There are various mathematical proofs and logical arguments for the non-existence of Elo Hell. These proofs are entirely accurate and largely ineffective; fighting personal anecdotes of injustice with math is rarely a fruitful pursuit. The purpose of this post isn't to engage in that futile debate, but to use math, logic, and a little common sense to help improve one's Elo.
The first, and most important, mathematical point to be made is simple: Every game is worth, on average, 22-28 Elo. If you win a game you are only 11-14 Elo higher than you were before, but you're 22-28 Elo higher than you would have been had you lost. Because every game you win is also a game you didn't lose, and vice versa, the stakes on an individual game are higher than most players realize.
In practice this means that any improvement in play, even a minor one, can lead to fairly large increases in Elo. If improving your last hitting leads to 5 additional wins out of 100 games played, then instead of ending that series at 1200 Elo you'll be 1310-1340 Elo. Add an additional win for learning to consistently keep Baron warded, two for knowing when you're overextended, and a couple more for timing buffs/objectives and you're 200 Elo higher than you would have been. The key to increasing your Elo is to improve your play.
The hard part is identifying one's flaws and correcting them. It's easy to tell when you CS poorly, but most other flaws are tiny, infrequent, and unquantifiable. Did you lose that fight at Dragon because of poor positioning or because you pulled Dragon? Did you pick the wrong champion or were you outplayed? Could you have saved top lane if you'd rushed that way instead of continuing to farm? These are the little things that kill, small decisions which are innocuous but critical to the outcome of a game.
The single easiest step you can take to help yourself is to install LoLReplay. With the replay files it saves you can observe your games objectively, separated from the moment to moment stresses of actual play. Flaws that might have escaped your notice during an intense match are much easier to see when you're relaxed and detached from the proceedings. Best of all, you can share these replays with friends and mentors and get their input. Skimming through your past games may not be the most exciting activity, but it's better than repeating your mistakes and turning them into habits.
As a final philosophical point, focusing on increasing Elo is a detrimental mindset. It makes it harder to identify mistakes, make observations, and learn. In the short term focusing on improvement might lead to losses, but in the long term you'll see substantial Elo gains. Whether you think your true Elo is 500 higher than your current Elo or don't care at all, improving is the surest way to move up the ladder.
Showing posts with label improvement. Show all posts
Showing posts with label improvement. Show all posts
Tuesday, September 4, 2012
Tuesday, May 29, 2012
Thought: Justify Anything
It's possible to justify practically anything in LoL. Madred's Bloodrazor on Akali? Check. Tiamat on Fiddlesticks? Sure. Zhonya's Hourglass on Garen? Certainly! With the "correct" assumptions even the most ridiculously bad choices can be heralded as viable strategies.
You might think my examples facetious, but these are actual item choices I have seen players make and argue for in all seriousness. They were not trolling, but honestly believed they were making correct choices. Because of misplaced priorities, poor understanding, and/or fundamentally bad assumptions these players made and defended terrible decisions which lost them games.
Funny as those decisions may be there's nothing stupid about them. These players were simply doing what everyone else does, applying their assumptions and priorities to the game itself. What went wrong wasn't the thought process itself, but the inputs these players used.
The true problem and danger is becoming attached to one's decisions. A player invested in their choices closes their mind, becoming unable cautiously reevaluate a choice in the face of alternative viewpoints and data. It's a problem that affects players across the spectrum of skill. Avoiding this pitfall is critical to keeping up with the ever changing landscape of LoL.
Walking this fine line between confidence in your knowledge and dogma takes humility. That might sound like a tall order, but you have what it takes if you've read this far without thinking, "This doesn't apply to me." Keep your mind open, even to stupid ideas. It's effort but it's worth it.
You might think my examples facetious, but these are actual item choices I have seen players make and argue for in all seriousness. They were not trolling, but honestly believed they were making correct choices. Because of misplaced priorities, poor understanding, and/or fundamentally bad assumptions these players made and defended terrible decisions which lost them games.
