Don’t take this the wrong way—but Riot wants you to get better at League of Legends

Have you been wondering why you can’t climb out of Bronze V? Riot’s game designers threw together a guide to help you answer that very question.

In order to begin improving, however, any player would need to admit to the fact that they actually need improvement. Everyone in League of Legends can improve in some way. Yes, even the player with the Summoner name of “xX_RivenOnlyGod_Xx” (that’s a real name, we checked) could stand to improve some things about their gameplay.

Related: League of Legends’ beginner’s guide: Everything to know

Yes, that means pausing a second before sending through that message into /all that says “this yasuo is inting plz report xd,” or even, “ADC in 2017.” Before you read through the points in this guide, you have to be ready to stop the flame and consider the fact that a better performance out of you would have a significant impact on many of your losses.

Once you’ve worked your way through the Riot guide, here are some expanded suggestions—or new areas entirely—where you can improve your game.

Game knowledge

Knowledge of the game is perhaps the largest factor to consider what makes a good player a good player. Knowing facts about how the game works at its core can come in handy in a variety of situations and will certainly give you the edge on your opponent. What’s the cooldown on that ability? What champions counter Riven? What time should I start looking at dragon? When will Viktor’s flash be back up? The more you know, the better you have the opportunity to be.

Positioning

Most complaints about the ADC role come from those that are weak in this area. There’s a reason that practiced ADCs like Imaqtpie, DoubleLift, and WildTurtle still consider ADC to be in a healthy state that’s capable of carrying games, and that’s because those players are exceptional at positioning when compared to most of us. To be good at positioning means to know when to engage the enemy, what angle to engage them from, paying attention to flanks and ganks, and when to flee. Most low ranked players with issues in this category have the bad habit of throwing caution to the wind when they see an enemy. They wind up dead because they chased the enemy to the ends of the earth only to get caught by the other team.

Champion pool

This is an easy one, albeit less important than both positioning and knowledge of the game. To have a diverse champion pool is obviously a good tool to have at your disposal. Practicing more champions means having more options to counter the enemy’s picks and having more options to turn your team into a well-balanced one. Don’t get us wrong, it’s certainly possible to climb the ranks on one champion alone—but it’s more difficult than adjusting to the meta.

Mechanics

Learning how to play your favorite champion mechanically is what will help you to pull off tricky plays to gain an advantage in a fight. The best way to increase your mechanical skill at any given champion is to practice them a lot—but please, dear god, do it in the Practice Tool and not a ranked game. In no time, you’ll be able to pull off that Lee Sin ward jump, that Thresh flash-flay, or how to press R on Syndra.

Map awareness

This is another big one. Map awareness can be the difference between winning a teamfight or throwing the entire game. Knowing where the entire enemy team is at all times is key to winning games. You know what that means—stop relying on your support to ward. Grab a red ward from the shop every now and again and get some vision. Knowing when to engage on your lane because you spotted the enemy jungler on the other side of the map is one example of good map awareness.

Communication

Communication in League has two parts. First is communicating what you know with the rest of your team. Tell your jungler that your laner just used flash to open the door for a better gank. Tell your mid laner that your opposing top laner is missing. If you’re the jungler, let your team know when the next dragon will spawn or where you’ve spotted wards. Spreading the good word of knowledge in any game is extremely important.

The other side of communication is simply this—Don’t flame. I know that Twisted Fate really sucks, but unless he explicitly says he’s trolling he’s probably having a bad game. You know what flaming does? It makes your own teammate tilt, and on what planet do you expect that to improve your chances of winning?

The tilt factor

Speaking of tilting, you have to try to not tilt yourself. If you have some resilience and you keep a positive outlook throughout the entire game, you can learn to play from behind and start turning games around. This is a tricky thing to improve on, but lowering your level of flame on your own team and taking some deep breaths when you’re facing a loss are good first steps.

At the end of the day, the elo system in League isn’t rigged. It’s there for a reason, and that’s because it works. If you’re stuck forever in a division, it’s probably because you’re not good enough to climb any higher. Anyone can improve, however, and admitting your own weaknesses is the best step any player could take if they want to finally make it into Bronze IV.