6 Things I Learned Demoting from D1 to D4 in LoL

This PicklePants article is a treat! Climbs are never straight up, they’re naturally bound to have some ups and downs along the way. Props to Pickle for his honesty in evaluating his own play, we hope you learn from his journey and can apply some of his wisdom to your own climb.

Introduction

It’s not only Tyler 1 or Gross Gore who’s struggling in the current meta of League – your favorite Mobalytics Janna-loving Support, PicklePants is also struggling after a crushing streak from Diamond 1 to Diamond 4 in a month. In this two-part series, we will talk about 10 issues I had and struggled with while grinding the wrong way down from high Diamond. Heres 6 things that I learned during that time I was (and still am) a main passenger on the struggle bus.

Before we go into detail on what I learned during my experience, let me introduce myself. My name is PicklePants and I’m a former Diamond 1 Support main on the EUW server. I play a few champions, notable Janna, Lulu and Alistar. I started League of Legends in Season 3 and I peaked at Diamond 1 84 LP.This article may seem like a toxic person’s way of venting and while I don’t necessarily deny that, learning from somebody who’s been there and seen some stuff, understanding what goes on in high ELO is one way of improving as a player. If you can improve on the things listed in this article then you are a better player than I ever will be.

1. You shouldn’t keep playing if you’re on autopilot

Losing ELO is one of the worst feelings because in some games you feel helpless. While demoting, I was playing tons of games just trying to get back my lost ELO. Being numb to games, and just playing for no reason was my forte. If I got Diamond 1 in the first place then surely, I should be able to get it back right? Well, we are currently not there – and far from getting back to Diamond 1 anytime soon.

(Copyright Paramount Pictures)

This is going to be my 5th season of League of Legends and this is statistically my best year. With that said, each year I’ve got better at the game and understand more about it. The issue rises from playing so many games as you know what you should be doing but you don’t do it. Or, you are doing something and don’t know why you’ve done it. Repetition of the same thing over and over again (such as continuing to play) will cause autopilot to run rampant. When you’re on autopilot, you seem to ignore the very prominent and clear indications of being on tilt or autopiloting which causes you to fall deeper into the rabbit hole.

How can we improve from this?

Grinding multiple games a day is a good way of improving and understanding more about the game. But there is a fine line between playing properly and playing for the sake of playing. Instead of just playing ranked for no reason, only play if you’re fully focused and are ready to win. If you are not playing properly, then you will be unsettled and not in the right frame of mind to play. This will leave you making more mistakes and becoming frustrated.

Listening to appropriate music that is suited to League is another way of focusing on what you’re doing. If you listen to music that makes you TriHard rather than ResidentSleeper then you will have an easier time focusing. This is why people suggest listening to certain music whilst they study. Picking a good genre that will allow you to focus on the game is extremely helpful.

The final and most obvious way to stop autopiloting is by thinking about what you’re doing. We all live busy lifestyles’ that can sometimes make it difficult to focus but, in game, try to just think about what you can do to win. Do not focus on your allies and instead, think of “what can I do right now to impact the map and win the game?”

2. Low mental toughness makes you play worse

After losing 9 games in a row, I had lost all of my earned LP in under 24 hours. When you start losing multiple games back to back, you become slightly numb to it and you stop caring if you win or lose. This also makes you play worse because you do not think about what you’re doing.

9 games is nearly 2 leagues gone, which as you can feel, is a huge drop (especially in 24 hours.) At this time I was just playing for the sake of it, and not actually focusing on anything except playing and trying to win. However, because I had lost all these games, I was feeling very low and felt that every game is a loss. If you feel every game is a loss, then what is the point in playing ranked. With that said, I was never going to say “let’s open” at 5 minutes. Shame on you if you say that.

Mentality is a huge problem for a lot of people, and everybody is different. Nobody truly knows what’s going on in everyone else’s head – so be nice kids.

How can we improve from this?

Mentality is a very difficult subject to talk about and I cannot go into real detail on how you can improve this. Luckily, we’ve already made a post about this before which you can find here. I suggest reading it if you’re struggling mentally.

3. Mobalytics is quite accurate

I’m not necessarily a stats person and I don’t really feel that statistics can prove everything that goes on in League. If you didn’t know, I was trying to prove if Mobalytics is accurate and if it can be used to climb at a Diamond+ level.

I have been tracking my stats via a sheet which tracks every single game I’ve played of League this season. I use an excel spreadsheet to track my stats to see if I am performing well or if I deserve to lose. As we can see by all the losses, I was indeed tilted and I did, in fact, lose a lot of freaking games. This is where Mobalytics comes in handy and can help tell if you deserved to win or not, as we can see – I didn’t deserve to win as I had bad scores on practically everything. If I did play well, then I would have better scores.

My Consistency scores

While sometimes losses are directly impacted by other players- such as intentionally feeding or going AFK, the majority of losses are caused by your own mistakes or the enemy just being better. A lot of players, including myself think if you have somebody whos 0-5 the game may be lost. When in fact, you can often carry this player.

If you want to look at this seasons stats from a former D1 player, you can view them here.

How can we improve from this?

Mobalytics is really good for tracking your stats and you should use it to the fullest when trying to improve. Most of the statistics are quite useful however some are guaranteed to be low depending on your role. Maximizing your usefulness in game and playing better will make your stats go up. This is because Mobalytics runs of off Riot’s API to track in-game information.

