Hello! Welcome to my first ever article. Let me preface this by giving you a quick thank you for taking the time to take a look at my content. I hope you like what you read and consider coming back for future installments. This guide is mostly for the general population that’s hovering around the Silver/Gold border and below who are looking to make the climb to Gold, but I hope to address issues that I see from players of all ranks and ELOs. Without further ado, let’s jump right into what I consider the most important topic for the average solo queue player.

Mentality refers to your state of mind or your way of thinking about something which in our case is League of Legends, both in and out of the game. Your mentality can have a massive impact on how well you play as well as the outcomes of your games. I’ve come up with a few points I want to address that seem to pop up in many of the games that I play.

1. You will lose games.

There are no ifs, ands, or buts about this one. You will lose games. You will lose promotion series. You’re going to go on loss streaks so long that your grandparents can’t even remember the last time you won. It sucks but it’s going to happen whether you want it to or not. When it comes to League of Legends, you just have to accept that losing will happen and that it’s literally impossible to win every game you play. Losing can even be a positive experience.

You've probably heard this before but losing is the best way to learn how to get better. In losses your mistakes are much more obvious. If you can you should take the time to review your games. Unfortunately, there is no replay system currently, but Riot recently announced that they will be introducing a replay system during the Pre-season which will be a very valuable resource moving forward. For the time being you'll have to use third party resources to watch replays. Even without replays, try to take some time between your games to think back on the previous game. This can be done after wins as well as you will always make mistakes during your games. Try to identify a play that went wrong and what about it went wrong. Were you out of position? Did you use your spells efficiently? Did you choose a target correctly? Try to identify something you consider was a mistake and then change how you would play in the next game. Then repeat the process for every future game. Too many times I see players that just beat their head into the wall over and over. They lose, queue up immediately, and just keep on losing or maybe going even if they're lucky. By reviewing your losses and even your victories, you can learn from your mistakes and actually improve your gameplay.

Pro tip: You can click the space button at the end of your game as soon as the Nexus explodes and you can skip the whole Victory/Defeat animation.

2. It's just a game.

I can't believe that I actually have to write this one out but pretty much every one I encounter in solo queue takes this game way too seriously. I'm not talking about the "I'm trying to improve my gameplay" serious but more like the "if you do a single thing I think is stupid, I will wish death upon you and everyone you know" kind of serious. In the end, we're playing a game. We're all playing a game. We started playing this game because it was fun but you add in a little bit of competitive ranking, and it just brings out the worst in people. I have a couple of things that I want to talk about for this point as well that may help you take the edge off how seriously you take your games.

First, your rank literally doesn't matter. For 99.99% of all players, their rank will not affect their future in any way, shape, or form. Something I like to think to myself concerning this is in twenty years, am I going to care what rank I was for Season X of League of Legends. The answer to that is going to be a no. Hell no. Realizing that down the line, I'm not gonna care a single bit whether I got Victorious Maokai for free that one year helped take some of the pressure off during my climb. Less pressure means you're no longer going to make some of those misplays you would've made because you were too stressed to focus on what you were doing.

Second, you should be having fun. Ask yourself this question seriously. Are you having fun when you play League of Legends. If the answer isn't a confident yes, I think you have to take a good long look at your priorities and how you spend your time. League of Legends is a game. It's supposed to be fun. If playing ranked games isn't fun, you're kind of wasting your time and probably making it a negative experience for both yourself and your teammates. Maybe take some time to play a few normal games or ARAMs where there isn't any pressure to win. Maybe even take some time off and play a different game so you can come back to League with a fresh mindset. Try to remember why you started playing in the first place and bring that feeling back into your ranked games. If you can enjoy the time you spend playing ranked, no matter the outcome of the matches you play, I guarantee you'll be in a better spot mentally to climb.

I give you permission to get mad at Teemo.

3. You'll get there eventually.

Everyone seems like they're in a rush to get to the rank that they want to be at. I get that the season is ending soon and that there is actually a time limit on when you can achieve Gold or whatever rank you want by, but if you focus entirely on that time limit, you're going to pressure yourself into making sub-optimal plays and probably lose yourself games that you could've won otherwise. Relax and just try to make it as far as you can. If you don't end the season where you want to be, don't sweat it. You'll get there next season. Let your goals be the motivation that drives you to succeed, not the pressure that weighs you down. Enjoy the games that you play and don't worry so much about the numbers attached to them. Before you know it you'll get to where you want to be and can start shooting even higher.

Disclaimer: This guide will probably not help you get challenger.

That concludes the first part of my series. This first article was a bit more abstract, as I truly believe that the right mindset is the first and most important step in your ranked journey. I have plans for more parts that talk about more gameplay related topics and hope to publish them in that future so that there is enough time to read them and maybe apply some of what I talk about. If you like what you read and want more please toss me a follow or like on one of my social media pages. I hope you liked what you read and if you have any questions or comments, please feel free to contact me through social media.

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