by ChezBurglur

HOW I GOT TO GOLD

I think getting to Gold is super doable for everyone under 100 games. If you’re looking to get to Gold for the rewards, you’re probably looking to get there with fewer games, then my advice is as follows:

1. Learn one comp (Duelist is the first comp I learnt and it got me to Gold)
2. Only pick a chosen that you are comfortable with
3. Whether you have a chosen or not, make sure you have a Frontline + Backline formation on your board
4. Know which level is best to roll for the final comp you’re building, and only roll at that level. Use any excess gold for levelling

HOW I GOT TO PLAT/DIA

Plat/Diamond elo is where I learned the fundamentals of the game. To get to Plat, I’d say you need to master one of them, while you need to master all of them to get to Diamond. These are what I think are the fundamentals of the game (at least with respect to this set/meta):

BUILD YOUR STRONGEST BOARD

This is probably a fundamental that requires the most practice and has the highest skill ceiling. The basic idea is as follows: in every round, assuming you don’t roll, you are potentially offered an opportunity to have a board that is stronger than what you already have, can you spot this potential and make use of it? Note that you are not building your end-game comp, but rather the strongest comp possible with the shop offerings. The purpose of doing so is to win as much as possible, but also have the best econ in the entire lobby. The reason you don’t roll is that gold spent at higher levels are more efficient than lower levels, so you want to get to the desired level ASAP to make the most of the gold you have.

I can’t detail all the things I learnt, especially with how the meta ebbs and flows, but here are some key concepts:

1. Have a Frontline + Backline at all times. This is your highest priority regardless of synergies/items/units
2. More often than not, 2* units are stronger than synergies/higher cost 1* units. Try to hold pairs (even at the cost of your econ) so you can potentially upgrade them and play them.
3. Know which units/synergies are just broken in the early game. Right now it’s Maokai, Teemo, Kindred, Elderwood, Sharpshooters. If I spot any of these, it’s an instabuy.
4. I usually buy the first chosen I see but I don’t always play around it. Like if I have a Keeper Elise, I don’t always have other Cultist/Keeper units in because Keeper Elise is good enough to provide the frontline I need.

MANAGE YOUR ECON/LEVELING

This is very simple, at least in this meta:

1. Level to 4 ASAP
2. If you can level to 5 and make 10 gold, LEVEL
3. If you can level to 6/7/8 and make 30 gold, LEVEL
4. Level to 9 is a decision you make after making 8. Depending on your comp at level 8 and health, you can either: a) Donkeyroll at 8, which usually happens if you’re playing for top 4, b) Level to 9 as soon as you have the gold for it and donkeyroll at 9, which usually happens if your board is fully upgraded and you have a 9th unit to play, c) Slow level to 9 and make 50 gold, which usually happens when you are rich and healthy, then look to play full Legendaries.

If you have pairs or need specific units at level 6 and 7, you can roll from 50 gold to 30 gold, but try not to roll more than that. Most people roll to 0 at level 8.

Donkeyroll means rolling all the gold you have every round. Slow level means spend all your gold to level until you have 50 gold.

THE ROLLDOWN/TRANSITIONING

I think it’s fair to say this is the skill I picked up to get to Plat. This was during the 4-1 rolldown for Ashe/Talon/Warwick meta. It didn’t matter how poorly I played my stage 1-3, I just roll all my gold at stage 4-1, transition to my end game comp, have the strongest board in the lobby and start winstreaking to a top 4. After the Chosen odds change, the rolldown is at level 8, 5-1. The idea is to transition your current strongest board to a board that is in meta, and you do so by rolling most of the gold you have. To be good at this, you need to understand the end-game comp you want to play well. This includes the units, the items, the positioning and the right Chosens. Right now, the meta comps are:

1. 4* Aphelios (imo the strongest non-legendaries comp)
2. Adept + Hunter
3. Jhin or Kayn + 4/6 Dusk
4. Divine Warwick
5. 3* Veigar + Elderwoods + 1 Mage
6. 3* Katarina + Warlords + 1 Assassin
7. Ahri + Vanguards + Mystics
8. Zed + 3 Cultists

There are plenty of guides out there for meta comps. It’s fine to master one or a few comps. However, unlike trying to get to Gold, you have a learn a meta comp, so weird comps like Enlightened isn’t going to fly here.

Note that my leveling tips work don’t work for Aphelios and Zed. I don’t play Aphelios a lot, but I think it’s slowrolling at 5 for your 1 cost 3* and then slowrolling at 7 for your 2 cost 3*. For Zed, your rolldown is at level 7 stage 4-1 instead of stage 5-1. Both these comps struggle if you’re contested, so remember to scout!

ITEM SLAMMING

So many Plat players have 8 items on bench waiting to build everything on the ultimate carry. That’s very inefficient. The health you save by slamming items early (albeit less ideal for your ultimate carry) usually outweighs the benefit you get from slamming BIS on your carries. If I can slam a decent item from the 3 components I get on stage 1-4, I almost always do it. The only exception is if I know the 3 components are BIS of my eventual carry, but I can’t slam any of them yet, I’ll wait until the second Carousel to slam my items. (For example, Warwick’s BIS is Deathblade/QSS/Runaans, if I have double cloak and a sword, I wait till the second carousel to get a bow or another sword to slam Runaans/Deathblade)

HOW I GOT TO MASTERS

Diamond elo is where your mistakes and misplays are heavily punished. Did you slam the wrong item? There goes your 5 win winstreak. Did you greed to make 40 gold? Oh no you just took a 6 unit lost. To get out of Diamond, execution is key. I think most Diamond players have a good grasp of how to play the game, probably just as well as low Masters players, but they lack in execution. Here are some tips to get to Masters:

1. Build your strongest board. As I said, this has the highest skill ceiling, so there is always something to improve, and this comes with time and experience.
2. Scout and position for your opponents. Know which boards you’re more likely to play against, win against and lose against, then position accordingly. Very often positioning is placing diff. Watch out for Shroud/Zephyr/Lux/Assassins
3. Don’t misexecute on your rolldown/transition. Buy the right units/Chosens whenever they appear in shop. It’s okay to miss a Jhin in Plat, you’ll probably just take a 2 unit lost, but in Diamond? Because of your lack of 2* Jhin (in a Dusk comp) you’re taking a 7 unit lost.
4. Remember that getting top 4 is more important than winning the lobby, especially in D1. That’s because your lobby is probably weaker than you, so getting an average rank of 4.5 is not enough to climb (my average rank of the past 100 games is 4.19). This means taking the safer route (play a less ideal Chosen, slam a less ideal item) is probably better than greeding for a first or eighth play.