Views: 1225 A Few Personal Thoughts about the Climb
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A quick thought about climbing in League, and its not just about not tilting and not quitting:
Last night, I hit Silver 1 and am a tier away from my top rank to finish 2017. Now, yes I want to hit that Gold tier again, but to be open about it, I am not really focusing on that, or any particular rank, as a goal. It's great if and when it happens, but the season is the entire year. So how DO I approach the game when I have that long of a runway to consider?
Every time I start a game of League, I begin with the exact same setup as everyone else, give or take a small percentage, and it is my job to make the most of whatever that amount is by playing the best game I can. It means that in the early game, I need to prudently manage the bottom lane and control my excitement at points, respecting threats and seeking opportunities to gain advantages while avoiding opening myself up for the opposition to do the same. As the game progresses, I think about what is happening, what goals the opponents may have, what goals we have, and helping our team be in the best position to achieve our goals while foiling theirs. But at the end of the day, its about that one game.
So here's my question - if you want to improve, do you watch your own games after they are done? You totally can by the way - it's in your player profile, the VOD's, so you can watch and rewatch your games and look at things like positioning, like map control/vision, like team fight positioning. You can also setup situations in the Practice Tool, working on early, midgame, or late CSing, improving your mechanics to make your mind more available for "the other stuff" going on.
At the end of the day, when you focus on personal development and improvement, you'll contribute more and win more. And when you win more, your rank rises. And that's all there is to it. Really! :-)
Last night, I hit Silver 1 and am a tier away from my top rank to finish 2017. Now, yes I want to hit that Gold tier again, but to be open about it, I am not really focusing on that, or any particular rank, as a goal. It's great if and when it happens, but the season is the entire year. So how DO I approach the game when I have that long of a runway to consider?
Every time I start a game of League, I begin with the exact same setup as everyone else, give or take a small percentage, and it is my job to make the most of whatever that amount is by playing the best game I can. It means that in the early game, I need to prudently manage the bottom lane and control my excitement at points, respecting threats and seeking opportunities to gain advantages while avoiding opening myself up for the opposition to do the same. As the game progresses, I think about what is happening, what goals the opponents may have, what goals we have, and helping our team be in the best position to achieve our goals while foiling theirs. But at the end of the day, its about that one game.
So here's my question - if you want to improve, do you watch your own games after they are done? You totally can by the way - it's in your player profile, the VOD's, so you can watch and rewatch your games and look at things like positioning, like map control/vision, like team fight positioning. You can also setup situations in the Practice Tool, working on early, midgame, or late CSing, improving your mechanics to make your mind more available for "the other stuff" going on.
At the end of the day, when you focus on personal development and improvement, you'll contribute more and win more. And when you win more, your rank rises. And that's all there is to it. Really! :-)
The other point I'd say is to never accept a surrender and to keep a positive attitude. I have been on teams that come back from 14-2 down, and while it doesn't happen incredibly often, if that adds another 2-5 wins for the year, that's a percentage point of more wins. If I die 2 times instead of five, that's nearly 1,000 gold I am denying the other team - almost half an item. Sometimes to do this though, you'll have to recognize a bad situation and refuse to put yourself in it, even if it means abandoning your lane partner. They may yell and pout about it, but giving up one body instead of two in a bad play, farming unwarded, etc can also save games from a snowballing jungle or adc taking 2 for 0. You know how to play well, so be firm and do that. Listen to the team, but don't do what you know is wrong because the team is also doing it. And keep upbeat about it and have fun doing all of this, right? :)