Padami and Madlife.

About a week ago my ranked team and I were doing our placement games for our new ranked team: The Hell Fire Club.  Doing my usual Blitzcrank chases I managed to pull this off (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DhnOSodU-O8&feature=youtu.be). I wish you could have heard the shocked noises from my team members but the SWAG music our epic jungler put at the end will have to suffice.






(p.s - didn't notice my voice on this till later....crap. /cries)


Pad. 

The Hell Fire Club and the Princesses

With season 4 Just around the corner: I decided it was time to establish a new 5's ranked team. My previous attempts had been utter failures for many reasons: 

• I picked friends first and foremost over skill so some were just plain bad...
• Some couldn't take criticism and thus started the bitching behind each others back. 
• Leadership wars: Some just wanted to be the shot caller which caused people to get annoyed as most of the time they weren't very good.
• Some didn't like me talking as much or suggest anything because I was female....yup.

So! with all the previous history I decided to myself that I would take into consideration a lot of things. With no question or doubt I knew one person I was going to invite was my very good friend Naderien. When I said I had learned my lesson about not inviting friends? I honestly did learn from it but i actually need him in my team for a multitude of reasons. 

Our relationship is like Beauty and the Beast: Naderien being the lovely Belle and myself being the Beast. Now before I continue please don't picture me as a hairy tall lion type creature (Rengar?) and Naderien in a dress, what I mean is that he calms me. Naderien and I have been Duo partners for a long time and we know each others play style inside and out. He isn't the best AD Carry I know nor I am the best Support but we both bring other thing's to the team other than our play skill.

In our bottom lane I am the primary shot caller. I love to play aggressively in lane and Naderien knows my style well enough that he knows when to react to it. It is rare that we lose bottom lane and when we do? I blame him (huehuehue). He calms me when I feel im about to put my hand through the internet and punch the player which you assume puts peanuts up their nose and sniff to see if it will go to their brain. We both can argue about our playing and never fall out, we actually listen to each other and become better.

I did want to make this a serious topic about my new ranked team but I have a better idea: I will give you an in depth look into my new team's personalities in the form of.....you guessed it...a Disney Princess. I may all of a sudden be kicked by the time any of them read this but in the great word's of the community of LoL "WURF".

                                     EPIC RANKED TEAM PERSONALITY ANALYSIS

Naderien - A.K.A: Belle. (AD Carry).

He is knowledgeable by nature, always willing to research into ideas and concepts in LoL. He can be quiet to new people but once he does know you he is loyal and a good friend. His play style can be perceived as subdued but really he is just waiting for that precise moment to pounce on you for that kill.

Main AD Champions: Graves, Tristana, Caitlyn, Miss Fortune.

Strengths: Good understanding of the bot lane, excellent synergy with his support.
Weaknesses: Can go too deep when ahead in kills, Does not have dancing candlestick friend.



SuspectGod - A.K.A: Mulan. (Jungle).

Suspect was the only one of us who we picked from the LoL forums through advertising. Being the only one who didn't know everyone else he was determined to prove his worth to us with his great aggressive jungling. He is always willing to try his best and give it his all in games. 

Main Junglers: Shaco, Lee Sin,Jarvan IV, Elise.

Strengths: Great aggressive jungling, always keeps the enemy team busy.

Weaknesses: If a gank fails it can set him off edge a bit and then starts to question his own abilities. Needs more confidence!

                                                                        Schneesturm3 - A.K.A - Snow White. (Mid Lane).

This mid laner reeks of professionalism at every step. You can hear his brain working out the "what if's"in every step of his playing. His innocent and kind nature makes him easy to get along with, he also easy to please weather by linking him a funny video or laughing at my amazing jokes (cough).

Main Mid Laners: Arhi, Orianna, Zed, Kassadin.

Strengths: Vast knowledge of the game and his champion pool. Good map awareness to be a good roaming mid laner when required.
Weaknesses: Can be too cautious...well he did eat a poison apple and slept for a long time...no wonder he is that way.





KiNg JaSeY B - A.K.A - Jasmine. (Top Lane)

This guy is so laid back that he wouldn't glance twice at the massive tiger sitting beside him. You don't get any shade of grey with this chap, says it how he sees it weather good or bad. He also sounds like he is in the film SNATCH. Awesome player no matter which lane he plays, an overall good asset to the team.

Main Top Laners: Malphite, Shen, Rumble, Zed.