Funny as those decisions may be there's nothing stupid about them. These players were simply doing what everyone else does, applying their assumptions and priorities to the game itself. What went wrong wasn't the thought process itself, but the inputs these players used.
The true problem and danger is becoming attached to one's decisions. A player invested in their choices closes their mind, becoming unable cautiously reevaluate a choice in the face of alternative viewpoints and data. It's a problem that affects players across the spectrum of skill. Avoiding this pitfall is critical to keeping up with the ever changing landscape of LoL.
Walking this fine line between confidence in your knowledge and dogma takes humility. That might sound like a tall order, but you have what it takes if you've read this far without thinking, "This doesn't apply to me." Keep your mind open, even to stupid ideas. It's effort but it's worth it.
Friday, May 11, 2012
Thought: Smurfing
A large number of players in the LoL community have secondary accounts, commonly referred to as "Smurfs". The primary purpose of these accounts is to play with or against players far below one's skill level. The reasons leading players to make these accounts vary, but more often than not smurfing undermines the player's ability to improve and can even cause a player to regress.
In some cases the player is being benevolent. A player introducing a friend to the game will often create a smurf account to play with them, as using the player's primary account would cause their friend to be matched against far more skilled and experienced opponents. Similarly, a player whose Elo is far, far higher than their friends' will use a second account in order to play ranked matches with them. Because the goal is to play with friends and help them improve, and teaching itself can lead to new perspectives and understanding, this type of smurfing is not detrimental to the player or to the community.
In other cases the player is selfishly looking to crush inexperienced players. For a veteran it's a trivial matter to slaughter newbies, and unfortunately a number of veterans find enjoyment in one-sided massacres. This type of smurfing is nothing but destructive because it encourages bad habits and deters new players from continuing to play.
While most players aren't so malevolent there's a dangerously alluring middle ground between the ends of the spectrum. Players tired of exerting themselves in the interest of victory will sometimes make smurf accounts in order to play more relaxing games. That seems reasonable enough, but often players take it too far, continuously creating new smurf accounts whenever they encounter adversity. By essentially fleeing whenever the going gets tough, the player stymies their ability to grow.
For these reasons I heavily discourage the use of smurf accounts. If you wish to have relaxing games I recommend you grab friends who won't care about victory or defeat and play with some other goal in mind, mess around in games versus bots, or even play Dominion (HERESY!). Smurf accounts, save for when you use them to instruct and help others, are simply a quick path to stunted growth.
In some cases the player is being benevolent. A player introducing a friend to the game will often create a smurf account to play with them, as using the player's primary account would cause their friend to be matched against far more skilled and experienced opponents. Similarly, a player whose Elo is far, far higher than their friends' will use a second account in order to play ranked matches with them. Because the goal is to play with friends and help them improve, and teaching itself can lead to new perspectives and understanding, this type of smurfing is not detrimental to the player or to the community.
In other cases the player is selfishly looking to crush inexperienced players. For a veteran it's a trivial matter to slaughter newbies, and unfortunately a number of veterans find enjoyment in one-sided massacres. This type of smurfing is nothing but destructive because it encourages bad habits and deters new players from continuing to play.
While most players aren't so malevolent there's a dangerously alluring middle ground between the ends of the spectrum. Players tired of exerting themselves in the interest of victory will sometimes make smurf accounts in order to play more relaxing games. That seems reasonable enough, but often players take it too far, continuously creating new smurf accounts whenever they encounter adversity. By essentially fleeing whenever the going gets tough, the player stymies their ability to grow.
For these reasons I heavily discourage the use of smurf accounts. If you wish to have relaxing games I recommend you grab friends who won't care about victory or defeat and play with some other goal in mind, mess around in games versus bots, or even play Dominion (HERESY!). Smurf accounts, save for when you use them to instruct and help others, are simply a quick path to stunted growth.
