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I'm Troublelift, a Challenger player who has been boosting League ladder for 8 years already . If you're reading this, you're either stuck or just started playing ranked, or your winrate is starting to look like a crypto chart. Either way, here’s the real guide that actually matters in your climb. No cope. Just real advice.

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1. Pick a Role. Stick to It.

The worst mistake you can make is role-swapping every other week. League is a role-based game where each lane teaches a different set of fundamentals. Master one first.

• Top: Lane control, trading, macro.
• Jungle: Pathing, map awareness, timing.
• Mid: Wave control, roaming, skirmishes.
• ADC: Positioning, DPS uptime, teamfighting.
• Support: Vision, playmaking, rotations.

Stick to one for at least 50 ranked games.

2. Champion Pool Discipline

2 to 3 champions. Max. Anything more and you're just sabotaging your own growth. Comfort is more important than counters at this level.Master your champs. Know the matchups. Focus on macro instead of figuring out your cooldowns.

3. Low Elo Meta Is Fake – Play What Wins

Forget tier lists. Low elo is its own game. If you're support, play mages. Zyra, Brand, Lux, Karma – they carry, poke, and don’t need follow-up. Perfect for a ranked jungle where your ADC might be trying smite Ezreal top for a quest.

4. You Are Your Lane

1. Win lane. You don’t need to stomp, just get ahead.
2. Roam after prio. Push the wave, rotate. Always.
3. Vision control. Deep wards win games.
4. Convert leads. Take plates, dragons, towers, always.

You don’t need 20 kills. You need 5 kills and 5 objectives.

5. Stop Autopiloting

Every game starts in champ select. Ask yourself:

• What’s my win condition?
• Who’s the threat?
• When’s my power spike?
• What’s my level 1/3/6 plan?

If you’re not thinking, you’re just reacting. And that’s why you’re not climbing.

6. Learn to Build Properly

Copying the same build every game is lazy. Adapt your items:

• Vs tanks: Liandry’s, Cryptbloom, Void Staff
• Vs squishies: Luden’s, Shadowflame
• Need safety: Zhonya’s, Banshee’s
• Snowballing: Mejai’s, early Dark Seal

Your build should reflect your opponent, not your favorite YouTuber’s build path.

7. Track Kill Participation

Support and jungle with under 50% KP? That’s a problem. You’re not involved in fights. You’re not impacting the map.Start tracking your own KP per game. Make it a priority to be where fights start.

8. Mute Everyone

League chat is rarely helpful. You’re not missing macro tips or play-by-play. You’re dodging flame.Mute all at game start. Ping smart. Play better.

9. VOD Review = Easy Climb

Review one of your own games every 5–10 matches. Just three things:

• What did I do well?
• What was my worst death?
• What did I miss on the map?

It’s the best learning tool in League, period.

10. Normals to Learn, Ranked to Climb

New champ? Play 3–5 normals. Then rank up. Normals won’t teach you pressure or tempo – they teach mechanics.Don’t stay in normals forever. Do your homework, then go play ranked.

11. Accept the Climb Isn’t Linear

You’ll lose to smurfs. You’ll win games you fed in. It doesn’t matter. Over 100+ games, you’ll land where you belong.If you’re stuck, you’re not better than your elo. Yet. Own it and work on it.

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TL;DR Golden Rules

• One role. Two champs. 50+ games.
• Play to carry, not “do okay.”
• Review yourself. Stats don’t lie.
• Get deep vision. Roam. Make picks.
• Adapt items every game.
• High KP. Low ego.
• Low elo is normal. You're learning.