Strengths: An all rounder good player to have, has great game and champion insight.
Weaknesses: Needs to speak up more...You heard me!





                                                                                    Padami - A.K.A - Lilo. (Support).

Ok.. so she isn't a Disney Princess but her personality is pretty much on par with my own. We could be in the middle of a game and the most random crap can come out of my mouth. To some this can be funny and endearing, or to some they question how many times I was dropped as a child.


Main Supports: Janna, Nami, Blitzcrank, Thresh.

Strengths: Just pure unadulterated awesome.
Weaknesses: Lack of sleep makes me miss EVERYTHING.







For the record this is purely for comical value and all the guys in the ranked team are very very manly /flex.

Pad.

AD Carry Spotlight With GomezZnl: His journey to Diamond.

In the Beginning, this blog was intended to be my own journey to becoming a better League player.  However, the game includes five distinct roles, and I specialize in bot lane; it's been my home-lane  for over two years.  I wanted to share as much insight as I can on it; but the bottom lane consists of two roles, the Support (which is my own focus) and the AD carry (which I have less experience with).

I tried to discuss interesting topics that aren't as generic as most of the websites involved with LoL.  I wanted players to read this and make them think that becoming better at LoL is not an unreachable goal, that normal players with normal lives can achieve great things and not just the professionals.


I asked one of my LoL friends GomezZnl to participate in my blog and talk about the AD Carry role in bottom lane.  This season he went from Gold to Diamond and has continued to persistently improve as a League of Legends player.  The reason I selected him as opposed to any of the other AD carry's I know is that during the time we've known one another (about a year), I have admired his personality and play-style.  He is determined, persistent and adaptive, always encouraging and promoting a positive attitude throughout his games.  He has always impressed me with his mixture of  improving, while generally being a nice guy and fun to play with (a rare combination, in my experience).  Moving from Gold to Diamond is a tremendous achievement for any player, so here is my little spotlight on AD Carry staring: GomezZnl. 

Padami: I wanna write about you for my blog. 
GomezZnl: wait waaa?
Padami: Just do it or I'll end you. 
GomezZnl: :3

                                                                                                                                                
                                GomezZnl

- What are your main Ad Carries? 

"Vayne, Caitlyn, Ashe".

- What did you do or change to improve and become a better player?

"At first I didn't notice any changes that I had made, I had struck a barrier at Gold 2.  My play style didn't change but mechanically I became a lot better and I was more secure with the
champions I played.
I think for me, you have to be secure in your champions.  To know you won't misclick anywhere, and also how to abuse your match-up, for me that is important; how you play with your support and what you can do with your supports.  Counter picking is important, like I main Vayne, which got me through Platinum as she can carry so well, and I learned how to play against through her worst counters.  No one knows how to play Cait that well, just that she counters Vayne.  From lvl 4 Vayne is stronger than Cait.  These are things you need to know and be aware of.  You need to know when to trade and how to trade.  When your enemy is about to go for a minion last hit, they stand still for a second, so you know where they will be for that second.  In that time you get free time to trade with your enemy.  I also go into custom games and practice last hitting, how to freeze in lane and get to 100 CS in ten minutes, and that really helped me get better.  I am not the best laner in games which I can improve on, which is why I dont play Vayne in Diamond at the moment, as I get punished so much but it encourages me to get better".


- Three top thing's you should know about your role?
"Knowing when to trade and how to trade.  There is a saying, "The first team to push the lane in bot lane wins the game".  Why?  Well, first you have level advantage and being able to punish the enemy easier.   You also have the minion advantage, slowly building up a minion wave where they can lose a lot more if they try to trade due to minion aggro.  Last thing would be knowing your champion inside out".


- What do people get mostly wrong about your role?

• Positioning. "A lot of players who AD Carry have really bad positioning, and I see it mostly in Blitzcrank/Leona and Thresh lanes.  They don't position themselves right so they get caught.  If your in a lane such as this, push the lane and position yourself".

• Turning a jungler gank around: "A lot of high elo players when they get ganked in the bottom lane can get away. Being three versus two you are out numbered which isn't good, but if you can survive the initial blow out of the gank, most of your enemies cool-downs and summoner spells have been used to try to successfully execute that gank.  In return you have only used a Flash to get away.  I've seen so many ganks being turned around this way if you successfully escape their initial gank and in return trade effectively and possibly get a kill.  Just remember to hold onto your Flash for a long as you can; if you are playing Caitlyn/Vayne/Ezreal you have other escapes you can use. For example, if Jarvan IV ganks you as Vayne and ult's you can just tumble out of it.  It is important to know how jungler's work and how to respond correctly to a gank".

