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Stuck in Bronze? My 2 Cents

GroundRuleDouble·4/24/2015, 6:13:50 PM·1 votes·788 views

Preface: I am currently a Bronze IV player. I was in Bronze V for a very long time stuck between 0 and 50 LP. I got to promos once, lost my two of three, then went on another losing streak back down to 0. Now, however, I win way more than I lose now. I climbed from 0 LP in Bronze V to 50 LP in Bronze IV (just lost so I'm at 25ish LP now) in about a week.

I used to play a lot of top and mid. I was always told that you have to play someone that can deal the damage in team fights because you can't rely on anyone else. You have to be the one to win the game. The problem was, I wasn't very good, and I couldn't "carry" like that. Not to mention, top and mid are roles that everyone wants, so I would jump around what I play: Top, mid, jungle, and support (I was lucky enough to avoid ADC a lot). Because of this, I wasn't playing a role or champion consistently and didn't feel I was getting much better.

So I started playing support. No one wants to play support, so I should get that role a lot, right? Well, that's true, but my choice of supports were Annie, Zyra, and Lux. Because I felt that I had to, I wanted supports that could carry the game through damage. This didn't work very well either.

Finally, I took a good look at everything and decided I wanted to play a traditional support that won't get banned and isn't picked a lot. Enter Thresh. I learned all the ins and outs of Thresh (which, by the way, he isn't that difficult to get good at, contrary to popular belief). He's pretty straight forward. Since I've started playing Thresh support consistently, I've won 15 of my last 20 Thresh ranked games, and 12 of my last 14.

The CC that he provides "carries" games. Just because I'm not dealing the damage doesn't mean I'm not "carrying."

Especially in Bronze, if you have a good understanding of Thresh, you should win.

Why? Here are my thoughts as to why this works.

  1. You are supporting your ADC. If you can get your ADC fed in laning phase, you already have an advantage over the other team. You also have a very good kit to get your ADC fed. You have a single target stun and engage, you can shield the two of you, and you can "knock up" and slow AOE. Also, Thresh's Flay passive is great for early laning phase. The occasional AA on your opponent's will do a lot of damage since the passive of Flay fully charges very quickly.

  2. You can leave lane. You are in a duo lane, so if you leave the lane, you don't have to worry about your tower getting destroyed. You can use this to your advantage by backing when you have 800g. Get your mobi boots, go gank a lane. No one expects it at all. Their top laner should be dead to rights if you (as a support) comes out of nowhere to gank them. You can even time this with your jungler to make sure you get a kill.

  3. Thresh can pick, engage, peel, counter engage, etc. Thresh can do everything. His kit allows him to be whatever your team needs. He has a single target stun and quick engage. He has an AOE "knock up" and slow. He can shield himself and another ally (for a lot), which also helps save allies or even helps engaging. He has an AOE 99% slow that does a lot of damage for not building any AP. Combine all this with Locket, and you should do well in every team fight...and if you don't, Thresh can help your team safely get away.

This may not work for everyone, but I believe this is how to get out of Bronze. I am playing Thresh support literally every game I can. I know I'm still Bronze IV, but the climb is real. I'm not saying this is the best information out there, but it's my opinion on Bronze. Take it for what it's worth.

Thank you.

3 Comments

T RexHasLongLegs4/24/2015, 6:29:10 PM1 votes

Also it makes duo que easier. I played a lot of nunu jungle S3 and had mostly ADCs who were good in a game I played w/ them (like their positioning and decisions were good more importantly than their KDA that game) and so often when I'd duo I brought a good ADC which made nunu way better because not only could I win by hard shut down of the enemy jungle, but if I didn't crush the jungle super hard I could bring enough enough utility to a good ADC that we still won a lot.

TLDR; if you are better at playing support style because it fits the way you think then go for it, but bring a duo que partner who can make the most of your support if you want to climb fast.

Arch Mage Magnus4/24/2015, 6:36:26 PM1 votes

But when mid and top feed, you really are useless. When mid and top can simply 1 shot half of your team....what are you going to do when they are dead? You can hook and bring them in, just to watch the opponent step on your team. You need the ability to do a lot of damage and carry if you want out of bronze. As a support you are only as good as your ADC.