Player Mentality: The effect your thinking can have on your play

A player's mentality can have a large effect on their play, despite how it would seem that such a thing could only have a small effect on your overall play. I personally found this to be a huge issue for me when I first got into playing ranked, because I would get angry, tilt, ect. However, it's now easy for me to recognize what these issues were and how they can be fixed, since I have taken a look into what some big problems can be in a player's mentality when playing the game.

The Pre-Game

Your mentality can effect you at many points in the game, even beginning in champion select. You don't want to lose to the game in champion select purely because you kept a bad attitude when going into game. There are several things that I notice seem to make people upset in champion selects. I'll begin with the most simple, people coming off as rude or saying "____ or feed!". It's important you don't stress over these statements and move on through champion select as normal, because giving a reaction will only make the person on the other side of the screen happier. Don't feel super discouraged about match ups that aren't in your favor, either! Remember, your chances are only worse if you go into game believing your lane opponent is going to stomp you! Don't let match ups against the "OP" Champions of the patch discourage you too much either, just play how you normally would and remember to stay positive going into game!

In Lane

Now we've made it past the pre-game, and we're on our way into lane. I touched on it earlier how you must remember not to feel super discouraged even about 'counter' match ups, because that only makes it more likely that you'll lose your lane! The same goes for match ups against the 'OP' Champions of the patch. However, being confident could be a double edged sword aswell. Remember, always have a good attitude, but don't play beyond your limit! That in itself can create a mistake that'll dampen your attitude during the game. If you can manage to keep your cool and a positive attitude laning against even the hardest of opponents may just turn out fine!

Post Laning

Once you get out of the laning phase, all of the teamfighting starts! This is where your mentality becomes crucial. If you've had a bad mentality throughout the pregame and laning phase, it'll only get worse once this phase of the game begins. If you don't have a positive attitude with an idea about what you want to do, this is where a bad attitude will lose you the game fairly easily. One bad fight turns into a huge advantage for the enemy team, which won't change if such a negative outlook on things is had throughout the course of the game. This is why I feel it's important to keep a positive attitude, because it supports playing things out and trying your best to make good fights to win the game. Of course, your solution doesn't always have to be making fights! Remember to just stay positive and play with your team to the best of your ability.

Post Game

Of course, this isn't a definite way to win and won't make you win every game, but don't be discouraged, summoners! If you win, then good job and carry your positivity into your next game! However, if you lose, I can understand your mentality on the game taking a bit of a turn for the worst. Just remember, it's always okay and recommended that after a bad loss you take a break for a bit to calm down and make sure you can go into the next game with a positive attitude! I wish you all luck on the rift, summoners!

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