I don't play ranked, but have read a fair share of guides and practice my skills regularly. It looks like we are in more or less the same boat, but I do have a few pieces of advice.
Learn a support character. Many times (especially with ADC's), someone else will pick it, regardless of what you want to do. In those games, you can either also pick and ADC (and probably lose) or try to even it out as a support.
Adapting your itemization is probably doable, since there are really only a few items within each set that are in use (for example, it's rare to see anyone use
Ohmwrecker or
Sword of the Divine), so it's doable, I think. Your itemization will stay roughly the same through each match, so just adjust it slightly if you need to.
There's also a skill called "orb walking" that you might want to get into. I've done a little bit of experimentation with it myself, and it will probably take a lot of practice to get used to.
Learn a support character. Many times (especially with ADC's), someone else will pick it, regardless of what you want to do. In those games, you can either also pick and ADC (and probably lose) or try to even it out as a support.
Adapting your itemization is probably doable, since there are really only a few items within each set that are in use (for example, it's rare to see anyone use


There's also a skill called "orb walking" that you might want to get into. I've done a little bit of experimentation with it myself, and it will probably take a lot of practice to get used to.
I would recommend not playing ranked unless you have 150 normal WINS or more (around 300 games) and have played with each champion you might be up against in the lane(s) you are maining.
By watching the season 1 finals my overall map positioning increased greatly as well as my sense of when to go for objectives. The new LCS and all are usually way more complex than the standard game you will be playing. in the season 1 finals though you will be able to learn positioning, counterjungling and global objective control way more easily.
look at a replay of yours (if you are using Lolreplay, http://www.leaguereplays.com/download/, a program to record your games in a compact format) and just look at your map positioning you can easily find mistakes. Oh and bot games will not help you improve at all.
Additionally, in my opinion you should be able to play with at least 2 champions in each role somewhat well.
In order to prepare for ranked, practice never to insult anyone and just be quiet unless you want to say something positive like "good job", a tactical call like "let´s do baron" or "I think they might be at dragon". Apologize if you think you might have possibly made a mistake and state your opinion like a Sir! There´s a good chance of being respected by your teammates that way.
EDIT: in order to practice CSing, go in a custom game with an adc bot against you. keep the bot on low hp but not too low so that it goes to base and keep your CS up. If you achieve 80 CS at 10 min with sivir not having gone back you are better prepared for ranked than most others.
By watching the season 1 finals my overall map positioning increased greatly as well as my sense of when to go for objectives. The new LCS and all are usually way more complex than the standard game you will be playing. in the season 1 finals though you will be able to learn positioning, counterjungling and global objective control way more easily.
look at a replay of yours (if you are using Lolreplay, http://www.leaguereplays.com/download/, a program to record your games in a compact format) and just look at your map positioning you can easily find mistakes. Oh and bot games will not help you improve at all.
Additionally, in my opinion you should be able to play with at least 2 champions in each role somewhat well.
In order to prepare for ranked, practice never to insult anyone and just be quiet unless you want to say something positive like "good job", a tactical call like "let´s do baron" or "I think they might be at dragon". Apologize if you think you might have possibly made a mistake and state your opinion like a Sir! There´s a good chance of being respected by your teammates that way.
EDIT: in order to practice CSing, go in a custom game with an adc bot against you. keep the bot on low hp but not too low so that it goes to base and keep your CS up. If you achieve 80 CS at 10 min with sivir not having gone back you are better prepared for ranked than most others.
By the way I'd recommend not starting ranked until you're at least 30 wins over losses in normals, or preferably 50. Usually that would mean your Elo in normal games is decent, meaning you must be a decent player to be able to play at that Elo.
So when you start playing ranked, placements and the first few games should be a piece of cake, as you're used to playing at a higher level than the Elo you start ranked at.
So when you start playing ranked, placements and the first few games should be a piece of cake, as you're used to playing at a higher level than the Elo you start ranked at.

Vapora Dark wrote:
I can confirm this is NOT actually necessary to get to high elo, through personal verification. :>
rito pls

Zerokill wrote:
Is having a complete set of runes really a requirement when going into rank? I mean having a full set of runes for your main?
Once you get a full runepage set up play 20 games with it, then play 1 game without it, and you will see that they really, and I mean really make a difference. :P
It sucks grinding the IP to get them but it's worth it in the end they really do make it or break it.
The best way to grind the IP is to just buy a one day IP boost and play a ton of ARAM or Dominion, you can also play SR, but ARAM and Dominion rounds are a lot quicker, and you be able to complete more games in a short amount of time. Also Dominion is great for practicing skill shots so you end up killing two birds with one stone. At least that's what I did :P

Sig by The_Nameless_Bard
You need to log in before commenting.
1. Practicing CS 60-80 in 10 minutes
2. Familiarizing with positioning in Teamfights
3. Learning to follow objectives mid game
4. Learning to analyze and adapt itemization according to game
My question is are those goals reachable within a couple of weeks practice in normal games and are they the first and basic steps in properly playing in ranked or are there more basic things I should also consider?
P.S.
I play a minimum of 6 games a day and I main Ashe/Cait as an ADR and have decent results and also I'm trying to practice as a top laner with Zed and also planning to buy Irelia this week though I suck at Zed.