35 steps for getting out of Bronze

This is a guide on 35 progressively more important tips on how to become a better ranked player.
The first 10 tips are simple whilst the last 10 are more cherries on the cake.
This list is not meant to be exhaustive but is meant to cover a LARGE amount of things that people
do wrong in Solo
Queue and its good general advice for playing League of Legends.
Final note. I'm not trying to be anyones friend here. This is a list of tips on how to improve from
being a bad
player. If some of this seems too harsh, too difficult or too crazy then disregard it at your own risk.
Anyway. I made a video companion for this - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QR4bib2IaUo
1 Ranked IS for tryhards -- If you don't want to tryhard or play competitively. Stop playing
Ranked. Simple as that. Its where you go to try improve yourself, prove your worth and hone your
skills. Not have fun.
Sure you CAN have fun playing Ranked, but you dont go into a Ranked game expecting to have
fun. You expect to have a difficult match as you try to prove your worth.
These tips are for people who WANT to improve, if you don't. Go find something else worth your
time.
2 It doesn't matter what game you played before -- This is League of Legends. Sure some games
can give you general tips on how to play, give you a strength, but its not the same game. Even
switching between DotA 2 and LoL you'll find huge differences. (see this handy video for more ;)
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UpHQHpu0sPU) So no-one cares if you were a Starcraft
Master, no-one cares if you were in the number 1 CSS clan. Those games won't help you in
League, you need to acknowledge this is a new game and be willing to learn as if youve no gaming
knowledge at all.
3 Pay attention -- You want to win? THEN PAY ATTENTION. Someone should not be able to
have a fight within the size of the screen if focused on you without you noticing. Yet in Bronze I
witness allies straight up being killed RIGHT BESIDE THEM and only noticing after being auto
attacked themselves.
If you aren't actually aware of your surroundings you aren't playing seriously enough to play
Ranked, go play something else.
The mini-map is there to indicate where people are. Its not the responsibility of the other lanes to
call 'SS', its your job to be aware that someone is missing.
4 Don't panic -- AH THEY ARE FIGHTING WHAT ARE WE GOING TO DO I DON'T.
STOP.
Don't know how to deal with harass, think about it.
Don't know how to escape danger, think about it.
If Darius just seems to beat you over and over again when you're Teemo, despite people telling you
Teemo hard counters Darius. Go find out why, and stop running away from him every time he acts
big and scary.
If you panic every time something happens that you aren't sure of you'll get nowhere.
5 Ensure you know the basics (Best masteries, items, runes) -- You think you are super pro
right?
If you're in bronze I can promise you the first 9 points in the offensive tree you have in your
masteries, are wrong.
Go have a look, at the one you use for an aggressive solo top.

Back?
0/4/0/0
-/4/00/1/0/0
Right? Well those are the wrong ones to have actually.
4% AS is worth nothing. Syndra actually gains 4% AS from getting from level 1 to 3. Thats how
little 4% AS is worth. 4% CDR however is worth much more.
Also, if you're running ignite or exhaust. You can go 1/0/3/0 and open up the 2nd stage of the tree.
If this is all news to you, then I suggest you look at the videos as presented by Phreak, on the
mastery trees.
http://vods.leaguepedia.com/tag/phreak/?orderby=title
6 Actually learn to last hit -- Go play Vlad and last hit with auto attacks only, no AD runes. How
many creeps do you have killing that wave at about 10:30? Because that was the 114th creep that
just died.
No-one expects you to get them all but Froggen reached over 300 CS by 23:10.
By 10 minutes you should have about 80+.
If you're not getting that, you won't get Platinum.
But I get so many kills that- NO! Learn to last hit. One kill is worth 15 last hits. If you kill your
opponent 3 times and he outfarms you by 50 CS they are actually ahead.
7 Learn every role -- You don't need to be a pro in every lane, but this ties into learning how
to not panic and dealing with fights. Once you know how every lane works, you'll have a better
understanding of how the game works and what to expect in general from your opponents.
8 Learn every champ in the game -- Yes. I'm deadly serious. Not learn to perfection, but play at
least two games with every champion in the game, and make sure you know how EVERY ability in
the game works and what type of damage it does.
9 Ward -- MAP HACKS FOR 75G. Literally. You should always buy a ward no matter your role.
Late game even ADCs should get wards so they can farm safely. If there is no vision on the map, its
not the supports fault. Its your fault.
10 Don't use the same item build each game -- Tab is the most powerful button in the game. It
tells you who has the most kills and farm in each team i.e. who has the most gold, as well as the
items and summoners of each champion. If the enemy team is building full AD, then you drop your
banshees veil build and you get a randuins omen or a thornmail. Learn to adapt to the situation,
and to do so also requires you to have an understanding of what every champion can do. Thats why
point 8 was so important, you need to know what type of damage your opponent does.
Quick note whilst talking about this, keep track of your enemies summoner spells as well. Before
you engage press tab and make sure you know what you are going into, it might save your life.
11 The mini-map always tells you where everyone is -- You can see the enemy on the map, you
know you're in no danger. You don't see them, then they are in the bush next to you.
Now this might sound like paranoia, but its true in a sense. You should never be caught off guard by
someone appearing in your lane, and you should know when its safe to take certain actions if you
watch the map.
Enemy jungler shows bottom lane, then its fine for you to tower dive top as long as you have an
idea of where the mid laner is.
Their mid and jungler are ganking top? Then try force dragon because then its 3v4 and you'll have
your smite. Map awareness also prevents you from letting creep waves grow too large or from
being backdoored

