Out of the millions that play LoL, there are less than 1% that qualify as pros. If you don't fall into this mystical elite category, you are probably making a whole bucketfull of mistakes that are causing your progress to flounder. While you can certainly approach League of Legends from a casual angle, doing so will ensure that you remain permanently at the bottom in this hyper-competitive e-sport. In order to hone your ability as a LoL player you should be constantly looking for ways to step up your game.
Though there are plenty of guides out there to teach you what to do, there are very few that explain the many things you shouldn't do- the faux pas of League are numerous and insidious, and all it takes is a few hours in solo-queue to notice that inexperienced players are making the same mistakes game after game. Make sure you aren't one of those noobs by consulting our handy Top Ten.
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Ready for your lesson noob?
1) Not Pinging
The pings are there for a reason: they allow you to quickly communicate with your allies without having to stop and type (getting yourself murdered in the process). Learn them, love them, USE THEM."Enemies missing" (represented as a question mark on the map) is absolutely essential when your opponent leaves lane, exposing your allies to a gank."On my way" lets your team know that backup is incoming, so that they can plan their attack accordingly.
And there are more, of course. Best check the link for a more detailed description of how to use pings- it will improve your game dramatically.
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Pinging saves lives
2) Noob Builds
There are dozens of guides about what items are essential for any particular champion, but following these too religiously can often lead to a build that isn't well suited to counter your opponents strengths. Don't blindly build. Be situational. If you are getting wrecked by Brand (or other AP) it is time to get your Magic Resist rocking, if Yi keeps tagging you, why not pick up some Thornmail? You get the idea.
Always remember to press tab and watch what your opponents are building, as this will help you pick equipment to counter them.
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Akali's sexy build
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Do you feel lucky noob?
3) Arguing with Teammates
Anytime you get on the internet these days, the trolls will be waiting for you, and LoL is no different. Whether it is a racial slur, blaming your for their own death, or intentionally feeding, there are plenty of LoL players who are completely Toxic. Don't be a jerk. Make sure that you practice positive communication with your teammates. This is a team effort, and being all on the same page actually helps you to win games.
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Go in together or not at all
4) Overextending
Unless you are an amazing player with years of experience, do not tower dive. You will die. Do not engage in a three on one. You will die.
Unless you know what you are doing, do not hang around the enemy's side of the map when 3 of your teammates are dead. All you are doing is feeding the enemy team, and you definitely are no Leroy Jenkins.
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Even Rengar can't do it alone
5) Not Warding
Warding well is a criminally underappreciated part of the game, particularly at the lower levels. If you can do it, you will be able to dominante the non-warding competition handily.
Here is a simple guide to warding. If you are one of the many who don't understand warding, reading this guide should raise your win rate significantly.
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Well placed wards are crucial
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The original term for noob was "landlubber"
6) Missing Dragon Opportunities
The Dragon is an important tactical piece in the chess game that is a LoL match. While it shouldn't necessarily be your top priority, you simply must take the opportunity to grab his buffs as often as you can. Simply warding the dragon up so that you know when the enemy team is encroaching can impact how often you are able to snag the scaley beast and snowball to a win.
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Tibbers!
7) Not Prioritizing Towers and Inhibitors
No, getting the dragon is not more important than snagging that open turret. No, a massive team effort to down Baron is not going to help as much as a push that takes out two of the enemy inhibitors. Too many times you see noobish players hang back and hit creeps while their lane opponent is taking their time shopping for boots. Destroying towers is what wins games, and thus they need to be high priority targets at all times.
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Always go for the tower
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There is a spider in your hair!
8) Leaving your Lane Too Soon
We all want to help mid lane by pulling the perfect gank. Getting that kill would make us a hero. But what's this? The enemy has destoyed my turret? Heroic ganks are appealing, but a good LoL player does not leave his turret unguarded early in the game for any reason. Wait until you at least have the front enemy tower in your lane taken out, and from there you'll have greater freedom to roam the map.
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Not the time for a pool party guys...
9) Leaving your Team to Fight 4v5 Battles
This is a personal pet-peeve. If you are trying to do a split push while your team gets destroyed in a five on four, please uninstall the game immediately and go back to playing a single player FPS or something. LoL matches are not all about you, and when you allow your team to be overwhelmed because you are trying to pull some heroic advance on the enemy nexus, you are spoiling the game for everyone else.
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Blitz knows how to pull chicks
10) Not Buying Runes at Level 20
Runes are somewhat easy to overlook at first, they cost IP and seem to do very little. But ignoring this essential building block of your champion puts you at an extreme disadvantage. It is best to wait until you are level 20 because that is when you get access to the highest level of runes, and ensures you get the most bang for your buck. Here is a good rune guide to help you get started.
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Runey toons
Try eliminating these problems from your game, and your win ratio should shoot up immediately. I can't help you with your teammates though. Most unfortunately you will probably pull your hair out once you are aware of just how many people are commiting the sins against the LoL gods discussed in this list. Just tell them to come to Gamersdecide.com and make a sacrifice!
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