Are you struggling to climb out of Bronze or Silver? Statistics show that approximately half of all players are ranked below Gold. This guide will go over tips that will help you to break out of that majority, and into Gold and beyond for that sweet Victorious skin.
The goal of this guide will be to equip players ranked below Gold with knowledge that will help them to improve and rank up past Silver in League of Legends. This guide will give tips and point out common mistakes that players in this skill bracket make.
One of the first things you want to look at is your champion pool. Ideally, you want to limit the number of champions you play to a maximum of three or four. This is because at this skill level, you have not yet learned the core fundamentals of the game. Playing many champions or multiple complicated champions while trying to actively make good decisions at the same time will end up doing more harm than good.
When you choose to focus on a small roster of champions, or maybe even decide to one-trick a champion, you will develop champion mastery and become very comfortable with those picks. Being comfortable and familiar with a champion means that you will instinctively know the range of your abilities and your limits without having to think about it. This allows players to put more focus on the decision-making and macro side of the game.
Looking at one-tricking as an example; one-tricks tend to do well in solo queue because they only ever play one champion, and as a result, they are extremely comfortable with their pick and have experience and knowledge of many different matchups. If a Zed one-trick goes against a Syndra in a game, they would have probably played that exact matchup multiple times before, and they would know how to lane against Syndra. Compared with another person who plays a different mid laner every game, they would likely have very little to no experience and knowledge in said matchup, and they would not know the proper way to lane against Syndra.
When it comes to picking which champion or champions to stick with, you do not always have to pick someone like Azir, who is extremely hard to play. Doing this could potentially hinder your ability to play well because you have to put a lot of attention and focus into learning the champion. If you do choose a champion that is extremely hard to play, do not play any other mechanically intensive champions and just stick to one. It is also fine to pick simple champions such as Annie or Malzahar. This would make things much easier as the adjustment period is shorter and easier to get through. The flashiest champions do not always mean they are the best choices, sometimes it is better to pick something simple and win through good decision-making rather than trying to win through risky mechanical outplays.
One of the ways you can start becoming better is by reviewing your own games. Reviewing replays can help players to increase their focus and commitment to the game. Watching your own games is important for finding out mistakes and bad habits that you might be doing unconsciously. During a game, there is so much going on that you might not even think about what mistakes you are making. Reviews make it much easier to find and correct your bad habits and mistakes by putting all of your focus on spotting misplays. You are not just limited to watching your own games, reviewing replays of pro players or high elo players can also help you to improve.
By watching other people’s games, you can learn new things such as how to play a certain matchup, or what to do and how to position yourself in teamfights. Your attention to detail and focus will increase as you review more and more, this will help you to make less mistakes and improve faster.
Another way to improve intensity is to schedule time aside for the game. For example, you could choose to play at a set time frame in the evening after you have completed all of your schoolwork or responsibilities for the day. This ensures that you will be able to focus on the game without any thoughts or fears of missing out on your duties and tasks. Setting time aside and having a routine to follow will help players to manage their time better. It also allows players to fulfil their life responsibilities while still being serious about improving at the game. If you play without a set schedule or routine, you might end up playing too many games in one session.
Spamming games tend to produce lower quality results as you play more and more. One of the reasons this happens is because some players get tilted and continue spamming games in an attempt to make up for their losses; this causes players to make bad decisions out of frustration. Playing too many games in one session will also naturally cause a lack of focus due to the fatigue that increases as more games are played. Following a routine such as playing two to three games a day and reviewing each game for mistakes is far more beneficial than playing 10 games a day mindlessly. Since you only play a few games each day, you can ensure that you will be playing with maximum focus and intensity in every game.
Gold is one of, and arguably, the most important resource in the game. In most games, a player will gain a majority of their total gold from farming minions and jungle monsters. Despite this, many Bronze and Silver players tend to overvalue kills and have low CS numbers. The average gold for a minion is around 20 gold, and a standard kill gives 300 gold. This means that 15 minions will give about the same amount of gold as a single kill. You will not always have an opportunity to look for a kill on your opponent, but there is almost always an opportunity to farm. For this reason, knowing how to farm properly is a very basic, yet extremely important skill to have.
Everyone has had moments where they missed a minion due to miscalculating the amount of damage needed to kill the minion. Spending a couple of minutes farming in the Practice Tool before a game is an effective way to improve your ability to last hit. During games, you have to worry about many factors such as trading with your opponent and getting ganked; the Practice Tool gives you the opportunity to solely focus on familiarising yourself with your champion’s damage and gaining confidence in your last hitting.
Players around Bronze and Silver tend to make mistakes all the time, this is due to their lack of game knowledge and understanding of the game. You do not need to feel like you have to force a play or make something happen in order to win. Oftentimes, enemies will make mistakes on their own and hand you opportunities because they do not understand the basics of the game. This does not mean that you should just sit back and do nothing, but rather, you should be patient and make a play when you think there is a high chance of success. Playing patiently and capitalising on mistakes can also help to reduce any feelings of pressure or anxiety.
Having the mindset that you need to make game-changing plays every game will put a lot of stress on yourself. Focusing on the basics such as farming and punishing enemies when they walk up to last hit will help to make the game more controlled and less stressful to play.
Looking after your resources and cooldowns is a great way to prevent self-sabotaging yourself. You should always be thinking about how you can get the most value out of your skills. Throwing out all your abilities when an enemy comes in range will not always guarantee you will hit them. Sometimes you may end up missing all your abilities and your lane opponent ends up trading back and forcing you off the wave. Being patient and waiting for them to last hit will help increase your chances of hitting your abilities. They either have to stand still to last hit, which makes them an easy target to land your spells, or back off and lose gold.
Preserving your Flash is also extremely important; you do not always have to Flash aggressively to secure a kill, sometimes forcing an opponent to back off or burning their Flash is enough. The last thing you want to happen is for you to die to a gank because you burned your Flash trying to secure a kill. Sometimes it is better to walk away with a small advantage rather than trying a risky play to extend your lead.
In conclusion, getting out of Bronze and Silver requires you to start increasing your commitment to the game and be more mindful of your gameplay. A majority of players are in this skill range because they are not willing to come out of their comfort zone and start being serious about improving.
I hope this guide has been helpful, all the best in your journey to Gold!