12 Objectives matter -- I don't care if you're 15/0/10. If you never take a tower all game you won't
win. This is insanely simple. Learn to push for Dragon, take turrets and then apply pressure further
forward. Warding as you go.
Pressure pressure pressure
13 Ban according to level -- In Bronze Twisted Fate will get flattened and be useless. In Diamond
however, the players have a high enough skill level to position and abuse his skill set and he will get
banned quite a bit.
Don't feel you need to ban certain champions. Bronze, no-one can play Elise, Shen or Jayce to save
themselves. But Malphite, Amumu and Darius are all scary and easy to play effectively. Ban what
you feel is scary at your level.
But don't ban foolishly, just cause you don't think Malphite is any good doesn't mean he isn't. Noone is scared of Fiora, even if she carried last game.
14 Learn whats OP -- This follows off the last tip. If something is apparently OP, learn to play
them before you try them in ranked. Watch a couple of pro players using them, read several guides.
That way if you get a chance to play them in ranked you'll a) know why they are OP and can abuse
that and b) actually be able to play them
If you can't play them. Don't pick them. Simple.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-IoT8YbLWNM
15 Watch the pros (At least keep track of pros) -- Even if you just watch a weekly highlights reel
or read articles on what is OP etc. The pros play what they play for a reason, I'm not saying copy
them. Far from it. But if every pro team starts running Heimer jungle, you better stop and find out
why. That brings me onto my next point.
The pros are pro because they are good at the game. Try find a bunch of popular games and watch
at least one a week. Keep them recent so you can learn whats popular etc. This means that you
can...
16 Don't rage -- Stop arguing. Who cares what they did? Who cares if you're right? Just play and
shut up.
Stop reporting people over nothing all the time. I've played on a few Bronze IV & V accounts,
mainly to see how bad it was. And I was shocked to see how willing people are to straight up report
whoever lose their lane, or disagree with baron, miss a smite, take blue, don't ward etc etc.
This.
Is.
Pathetic.
It helps no-one. You don't feel any better, the person being yelled at doesn't feel better, and the
tribunal
doesn't care. Stop reporting people over nothing
17 Do communicate -- Imagine an army of soldiers. Imagine they were all deaf. Well that would
be stupid huh? So is sitting silently playing as if you are an island. You see the enemy jungler - ping
him. Gank heading bot - ping it.
You want to go in - ping it. Think Janna should focus on warding instead of trying to harass - tell
her.
BUT WHATEVER YOU DO DON'T YOU DARE DO IT MORE THAN TWICE. No-one needs to
ping more than twice. Ever.
Literally.
Ever.
Two pings is the max. Please and thank you exist.
Remember that.

18 You start feeding, BACK UP-- You are losing your lane. Figure out how to fix that. Don't
continue to do dumb things OVER and OVER. It won't help you at all. Even if you must sit and
farm at your turret to avoid dying, do that.
19 Don't sit pushed -- Sitting pushed up to your opponents turret, especially without a ward
screams 'IM VULNERABLE. HIT ME'
You also struggle to kill someone under a turret. If you are dominating your lane, let the creeps
push out and zone the enemy by standing near or in front of their creeps, making them afraid to
come near. Even this can be the little gap between escaping or not.
20 Learn to teamfight -- AD carries focus the tank. This may surprise you but its true.
AD Carries need to shot whatever is closest.
AP Carries need to blow their CDs HOPEFULLY on the most important target but if they can't get
close enough then they should hit whatever is closest.
Tanks/bruisers/junglers need to start a fight then either peel enemies off their carries or dive onto
their opponents carries.
Supports should go forward, use their abilities, then become a hat for their carries.
Every situation is different however. But generally burning all your ults on one person isn't worth it.
Being at the front of a fight as an ADC is dumb and not using your spells and dying cause you were
waiting for the perfect moment is dumb. Perfect moments rarely come.
21 You have won a teamfight, don't recall This drives me insane. You have just beaten the
enemy, you have an easier time doing what you want. GO DO THAT. You can recall and buy
afterwards, you aced them and your team is lvl 18 with full HP and next to Baron. Do it. There is a
tower in mid that you could push. Push it.
If you are in a good position to take objectives, take them. Don't recall to buy items to help you take
the objectives you AREN'T taking.
22 Avoid inconsistent or generally bad champs in ranked -- I'm assuming you're not exceptional
at certain champs.
So champions that rely on snowballing to be of any use, or that require high skill levels, or a LOT
of skillshots.
You pick the best masteries and items possible, so why gimp yourself picking a bad champion?
There is always an exception to the rule, but I'm assuming you aren't Gold+, so this rule applies
HARD.
Don't play champions who require skill or luck.
Once you get Gold, certains champ like Cass, Lux and Elise start to become viable picks.
23 Learn timers and use them -- Buffs are 5 minutes. So generally blue buff will respawn at 7:10,
red buff at 8:10. Dragon spawns at 2:30 and has a 6 minute timer. Baron spawns at 15 minutes and
has a 7 minute timer.
Whenever one dies, keep track of it in chat. That way you can tell your team to ward a minute
before dragon, get them all down there. You can invade and your team will know what you're
doing. If your opponent does not know when things respawn you can assert map control and take
them away before they even notice the skull on the map is back.
24 Don't throw a won game -- You are winning. Act like you are perfectly equal. We've all seen
the comeback videos. We've all seen even Pro teams throw. If you are ahead then aim to finish the
game, not improve your KDA. Stop doing dumb stuff and just finish. You can mess around in a
normal, but you're trying to prove something here.