Friday, May 4, 2012
Jungling: Efficiency
Jungling is a role where your most valuable resource is time. Because the jungle perpetually respawns every action taken outside the jungle comes at a cost. It is therefore critical that junglers pursue only worthy actions and even then avoid wasting time unnecessarily. Efficiency is the essential attribute every jungler must cultivate.
To understand better, consider the gold and exp value of the jungle. The small camps in the jungle can be cleared once a minute and are worth 154 gold and 441 exp in total, before scaling or banking. That's almost as much gold as an assist and nearly as much exp as two full creep waves. Each minute spent not jungling costs a jungler those resources.
For this reason whenever you leave the jungle being efficient is key. The greatest threats to efficiency tend to be moments of indecision. Running back and forth because you aren't sure which lane needs your assistance, spending a lengthy amount of time in a bush because it isn't clear whether the gank will succeed, sitting in the fountain because you haven't decided what item to buy, all of these moments of indecision waste time and resources. Your goal should be to eliminate waste in movement, action, and intention.
It is possible to go too far in the other direction, endlessly farming without ever having an impact on the game is as grave an error as failing to secure your development by failing to properly farm. Keep in mind that while it comes at a cost, the jungler's role is to establish and maintain map control. The job of a jungler involves leaving the jungle, at cost, in order to give their allies the advantage. Efficiency is leaving the jungle at the right time to perform the right action, not avoiding action altogether.
It's a principle that is universally applicable, not just in the jungle. Learning this delicate balancing act is difficult, but mastering it will propel you into the later stages with a stronger champion and team.
To understand better, consider the gold and exp value of the jungle. The small camps in the jungle can be cleared once a minute and are worth 154 gold and 441 exp in total, before scaling or banking. That's almost as much gold as an assist and nearly as much exp as two full creep waves. Each minute spent not jungling costs a jungler those resources.
For this reason whenever you leave the jungle being efficient is key. The greatest threats to efficiency tend to be moments of indecision. Running back and forth because you aren't sure which lane needs your assistance, spending a lengthy amount of time in a bush because it isn't clear whether the gank will succeed, sitting in the fountain because you haven't decided what item to buy, all of these moments of indecision waste time and resources. Your goal should be to eliminate waste in movement, action, and intention.
It is possible to go too far in the other direction, endlessly farming without ever having an impact on the game is as grave an error as failing to secure your development by failing to properly farm. Keep in mind that while it comes at a cost, the jungler's role is to establish and maintain map control. The job of a jungler involves leaving the jungle, at cost, in order to give their allies the advantage. Efficiency is leaving the jungle at the right time to perform the right action, not avoiding action altogether.
It's a principle that is universally applicable, not just in the jungle. Learning this delicate balancing act is difficult, but mastering it will propel you into the later stages with a stronger champion and team.
Tuesday, May 1, 2012
Theory: Rune Pages
Rune pages are a luxury, and as with many luxuries they bring benefits to those who can afford them. A player with twenty rune pages has an obvious advantage over one with just two rune pages. The reason for this is intuitive; being able to carefully tailor a rune page to the specific needs of a champion greatly increases their effectiveness.
Building a rune page is something of an art. While most pages aren't "wrong" per se, finding the right rune page can make or break champions, match ups, and item builds. This takes time, effort, attention to detail, and most of all purpose.
Rune pages should focus on the following purposes or goals as they relate to a particular champion:
The best rune pages tend to address multiple purposes in an elegant way or take one purpose to an extreme. An good example of both is the pure Armor rune page.
For jungle Nautilus a pure Armor rune page serves multiple purposes. It improves his jungling speed (#2), increases his sustain (#2), and allows him to use more advantageous starting items (#1). The best alternatives might barely surpass the pure Armor rune page in speed, but only at the cost of sustain and starting item selection.
