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A look at the new League System
The new League System has been deployed today and you might be one of many people who got placed in Silver, or maybe even Bronze. Fear not, as things are likely to get better soon. We also got Alberto 'Crumbzz' Rengifo to share his views on the new League System, so read on to find out what he had to say.
But first I'll introduce the system to people who are unfamiliar with it. You are now placed in one of 6 tiers, each having 5 divisions of people with equal skill. By winning matches you gain ladder ranking until you reach the top, which is when you need to play a promotion series to advance to the next division or tier.
A Breath of Fresh Air
This system encourages players to constantly improve their gameplay and ranking, which is now only possible by winning lots of games. A few good matches won't do you much good if you can't win the Best-Of-Three Promotion Series to go up a division or a Best-Of-Five Series to advance to the next tier. This gives players new goals, to reach higher divisions and eventually advance to the next tier.
I asked Team Dignitas's top laner, Alberto 'Crumbzz' Rengifo, for his opinion about the new League system: "I think the new ranking system will make ranked games a more competitive environment. By giving the average player more goals but more achievable, it will promote competition."
Become a Pro
One of the most promising features in this League system is the opportunity to join the Championship Series, where your team will face all the current top teams in Season 3. For this, you'll first need to make it to the Challenger tier and then go through a series of qualifiers to make it to the top four of all teams in the Amateur Series. This will increase the level of competitive play amongst amateur teams.
"There could be an increase in those interested in joining a team and competing, the new ranked system could be the beggining of a more competitive and healthy environment for League of Legends," Crumbzz said.
Will Ladder Anxiety Reach LoL?
This system is quite similar to the Starcraft 2 ranking system, which is definitely not a bad thing. However, in Starcraft 2 many people suffer from what they call 'Ladder Anxiety'. The pressure of having a division and tier rating your skill causes a panicking reaction in some people's mind, making them run away from solo queue games. This may also increase in League of Legends, but it doesn't have to.
Team Dignitas and Team Liquid both wrote a great guide on how to deal with Ladder Anxiety, so give those a read if you fear this may happen to you:
- Team Dignitas: Dealing with Anxiety - Gamer style
- Team Liquid: Dealing with anxiety
Remember, everyone has a bad day. Just relax, take a break and try again a bit later. There is lots of room for improvement in this system so keep trying!
All in all this system is very promising and will most likely increase the level of competitive play in League of Legends throughout 2013. Please share your thoughts with us and if you have any advice for your fellow summoners then do let us know.