How to Climb Out of Iron? Full Guide (Season 12)

League of Legends has over 100M players, each with a different skill level. To fairly match these players in games, Riot has designed the Division system. It is a ranking system, meant to place you in a spot adequate for your skill level. 

Though often criticized for being unfair, the Division system is widely effective in matching similarly skilled players. These Divisions range from the lowest to the highest and represent tremendously different player skill levels. 

The lowest Division in the game currently is Iron. It is sparsely populated, with only the absolute worst players being stuck there. Some might for a second find themselves in Iron, most often during the placement matches. However, 99% of players immediately escape, never to return. 

Not everyone is of that luck, and they remain stuck in Iron Elo hell for too long. This guide is here to help those players find a way of climbing out of Iron and start their path to glory. 

Bronze won’t be much better, but it surely is an improvement. The moment you leave Iron is when you’ll start noticing genuine advancement.

I must remark that this will be a long one, so strap yourselves and let’s go! 

Also read: What is Low Priority Queue?

The Early Game is Your Best Friend

League of Legends matches are usually long and can last anywhere from 35 to 50 minutes. Sometimes games may even extend beyond that, going well into the 60-minute mark. However, lower Divisions are hectic and chaotic, with a ton of stuff going on right off the bat. 

These games most often end up with someone super fed 1v5-ing the entire enemy team. Games are shorter than the average, taking at most 25 to 30 minutes. Prioritize playing well in the early game, and finish it as soon as possible. 

This would be best done through aggressive Laning. The enemy Jungler likely won’t have any idea what the hell he’s doing, with rare exceptions. Strike at your enemy with ferocity, try to zone them out, and render them useless for the rest of the game.

If you effectively win the early game, your opposing Laner won’t have time to get back in. This makes the game a 5v4 by default. Even if your other Lanes feed, which is very likely to happen, you’ll still have done enough damage to counteract that. 

Get fed, and get farmed. The sooner you do these two, the better. Playing split pushing Champions is also a good idea. Get Gold and get it fast, it is a formula devised for success. 

Never think about what will happen in the later stages of the game. Trust me, players in Iron have no idea how to utilize things for a prolonged period. They’ll just keep fighting and killing each other until someone eventually gives in and surrenders. 

You should be the determining factor that prevents your team from surrendering and pressures the enemies enough for them to break their cohesion. 

Objectives, Not Fights

Everyone in Iron will prioritize fighting and getting kills over anything else. This leaves most players entirely distracted, and often totally oblivious, to what is actually going on. By using their lack of attention to your advantage, you should focus on getting a ton of objectives. 

While the enemy is likely to be aware of the dragon, and focus on taking it. However, the Rift Heralds and Turrets are always open seasons. By pressuring your Lane through aggressive gameplay that I’ve described above, you will have Herald free almost always. 

You can then use Herald to push excessively, reaching the Inhibitor in no time. It is likely that the enemies won’t even come to defend the Inhibitor, save for one or two of them. Even if they do, that opens up other parts of the map that you can swiftly switch to and continue the onslaught.

This constant pushing and wrecking of the enemy’s base is what will drive them mad, tilting them in the process. Not only that, it is actively breaking their teamplay, causing them to be divided and easy targets. Both you and your allies, can use this for easy kills and gold – only helping you end the game ASAP. 

Remember, it is the ones who destroy the Nexus that are the winners. Kills, while important, aren’t the primary objective of the game. 

Also read: Masterwork Chest vs. Hextech Chest

Don’t Stress Yourself; Stress Your Enemies

Avoid getting stressed at all costs. You should take a deep breath and approach the game meticulously and carefully. Remember that you are probably the only player on the team with any knowledge or planning. Thus, it is safe to say that you should focus on playing the best you can, as no one else will. 

Individualism is a high focus of the Iron Division. Teamplay is severely lacking, and team cohesion or cooperation is nigh non-existent. Communication is exceptionally toxic, so why not join in on the fun and throw some spite at the enemy team. 

By playing well you will be tilting the enemies by default. However, you should add some of that Iron toxicity to the mix and rub it in their faces. The more you tilt them in these Divisions, the better your chances of winning. 

Before you jump on criticizing me, I don’t mean being a generally horrible person. Some harmless banter in the /all chat is always a welcome sight, never mind if you’re tilting or not. Getting your enemies mad is a way of winning the game, and I see it as a sound strategy. 

