Introduction
Hi fellow Summoners. This guide is aimed at Bronze/Silver Support players who want to get better at League of Legends and climb to Platinum.
The idea behind this guide is to give players a direction and to point out the areas where they should improve depending on their skilllevel and the tier they are playing in. I think giving such an orientation is very important because one of the reasons why people don't climb is that they spam games without actually improving.
Don't expect a guide that explains you everything in detail, but take it rather as an impulse to work on the areas pointed out, for example by browsing the internet for more infos (reddit, streams, guides, videos, commentaries ...).
Personally i needed around 200 to 250 games per Tier. When i started with ranked my skilllevel was Bronze 5 and i have always been a casual Gamer without any above-average skills from previous games.
Keep in mind that you will need games to improve and that it takes time; it will vary from person to person of course but i think 200 games is a pretty realistic number if you are working goal-oriented.
Also you have to realize that League of Legends is all about knowledge you have to be comfortable with that. Another truth is that you are not gonna carry or snowball most of your games, because you play at your skillevel and not on a smurf. The only way to climb is to slowly become a better player and there is no shortcut to this.
Part 1: Bronze - The Call of Duty Tier
Characteristics: In Bronze people tend to pick dive oriented Champions or Assassins. The main, or subconscious, focus lies on chasing and killing each other around the map. After the end of laning phase people usually go where the fighting takes place because its not obvious whats the best thing to do next. Also at that point Junglers have the tendency to stop farming the jungle (because of the mentioned fighting). Grouping and going into teamfights is the only Strategy for every team-composition and the team with stronger dives and combos often wins the game.
Main Strategy: The best Strategy for this Tier is to play an AoE oriented Support with high damage output. You need the damage and AoE to be able to clear minion waves (push lanes) and the AoE is also effective against diving teams, because it will hit multiple targets at the same time.
Main Approach:
I suggest you to try out one of the followng ranged AP Champions and stick to the one you have the most fun with: Annie, Karma, Morgana, Zyra.
My personal choice was Zyra because she has the most damage output plus a strong poke and huge autoattack range which lets you dominate laning phase.
After you choose your champion, spam it in ranked and also start learning about that champion, read guides and watch streams...a lot of champions have some "advanced" mechanics or combos. On Zyra for example its best to put down her seeds after casting a spell.
What to do, what to learn, short tips:
If your are stuck in your ranking it usually means that you need to learn something new or get better at an aspect of the game. This section will help you to get an orientation.
- Choose and play one Champion.
Getting good at one Champion has advantages. You will learn the basics faster because you see everything from the same point of view. Damage output, Cooldowns, effects of (starting) items, Matchups etc.. Your mechanical skills will grow on that Champion and later it will be easier to learn new Champions. Dominating with one Champion, a Support is not an exception, can and will catapult you out of Bronze without having a lot of gameknowledge at all.
- Laning Phase: Play aggressive, poke and learn to autoattack.
Aggressive play is very effective because it will force the enemy ADC to lose control over his game. Positioning, last hitting and getting zoned at the same time is to much to handle for an ADC at this skilllevel. And very important, learn to use Autoattacks. Autoattacks deal a lot of damage and they will make the difference. Especially in Bronze you can poke down enemies just by autoattacking them over and over again when they try to CS or when they misposition again. Practice it.
- All-in the ADC.
When All-ins happen, throw everything on the enemy ADC and keep autoattacking him.
In higher ELOs this gets more flexible and usually you will shift your focus depending on the situation but right now this will make you come out on top most of the time and you will get a better understanding on how to focus, even if the enemy locks down your ADC. You will get a lot of Aha-moments when you suddenly win the fight.
-Warding level 1
As a Support you probably know the basics about warding and its not that complicated, just a tip: Everytime you want to put a ward down, think a second if its the right timing. Very often its possible to ward later (if enemy jungler is top). Just get into the routine of placing wards more carefully, especially in laning phase. It will give you more control, more gold and deny more ganks in the long run. Placing wards at the right time and watching the minimap constantly will give you the feeling of being one step ahead and in control of the lane, which is not only important for a Support but also a major fun factor in playing this role.
