How to Climb in League of Legends:

So, you want to know how to get out of “elo-hell”? You’ve come to the right place.

Firstly, climbing is a mindset. If you’re actively trying to win your games, not tilting and understanding that you can’t win them all – you’re half way to to inner peace.

Follow the below steps as best you can – and you should see some improvements:

1. Mute All

Despite Riot Games adding voice chat to League of Legends via party-chat only in an attempt to add communication to the game, it has been incredibly difficult to communicate with your teams since the beginning of the Ranked Ladder. Riot introduced the ping system – and our advice is to only use this to communicate to your teammates.

Typing only leads to distraction, tilt and also stops you playing the game for brief periods. Make sure you hit /mute-all or even /deafen at the start of every game and focus on your own gameplay.

2. Limit your champion pool

Until you reach Diamond+, believe us when we tell you – you won’t be able to “Fill” your way up the ladder. Keeping your champion pool low, enables you to focus on refining mechanics, understanding matches and as you get more comfortable on your chosen champions, you will be able to focus on large macro decision easier.

It’s important to note that other players at high elo also know of this trick. It is very common for players in Emerald and above to be “one-tricks” or “mains” on particular champions. While it is possible to “fill” if your macro and game sense is significantly above the rest of your teammates, you may struggle when it comes to champion mechanics as it is very challenging to understand multiple champion match ups as your opponents skills increase as you climb.

Stick to 1/2 roles and 1/2 champions per role and it should be easier to climb

3. Focus on your own gameplay

This step relates to Number 1. Only you can control how you perform in each game. Try not to distract yourself with other players mistakes. Remember they are also at your skill level and also trying to win the game (even if their decision making leads to a negative outcome). Try to save your replays and focus on what you did wrong and how you can improve in lane and in macro decisions after each game.

4. There is no “Elo-Hell”

Elo-Hell doesn’t exist. Trust us. If there was an “Elo-Hell”, no one would ever make Challenger as the top players would be stuck in some random elo that kept them down. Elo-Hell refers to where you are stagnating as a player. This is natural as your skill level will plateau and you hit new challenges you have to face. Recognising this is important, as you will need to look at your own gameplay and see what is holding you back. Are you below the average CS for your games? Are you not part of as many kills? Do you miss a lot of smites? Lots of these questions can be answered with VOD reviews and focussing on improving one thing at a time.

5. Don’t play while titled

This seems obvious, but a lot of players just hit “Match Accept” without clearing their head or taking a break. If you’ve come off the back of 1 or 2 heavy losses with frustrating teammates, don’t roll the dice that the next game will be fine. If you’re tilted, take a break, reset and come back later to try again.

Remember the above and try your best each game and you’re assured to see ranked progress.

GGWP!

Image Credit: Riot Games