Five tips to be a better player

As we move into season 3 it becomes more and more clear that when playing ranked or simple PvP that new players and even vetaren players are drawing away from the Summoner's code. For instance I have seen about 5 instances of players arguing over what position they want to play and then someone simply gets, for lack of a better term, butthurt and either picks the champ they want or trolls/feeds the entire game.

Furthermore, whether or not it is a player's fault, it seems they will begin to denouce and overall rage at the fact that someone isn't good enough. It's these same players that will go ahead and say things like "GG NOOBS" if they come out the victor of the match. Now I am all for having fun and teasing the enemy team just a tad if I'm playing bad or if I'm dominating, but to hurt the feelings or just plain argue with the opponent and teammates make for pretty poor sportsmanship. So here is number one of a list in no particular order.

1. Always abide by the Summoner's code and always communicate properly.

No one wants to end up in the receiving end of a ban or temporary ban for simply saying something that aggravated their opponents or feeding. Instead you should try to be a more courteous person and allow other players to go without a response. If they say something like "GG NOOBS" or "**** ***" it is best to not answer them.

I had to deal with this many times on the internet and first hand experience made me realize that flamers shouldn't be given any attention. Being silent the whole time in regular PvP matches will allow you to slide by and is acceptable to a degree. Though if you are placed in any form of ranked then speaking to your allies with things simply as "mia", "ss", "warded (Insert position here)", and "need gank" let's your allies know pretty important information without a long-winded explanation. If starting out in bronze ranked, you will find more and more trolls and non agreeable players and the only way to deal with it is simply ignore them or work around them.

The stats that start out in the pre-game lobby are true, people who abide by the rules win more games by about a fifth and those who don't lose about the same persentage. Adding to this, say you want mid, and someone on your team called mid before you could, it would be best to give out your secondary pick or pick the last remaining position so that the meta positions are filled up appropriate. This leads into the second point needed to be made.

2. Try and learn all of the possible positions and champions needed to be used in the current meta.

Certainly I am not saying become pro at all the positions, but learning how to play all of them and knowing your weaknesses will allow you to state what you can and cannot play. This allows for you to be able to make an adequate addition to certain team compositions. Only knowing one pole position means that you will inevitably fight and argue over what position you want. For instance I can go top, jungle, or support pretty well, top being my favorite and best.

I am okay at playing adc and mid but those are easily my weakest positions and I usually option in AD mages to melt the squishier mids. Regardless of my preferences it is best to know what is going on and how to play accordingly. You, or at least I, would think that learning how to play all positions would be needed for ranked but others would disagree. Simply said, learn all you can about the game so that you aren't the weakest link.

3. Look at the map.

Maybe you don't have ward coverage, but if someone pings retreat it is probably a good idea to follow what they say. If you do have the map warded then there is almost no excuse for a gank to fall upon you. Sure you might be the adc and have to get more farm, but a death isn't worth a little more gold. Glance, gawk, stare, watch, whatever term you have for looking, make sure you see your map and clearly. If need be just go into the options and make the mini-map a little bigger so that you can see where your enemies trudge.

If you're top lane, it's your job to buy wards and the correct kind. Sight wards for non-"cloaked" enemies and Vision wards for those who love being hidden. Sometimes you can even get a sight ward for shaco if you ward farther back so that his deceive doesn't catch you off guard. Whether it's early or late game, you'll need wards so that you can see where people are, if dragon or baron are about to go down, or if a gank will be coming.

4. Play at your strengths.

An example being, I love playing tanky dps champions like Jax, Olaf, and Wukong. Say if you play mid and you love burst mages than Brand, Ryze, Annie, and Kassidan will be perfect for you. There are multiple different types of players and their play styles are as diverse as the lore behind this amazing gem of a game. Almost every Champion can be played in a multiple amount of ways and if you get placed into a role that may not be your best, you can still pick a viable champion that plays to your own style.

That being said, don't pick a champion who cannot fill the roles your team needs just because that is your favorite champion. Brand isn't made to jungle or support, Trundle isn't meant to go mid, Sivir isn't supposed to top, and any melee champion isn't ment to adc... well except for Yi. If the champion can't or does poorly in that role it is best not to pick it unless you are the best League of Legends player in the world. God knows there isn't actual proof to name any one person "the best". Though it is easy to learn from those who are up in the Challenger Tier.

5. Observe and Adapt.

Right now the LCS is on every week providing tons of content for the average player to learn from. Certain teams have certain tactics and they know what they are doing, ward coverage and all. So what I am trying to convey is learn from people who are better than you. I'm not saying to grab a legal pad and start writing down notes, but try to remember what strategies work and why. Certain champions counter others, the pros know it, level 30s know it, so stay on top of what is stronger than what and why.

If you get counter-picked it isn't the end of the world or reason for you to just quit because you can't win. Build against them, change up your usually strategy and play-style for something that can beat out and win the lane (or jungle match-up). Yes I know I said play to your strengths, but some games your favorite champion or play-style will be countered. This isn't tic-tac-toe, but a good portion of match-ups might as well be. You need to adapt to what your enemies are building, if not then you won't be able to form an adequate offense and defense.

These can be easily sumed up as: play, communicate, learn, adapt, win. Sure I am not amazing at this game, nor am I a pro player, but I had to learn all of these so that I could become a better player. Good luck, have fun, and go Play.