- Never Surrender
The more mid- and late-games you play the better you get at teamfighting, at playing from behind and other aspects. Keep playing even if its a loss. Climbing in League of Legends is not about winning its about improving. And especially in Bronze its possible to drag out every game into late-game, where one individual mistake by the enemy will win you the game. Press No on every surrender vote. Its a good investment, it will make you a better player than those who surrender.
- Get an insatiable thirst for knowledge!
League is all about decisionmaking and knowledge is the key. Get into the habbit of reading a lot about the game, study the items, look up Champions, read patch notes, get on reddit, watch streams and youtube videos, especially educational ones.
There are so many interesting facts to learn and discover, stuff you won't learn just by spamming games, and even the smallest ones will improve your decisionmaking if you intergrate them into your game. Here some examples:
- When you stun or knock up the Scuttle Crab, her armor and magic resist will drop down to 10.
- The position of your minion wave is the same as the enemy minion wave on the other side of the map. If you check your minion wave you know where the enemy wave is inside the fog of war.
- You can check if a bush is warded by aggroing enemy minions. If they follow you into the bush its warded.
Part 2: Silver - The fixed Meta Tier
Characteristics: Games in Silver have a pretty organized setup, which is defined by the current meta. You will start to see the standard OP Picks and Bans, CSing gets important, Midlaners will roam to your lane sometimes, Split pushing will happen here and there. Players get mechanically better of course, they burn their flashes later and you will meet people that main a Role or a Champion.
The biggest weakness in Silver is that Players don't understand the meaning behind their Actions. They don't know why a Champion is OP or a situation is worth or not worth in an extended context. They don't know how to manage a lane in general, when to push, when to recall and how to position. They might flame you by default for taking their CS, for kill stealing or taking buffs without even knowing why.
Main Strategy: Because people don't understand their Actions and the consequences, you can exploit that just by getting basic knowledge about how your Lane and the Matchup works. Then you can punish the hell out of your opponents and you will start to win almost every lane. The major things you should learn are: Minion damage, Level 2/3/6 rush and powerspikes, Champion ranges & zones, how to manage your Resourses (Level/Hp/Mana) and how to respect time windows (more on that later). The chances are almost 100% that your opponent will make one of the following mistakes: they will engage into minions, they won't notice your level advantage, they will misposition into your range, they will run out of Hp/Mana, overstay in lane or just have spells on cooldown while not respecting your zone/range. And you will learn to punish them for that.
Main Approach:
A good Champion for this Tier is a tanky engage Support like Leona, Blitzcrank, Nautilus, Braum, Thresh or even Sejuani or Gragas. But think twice before choosing on of the non meta Supports ;) .
My personal choice was Leona because she is a solid pick, easy to learn and the things you can do with her kit rises with your skill. Its important not to get poked down in lane early and you should be fine. Also keep playing your main Champion of course!
The first thing to do in lane is to rush level 2 before the enemy does. You can do that by pushing the first wave together with your ADC, but don't give him a hard time last hitting. And don't be late to lane, you will lose XP (The first minions start to die at about 2:12 Minutes). After that its all about punishing your opponents and managing your resources.
If you stop engaging randomly and into enemy Minions, you will start to notice that the laning phase has its own dynamics and time windows. First you must learn to repect that and then to use it to your advantage. Never engage or poke just randomly. The enemy ADC usually has lifesteal and you will run out of mana. If your ADC has a huge wave to farm, don't engage, let him farm. If a lot of enemy minions aggro you, the enemy will have the upper hand. You will start to position better and save your Hp/Mana for the right moments. And because of that you will get a better feeling about how different matchups work, like sustain, poke or engage lanes. Just a very simple understanding of how all these aspects of the laning phase work together will carry you out of Silver in no time.
Ps.: especially Leona Players tend to randomly engage which is a huge mistake. Here is a YouTube video from one of my favourite streamers that i enjoy watching, keep his comment in mind: [Graves/Leona 16:50 - comment]!
What to learn, what to do, short tips:
If your are stuck in your ranking it usually means that you need to learn something new or get better at an aspect of the game. This section will help you to get an orientation.
