The following article was submitted by TheRealNemesis on Reddit, and talks about situations when you shouldn’t queue for ranked games. Being concentrated can have a huge impact in your matches so if you want to increase your chance to win be sure to queue for Normal games or ARAM rather than Ranked in the following situations.
Hello, as a fellow LoL player I know the game can be fun, but frustrating as well. Often when you go solo queue or duo queue, you get teamed up with guys who “isn’t good enough for ranked”. Ex: can’t play support, or can’t jungle.. This can be very frustrating sometimes and can even ruin your ELO. That’s why I want to make a topic about when you should not queue for ranked, this is 100 % based on personal experiences.
When not to queue for ranked games:
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When you’re mad – When you’re mad, you can often get upset for the smallest things, if you are on a losing streak, things will only get worse. Go to bed, or do something else to get LoL off your mind, and rather go back when you have calmed down. Flaming your teammates won’t help anything either, rather try to give them constructive feedback and tips so they can improve!
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If you can’t play all the roles – If you are having problem playing a role, ex: jungler or support, go back to draft- or blind pick and practice! Remember that solo queue consists of 5 players and how you perform will affect the other players. Sometimes you can be the last pick, even though you are usually first or second. And if support is the only role left, you are obliged to play it…
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If you are in a hurry – If you don’t have at least one hour of disposal for gaming, don’t queue. Suddenly you have to go and leave you team alone, and everyone knows that 4v5 is hard! When you start a game you never know what the duration will be, therefore you shouldn’t queue if you have like 30 minutes until you have leave. It really hurts for the rest of the team if you have to leave because you had to mow the lawn for your grandparents.
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If you are tired – If you have just woke up after a good night sleep, it’s not always smart to queue for ranked. After waking up go play some normals first as a “warm-up”. The mechanical skills and reaction isn’t really optimized right after you woke up. You could also do some other activities.
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If you are stressed/can’t focus – When you are stressed you will not focus 100 % and your mind could be somewhere else. The stress-level could also affect your mechanical skills and you could be underperforming. If you are stressed, try do something else, perhaps listening to some music or relax on your couch!
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Don’t have enough champions to play – Don’t queue if you bought 16 champions to play ranked, and all you can play is Master Yi and Garen. If you have to play ADC, none of these champions really fits as an ADC, and they aren’t ranged either. I suggest at least have 3-4 champions you could play in every role at a decent level. Ex: top (Vladimir, kha’zix and kennen), mid (orianna, Zed and Anivia) etc..
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Trying a champion for the first time – Don’t try a champion first time in solo queue, first of all, he could get banned. Ex: Aatrox has just been released and is already a usual banned for many players. Rather try him/her in a couple of normal games until you’ll play him/her in ranked. It is important to know the skillset and the mechanics of the champion. If you just bought Twisted Fate, don’t try him in ranked first time, you will be having problem picking the right cards, just saying..
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When you are drunk / intoxicated – Don’t queue for ranked games if you’re drunk or have been using drugs. Your mechanical skills and your reactions will be worse, and you will clearly underperform. Some people say things like this: “I play best when i am drunk!” Rather go for a normal game, or even a bot game, just don’t ruin other peoples ELO.
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Bad internet connection – It is not always clever to download things, and play LoL at the same time. A high ping could affect your performance and I am very sure that the team will not accept that you’re downloading and disconnecting… I’ve heard people say that they just have to finish downloading this torrent or so, but for god sake, just pause it and do it after/before the game. Again; playing 4v5 can be troublesome.
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Sick – If you are sick, ex: stomach ache or diarrhea, don’t play. Rather wait 10-20 minutes and see if you’re feeling better. Running off to the bathroom and stay there the whole game isn’t good for the team
If you know sweets, coke or some types of food makes your stomach sketchy, just play normal or wait until you’re ready!
