We've all been there and we all know how it feels. Losing a tense ranked game can feel absolutely awful and you might feel helpless and that you did everything you could but in reality, there is always room for improvement. In this article, I'm going to go over the five most common reasons for losing ranked games and how you can improve your performance and your rank.

Reason 1: Undervaluing the drafting phase

Very often, people see the drafting phase as something they just have to get through before they can start playing the game. However, not realising the value of the drafting phase often leads to you being at its mercy, even potentially losing games because of it. The drafting phase contribute to your victory significantly; even playing at the highest level won't make winning against a better put together team any easier. Understanding how to put together a team will be the first step to your success.

However, even when teams respect the drafting phase, it can be easy to think that you should ban only the 'strongest' characters and only pick characters that people consider the best. This way of thinking is unadvisable for a few reasons. First, not every game is a direct snapshot of the meta and should be taken as its own entity. Take consideration what the enemy team is doing and pick/ban accordingly. Being adaptable is more important than having a knowledge of the 'best' characters right now and counter-picks often have the most impact when it comes to actually winning the game

A god like Hun Batz won't be banned every single game, but if you see your enemy drafting a composition based around teamfighting, he should definitely be considered

Reason 2: Not having a full understanding of your role and how it changes

Playing ranked means that, most likely, you do have a basic understanding of each role and what it entails, but what can be challenging is understanding how your role changes as the game goes on. As with most MOBAs, each game of Smite goes through different phases where your team's objectives change quite drastically. Every character in the game is different, and they also have different performances at each different phase of the game. It is useless to be doing a perfect early game performance on a god like Thanatos when the game has already entered the lategame phase. You aren't helping your team achieve their current goals and could even be directly hindering them.

Thanatos is perhaps the most drastic example of a god who's role changes throughout the game. An early game assassin, a lategame tanky fighter and finisher.

Reason 3: Not being self aware enough

Many times, you finish a game that went badly you immediately jump to blaming your team. And yes, sometimes, the matchmaker can put you with a team where nothing seems to go right for you and it seems hopeless. However, sometimes it's easy to forget that you were also part of that team and however much you felt it was you who was being wronged by the matchmaker, everyone has a contribution to the final result of every game. Simply put, a match where you blame your loss on your team is a match where you don't learn anything from. To be able to learn and grow as a player, you need to be able to critique yourself and how you played.

Being self aware is something that you can also do in game, on a play by play basis. When something happens that ends badly, think to yourself, did my actions contribute somehow? Can I change the way I play somehow to make sure the same thing doesn't happen next time. A good tactic is to always assume the mistake was yours, because it means you're always analysing your actions and always trying to be better.

Reason 4: Not communicating correctly

Over communication is less of a problem than little communication. Too many times, you make assumptions that your teammates are thinking the same things as you and are making the same deductions as you, when in fact information you've gained might be different. We all know that we need to call when people are missing and when we gank, but something that a few of us do is talk about the motives and potential causes behind our calls. Why is the enemy midlaner missing? Are the enemy team attempting a gold fury? Are they making a full rotation into the duo lane? Throwing these potential ideas into your comms and your thoughts on your teammate's ideas is what makes your communications truly team comms, as discussion of tactics leads to better team cohesion and therefore a better result in the game.

While Smite's VGS system is extremely thorough and detailed, it cannot convey thoughts and ideas. Consider using voice comms like Curse or even in game chat when you're doing further discussions like the ones mentioned above. (Photo credit user KeithRichter on reddit)

Reason 5: Not taking enough risks

Now this may seem counterintuitive. Surely, if you want to win, you want to play as safe as possible to assure that you have no opportunities to make mistakes. However, more than often that isn't the case. Especially when games go long, playing safe leads to a game that stalemates, which then creates a situation where each mistake is huge. Taking calculated risks allows you to take matters into your own hands. In late game situations, the winning team is very often the one that takes the calculated risks and swings the game on their decisions. As long as the risks you take are thought out and calculated, you can anticipate and control any potential fallout.

A Fire Giant sneak or attempt in general is a commonly taken risk in the lategame, and can have game changing consequences. (Photo credit Suburbbum)

I hope you've gained some valuable information from these five tips, and I hope it improves your ranked play in the future!

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