25 Don't play angry or tired -- Its 1am, you've not played all day. Don't play. You've lost 5 games
in a row. Take a break, don't play. Play a normal, dom., TT, Anything before you play ranked.
Make sure you're in the zone first.
If you feel you're just playing badly, don't play ranked.
26 Foolish diving =/= Aggression -- Learn when to dive, and when to back off. Learn when to
stop chasing and when to finish someone off. You are not being aggressive tower diving at level
2, you're being stupid. People ask when they should stop chasing, generally, as soon as you ask
yourself the question 'Am I chasing too far?'
27 Follow your gut -- You need to learn to make crazy plays that might or might not work.
This sounds like the polar opposite of everything people tell you but its true. You reckon Tristana is
recalling in that bush without her jump, then skillshot it. Worst thing that happens is she isnt. Best
thing is you can kill her.
Learn to know the extremes of what your champion can do, what you can do. Otherwise you can't
make plays. If you can't make plays nothing happens.
28 Don't give up -- Enemy gets first blood. So what? They got a couple of dragons? So what?
If you give up and let them crush your morale you lose. If you sit and scream at your team to
surrender the game is already lost.
If you take a stand, get people to hold their chins up and play well you can turn around games.
Sometimes the worse team gets early advantages which they can't capitalise on. Its very common.
Never give up. Never surrender.
29 CC/AoE is OP -- Get some. The more CC the better. Damage/tankiness/CC/gap closers. The 4
things you should aim for to make a team. So the more you get of all those the better. AoE CC is
OP. Get some.
In teamfights people usually all cluster up on someone, AoE destroys them. Simple as.
Its why Orianna is so good, its why Varus is so good.
Its all good.
30 When picking a champion think how it fits into the team - Nidalee won't work in a team thats
focused on heavy engages. Jayce won't work if the enemy team has a very tanky team. Sivir won't
fit into a team if you're mid is Xerath, jungle is Mao and top is Malphite. I'm not going to tell you
why they don't fit, you've gotta figure that out yourself ;)
31 Don't duo -- Unless you know this person inside out and you have played several hundred
games with each other.
You may think I'm being OTT about this but trust me, you would be surprised how bad your mates
really are. This is also a controversial one as people say but my mate is so pro he said he can carry
me. But what happens when they arent there? What happens if you get put against the guy who is
as good as your mate that match-making will pair your team with?
Ranked is about your score, your skill. Learn to play alone, thats why its solo queue.
32 Don't take poke and don't mid for no reason -- Simple but seriously. Learn to dodge
skillshots. You don't see pro players getting hit with every skillshot that comes their way cause
they know how to dodge. Otherwise Nidalee would be played in every game at Diamond. Also
don't group up in mid if you've no way of either a) poking the enemy down or b) forcing a fight
QUICKLY. The longer you take poke the less likely you'll win the next teamfight. The
more time you take to stand around in mid, the more you gimp your laners who could be off getting
more farm or other towers.

33 Learn when to roam -- You've taken both top turrets out. Don't go back top. Go elsewhere.
Apply pressure on the other lanes. Stop farming mid as Ahri, go gank somewhere with your
massive mobility. You always hate when your lane is turned around by some good player coming to
gank other lanes, be that guy.
34 Innovate in normals not ranked -- Think you've found the new op champ? Think you've found
a build that is off the beaten track but really strong? Go play it in normals. If you can't win with it in
normals what chance do you think you have in ranked? Don't pick a troll pick in ranked if you want
to win
35 Learn CDs -- Your opponent used ignite well after you, meaning that when your ignite comes
back you've a window where they won't have ignite. That means you can win that fight
GOLDEN RULE
You don't know jack about the game - Otherwise you would be plat by now. Shut your mouth
and learn to play. You aren't a pro, so stop yelling at your team-mates and raging over skype. Stop
blaming your ADC for dying when you run away on 3k HP. Suck it up and learn you're fallible.
Don't blame solo queue either, most pros have multiple accounts at high platinum/diamond. If they
can do it on several and you can't on one, you're lying to yourself.