• Don't go too deep: "It becomes too easy when you have a few kills behind your back to think you can take a little bit extra risk then you go too deep and die.  It just ruins your advantage".

- Do you think playing other lanes helps to improve overall as a player?

"Yeah definatley, even though I say I suck in other lanes, but I try to play other lanes in order to understand the champions and what I could be up against".


- Do you think experimenting with different builds or tactics in ranked queue is a good idea?

"Yeah, trying a new build, you need the pressure of ranked to see if it really works, cause you will have people try harding as much as you.  You can also try it out on normals but it just isn't the same atmosphere or tension as you get in ranked"


- Do you think state of mind is an important factor when playing ranked?
"Yeah really important, it's the difference between winning and losing.  I encourage my team always in ranked.  If someone flames I'll try calm down the situation.  If your in a losing mood?  Well guess what?  You will probably lose".

- How do you adapt your play style in solo queue when you have a support you've never played with?

"I believe the Support carries the bottom lane in lane.  In champ select, I can tell if my Support is good or not.  If someone calls Support then I think to myself,  "I can play any AD", as I know that person plays it as their main role.  If no one calls it, then I need to play safer and pick safer.  If my Support doesn't help me put pressure in the lane, I'll play safe and farm to my turret as close as possible.  If I play Caitlyn, I can push them out in lane if the Support has warded enough.  Unless someone says they want to play Support, I don't trust them to play it.  I also main Support in Diamond, and I feel I can carry my AD through the lane and be successful in team fights because I have a really good knowledge of both roles".

- Final thoughts?

"When you get to a level such a Platinum, players do understand the game but they become so mechanical it becomes so easy to read their actions, like they've read the manual and following it word by word.  Know your Champion and be able to make plays with them, take a chance and win games".

No Flame: Win Game.

I found a little advertisement recently that Riot released, regarding team work; here's the link for your delightful entertainment. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ugXC7g3p0JU)

It is obvious to the player with average intelligence that teamwork, more than anything else, wins League of Legends.  Yet with an estimated 32 million active players playing LoL monthly, it seems the overwhelming majority of them don't know a thing about the essence of team play.  Some players believe in the 'elo hell', that when you climb the elo ladder people seem to play and co-ordinate better. I can say with 100% certainty that this is untrue.; people have bad players and bad games no matter what elo you are, and it is silly to think that higher elo players don't make mistakes.

When I was in the Silver League, I didn't know much about teamwork and the general understanding I had from my games was that each person had to win their lane in order to win, and in return you win the game.  As I progressed it became clear to me that in games where I felt my team was getting stomped on, it was generally due to their team grouping a lot faster than we did, and playing as a unit more effectively.  I became more aware of the map and began to become a better player by looking at my team overall and using teamwork to win.  You could have over 300 farm in your lane and be fed fit to burst, but if you intend to sit firmly in your lane for the rest of the game then you are useless.  Even if you're Nasus leveling up that Q in top lane, if your team is 14-2 ahead on kills and you still sit top?  It's not going to make a lick of difference.  I'm not going to tell you the tips that everyone else is: I'm going to tell you the hurtful truths some players really need to hear.

 
                                                                   Hurtful Truths 

•  Don't rage when you give away first blood or die to a gank.   You decide to type something randomly angry on the all-chat or your own chat; maybe instead of getting annoyed instantly and deciding to start the flame war, think about why you lost.  Personally when I see someone do this then start wasting time on the chat, I automatically put this person on my 'got to carry' list.  First impressions are important and when you start it with a first blood death then making excuses for yourself?  I imagine you look like a walrus with a joystick to me.  If you give first blood away or get ganked and say nothing, generally no one else will say anything.  Do you know why? Because we are concentrating on our lane, to lay the groundwork for a victory.

• Don't expect baby sitting by the jungler.  If you're having a really bad game and you have given away a few kills, then buy some wards, play it safe and don't expect the jungler to come save your lane.  It is a waste of time for a jungler to go to a lost lane; there is a no return policy on lost lanes.  The jungler can be much more useful to their team trying to get someone else some kills, as opposed to making you worth money again.

