ELO Hell: A Cooperative Game

[quote=CosmoVibe]For those of you that are having a bit of trouble succeeding at various ELO ranges or don't really understand the difference between lower ELO games versus higher ELO games, here is a short description of an important lesson I learned in all cooperative games. A lot of high ELO players can even have trouble climbing up the ladder, but does this mean they are bad players? No, it just means they didn't realize that there are better ways to play a specific game, sometimes with unorthodox strategy. Suppose that team A will win a fight guaranteed if they initiate and both teams play perfectly. In higher ELO, where each player has a better idea of the limits of their champion, as soon as team A initiates, all of the players will [i]most likely[/i] follow in. However, in lower ELO, some of the players may not be smart enough or experienced enough to understand that they should be fighting, and therefore perform poorly. If the skilled player that is "stuck in ELO hell" chooses to initiate here, he may find himself getting caught, even though the fight is winnable. Suppose the support on team A is warding almost the entire map, to the point where the entire enemy team is almost always visible. In higher ELO, where players understand the limits of their champions, they can force fights that are in their favor, and eventually gain a lead over their opponents. In lower ELO, however, sometimes the players don't understand their limits, and will fight in a disadvantageous position anyways, which pretty much means the wards were a waste of money, and so the support might as well have gotten some items. Some of you are probably now asking, "Well, how can I apply this thinking to my actual games then?" Here's an example. I almost strictly play Janna in ranked, and went from about 1300 to 1900 ELO. But, my playstyle changes depending on what ELO range I'm in. In 1300 to 1500 ELO, I build some GP5 items, but I work towards more offensive items to have a little bit more control over the game. I clean up CS that my lane partner misses, rather than just sharing or taking them, so I don't actually starve my partner. From around 1500 to 1700 ELO, I notice that the key reason why teams generally lose games is getting picked off and caught out of position repeatedly. Here, I build support Janna with 3 GP5 items so I can spam wards all over the map. The players here can usually make use of the wards and avoid getting caught, allowing us to get tons of map control in the process too. From 1700+ ELO, I start to build 2 GP5 and try to grab Aegis or Shurelia's as quickly as I can, in order to maximize my utility to the team at all stages of the game. Whatever playstyle I choose, I make sure that my teammates can follow up. And this brings me to my final point: [b]I never assume my teammates to do something they are not capable of, but I encourage them to play to their maximum potential.[/b] There's always this mentality of being greedy, expecting nothing of your teammates, and only being concerned of yourself in solo queue, but this is actually not the case. In reality, it's a continuous gradient of [i]how much[/i] you should care about and rely on your allies. Communication and a well-coordinated team beats a single pubstomper any day. You shouldn't be so selfish that you can't even use your team for something they are perfectly capable of doing, but you shouldn't be so trusting of your teammates that you expect everyone to play perfectly all the time. This is the key to solo queue, and the primary difference between solo queue and arranged teams. Crosspost from: http://na.leagueoflegends.com/board/showthread.php?t=1056662[/quote]

[quote=Joobieo#41288][color=#ff0000]Encouraging players below 1400 elo is like trying to get a kid to eat vegetables and having him like it.[/color] I main support okay . IF I tell my AD what hes doing wrong or what we could improve on in the lane they usually bitch and moan. Just the nature of the beast in this video game.[/quote]

[quote=Darcurse]If you wanna use "unorthodox strategies" to climb up the ELO ladder: duo in solo queue. Nothing abuses the system more like teaming up in a team-oriented game when the greater mass is supposed to play solo. HOORAYH, for Riots gaming/competetive quality management.[/quote]

[quote=ConMasterFlash]I loved vegetables as a kid! But in all honesty there are probably alot of pretty good players "trapped" below 1400 that are more skilled than that because they dont listen to "all the noobs on my team". And OP, thats awesome. I wish I played with supports that knew what I was doing wrong better than I did.[/quote]

[quote=TheWeekndOVOXO]Great post, great read. Too bad "support to win" does not always apply in all cases. I dropped under 1300 yesterday and I can't pick seem to pick it up anymore. I had a strong start (7-1), then I just kept on dropping because I solo queue. Even duo queue is rough at times when the 3 others are complete garbage. I'm an elitist freak and all my ranked stats (even losing games), I'm always on top. I hate seeing my elo and I hate seeing how I won't climb up even though I know I deserve to be somewhere better.[/quote]

[quote=CosmoVibe][quote=Joobieo] [color=#ff0000]Encouraging players below 1400 elo is like trying to get a kid to eat vegetables and having him like it.[/color] I main support okay . IF I tell my AD what hes doing wrong or what we could improve on in the lane they usually bitch and moan. Just the nature of the beast in this video game. [/quote] Then you're obviously doing it wrong. I have rarely ever had a problem telling my lane partners what to do. If you're nice and lead them properly, there is no reason for them to fight with you. ps ive always liked vegetables because they are nice people you could learn something from them[/quote]

[quote=TheWeekndOVOXO]dat brocoli soup bro, 2 stronk better nerf irelia herpderp Joob is sometimes right though, when you're playing a support, the ranged AD normally acts like a douche when you try to talk to them. They think you play a support because you suck ass (which imo, supports can be lane-changing, and game-changing).[/quote]

[quote=Slappiz]My tip: Learn how to play a pusher/bruiser like Yorick or Mordekaiser. Stomp your way through the elo-hell. Worked for me in s1 and s2. I used Yorick[/quote]

[quote=Yagamoth]Very nice post @CosmoVibe :) I can already see the tendency here though, many won't understand even if you explain it to them like you did in your first post ^^[/quote]

[quote=CosmoVibe][quote=Yagamoth] Very nice post @CosmoVibe :) I can already see the tendency here though, many won't understand even if you explain it to them like you did in your first post ^^ [/quote] Initially, I wanted to compare it to a more strictly mathematical example outside of LoL, so people have an idea of how the concept functions in itself, aka understanding the difference between rationality and common knowledge of rationality. However, peer reviews told me that the example was excessive, so that entire part was cut out. If there are a handful of people who are interested in reading that I'll just retype it here. [quote=Slappiz] My tip: Learn how to play a pusher/bruiser like Yorick or Mordekaiser. Stomp your way through the elo-hell. Worked for me in s1 and s2. I used Yorick [/quote] so irrelevant wow[/quote]