Season 2: Solo queue and Elo Hell

In this post I am going to talk about Elo Hell and what it is as well as the due queue and some general tips.

I didn't start too well in Pre-season 2 with my placement matches and was dropped down to 1100. Since then I have got a current win/loss of 36/30 and my elo is 1224. I am currently having the problem of winning 2 games and then getting maybe 1 genuine loss and then another loss down to people joining ranked at 1250 elo. It's currently a roll of the dice on if I will win and currently at this elo it is rare to have even games, it is usually one sided.
I know that Elo hell is usually blamed for most losses, sometimes I agree with this but sometimes the enemy were just too good. People’s opinion is usually dependant on where you are in the current ladder. People who got easy placement matches and went up to 1500 tell people complaining about Elo hell to “stop whining nubs, practice more”. The people who deserve be higher but ended up getting afkers e.t.c end up going down to 1000-1200, then they see more people who ruin their games and then complain that Elo hell exists. To understand Elo hell we have to look at it outside the box.

Rolling the dice

Elo hell doesn’t mean an area of the elo rating where you cannot do well at. From personal experiences, it is an area where chance plays so much part in a win or loss; you can never truly carry your team. People may argue ‘If you couldn’t carry the team then you sucked at that champion’, the problem with the solo queue is it is basing your elo on the team’s performance, when the skill level at the 1000-1200 varies significantly.
On the other hand there are people who truly belong there, but I think the area between 1000 and 1250 is so inaccurate people are losing and winning in a way that isn’t right. You are, in essence, rolling a dice on the team setup.
For example, I have 36 wins and have been playing since beta, I make mistakes but I understand team compositions and what are potential bans and picks. My current elo is 1224 so when enter champion selection ‘Player 1’ is doing his placement match but starts 1250 elo. This means someone with less knowledge and experience decides on the bans and first pick of the team. This usually ends up with bans on Jax or Pantheon, instead of Morgana and lee sin. Because of the game changing champions such as Morgana are left open for pick, but the first pick usually ends up being a solo top.
Because of all the hype from season 1, people are trying ranked for the first time so currently the elo rating is very unpredictable while people are being placed correctly.

Carrying with Duo Queue

An effective way of lessening the chance of having unskilled players on your team and increasing your chances of carrying is by duo-queuing. I have tried this with fellow players and it works pretty effectively.
I found the best setup was you and your friend go bottom, one of you plays the ad ranged carry and the other plays support. Some good combos are Kogmaw/Taric, Caitlyn/Taric, Kogmaw/Alistair.


General Tips

• When Possible go duo queue with someone your same skill level and go either solotop/jungler or ad carry/support
• Good bans are Morgana, Lee Sin, Amumu, Caitlyn, Annie, Brand, Kogmaw.
• If you are first pick, try and choose one of the above which hasnt been banned.
• Learn to play all roles, you are less likely for arguments to occur if two people want mid.
• Try and resist a surrender, games CAN change from winning aces.
• Winning team fights creates Aces, Aces win games.

Xerath, the Magus Ascendant

Once again we have a new champion approaching us, and this one looks like it will be a winner. Xerath will be a long ranged, mage champion. In riots mechanics preview they explained that Xerath will use "Locus of Power". I'm unsure if this is potentially going to be his passive or if this is what he may use as some form of mana. I think Xerath will be the new morgana in terms of carrying games in the competitive scene. If we take a look at maybe the nearest similarity , Kogmaw, we can see how having long range can give you a massive advantage in being able to harrass while being hard to target.
In terms of 1 vs 1 capabilities I think Xerath will be pretty good seeing as he has a stun but I his counter will most likely to be fighting him as he may have to stay immobile while casting his spells.
I think Xerath's potential in teamfights is going to be amazing will most likely be a counter to other ranged champions. Being able to pick of carries from afar will be an amazing addition to a ranked team and may prove to be a new auto pick.

Can't wait for Xerath to come out, until then I am focusing on improving my ranked Elo.

First look at Riven : mixed feelings

I managed to try out Riven and I have very mixed feelings about Riven. The synergy of her skills truly is amazing and her ability to chase down enemies is phenominal. Riven's spells all scale off attack damage, including her passive! With all that potential I expected to go into games and do what any other ad carry would do. Strangley, it's not how you expect to play her and realise that she is very weak early to mid game and shows her true colours once you reach late game. The problem you will have is keeping your farm on track until mid game.
I have tried solo top and although you have the mobility to move in and out the farming isn't ideal and you WILL be outfarmed eventually. I have not tried going bottom with her but it may work as you have mobility to harass a ranged carry.
After not doing so well on the top lane I decided to try a few games with her in the jungle. It's not as slow as I thought and I managed to get off successful ganks with her ability to chase down and ambush. The real problem I find with jungling her is enemy junglers. If the enemy jungler steals your blue buff then its not really a problemas you dont rely on buffs as much as other junglers but in most cases you can't 1 vs 1 other junglers in a fair fight.
Another thing I realised if you can do a lot of damage if people just ignore you, so trying to go into teamfights first as a tanky dps will not work at all as you will be focused and dead in seconds. Instead wait back a bit and use your mobility to get to the ap carry at the back and punish him.
I was using the usual armour pen runes which I found were fine with some armour on seals and magic resist on glyphs. Although Riven benefits extremely well from attack damage you may want to go towards a build with a bit of hp to give you the time to get off attacks, for example getting a frozen mallet.

That's all I got on Riven at the moment, all I can say is she is good if played correctly and can be a game winner. Try her out and good luck!

Just letting you all know that the Riven update is out so you should have a look at the spotlight for her here. She looks like she improves through mid to late game while still having some fortuity in early levels. I am hoping to try and test builds looking at maybe a tanky dps setup, I personally think going pure attack damage won't be as effective.

Also if you have seen the Patch Notes, you will know about the major Nerf to Mordekaiser which, in my opinion, is a good move by Riot. Although Mordekaiser was already not effective in ranked 5 v 5, I think he was just too much of an auto pick in the solo queue and basically was an automatic ban in most cases. Now it frees up space for some variable bans and allows other tanks to take his place, maybe shen after his buffs.

I have been trying Jarvan IV lately in normal and thought that he played so well through each stage of the game and was an amazing solo top laner who can go one to one with most champions at top. On top of this he has the ability to go further into a tank build or out into a tanky dps depending on how well your team are doing, giving so much versatility. I decided to try ranked and so far have 5 wins to 1 loss. It may be luck so I am going to continue with it and see how it goes. I suggest trying him out as off-tank and going into tanky dps if your doing well on your lane. See how it goes, you wont be disappointed! 

If you're reading this I'd like to say thank you for stopping by and I hope you can enjoy my blog!

Who am I?   

Well I'm a pro gamer, armed and dangerous. Not really armed and dangerous, in fact I'm probably taking it too far to say I'm a pro gamer! League of legends is one of the games I play a lot of and now want to look into creating guides for all champions, as well as any that are added  in the future. I currently play on the EU West server, although I have played on the North american server as well and I must admit there is a big different in playstyle.

What will your blog contain?
Mainly gaming content, update, guides and my opinion on up to date occurrences. My guides will have all the essential information on skills and how to play a champion, but  with my own personal builds and tactics as well counters to other champions and playstyles. There are certain techniques that many people aren't aware of that change your gameplay of a champion from average to using it's full potential. I also want to give my opinion and ideas on advanced and basic concepts of League of Legends, especially the upcoming new feature - Dominion.

Well that's it for my first post just to briefly explain things, I will start working on adding new posts. If you havn't already you should check out the latest champion that's going to join us when season 1 ends, Riven The Exile