Survey Result: Researching Ranked Player Mindsets

With the reset of the ranked LP system and the beginning of the new season, everyone sets their new goals for what is upcoming. However, to set a new goal, you must understand what were the mistakes you were doing in the past and how to fix them. In order to find out what is the mindset of League of Legends ranked players (based on their divisions), around 230 players filled in a survey with questions we are now going to go through. Gold players took 29.6% of the answers, Platinum 25.3%, Diamond 20.2%, Silver 16.7%, and the rest was divided within Bronze, Master and Challenger players.

What are your personal mistakes that keep you from climbing up?

• "I am perfect, I don't make mistakes." - Bronze player
• "Help, I main Singed!" - Silver player
• "I'm just a bad player." - Gold player
• "I make unnecessary aggressive plays when I'm in the lead." - Platinum player
• "Getting distracted by negativity." - Diamond player
• "Map awareness, lane trading, itemization." - Master player

Let’s start with the lower bracket, then climb up so we could easily see the differences between the mindset of the interviewees. Bronze players answered this question quite differently, however, most of them didn’t think a lot about their personal mistakes but they feel like it’s theirs team fault for their inability to climb up the ladder. Some of them did, however, state that their biggest mistakes might be low map awareness and unnecessary rage.

Silver players mostly agreed on what their personal mistakes are, saying that bad map awareness and poor decision making is what keeps them low on the ladder. Gold players agree with Silvers’, adding that they’re often tilting, tunnel visioning and have bad mechanics. Moreover, Platinum players feel like they’re often overextending and forgetting about their limits, while they also focus on their teammates’ mistakes and start to tilt. Diamond players agree with Platinum players, adding that they often blame their teammates rather than realising their own mistakes.

Those who keep the throne of one of the best – Master and Challenger players – are the most self-critique ones. They blame themselves for not trying hard enough to carry the games, their map awareness is low, itemisation is bad and they fail to be concentrated for the whole game.

What are your teammates’ most common mistakes?

• "Starting ranked game!" - Bronze player
• "I don't know, I don't focus on them." - Diamond player

For this question, summary is the same for mostly everyone. All of these divisions feel like their teammates get mad too easily, feed, tilt, that they don’t listen to the leads, have no communication and are mostly “boosted animals”. However, a lot of Master and Challenger players stated that they don’t really look upon their teammates mistakes, rather upon their own.

 

Do you think you deserve a higher division based on your skill? Why?

Overall, Bronze players are the only ones who answered that they do feel like they deserve higher division than the one they are currently in. Based on their answers, their teammates are what keeps them from climbing and their KDA’s don’t deserve to be in Bronze. Most of the players from divisions higher than Bronze think they don’t deserve to be higher than they are at the moment, stating that if they did deserve it, they would also be placed higher.

What do you think you need to climb higher?

• "Better teammates." - Bronze player
• "Better decision making, stronger laning and better mentality." - Platinum player

The consensus in Bronze is obvious: they need better teammates so they could climb up. However, they also feel like they need to calm down and concentrate more on the game, less on the rage. Silver players feel like they need to focus and play more than they do while playing champions that are more in the meta.

Gold players also feel like they should practice the game more. Moreover, they need to gain better game knowledge and focus on more on objectives rather than kills. Platinum players think the same. Diamond players need more consistency and more dedication to fixing their mistakes.

Master players state that they need to focus more on the communication between teammates and feel like they lack the motivation to climb even higher. Those who hit Challenger this season feel pretty comfortable where they already are, thus they had nothing to add on this subject.

In terms of ranked division, what is your goal in season 7?

Both Bronze and Silver players overall hope to reach gold by the end of the season, while Gold players wish for high Platinum or low Diamond. Platinum players are aiming for Diamond, and Master players wish to climb one more step and reach Challenger.

To sum it up, it is obvious that the players who are ranked better realise what their own mistakes are more than those ranked on the lowest brackets. Blaming your teammates is never going to help you climb up. Look up on your mistakes, think about how you can fix them and practice a lot! Good luck in the new season!