft https://www.youtube.com/user/unswlolsoc that made me realize something:

Half of the people who were raging at me were honestly playing poorly themselves. They were just looking for a scapegoat to blame.

The other half did know what they were talking about... they were just being dirtbags about it. :P

Honestly, I've gotten to the point where I just play my game, kinda poke a little fun at people if they rage (but I'm not a jerk to them in return), and just have a blast. It may take a while to get there, but that's the most important thing to remember: if you're having fun, you're doing it right.

Good luck! Maybe we'll play with/against each other sometime. :)

Khimera1/5/2015, 4:35:09 AM1 votes

Just like a lot of people here are saying, just have fun and remember its a game. I have a friend who's learning the game right now who's kind of in the same spot as you but we're slowly coaching him along lol. If you ever need help or advice you can add my account and I'll be more than happy to help you. Good luck on the Rift! :D

DrCyanide1/5/2015, 5:05:24 AM1 votes

My advice is don't play on your smurf account with your friends. The smurf's being matched with people who should be closer to your own skill level. This will be a better way to transition into playing more PvP on your own. Don't give up on playing with friends though, since that's hands down the best way to play.

If I'm trying a role or champion I'm not familiar with, I tell people in the pre-game lobby that I'm doing that. It lets them plan accordingly (they can choose picks they're more comfortable with) and if they start flaming me it gives me a way out ("Hey, I warned you before hand I was new at _____"). Almost everyone is fine if you tell it to them like that.

You'll probably want to keep playing on both accounts, to get more experience. Ask your friends if you can try different rolls while you're with them. If it's possible (such as if they can come over to your house or you can meet up somewhere), have one of them watch what you're doing in game as you're doing it. Often more experienced players can point out little things you can improve to help you learn a new champion faster. If a friend can't come over, use a service like na.op.gg to record your games and watch them later to see if you (or they) can point out what you did wrong.

You'll get the hang of it, it'll just take a little while to get over the nerves. GL, HF :)

UC Me Trollin1/5/2015, 10:47:41 AM1 votes

Don't freak out if you lose a few games in a row- you'll get losing streaks as well as winning streaks. You'll also stomp people and get stomped in return in other games. Just take each loss as a lesson and figure out why you lost and what you can do to stop that from happening again. This way you will improve every game.

Will70031/5/2015, 11:37:11 AM1 votes

Play your best, whether it’s playing with friends or solo queuing, just do your best no matter what happens or what others say to you. Honestly, nobody will really mind or get super-pissed off if your playing as a support and not doing that well, as long as you get your AD player fed. Sometimes, you just have to play normals, and play against other players, to BECOME a better and more mature player in the game.

However, it’s a great idea to play with friends, as it is quite fun and you become more relaxed cuz you know who you’re playing with. And remember, its absolutely alright if you loose 1 game, or 100 games, what matters is that you’re having fun and enjoying the game.

Good luck. summoner 31

AquastarG1/5/2015, 1:29:05 PM1 votes

I have the same problem, I'll almost click the "Match me with teammates" button, but my heart will start racing and then I just go "NOPE!" I do want to play but I'm afraid that I'll get flamed and then I'll start performing poorly since I will start thinking about it so much instead of the game.

Drunkèn Master1/5/2015, 1:54:43 PM1 votes

Please for the Love of all things Good. Shed your fears, take a step in whichever direction you like, just get out of the box, which is you. Nobody can tell you they haven't been there. Embrace something new and "scary", bask in the empowerment of courage. Dare to be different, because the haters are going to hate no matter what you do...so let them hate from the summoners platform. GL summoning!

Briye1/5/2015, 2:17:11 PM1 votes

I was the same way back in season 1 when I started. I was playing WoW and a few friends had started League. My friends aren't people who often enjoy PvP so we played custom games vs each other or the bots and I'm talking about the basic bots who walk to lane and die over and over again. This was before CO-OP vs AI. After I hit level 30 those friends started to play less and playing a custom game without anyone else vs those bots was boring so I started up PvP.