- Minion Damage and random engages
Caster Minions have 600 range and about 25 damage. If you engage into an enemy creep wave and they got 3 caster minions starting to shoot at you, than thats like fighting a second ADC. Never engage into enemy creep waves in early laning phase and punish the hell out of your opponents if they do - by locking them down in that area for example. Keep in mind that one bad engage or a really bad trade will let your enemy zone you and you will start losing XP and gold. In higher ELOs this will make you even lose the entire lane if the enemy manages to keep up the advantage. Also track if the enemy has Abilities on cooldown, so they will have less damage or CC if you decide to engage them.
- Check if your ADC has some skill
In Silver you can slowly start to peel for your ADC! Yes, the main task of the classic Support. If your ADC seems solid you should stay at his side in teamfights and peel for him. This means to protect him and lock down enemies that try to kill him. You can also peel for other teammates if needed. You get the idea!
- Warding level 2
While laning, you should ward your own tribush more often, even if you are on red side. Also always get a pink ward and put it into the tribush as soon as possible. Usually it will stay there long enough to be gold efficient and it will often deny roams from the enemy mid laner. In mid and late game its very important to actively ward your flanks which results in more control over teamfights. Warding the enemy jungle is also very powerful of course. Also put wards into mid lane, a pretty good spot is near the enemy inner tower because there you can see to which side of the map the enemy is moving.
- Basic Lane control:
When you win a fight and want to recall you should push your wave into the enemy tower to deny them farm and to have enough time to walk back to your lane, also the wave might even reset and meet in the middle again if you do it fast enough. Do it for your ADC if he doesn't know.
Part 3: Gold - The fun Tier
Characteristics: In Gold laning phases are usually more organized, ADCs farm, Supports try to zone and make plays. Midlaner roams will happen in every game.
Every Role roughly knows what to do in Teamfights. Baits start to happen. Jungler ganks are executed depending on the Champion - Vi will probably know how to gank through the lane with her gapclosers, Lee might ward jump through the wall and tower dive you. The first dragon is often won by the team that ganks botlane with Mid and Jungler first. Kiting gets better. Therefore teamfights and skirmishes get better, longer and are actually a lot of fun to play. People start to switch targets, juke skillshots, time their flashes and so on. In Teamfights players usually do what their Champions and Roles are meant for but often they try to run with their head through the wall. The gameplay is still not build around Objectives but a lost fight usually means that the enemy will take as much Objectives as possible from you.
Main Strategy: Its important to read Baits. Usually if the enemy is doing a stupid engage it might be a bait and their jungler is near. Also you should ward more creative, depending on the enemy Jungler. For example, if you are bottom (blue) side and they have a Shaco or Rek'Sai you could ward over the wall near the enemy tribush. Trading and zoning should be a standard skill now and timing gets very important.
Main Approach:
Add a good "Peel & disengage" Support to your pool. Most teams know roughly what to do, so you can start playing Supports that have good peel, some steroids for your teammates and also a disengage for repositioning in fights or just for backing off. Using your Exhaust/Ignite or CC at the right moment and on the right target is very important now. Keep in mind when heals or flashes were used. They will start to make a difference now.
My personal choice was Janna. She gives a shield and a huge AD steroid to your ADC and works well against Assassins with her ultimate. Playing Janna is a lot about timing and being on point, which is important to master if you want to climb out of Gold. But i also tried to be more flexible with the Support picks depending on whats needed or what kind of threats the enemy has for your ADC. It can happen very often that you get countered, for example with a Sona against your Janna.
What to learn, what to do, short tips:
If your are stuck in your ranking it usually means that you need to learn something new or get better at an aspect of the game. This section will help you to get an orientation.
- Keep learning relevant Champion Ranges. Blitzcrank grab 925. Sona Poke 850. Caitlyn AA range 650. Common ADC AA range 550. Graves Q 950. Stuff like that. Now, for example, you can understand why Blitzcrank can be a good pick against Sona.