Stay calm and divert any stress to the enemies. The more stressed they are, the higher your chances of seeing that beautiful Victory screen. 

Try to be Communicative 

While you should rub everything in your enemy’s face, that doesn’t apply to your allies. Make sure you at least try to be communicative and friendly with your team. Though they may be toxic, which is probable, you should keep up a friendly environment. Trust me, it will eventually influence their brains to get their act straight and focus on winning. 

Having someone to disrupt the toxicity is vitally important. It doesn’t always work, and it shouldn’t bother you if it doesn’t. However, it always does have at least some effect. Even if the toxic person doesn’t stop being toxic, the others might actually see the brighter side and try harder, nullifying the toxicity in the process.

Learning how to be communicative, at least on paper, will serve you wonders when you reach the higher division where communication is the core tenant of every match. 

Three Best Champions for Climbing Out of Iron

Escaping Iron will have 80% to do with your own skills and knowledge. However, the remaining 20% is largely tied to the Champions you choose to play. For example, playing weak Enchanter Supports isn’t a good idea since there are no ways to carry. To put it lightly – not all Champions and roles are good for escaping Iron. 

Thus I have devised a shortlist of three Champions that I wager are best for climbing out of Iron. These Champions will give you a ton of carrying potential, while also being versatile enough for any player to get into them. They vary in skill requirement and mechanical complexity, but I will explain how that might be turned into an advantage. 

So, let’s begin, shall we? 

1. Master Yi

Master Yi is the best Champion for low Divisions, period. No other Champion enjoys such a level of infamy and notoriety among new and lower Elo players. Master Yi is capable of singlehandedly winning games 1v5 like it’s nothing. On top of all that, he’s a Jungler, which has insane benefits for escaping Iron. 

As a Jungler he’s able to control the map as he likes. All objectives are readily available to pick up, and ganking Lanes is a piece of cake. He can get easily fed, farmed, and incredibly powerful in no time, making carrying a breeze. 

He’s super easy without any mechanical depth whatsoever. Though some highly skilled players may claim otherwise, you really don’t need any special knowledge on Yi to effectively use him. I know for a fact that anyone reading this guide would do absolutely amazing right now if they were to pick him up.

Yi also costs 450 BE, which is more or less free. I cannot stress how much I recommend this Champion for Iron and even Bronze or Silver players. 

Also read: Are Masterwork Chests Worth It?

2. Yasuo

Yasuo is one of the most challenging Champions to learn and master in League. However, this has incredible benefits for the player if they were to master him early on. Yasuo is potentially the best Champion to carry with overall, no matter the Division. It is only natural that he’d be mentioned here, where carrying is such a high priority for players. 

Yasuo being mechanically complex means you’ll learn a ton of core game mechanics that will transfer to other Champions you play. As a Mid Laner, you’ll be able to control every part of the map effectively. With frequent roams, getting fed is too easy and carrying is even easier. 

Yasuo isn’t tied only to the Mid Lane. For those who are apt ADC players, Yasuo is perfect for bot Lane. Isolationists on Top can also utilize the many powers of Yasuo. He’s a beautifully designed, multi-purpose Champion that anyone can play absolutely anywhere. Except for the Jungle, he’s not that great there. 

3. Darius

Darius is the epitome of an early game Champion. Therefore, he fits right into the mold of a proper Iron Champion. Darius is easy, strong, and exceptionally capable of carrying the game. As he’s one that drops off in the late game, he’s perfect for abusing the enemy team up until that 25–30-minute mark. 

Darius is a Top Laner, so this makes him pretty niche. However, he can get 10 kills in mere minutes on Top, making the enemy Laner entirely useless. He can then proceed to ravage through the other Lanes, and end the game before anyone knew what was going on. 

As a Tank, he can also soak up a ton of damage, making him also great for some larger-scale fights. Darius can deal hundreds, if not over a thousand true damage with ease. No amount of enemy defenses will be able to stop Darius’ path of destruction.

Conclusion

The Iron Division in League of Legends is one of the most difficult places to play in. Knowing what to do will tremendously help you in escaping that hellscape, as it is in no way pleasant. I can safely say that staying in Iron for too long will worsen your skills overall, so make sure to utilize everything you’ve read here as much and as soon as possible.

I hope you’ve found this guide informative and fun to read and I wish you all the best on the Summoner’s Rift!