Climbing the Ladder: A Mental Perspective

 

The Common Mentality

Everyone has been in that situation: playing solo queue for hours at a time and getting frustrated by teammates, and eventually, with their own play. The term that the League of Legends community uses when a player in is in this state of being, is "tilt". Usually when someone is on tilt, they constantly make mistakes that they normally would not and progressively get worse as time goes on. People react in different ways when in this state, ranging from taking a break from playing, to raging at teammates and leaving games. But, is there a way to completely avoid this state and keep playing? I believe there is and the key is to have a certain attitude when approaching the game.

Who needs logic anyway?
 

Changing the Perspective

This is not some revolutionary secret to climbing the ladder, but more a way of improving your own play through a change in attitude and perspective. I am a firm believer in the idea that there is no ELO hell and that where you are on the ladder in any game, whether that be League of Legends or Starcraft II, is where you belong. But, that does not mean there is no hope of climbing. Instead, one should accept that fact and start from there. At first, I focused really hard on winning my games, sometimes trying extremely risky plays that had very little chance of succeeding, in order to get kills and carry the game. In the end, that got me nowhere, so instead, I decided to take a step back and rethink my approach.

One should ask themselves, just like I did, why they play League of Legends, or better yet, why they play any video game. Some will say that it is to win, while others say it is a way to pass the time or relieve stress, but in the end, everyone is looking to have fun when playing video games. This is something that people seem to forget when trying to climb the ladder of any rank or rating based competitive game. They look at the number or rank that they are assigned and get way too caught up in it as if it is a true measurment of them as a player. Instead, one should focus on having fun when playing ranked games, either by playing with a friend or playing champions they enjoy playing, as opposed to only "meta" champions. By doing this, you no longer have to be attached to the outcome of the game and instead can focus on improving aspects of your game.
 

The Path to Self Improvement

Once the first step is out of the way and a player focuses on having fun, the other steps come naturally. When you have a clear mind it is much easier to identify mistakes in your own play and fix them. For example, one of the most common mistakes players make, is using their summoner spells too freely. I cannot remember how many times I used Ignite on an already dead target, to later regret doing so because an enemy escaped with low health, or using Flash to kill an opponent when it was unnecessary, and dying a few minutes later because I no longer had it at my disposal.

After a mistake has been identified, it is then possible to focus on that mistake and iron it out to the point that it no longer happens. A common strategy I use to iron out a mistake or weakness in my play is to focus on only that aspect for however long it takes me to get better at it. This could take a game, a whole day, or even weeks, but the important thing is to become so good at that one thing, that it becomes second nature. Using the previous example of summoner spell usage, I would focus on using flash only when I knew for sure that it would net me a kill or save me.

Within the first game I noticed a huge difference in the way I thought about the game; I was much more calculated in how I used my summoners, and as a result, I was able to approach the game from an outside perspective. It did not automatically fix all my problems of liberal summoner spell usage, seeing as how I still misuse my summoner spells at times, but it was small step in the right direction. This is the important thing to understand, progress is what is important in the grand scheme of things.

Once you are no longer attached to the outcome of the game you are free to use each and every game as a learning experience. If you do win, great, but if you don't, it is not a big deal. You simply need to look at the mistakes that were made and what could be done in the future to prevent them. All while this is happening, you are able to play the game with the intention of having fun, which in the end, is the most important thing.
 

Applications Elsewhere

 
If you really think about it, the method that I just outlined for improving your League of Legends play, can be applied to any other game. But, why stop there? If we are being honest, this same method can be applied to anything in life. If we detach ourself from the outcome of an event, we are able to maintain focus even when an unfavorable outcome occurs. A job interview or a relationship: both are things that everyone goes through at least once in their life and often we have assumptions about those things. We feel as if we deserve something and must have it, but when what we assumed would happen, doesn't, we feel let down.

I am getting too philosophical for a simple gaming article, but what I am trying to say is, look at every experience in game and in life as a learning experience, and the "victory" that you are searching for will eventually follow. Here is Sean "Day[9]" Plott, explaining what I just said, in a more well thought out and interesting way. I believe what he says about StarCraft can be applied to League of Legends, and again, to life.

Day[9] is most well known as a player, caster, and commentator of both StarCraft: Brood War and StarCraft II. More of his content can be found on his website and YouTube channel.