- Learn basic damage outputs of your Champions but also in general. Usually Level 1 Skills do around 60-80 damage and increase by around 30-40 per level (without AP/AD ratios). While Ults do 150 to 300 depending on the champion. Knowing some roughly damage outputs depending on Level can take you a long way and help a lot in decisionmaking.
- Understand common roles, scenarios and limits: An Assassin unsually won't kill a Bruiser or a Tank, neither does a Support. Learn when you can go in and when you should stay out. Don't chase or start an extended fight against an enemy if you are not sure where his teammates are.
- Learn to CS under tower and how to help your ADC to CS under tower. Learn to deny farm, to freeze, when to push and when to recall together with your ADC. Timing is important. For example, don't let the enemy get an item advantage just because u did not recall and they did. Learning a new Role will help you in this case, because Supports usually don't have full control over minion waves. Personally i started practicing ADC and Mid after hitting Gold, but it takes time and i still try not to play it in ranked. But Mid is pretty easy if you are good at your AP Support from Bronze, which you should be, so you already have a solid Champion that you can pick into almost every lane. A defensive lane control - keeping lane near your tower - is pretty effective in Mid so you can always stay viable for your team without dying if you are uncomfortable with a Matchup. Ps: And yes, as a Support main you actually don't need to learn CSing until Gold.:)
- Buy your items depending on laning phase and Matchups. If its better to have a pink ward or more HP pots or more Mana Regen, then do it and buy the sightstone or the boots later.
- If you are ahead its not always a good idea to take the enemy tower to early. Sometimes its better to keep the enemy in lane to get more kills and to avoid that they go and gank midlane.
Final Part: Platinum
Characteristics: In Platinum games start to completely focus around Objectives. Every fight has a reason which is usually a dragon or a tower and everyone knows about it beforehand. Your Jungler or Smite Carrier won't suicide when Drake is up in 1 minute. People start to prepare Objectives and think into the future. Its really fun and satisfying to play on such a level. Also people know how to utilize their Champions and exploit weaknesses of the enemy team.
Unfortunatelly there is still a lot of inconsistency which can have a huge impact on the game. Players also tend to give up very early when behind. The games feel more grindy and a lot of players don't see a point in trying to come back into a game, they will just surrender and spam another game. The tolerance for mistakes is lower and your teammates will let you know, which is a good thing to learn faster, but it also can be a pretty toxic mix.
Main Strategy: Unfortunatelly i don't have enough games in Platinum to give valuable advices.
So this is where the guide ends! Personally i stopped playing ranked after hitting Platinum
because i reached my goal and also want to concentrate more on other stuff. My initial goal was to get out of Bronze btw ! However i will keep playing with the mindset of getting better so some day this guide might contain concrete advices for Platinum.
And a small motivational text at the end:
Your main goal is to improve! Always practice something new and define your own mistakes. It will pay off! Don't be to prideful and search mistakes in your teammates or the game itself. Its a waste of time.
Don't concentrate on winning games, concentrate on the game itself and every second of it. The more good decisions you make throughout your games, the more victory screens will pop up in the long run, but don't bother with them short-term. Let every game teach you at least one small lesson..it will add up quickly.
In my case, I climbed through the Silver Tier with just a 54% winrate overall (with some 60-70% bursts inbetween) , which took 217 games. This means its totally possible to climb out of a whole Tier with a win difference of just 17 games (which is the 4%). Awesome isn't it ?
This fact also proves that the ELO System and the overlaying Tier System is more than fair. If you stay above 50% you will climb. You will also get matched with tendentially better players, which will let you play out of your comfort zone more often and therfore speed up your learning process. You should aim to stay in this environment. You can reach that by playing consistent and by improving constantly.
Learning to detect tilts and when to stop playing is a major factor in staying consistent.
League of Legends IS a psychological demanding game. The way a lot of game-features work (kill notifications, first blood rewards, killing sprees, stupidly short commands like /ff that can be abused, the chat itself etc) is maximizing the already stressfull environment and creating toxicness between players. Dealing with this and understanding its background is a major skill you have to master if you want to stay effective in SoloQ!
Good Luck my fellow Supporters !