The pure Armor rune page can also be used against champions with absolutely obnoxious harass or early kill potential such as Pantheon, Yorick, or Garen. By going all in on defense it becomes possible to survive the early abuse of these match ups without needing a specific champion to counter them. This is an extreme measure, but more effective than being shut out of the game.
Not all rune pages will push champions over critical thresholds or apply in a multitude of situations, but that doesn't mean the effort is wasted. The further you progress as a player the more you'll encounter matches where lanes and skirmishes are won on razor-thin margins. The right rune page can change whether it's you or your opponent who walks away from kill with infuriatingly low health. It may take time, but the more you think about and experiment with rune pages the better you'll become at building them.
Building a rune page is something of an art. While most pages aren't "wrong" per se, finding the right rune page can make or break champions, match ups, and item builds. This takes time, effort, attention to detail, and most of all purpose.
Rune pages should focus on the following purposes or goals as they relate to a particular champion:
- Avoiding awkward or costly itemization.
- Shoring up a critical weakness.
- Maximizing a strength/abuse case.
- Countering a specific champion/match up.
The best rune pages tend to address multiple purposes in an elegant way or take one purpose to an extreme. An good example of both is the pure Armor rune page.
For jungle Nautilus a pure Armor rune page serves multiple purposes. It improves his jungling speed (#2), increases his sustain (#2), and allows him to use more advantageous starting items (#1). The best alternatives might barely surpass the pure Armor rune page in speed, but only at the cost of sustain and starting item selection.
The pure Armor rune page can also be used against champions with absolutely obnoxious harass or early kill potential such as Pantheon, Yorick, or Garen. By going all in on defense it becomes possible to survive the early abuse of these match ups without needing a specific champion to counter them. This is an extreme measure, but more effective than being shut out of the game.
Not all rune pages will push champions over critical thresholds or apply in a multitude of situations, but that doesn't mean the effort is wasted. The further you progress as a player the more you'll encounter matches where lanes and skirmishes are won on razor-thin margins. The right rune page can change whether it's you or your opponent who walks away from kill with infuriatingly low health. It may take time, but the more you think about and experiment with rune pages the better you'll become at building them.
Tuesday, April 17, 2012
Challenge: Garen
At some point you might have seen this amazing Garen video. Through a little luck, a modicum of skill, and a lot of bravery he goes legendary with only a Doran's Blade. It's highly amusing, but it also can teach us a few things about League of Legends.
Thinking about how and why things work the way they do is how great players stay on top of meta changes and adapt to new strategies and champions. Whenever you see something amazing like that Garen video, pause (sometime after you've stopped laughing) and analyze why it worked. Your analysis may not be spot on, but as always practice leads to improvement.
If you think you understand what it is about Garen that enabled him to perform so phenomenally with just a Doran's Blade, try it out for yourself in a Coop Vs AI match. You don't have to end with just a Doran's Blade if you don't want to, but see how far you can go without giving in and arming yourself to the teeth. Test your theory, and then examine it again when you have some experience.
I did this myself last night, and had an absolute blast. My setup is spoilered below, but I encourage you to try it yourself before opening the spoiler. You can always compare and analyze what I did later, after you've already exercised your brain coming up with and trying out your own solution.
Thinking about how and why things work the way they do is how great players stay on top of meta changes and adapt to new strategies and champions. Whenever you see something amazing like that Garen video, pause (sometime after you've stopped laughing) and analyze why it worked. Your analysis may not be spot on, but as always practice leads to improvement.
If you think you understand what it is about Garen that enabled him to perform so phenomenally with just a Doran's Blade, try it out for yourself in a Coop Vs AI match. You don't have to end with just a Doran's Blade if you don't want to, but see how far you can go without giving in and arming yourself to the teeth. Test your theory, and then examine it again when you have some experience.
I did this myself last night, and had an absolute blast. My setup is spoilered below, but I encourage you to try it yourself before opening the spoiler. You can always compare and analyze what I did later, after you've already exercised your brain coming up with and trying out your own solution.