• Don't bitch about kill steals.  Unless someone is has over 5 kills then don't bitch about kill steals.  No one knows you in ranked, and they don't know if giving you that kill if beneficial to the group, so don't bitch about.  Be glad the enemy has suffered a casualty, take advantage of their momentary death, and continue with your next step.

• Look at peoples' items before you comment.  If you ask me to ward one more time after that ward just went out and I haven't backed yet?  If you say 'I'm building Aegis' after I've already bought two of the components?  You make people think you aren't paying attention, and they think this, because you aren't.

• Put your pride aside.  Doesn't matter if you are first-pick or a diamond player elo boosting someone; if you act like an ass you will be treated like one.  You will gain no respect from anyone if you act like you already deserve it and treat other players as though they are beneath you.  You can either treat people with courtesy and receive the same consideration in return, or you can create this circle around you as though you haven't showered for days and no-one will want to help you.

                                                Treat people how you want to be treated.

Pad.

The Big Bad Ward Battle.

Warding is important to me; as I main Support, it is key that the wards I place are going to have their optimal effect in the game.  It got me thinking though if there is any link between elo rank and how people use wards; League is a team game, and I think that correct ward placement is an important facet of good teamwork.

                                                                                                                                          

I conducted a small questionnaire within my friends list, and asked 40 of them two questions:

• Who's job do you think it is to ward the Summoners Rift?
• What are the main issues you face about warding when playing Ranked? 

Here are the top comments I received and the rank they are currently in.

Silver:  "Mostly I see every lane not warding and the jungler doesn't ward enough."

              "Wards? but I need to buy my DFG." (Known troll)

Gold:  "I tend to not buy that many wards"

            "I ward as much as I can but I think a lot of people forget about it or don't care"

Plat:  "Mid lane is a usual suspect for not warding, and usually the first to get caught."

           "Usually the jungler and support buy most of the wards"

         

Diamond:  "Every game is different. Some people ward and some don't.  Mostly people ward, then overextend, then die."

" It's everyones job to ward, although Support should be doing the majority of it"

When I asked one of my friends in the Diamond league the second question, the reply I got was "none really, if people are playing serious".  It made me think about the potential link between how seriously people take the game and warding.  So the pattern I have thought about is: 

Serious gaming - Higher elo - More use of wards.

Not so serious gaming - Lower elo - less use of wards. 

Although it isn't quite as clear cut as this (there are always outliers on either end of a scale), there does seems to be a potential pattern.  If you take the game a little more serious than others, would you be of a higher elo and therefore using advantage of all the games resources, such as wards? 

I scanned the LoL forums and any other pieces I could find on warding.  Almost every post or website that give you tips about raising your elo explains about good use of warding.  It's been noticed in an anecdotal fashion that there is a link between high-elo and proper warding, but not enough research to say it is factual.

                                                                                                                                            

When I started playing support I was directed to ward and I didn't ask why, I just did what I was told. When I took more interest in the game and began my journey to become a better player, I started to look at the vital places for warding and when it was or wasn't needed.  For example: it is likely that a Fiddlesticks jungler will start at their blue buff, proceed to red then try to gank the top lane or mid. This has been a reoccurring pattern which I have noticed in my climb to Platinum this season.  If I knew that the jungler in the opposite team was stronger than my own early in the game, I would try to ward their own red or blue buff to give my jungler some insight to whether their buff was about to be stolen.  It's a small thing to place a ward for your jungler, or to ward for yourself, but the ultimate reward for doing so will grossly outweigh the cost of doing so.

The World Championships has been a great example this season of the early ward battle between teams.  Pink is in, and there has been a consistent pattern of team members buying vision wards in the game.

So let's look at the pros and cons for buying vision wards, for a measly 125 gold:

•  You can save yourself from a potential gank.
•  You deny the other team vision of both your jungle and their own, depending on where you ward.
•  You can gain objectives such as Drake, Baron and the opposing teams red or blue buffs.
•  You can catch a member of the opposing team out, killing them and giving you a huge advantage.

What's that you say?  All that for 125 gold?  WORTH.

In the World Championships, it was clear that there were some decisive ward battling in games

Gambit vs Samsung Ozone in the group stages Diamond's Evelynn was able to contribute and pressurize both the jungle and lanes.  The analyst desk ripped apart Ozone for the lack of vision wards in the game.  In the semi-finals with Gambit vs Najin Black Sword Diamond again played Evelynn jungle.  At one point there were 6 vision wards amongst the mid lane and bottom.  Evelynn was denied almost every chance to successfully gank in between, leaving Gambit struggling and giving Najin Black Sword a decisive advantage.  It is a small example of the big bad ward battle but it shows how much a jungler or anyone roaming into a warded area will be so limited, having only a remote chance of a successul gank instead of a certain one.

