Since it's at the bottom, you often deal with the worst kind of gamerly element: trolls, misogynists, racists, the employed. You can win, in despite of all that, with a mix of compromise and communication.
(More after the break)
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Golden Rule
Don’t be the
troll. If you assume that the other team also has trolls, then there is always a chance of winning. If getting
out of Bronze is your goal, then that’s always
a reason for getting your team to work together.
Before Game/In
General
1. Have at least one backup lane, and one lane that
you’re pretty confident in. Try not to call a champ or lane in ranked, unless
you’ve played at least 10 normal games with that champ.
2. Jump at your first chance to encourage your team and
add to group cohesion. If there’s especially good communication, especially
during champ select, then something like “awesome” or “love nice teams” is
great. In game, if your team gets first blood, “nj” “gj” or “nice” helps to
reinforce and raise morale for the whole team.
3. Get voted up as an “honorable” player. While this
doesn’t officially increase your
matchmaking with other honorable players, it’s often an immediately indication
that your team has special resources. If someone can say, “Sweet, a friendly
team,” at the outset, then you’re starting the match off on an immediate good
note.
4. Know when to announce that it’s your series, and when
not to. As a general rule, someone who has decided to troll will enjoy causing
distress. So don’t tell trolls that it’s your series. Someone frustrated to the
point where they’re considering surrender, a part of them might still want to
achieve a win. It’s sometimes worth using your series as a way to keep your
team on board.
Champion Select
and Compromise
1. Call a lane (hearts if you call backups, extra hearts
if you call them in the order of your skill with them)
i.e. “mid pref” or “mid,” then
“can mid>jung>support>top”
If you plan to fill, it doesn’t
hurt to say “fill,” so potential conflicts can be averted
If filling, bonus points if you can tell people what you main
If filling, bonus points if you can tell people what you main
2. If you want a specific (often banned) champion,
communicate that clearly.
Avoid using the word “ban” in
the same sentence, try using “please leave open” or “I want to play ____, if
that champ is open.”
3. Likewise, if you prefer specific bans, then
communicate that clearly.
4. Ask silent people for their lane preference
In Bronze, I saw at least six
silent trolls. With one exception, they all wanted the same thing: their usual
lane (usually mid or top). They’d say nothing during champ select, because
someone had called that lane, and nobody asked that player if they had a
preference. Typically they pick an abnormal champ for the lane they’re supposed
to take. Turns out, they picked the champion they were used to, built them as
they normally would, and sometimes even fed actively. Sometimes blatantly, as
with a Gangplank that spent the game yelling about rum and handjobs, before
ragequitting and returning at the 20-minute mark.
5. Pay special attention to whether the ADC and support
sound unhappy to be in that position. Not only is the ADC a crucial role, one
that requires experience with last-hitting and positioning, there’s an extra
teamwork component to the bottom lane. That means an extra potential for rage.
Preemptive
Communication In Game
If you’re noticing that a player has excessive trouble
with certain basics, like last-hitting, overextending, positioning, and so
forth, there is a time to offer
specific feedback. Note that the following relies on your feedback being at
least professional, if not courteous.
1. The only time for specific feedback.
If you know that one teammate is
abrasive another teammate is struggling skill-wise, and the struggling player
has just done something extremely bad, then be the one to say something like,
“nj/good jukes/etc, but try to watch the minion wave/positioning/etc.” This does
two things. Obviously, it lets them know that you think they made a tactical
error, and you don’t want them to do it again. More importantly, it keeps your
team’s abrasive troll from saying something a lot worse. If the abrasive player
gets a chance to say, “idiot” or “what the fuck” – your group cohesion suffers.
2. When to say nothing.
Most of the time. Players being
berated, or even offered feedback, worry less about playing the game and more
about the people watching/arguing with them.
3. All specific feedback should be backed up.
If you offer specific feedback
on last hitting, then be ready to cite lolpro’s last hitting guide, and talk
about how great it is when they get into the actual math of minion health. Or
how clever VVinrar’s guide to warding positions is. Or how you loved X idea
from Y guide. You get the idea. (I might throw some of my favorite guides in
here). Again – the only useful time to do this is when you’re beating a troll
to the punch – or otherwise trying to mitigate the crap they’re spewing at a
player who is having problems.
Objective
Communication in Game
Sometimes, objectives such as dragon, baron, buffs,
grouping, pushing, focusing carries, and diving/not diving won’t be as important in Bronze as negotiating
positions and preempting trolls. In some games (especially past Bronze) how
well you communicate these objectives will make all the difference.
1. Show empathy for mistakes
If a teammate just let a free
kill walk by them, let you die, or failed to join a teamfight, check your
disbelief, and legitimate anger. Start off your comment with a positive, like,
“I know that farming is important, but we need you for the next teamfight.” Or
“Good to stay safe, but you can probably kill Heimer next time he’s completely out
of mana.
2. Use advanced pings.
Don’t just signal a lane
missing, or an enemy en-route, if you think that they’re about to gank a
friendly lane. It’s often helpful to drop a red exclamation on top of a
friendly champion, so that they have an obvious visual cue. Pings are also far
more neutral than written critique. In moderation, and used intelligently, they
are far less likely to cause group infighting.
3. Call focus targets, and call out when it’s time to
group
Giving your group specific goals
keeps them focused on winning the damn game. If your team is talking about
goals, then they’re less likely to be engaging in unspecific, unhelpful
deflection for (what’s often) mistakes they participated in. Focus targets and
grouping are two of the simplest, and so likely to boost morale in Bronze.
Baron baiting/warding/positioning was too complex for some Bronze groups that I
saw, and actually lost a number of games.
When all else
fails
When the trolls are arguing, and it seems there’s nothing
to be done, I like to give a variant of, “Less talk, more play.” Nine times out
of ten, another teammate will say, “Exactly.”
That, and report every single toxic player you see, while
rating up the players who keep the game fun.
And have fun in Silver, of course.
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