MobaFire, Pour your knowledge into me

[quote=BluAnimal]Hey everybody. I am currently a Gold I player and will hopefully be promoting into Platinum V sometime this month. I do the majority of my ranked games with my duo partner who started at Bronze I this season and will be Gold V later today, if all goes well. I played up until Gold V on my own, however. I want to do my very best to improve as a player. And while my original goal this season was just to get Gold, I am now determined to climb as far as the system will allow me, so I can find out where my very best is. I'm open to any and all advice that you guys have to give. I main top lane with [[Jax]], [[Shen]], [[Renekton]], [[kha'zix]] and [[cho'gath]]. I can play a decent support or ADC, but it is by far nothing to brag about. I try and avoid mid lane at all costs unless I am going bruiser mid. So, with this out of the way, please give me as much advice as you guys can. Thank you. :) [url=http://www.lolking.net/summoner/na/22476976]LolKing Profile.[/url][/quote]

[quote=Encross]Congratulations to you and especially your duo for climbing all the way from Bronze to Gold. It's not easy! I recommend you learn how to jungle at a high level if you're going to be maining top lane. You'll learn a lot about routes and allow yourself to play more aggressively during key moments of the lane. [[Cho'Gath]] is a pretty good starting jungler that has good clear times to compensate for your inexperience in the role and excels in sustaining and contesting objectives. Outside of that, [i]keep playing[/i]. Decision making and mechanical ability all come naturally. Ultimately raw talent will always keep players divided to some extent, and it's all on you to put forth the time required to break the mold and better yourself. Keep at it![/quote]

[quote=Jebus McAzn]Definitely learn how to jungle at a competent level, and play all-purpose champions in the roles that you're uncomfortable in because they're very difficult to screw up. Lulu got me from Gold V to Plat because I was duoing with a higher-ELO friend for 80% of the journey, and was usually last pick. In top lane, I recommend you learn Elise and/or Jayce. Elise is incredibly strong right now (and is an amazing jungler) while Jayce can also be played mid, opening up your champion pool. Other than that, it's a combination of luck and communication. Keep a level head, and take a break for at least an hour after losing one or two ranked games in a row. You'll thank yourself.[/quote]

[quote=BluAnimal]Thanks, both of you. @Encross - Yeah, I would not duo with him if I believed it would bring me down in the long run. And I wanna say I've been carrying him, but that's not true. He's a great player stuck at a low bracket because of that inactivity. :( I agree with both of you that I should jungle as a second choice, since a lot of top lane bruisers can be transferred to the jungle, as well as being somewhat similar in base stats and health, etc. The only reason I don't jungle more frequently is because my duo queue is a jungle main, but has to support several games as well. I would say that I have go-to champions in all roles, but I'd prefer not to be pushed into them, if possible. I would say my top lane, jungling and support are all pretty solid. It's more mid lane and ADC that I'm not the most comfortable with, but thankfully they're taken 95% of the time. I've played both [[elise]] and [[jayce]] with around 100 games each. Elise is a pretty common pick for me, and I do relatively well with her, until lately. I've just given her a bit of break and fit one of my other champions in her spot when the need arises. Jayce however, is incredible. He's strong and provides so much utility and I've played him tons, yet there is just something about him that does not fit my playstyle in the slightest. I will agree, he's a great pick, but just not my kind of champion. I've resorted to banning him as of lately since he's extremely strong in the right hands, and their not mine. What are some things I can expect to see in Platinum? What are some common bans and picks, as well as strategies?[/quote]

[quote=PsiGuard][quote=Encross] Outside of that, [i]keep playing[/i]. Decision making and mechanical ability all come naturally. Ultimately raw talent will always keep players divided to some extent, and it's all on you to put forth the time required to break the mold and better yourself. [/quote] Practice is essential but I've also found watching streams to be helpful, both casted games like LCS and popular solo queue streamers. As a jungle main, it was very difficult for me to compete in laning phase against players in their main role. Watching a lot of laning phases from pro players helped me get a better handle on controlling the minion wave, trading and some of the nuances of different matchups. I wouldn't say it's necessary, but if you have the time and motivation, taking some time to study other players definitely pays off. [quote=BluAnimal]What are some things I can expect to see in Platinum? What are some common bans and picks, as well as strategies?[/quote] Bans are kind of all over the place. [[Thresh]] is nearly permabanned. [[Nunu]] is banned a lot currently because he's pretty much broken in the new jungle. [[Elise]] and [[Jayce]] are popular solo lane bans, as well as a number of [[twisted fate]] bans and some [[Zed]] bans. [[Blitzcrank]] is still banned pretty often in my games. [[Zac]] and [[Jarvan]] are fairly popular jungle picks, as well as a lot of [[Lee Sin]] players. [[Ezreal]] is one of the more popular ADs, though there are also quite a few [[Draven]]s, [[Caitlyn]]s and some [[Vayne]]s. Supports are pretty much all standard since most support champions are viable right now. As for strategies, I don't really know what to say. I don't think it's very different from Gold or even Silver, except that people generally are a bit smarter in their decisions and there's usually more warding and counter-warding. Laners try to win their lane by mechanics, towers don't usually go down as fast as they do in professional play but sometimes they're broken early. Dragon is pretty hotly contested. Junglers tend to go for kills or counter jungling more than pushing. Pretty much just standard soloqueue stuff.[/quote]

[quote=BluAnimal]I have watched a ton of streams and professional play as well. I enjoy watching Dyrus because we share a very similar champion pool. Any other little tips anyone has to offer? I feel like I have a very large chunk of ranked done and under my belt but I don't want to seem arrogant or cocky, so I'm always open to everything.[/quote]