Setup :
Thursday, April 12, 2012
Practice: Last-Hitting
Last-hitting is the most basic and important skill a player can have in League of Legends. Thankfully it's also one of the easiest to practice. Here's one exercise you can use.
SETUP:
Last-hitting without an opponent to harass you may seem pointless, but it is actually very important. If you can't last-hit without an opponent, how are you ever going to last-hit with one? By practicing mechanics in a controlled environment you commit them to instinct and muscle memory. What you practice will manifest itself when you play in a real game.
Practice just a little bit every day, it only takes a few minutes. If you stick with it you'll soon notice the difference it makes.
SETUP:
- Create a custom game without bots.
- Pick a champion to practice.
- Grab your starting item and take the mid lane.
- Last hit for 9 creep waves (the final wave will be a cannon minion wave arriving around 6 minutes).
- Compare your score to the maximum possible (57).
Last-hitting without an opponent to harass you may seem pointless, but it is actually very important. If you can't last-hit without an opponent, how are you ever going to last-hit with one? By practicing mechanics in a controlled environment you commit them to instinct and muscle memory. What you practice will manifest itself when you play in a real game.
Practice just a little bit every day, it only takes a few minutes. If you stick with it you'll soon notice the difference it makes.
Tuesday, April 10, 2012
Thought: Never Give Up, Never Surrender
League can be a very frustrating game, and I do not begrudge anyone for wishing to end their suffering quickly. However, if your goal is to improve surrendering is a great way to stunt your progress. Surrendering is a mistake not because you might still win (though this is often true), but because you cut yourself off from vital experience.
The only way to gain late game experience in League is to first play through the early game. No matter how much you play you will always have more early game experience, and even without surrendering many games won't reach the late game. This makes late game experience a premium commodity, each minute being more valuable than the last.
I've met a lot of otherwise good players who, for various reasons, habitually surrender when a game takes a turn for the worse. The difference between their late game play and that of their peers is striking. They may win their lanes frequently, but they lack the knowledge to close out a victory if the game doesn't end quickly.
By playing games out you learn much that the early game can only foreshadow. You learn the radically different priorities of the late game, how to punish teams that fail to group up, and how easy it is to take Baron when the enemy sends a couple vital members bottom to farm. You learn the importance of map control, the implications of revealing your position, and the dangers of the fog of war to a degree the early game simply can't match. You learn far more about team fighting, roles, and how team compositions work together than any skirmish over dragon can teach. The late game is practically a different game entirely, its knowledge specialized and largely separate from that of the early game.
For these reasons you shouldn't surrender if your goal is to become a better player, save in the most dire of circumstances (e.g. 3v5 with two AFKers in the fountain, whee). You may not win the game, but the experience you gain will be far more valuable than another win in your match history.
The only way to gain late game experience in League is to first play through the early game. No matter how much you play you will always have more early game experience, and even without surrendering many games won't reach the late game. This makes late game experience a premium commodity, each minute being more valuable than the last.
I've met a lot of otherwise good players who, for various reasons, habitually surrender when a game takes a turn for the worse. The difference between their late game play and that of their peers is striking. They may win their lanes frequently, but they lack the knowledge to close out a victory if the game doesn't end quickly.
By playing games out you learn much that the early game can only foreshadow. You learn the radically different priorities of the late game, how to punish teams that fail to group up, and how easy it is to take Baron when the enemy sends a couple vital members bottom to farm. You learn the importance of map control, the implications of revealing your position, and the dangers of the fog of war to a degree the early game simply can't match. You learn far more about team fighting, roles, and how team compositions work together than any skirmish over dragon can teach. The late game is practically a different game entirely, its knowledge specialized and largely separate from that of the early game.
For these reasons you shouldn't surrender if your goal is to become a better player, save in the most dire of circumstances (e.g. 3v5 with two AFKers in the fountain, whee). You may not win the game, but the experience you gain will be far more valuable than another win in your match history.
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