Do you take a break from ranked during preseason because you think it is pointless? Although it may seem like it since LP gains do not count anymore and ranked rewards have been given out, there are actually many benefits to playing ranked during this time. This article will cover several reasons as to why preseason is the perfect time to grind ranked.
Some players see Preseason in League of Legends as a sort of vacation because the ranked season is over and there is no point in playing during this time. Sounds about right… right? Wrong! There are many benefits to playing ranked during preseason.
This article will go over several reasons as to why it is beneficial to play ranked even during preseason. Playing with less pressure and placing higher next season are just some of the topics that this article will cover.
Riot implements massive changes into League every preseason, so it makes sense to play and familiarise yourself with the changes during this time. This preseason saw several changes and additions to Dragons, items, runes, as well as a new bounty system. With so many new changes to get used to, you will be at a disadvantage if you choose to put off learning these additions until the new season begins. However, if you put in the hours during preseason to learn and experiment with the update, you will start the new season with a decent understanding of the current state of the game. This can also give you a head start because other players might not have taken the time to play and practice during the preseason.
The new gas zones and Hexgates brought in along with the new Drakes are sure to shake up the way the game is played. The old roster of Drake terrains for the most part did not really cause players to play differently. However, the new terrains took things to a whole new level and now there are so many possibilities for new strategies and plays to happen in the jungle. Gas zones make walking into the jungle incredibly risky as normal wards will not reveal enemies hiding within them. Hexgates will also throw off a lot of people as warding jungle entrances will no longer be enough to keep you safe from ganks. Learning how to play around the new terrain and coming up with different strategies will help you to go into the new season with more confidence because you have a decent understanding of the different ways the terrain can be used.
Mage, tank and assassin items are seeing several changes and additions to the roster. Finding out which items work well with your favourite champions in different matchups is extremely important, which is why taking the time to experiment with different builds during preseason is key if you want to get a good head start when the new season starts in January. The last thing you want to happen is to get caught off-guard and confused when you come up against an opponent rocking one of the new Mythics. For example, Crown of the Shattered Queen is an item that could potentially mess with a lot of assassin players. The item’s passive, Safeguard, reduces incoming champion damage by 75%. Safeguard also persists for 1.5 seconds after taking champion damage. This will mean that assassins have to pop the item’s passive and wait for a moment before unleashing their full combo if they want to maximise their damage. It will be much better to learn how to deal with these new items now rather than wait until the season starts and suffer a bad start to your climb.
Have you ever taken a really long break from something and come back realising you have no idea how to do anything? Keeping your skills sharp is important for ensuring a good start to the season. It does not mean that you have to play 10 games a day every single day, it could be as simple as a game a day or a couple of games spread out over the week. The most important thing is to play frequently enough to keep your mechanics and game awareness sharp.
You might be thinking, “Why play ranked specifically and not just normals or ARAM? The combos are still the same regardless of the queue!”. In normal matches, the quality of gameplay is much lower than that of ranked matches. This could cause players to lower the amount of care and attention that they put into their gameplay due to the lower amount of effort required to win in normal matches. This could come in the form of sloppier and slower combos, or it could also cause players to look at the map less and have lower map awareness. You cannot expect to go into the new season performing at your best if you do not put in the same amount of effort during the preseason. The quality of players in ranked is also much higher than normal matches, which will also force you to perform at your best if you want to win.
Learning the game and improving is important, but some players stop reviewing replays and start to relax during the preseason. The learning process never stops, and you should always strive to become better even when the ranked season has ended. Strengthening your fundamentals becomes even more important when new changes are implemented which shake up the meta. Continuing to review your own games and proactively learning will not only speed up your rate of improvement, but it will also help you gain a better understanding of how the preseason changes affect the game. If you just mindlessly play the game and do not review your games, you will end up gaining very little from each game. But keeping high intensity every game and taking the time to review your replays will force you to be more engaged with the learning process. This will help you to continue improving and adapt quicker to the preseason changes.
Playing ranked during preseason is crucial because the level of play is much higher than that of normal games; players usually try much harder and they are better when compared to normal matches. The higher intensity and level of play makes it an ideal scenario for improvement because you will be forced to play at your best. For example, if you are playing at your best, any mistakes you find during review sessions will help you to improve because you might not have known about it beforehand. But if you review games where you were playing with low intensity, the mistakes you find will most likely be because of autopiloting and carelessness. You will not learn much from reviewing these games because the mistakes you made happen due to a lack of care rather than a gap in your knowledge.
Even though the ranked season has ended, it does not mean that playing ranked is meaningless until the new season starts. Some players think that playing ranked is pointless during preseason because it will just reset when the new season rolls around. But have you ever wondered why finishing placement matches usually cause you to end up around the rank you finished at last season? This is because there is a hidden MMR system in place that is the most accurate representation of your skill level. Every season, it goes through a soft reset rather than a hard reset. To give an analogy, imagine MMR is represented by numbers from 0-100; having a higher number means your skill level and rank is higher. If you finish this season with an MMR number of 50, your MMR will get hit by that soft reset and you will start next season around 40-45 MMR. This is why when you begin your placement matches, you start a few divisions behind the rank you finished last season.
So, what does all this have to do with playing ranked during preseason? The answer is playing during preseason affects your MMR. Winning ranked games during preseason will still increase your MMR. Going back to the analogy, if you finished the season with an MMR number of 50, you can still play ranked and your MMR will go up. If you finish preseason with 53 MMR points, you will start next season around 48 MMR points rather than the 40-45 MMR points if you decided to stop playing ranked during preseason. Again, this is just an example, but the concept is the same as how the actual system is. Your rank may not be that different after placement matches, but your LP gains and losses will be affected by your MMR.
Many players experience stress and anxiety when playing ranked during the season, especially when they have not hit their goals and the end of the season is approaching. But once the season has officially ended and ranked rewards have been distributed, you may notice that the game becomes less stressful to play. You no longer have to worry about reaching a certain rank in a specific timeframe. You might also find that the amount of toxicity is lower during the preseason; players generally will no longer be too obsessed with winning games. This will lead to them to become less emotionally invested and they will be less likely to flame other players in the game.
Overall, the reduced amount of stress combined with the other incentives mentioned makes preseason an ideal time to grind out ranked games. This can help you to build your confidence up to play ranked more if you suffer from ranked anxiety. Take preseason as an opportunity to learn as much as you can before the new season starts. Whether or not you hit your goals during the regular season, preseason gives you the chance to build up and improve on any areas where you may be lacking in.
To conclude, there are many benefits to playing ranked during preseason. Playing ranked during preseason allows you to familiarise yourself with the new additions and changes while continuing to improve as a player. The main objective is to give yourself the best chance of getting a good start when the new season begins.