I remember my first game really clearly we were vs a Karthus Karthus and I was Ashe Ashe the first time seeing his ulti I tried to flash it. My whole team made fun of me and really put me down. The TwistedFate Twitch Fate on my team started to make fun of my item build and pointed out what I needed to buy for a little bit and another team mate of mine said 'not worth it she's bad and worthless.' I felt so put down after that game I honestly wanted to quit and I did for a little bit.

A little while later I ended up looking over the forums and there was a 'help school' for new summoners and I ended up adding one of the coaches and started to ask him questions and they were so helpful and nice. His first tip was to forget the flamers and remember everyone learns at a different pace. He also told me to try and avoid ranked until I had a better understanding of the game. He would link me guides to different champs and I would try to stick to the same few. Sona Sona Ashe Ashe and Akali Akali.

My overall advice is if you are enjoying the game don't let others control your experience of it. If you enjoy one role stick to it and master some champions in that role. Try out Team Builder when you're soloing and not with friends. People in team builder tend to be a lot nicer and understanding when you are learning/testing out a new champion or role. If you have questions or need advice or want someone to play with you can add me in game. Best of luck!

asktiks1/5/2015, 2:30:52 PM1 votes

mute all chat enjoy your games better now

thx im glad to be of help

seriously, just turn off all chat, even if you are good, you will have bad days and matchups and theres nothing you can do about that , so you WILL hear someone whining or flaming at some point, so why not save yourself the headache and just mute chat while you get better, play normal, not ranked so you don't mess up anyones rating and until you learn about ccounterpicking and such (you can learn this in normal too with draft pick) but other than that, just play and forget about what people say man, community is pretty toxic right now, id say wait till all the angst filled teenagers go back to classes , it wil get a LOT better trust me

LeNinjaMaladroit1/5/2015, 9:49:28 PM1 votes

If you want someone to help walk you through some basics go ahead and add me I would be more than willing to take some time to help out and explain a few things.

chipi991/6/2015, 9:09:53 PM1 votes

'Been playing normals since day 1. Ohhhh yeeaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Ad Veigar OP on old TTL

Cad31/7/2015, 2:17:10 AM1 votes

OK my first price of advice is play them anyways my friend told me to get his 300 wins he lost maybe 1500 games so don't worry about loseing just play for the experiance, but still pick a champion you know hope I helped

Zacwx1/4/2015, 11:25:11 AM1 votes

/mute all is your friend.

Bolverkyr1/7/2015, 5:02:07 PM1 votes

Add me I am in the same boat my friend told me not to pvp til level 30. I am level 28 now and I have played two games one win, and one loss. The win i played support lux in the loss I played ADC sivir and got rolled. I would love to start pvping but am also fearful to do so. My summoner name is Bolverkyr. thanks

hh the thinker1/4/2015, 11:35:32 AM1 votes

just have to play for you, not others. don't worry what others think or say and have fun with it.

Rock Rockburgh1/4/2015, 8:16:06 PM1 votes

Start a new account. If you're afraid of starting normals at 30 (which maybe you should be-- it's a totally different thing, from what I hear) then just start playing them from 1. (Or 3, or 5, or whenever it is that you unlock them.) This DOES raise the risk of (other) smurfs, though.

The Chin1/4/2015, 9:27:00 PM1 votes

lol this exact same thing happened to a friend of mine. He got to level 30 playing only bots, and when he played against real people he would get frustrated super easily because he wasn't winning all the time, he eventually uninstalled the game because he couldn't deal with it.

IMO you should only play bot games if you're playing a champion for the first time, to figure out there combo's - what order to level up your skills - and what to build, etc. You kind of screw yourself over by never playing against real people because you get used to winning every game... Realistically you should expect to lose roughly half of your games. It's honestly not even a big deal if you lose - it's part of the game. Playing against bots your opponents are basically crash test dummies, you're not going to improve very much playing against them.

But if you want to get over your PvP anxiety the only way is to play a lot of it.

Also if anyone says something even slightly negative, just mute them immediately. Trust me it'll improve your experience a lot. They can still communicate to you with pings, and you can still talk to them in chat so it's really not a big deal to mute people.