Year: 2013

A recent discussion with one of my Bronze-rated friends led to him stating that he can’t carry games with a jungler in Bronze. I promptly disagreed with him and it’s my opinion that if you’re a decent player you’ll be able to have some sort of positive impact in most of your games regardless of your role. Support may be the least effective in Bronze but any other role can be highly successful for getting out of the fabled Elo hell. A skilled jungler is able to get all of…

When playing or AD carry you are likely the main target of the enemy team. You have the most potential to do significant and consistent damage and clean up after a fight, and chances are you’re the easiest person to kill on your entire team. AD carry often takes the most finesse to play and your mechanical skills are put to the test in each and every game. Whatever League or division you are in I bet you’ve heard someone on your team flame you to stop focusing tanks in…

One of the benefits to watching competitive matches is that you can improve your own decision making and knowledge about the game by analyzing how pros make their own decisions. Watching and understanding the mistakes they make is perhaps even more important than simply trying to imitate their successful moves or picks, and a recent LCS match between Cloud 9 and Counter Logic Gaming is full of both. Jatt wrote a very detailed breakdown of the match and analyzed both teams plays. It’s not a particularly action packed or entertaining…

Split pushing is typically done by one player who is attempting to distract the enemy team or get an advantage by pushing a lane alone while the rest of his and opposing team is grouped elsewhere. It’s a very effective strategy when used right but requires some thought put into it as well as extensive experience with the game not just by the player who split-pushes but also the rest of his team. Why split push The enemy team is stronger than yours and you’re trying to avoid a full…

Starting Season 3 Riot changed the way ranked system works and changed divisions (I-V) within rating tiers (Bronze, Silver, etc.), and added LP (League Points). The only thing that remained the same (at least according to them) is the Elo system which is now labeled as MMR: Matchmaking Rank and is no longer shown to players. This article will attempt to explain some of the questions that I see asked frequently, which will hopefully ease your frustration with the system. Elo or MMR The Elo system was originally developed for…

Possibly the worst and most frustrating part of solo queue is the lack of coordination between five random players. People often tunnel vision and have their own ideas of what to do in a game that doesn’t match your own, which leads to focusing wrong targets in team fights, players getting caught alone and 4v5 fights. Typically a couple of these mistakes is enough to lose a match so you should do everything in your power to make sure all five players on your team are on the same page.…

The biggest culprit to losing matches on any tier or division is in my opinion lack of grouping and fighting as 5. It’s very difficult to establish the right team communication in solo queue and in Bronze or Silver tiers players tend to get caught and fight individually rather than grouping with their team. It happens less often as your rating goes up but even in Diamond players still have their own ideas and attempt to fight or push alone without proper vision and get punished for it (as they…

One of the most basic things in League of Legends is learning the spawn timers of jungle monsters, minions and objectives. It helps increase your gold income when you don’t have to waste time waiting, and helps you prepare in advance to contest objectives like buffs or Dragon and Baron. Lane minions spawn at 1:30, and a new wave every 30 seconds after that. Every third wave has a cannon minion, so if you intend to back to base or roam be sure to time it accordingly: your lane opponent…

Even though it happens on all divisions, lower-rated players tend to overdo it. There’s always someone who always thinks they know better and will unnecessarily write a novel about your bad play in a game. Flaming other players when they make mistakes isn’t constructive or helpful at all, and you should either learn to be quiet or offer useful advice. Personally when I see other players in my team focus on telling me about every mistake I make in a match it doesn’t help me play better at all, in…