New Season means a reset in the ranked environment. Qualifying for a new season can be a thrilling and a scary time, since by now most players have found their initial rank and started to make the climb. For other players, this may be the year they try ranked and make the jump from casual to the world of ranked. But for some players it can be intimidating to go from the world of casual Smite into the ranked environment. We look at what can help you go from avoiding ranked or having "ranked anxiety" when you want to try your hand at the more serious element of Smite.

Picks and Bans

Gone are the days of worrying about having a god mastered to play them in ranked, so there's less worry about not being able to pick for one of your teammates. It's worth remembering that the picking and banning phase can win you games and if you don't stay up to date with the meta, you will struggle in the picking phase as you won't know what to ban. This phase can be an off-putting environment for players as if you have a few good games and end up top elo it's up to you to make the calls. Sometimes you don't have teammates that tell you what you should pick and ban as well which is difficult if you're unsure, especially if you ask and don't get a response- it adds more pressure on you. The best way to deal with this if it is bothering you is to look at tier lists at what could be deadly (Ao Kuang is still strong at lower tiers so keep that in mind), if not just ban what you don't like playing against (unless you ban Ah Puch, he is still not viable).

Be Versatile

You may have your set role that you enjoy playing in casuals, but it doesn't mean that you can get it every time in ranked so be aware that you will need a few gods in each role. I know it's something that has been covered time and time again but, with a new season here and people wanting to try their luck at ranked, it needs to be reiterated. I know players get worried if the gods they have in certain roles aren't exactly "meta" so they get scared to go in if they have a solo laner that isn't exactly a top pick. This isn't something that you need to be too worried about - off-meta picks can and do work as the enemy might not know how to deal with the god you've picked, or might have picked a meta god they're not as confident with as you are with your off-meta choice.

Communication Can Win You Games

Comms exist and it may be daunting to use them. You may be good with VGS commands and can give good information but when it comes to talking over mic, I know a lot of people struggle with the idea of people hearing them 'IRL'. Comms can win games, I've been in a game where we had a dc after 4 minutes and the entire team was on comms; because of it we won the game 4v5 (with me as Awillix support, this was Season 4 as well when double junglers wasn't a thing). It just shows the power of having a team on comms. From what I've seen comms are used more in NA then in EU, possibly because of the language barriers in EU, but if you can get your team on comms it can work out a lot better for your team. I know in EU it is a struggle as some people may not all speak the same language but even if a few can communicate and the others can just understand call outs, you'll be a lot more successful as a team.

Party Up

If you're worried about going into the world of ranked alone you can always group up with friends. It can be intimidating to go into this sort of environment alone but bringing people with you can make it a lot easier. Solo queue struggles can be a thing and a lot of players can get scared away from Ranked if they don't have people to play with, but if you get them to come with you on the ranked grind it can make it both easier and a lot more fun. If it's a bit of nerves from them, maybe just shove them in a few queues and tell them to just relax and give it a go, use the cliché of "what's the worst that could happen"- who knows you may make ranked your main game mode after it! If you don't have people to play with, reddit is a great place to meet people and find people who compliment your play style. Don't go there looking for someone who plays a set role, e.g. if you main Hunter don't just go looking for a Support - even if they don't main a role that compliments your role doesn't mean that you two can't work together (especially with the meta still somewhat unknown as we are still early in the season).

Use Last Season As A Stepping Stone

Last season might not have been your season. The meta might not have complimented your playstyle, that’s fine. That doesn't mean you shouldn't give up on ranked in Season 5 though because this season might be one that suits you. The best bit of advice I was ever given was don't dwell on poor results in the past, learn from them. So look at this season as a restart, jump back into it and prove you're not the rank you was given last season. Use last season's result as a motivator, use it to say I can do better and I will. Look at what works and what doesn't for you and always look to improve. Maybe switch your main role - that worked for me and a few of my friends and we're enjoying the new season so it may work for you.

Hopefully this will help you get over the intimidating world of ranked Smite and help you progress into it or improve on your result from last season.

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