Whilse Mobalytics is good for tracking, they cannot do the hard work for you. You should look to use the GPI, Pre-game and the Post-game to improve. There are tons of resources we’ve produced and we are currently working on more. Using our resources to improve, is one way of getting an advantage over the enemy. You need to put in the work to understand and read up about League of Legends to actually improve at the game. We can give you areas to focus on, and give you tips to do so. But we require you to do the hard part.

The only downfall with statistics is how League of Legends is played and nature of the community. Statistics can’t track other players actions that may swerve or cost the game. For example, players going AFKor flaming. So, you shouldn’t just rely on the statistics to improve. After all, you could have all the statistics in the world and still not have the full picture.

4. I don’t listen to my own advice

It’s my job to teach players and help them get better at the game. I find it quite ironic that I’m supposed to be considered good at this game when I dropped so far. It’s also clear that I don’t listen to the advice I give to other players. I feel there is an ego issue to do with this, after all, I should know how to play the game I’m supposed to teach…

“If it feels comfortable, you’re doing it wrong.” This is a quote I feel is really important and can be used an inspiration. If you’re comfortable at being at your ELO, then you will never really learn to improve. If you want to improve, you should make those plays and try to out play the enemy. Making plays that are naturally smart, and are guaranteed to work are good ways to improve.

Because of my champion pool being dominated by utility Supports, I would play rather passive as I could get away with it. However, I know this shouldn’t be the way to win and in fact, I’d need to do something to win.

How can we improve from this?

If you ever make promises to yourself- do what you say you’re going to do. No more of this “one more game” talk. If you are done, then stop playing. If you continue to lose games, then you’ve only got yourself to blame. How many of us have continued to play after we’ve said we would stop? Start making smart decisions. If you say you shouldn’t play anymore, then don’t play.

Write down some things that you want to stick by for future games, for example; “no more games after 9pm”,” don’t play anymore if you lose 2 in a row”, “dodge if you have a Yasuo…” Write down what you want to do and stick by it. Period. If you have sticky notes, attach them to your monitor, and look at them whilst in queue/lobby. If you’re close to a wall, write them on paper and attach it to the wall. Do something and STICK to it.

5) Your friends can also be your enemies.

As part of Mobalytics Discord community, I speak directly and indirectly speak to over 100 people a day, which sounds like a lot but really isn’t. Anyway, there is a lot of mixed banter on Discord with quite a bit of trolling. Some of this trolling can get quite personal and you can see when you’ve annoyed someone because they change the way they reply to you.

It can also get quite personal, especially when it’s regarding you losing games. I did feel myself questioning why am I still talking to these people when they are being toxic towards me? I understand they are trolling, but it was getting stupidly annoying and is one of the main reasons I’ve taken a brief vacation from Discord.

When you’re a certain ELO, and have been around for a while, a lot of people know who you are and who you play. The majority of players are happy for you being a certain rank and want you to get better. However, listening to their suggestions could also be your downfall. I didn’t really want to play anymore ranked after hitting Diamond 1, but players where telling me I should continue to play and push for Masters. Whilst pushing for Masters would’ve been my end goal, I would have liked to have stayed in Diamond 1 for abit longer.

It’s easy to blame others for your mistakes, and while I’m not blaming them for my loses, I wish I never listened to them!

How can we improve from this?

The majority of your friends mean well and want the best for you. This issue can rise where you take what they say seriously, and to heart. Don’t feel pressured to do anything they say, you know best and should do what you want to do (within reason.)

If your friends, are egging you on to do certain things such as play more games – you shouldn’t do it. After all, they are not really to blame if you lose. At the end of the day, whilst your friends mean well, they can cost you a lot. So, whilst you can talk to them about certain things and aspects of the game, you should always take whatever they say with a pinch of salt and never literally.

With that said, don’t take your friends for granted. They are there when they need you, and you should be there for them too. I cherish my friends, and so should you (xoxo).

6. Ego ruins everything

If you work hard for something and become known for doing certain things, you should be proud of it and be able to show it off to people. As somebody who writes content to improve at the game, I would often feel better at the game than most. This is easy to do when you look at ranks and who people play.

As I had peaked at the high end of Diamond 1, I was frequently playing with Masters, Challengers and professional players. I still meet them today in Solo Queue. The issue is, when you play with people that are considered to be the best in the region and are winning with and against them, then you are certainly good at the game.

I feel I question myself and other players questioned me too because of my rank and champion’s I play. On the other hand, I hope to get back to Diamond 1 soon and prove that I am worthy Of Diamond 1.

How can we improve from this?

If you’ve worked hard for something, you deserve to show it off. However, there is a line between being proud, and gloating to your teammates. Try and be humble as possible whenever you win or lose as this makes you a better player and a better person in general.

Each role requires you to do a different job and each has a different set of skills. Just because you’re a Diamond Top laner, that doesn’t mean you’re better than a Diamond Support main. This also doesn’t mean that if you’re a Diamond Support main, you can play Mid lane at Diamond level. You should never feel that you’re better than anyone else just because you play a certain role. At the end of the day, everyone’s in the same ELO for a reason.

While I never went out of my way to gloat about my rank, I would trash talk certain streamers or players who are considered to be good at the game who I feel are not. Which is something you shouldn’t do…