Your Thoughts!

I would like to gather a bit more data on this, so I have popped the ward questions onto the EU League of Legends Forums.  It would be great to have your opinion!

http://forums.euw.leagueoflegends.com/board/showthread.php?p=13381572&posted=1#post13381572

Pad.

Being Honest

"Weakness of Attitude becomes weakness of character"  Albert Einstein.

I'm going to keep this short and sweet. Recently I lost the equivalent of forty ranked games with one or two wins in between. My MMR which was over 2000 is now around the 1600 mark.  During this time I was so focused on climbing up the elo ladder that I started to become agitated and frustrated in normal games with my friends. I got mad, I shouted at people for them having fun. Aye, having fun in a game fancy that.

Oh right short and sweet. 

It wasn't  alright to take out my problems on others. I lost that MMR on my own, through my own games and my own playing. It was ignorant and stupid to think that I'm allowed to take it out on others. Im not going to be one of those LoL players who thinks it's acceptable to be a complete ass to people and then shrug it off as if it was nothing. To be a bigger and better person is to admit that  I done wrong. 

I can get my MMR back anytime but I can't get back the relationship I have with my friends if I treat them like they are nothing.   

 Sorry guys, 

Pad.

Worlds!

It's that time again, when I've stay up hideously late to watch the Worlds.  I've really enjoyed watching them, and also listening to the great analyst panel staring Monte, Doublelift and Krepo.  I actually have a little more respect for Doublelift now than I did before, and Krepo will always have a wee place in my heart, for being an awesome support.

So here's a wee list of what I've noticed on the supports from the championship thus far.

Items
Most of the games in the World Championships have mostly been decided by pink wards and positioning.  It is really rare to see any of the supports with more than one or two full items (excluding sight stone).  I think most people know the importance of warding, and more specifically warding in the right places, and it is really interesting to see the mega use of vision wards.  I can't help but compare the warding in these games to solo queue and I wish if anyone took anything from these games it would to always buy a ward.  We all know the story of the laner who never wards but always get ganked by the jungler and somehow it is always the fault of someone else (sigh).  I know that I always feel more relaxed when I can see what is going on in the map, and it makes me play better as I don't have that anxious feeling when I know they are in the brush, but I need to ward . . .

Boots
Mobility boots still seem to be the popular choice for supports, and I agree.  It is just so much easier to whizz through the rift warding the places you need to without having the pressure of coming face to face a member of the enemy team.

Popular Choices:  Zyra and Sona have been banned a few times through the World Championship.  Personally, I only recently started playing Zyra as a support but I can see why she would be banned; her poke alone is a lot to handle in-lane if played well.  I've seen a lot of people take a huge amount of ap and the poke can get really crazy if not controlled.  Most of the championship Zyra's taken a more standard 30arm/30mr approach; I always think that taking less than 30arm as a support on bot-lane is really risky, as you can get poked down so easily, but I've also seen many who take full ap and dominate their lane. I suppose it depends on your own play-style as a support and how confident you are in your own ability to harass efficiently without taking too much damage.

Sona: Again, I haven't played a lot of her this season but her ult is just too good for initiating fights.  I kinda get scared playing Sona in Ranked; on occasion it is up to you to make good calls in terms of team fighting and laying down your ultimate in a really precise manner.  If my team is behind and  one Sona ult could make or break a game, it becomes an insane amount of pressure to me.  We have all seen it with Sona players in the championships that fail an ult.  It's a huge amount of time that crowd control is down and is a great time for the enemy team to counter a team fight.  After watching the championship games I picked her up in a few ranked games and I forgot just how much sustain and poke she has if played well.  She is definitely a support I will pick up more often.

It would be nice to see some other supports or any other champion other than the same usual suspects repeated over and over again: Arhi, Zac, Sona, Zyra, Elise in these games (go FNATIC for picking Ashe). Oh, and if you happen to be in a ranked game with me and choose Arhi for mid, then please do not think you can dive into 5 people because you saw Faker do it; you'll just get caught and leave me and the rest of the team in a 4v5 messy team fight.  I lost 60 lp due to that Q_Q.

(Again, pictures are not mine! but they are pretty :3).