Maintaining a level mindset is crucial to performing consistently across all competitive games. The ability to stay focused in dire circumstances is a trait that can go far when climbing the ranked ladder. This article will be covering a range of subjects to help you control your emotions on the Fields of Justice.

Focus on Yourself, not Others

As long as you acknowledge that you have room to grow, it's actually much harder to tilt. Even if you lose a game with an 0/8 Vayne by your side, put your focus on your own performance and not theirs. You may have had an excellent KDA ratio yourself, but can you really say that you played perfectly? It’s very likely that you could have improved certain facets of your own play and carried harder.

Self-critique and reflection will assist your rate of improvement. Being able to learn from mistakes in all matches, whether they be sweeping victories or 20-minute losses, is crucial to improvement in the long-term. Raging and placing the blame on teammates will inhibit your growth, as you’ll fail to realize upon what you could have been done to change the situation. Understand that other players’ performances are mostly out of your control and not your concern, and you’ll feel less anger while concentrating on gameplay.

Understand that Negativity is Pointless

A fundamental step of conquering and tolerating negativity is acknowledging that raging is redundant. While there is instant gratification in releasing anger, flaming your allies and losing composure will only impair your performance. Anger will cloud your logic, and acting upon it can plague your allies’ mindsets with negativity, so it’s illogical to flame if you truly desire to improve and win.

Picture it this way: The outcome of any League of Legends match is binary (either a win or loss), and raging will only push you further towards the latter. It will tilt your allies or cause them to rage back. Flaming in-game is just wasted energy. Place a focus on limiting your chat usage to positive, strategic matters and you’ll find greater success!

Never Fight Fire with Fire

When someone’s being toxic or overbearingly negative, blaming them or arguing will not help. If your Ezreal is flying off the handle, replying with ‘lol you’re 1/7’ won’t bring them to their senses. The best option is to calmly suggest what they should do to help win. If this angers them further and they’re beyond negotiation, just keep quiet and continue playing. Remaining silent is typically a safe choice, since toxic players are less likely to continue flaming if they’re not provided with something to respond to. Be sure to never fuel a tilted player’s negativity further.

Radiating Positivity

Personally, I believe this is the most effective way to keep spirits high. Whenever a teammate does something beneficial, you should compliment them for doing well. Top-laner scores a kill? Say good job! Even if you just type ‘gj’, you’re encouraging a positive mindset for you and your allies. Do this for all manner of accomplishments to establish a sense of comradery, i.e. teammates will likely be more confident and cooperative.

On the contrary, if a mistake occurs, don’t get snarky about it. For minor slip-ups, just say ‘bad luck’ or ‘no worries’. If someone makes a notable error that needs to be called out and corrected, do so in a clear and polite manner. Be sure to remember that positivity creates positivity!

Your Allies are People, Too

It can often be difficult to form a connection between your allied champions and the players behind them. This is a result of the online disinhibition effect, the term describing unhinged behaviour due to disassociation of people and their online personas. In reality, would you rage and berate your allies if they were in the same room as you?

Understand that your fellow players are thinking, feeling human beings who share the common goal of winning. For many, video games are an escape from reality; people may be playing League to take their minds off real-world issues. You can never tell if someone’s been having a rough day, or if they’re mentally on-edge. Hence, you should treat others kindly, or else a teammate with lower mental fortitude may tilt easily or even AFK.

The ‘Mute’ Button

If someone is negatively affecting your attitude and performance too much, the ‘mute’ button is handy. Muting a player blocks all text-based communication received from them. This only applies one-way, so you can still relay information to muted allies.

Furthermore, if you find yourself too heavily affected by what other players say, you can type ‘/mute all’ in the chat to mute everyone in the game. Some players like to do this to block out potential distractions. Although you sacrifice text-based communication, pings are not muted, which are used to communicate a majority of key information. This will enable you to focus solely on your own play and your own performance.

Implement these tips into your play, and you’ll find yourself having more level-headed experiences across games. Remember that raging and flaming will get you nowhere, and that a positive mindset is optimal and influential. Your teammates likely want to win just as badly as you, so try to keep calm and collected for a higher overall chance of winning. Good luck on the Rift!

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