Picks and bans are an essential part of winning your ranked match, but many people neglect the fine art of the pregame draft pick. Here are some tips to help step up your game.

Be Prepared:

Make sure you are ready for a game before queuing up. This seems self explanatory, but many people do not follow it. If there is a chance of needing to leave, do not queue up until you are certain you can commit at least a full hour to the game. If there are many distractions going on around you in real life, you will not be paying as much attention to the game as you should. Physical and mental health are a factor too, such as feeling sick or tired, or feeling sad or angry. All of this affects your gameplay mechanics and decision making. Get enough sleep and eat before deciding to play some ranked.

Knowing Your Champion Pool:

This is done before you even queue up for a match. Practice many champions and positions, either in normals or AI matches, to feel comfortable doing any role your team needs you to do. Either on a notepad or in a text document, write down the five positions and champions you feel confident in playing next to them, along with champions to ban if you are first pick. This way, when it is your turn to pick, you do not feel rushed and pick a champion you are not comfortable on. Another method, which I personally use, is LoL Summoner Information's champion filter feature, which allows you to type a custom word in the search bar, bringing up preselected champions to choose from.

Pay Attention:

A lot of people alt-tab or check their phones while in champ select. This is a bad habit. You need to pay attention to know what position you are going to play before picking. While picking, it is good to think of counters for the enemy team and synergy with your own team composition, instead of rushing to pick a champion that fits the role without any other thought.

Some people also play other games while waiting, such as Osu. You need to give your hands a rest, especially if you are on a multiple hour grinding session. There are many cases of wrist injuries in pro players across many games. There are more precautions you can take, but giving your hands and wrists a break is extremely important. For hand and wrist stretches to do in between matches, check out this video by Dr. Levi Harrison made for gamers to prevent carpal tunnel.

Communicate:

Have a small message typed out, ready to copy paste into the chat that reads all the positions you can play in order from best to worst. Also, ask what positions your allies can play. If someone says they only can play mid, it is best for all parties involved to give that player mid. Even if you think you are a better mid, you probably also think you are better elsewhere, so pick another position and allow your teammates to feel comfortable. This is why being able to play at least a couple champions in every position and setting your champion pool beforehand is very beneficial.

Stay Positive:

Usually people respond to positivity, so be polite. A silly joke or pun in the beginnings of champion select can set a positive mood for the rest of the game. If there is a troll, do your best to ignore him or her. Do not encourage it, and he or she will most likely dodge himself or herself. If you have been counter picked, do not be discouraged or stressed out. Ask your teammates for a few ganks and play your best. You are the only factor you have complete control over; make sure you do not lose control of yourself.

Dodging:

Many people are afraid of dodging and play games with trolls or poor compositions where they obviously cannot win. Hitting alt-f4 is sometimes for the best. Losing 3 LP, no change to your MMR, and waiting five minutes opposed to losing 17-23 LP, losing MMR, and waiting at least twenty minutes. If you have to do it a second time in one day, it is a 10 LP lose and a thirty minute wait. At that point, it is better to just stop for the day, since the dodging penalty lasts about sixteen hours in my experience. If someone else dodges, putting you back in queue, leave the queue and re-queue in a couple minutes. People usually dodge to avoid a potential troll, so you do not want that on your team.

That is all there is to it. Many games are won in the drafting stage, through picks, communication, and attitude. Use it to your full advantage. Good luck climbing the ladder!

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