With climbing divisions becoming a higher priority as the season is about to come into a close, people also run the risk of just getting into a losing streak. Losing is never fun (unless you queue up to lose, in which case I would have to ask: why?), and losing so many times in a row is not a pleasant experience. The doubt creeps in, and your confidence falters. You start to ask yourself how and why you got into this situation, and how to break free from it finally. Here are some ways that I have found to be effective in turning a losing streak around…
Watch replays and look at what you’re doing wrong.
Download replays of some of your recent losses and take a look at them. First, think about your lane matchups and how you navigate around them.
Ask yourself these questions: what trades do you take? Why do you take those trades in particular? How do you execute these trades? Do you consider available information, like where your team’s jungler is, where the enemy team’s jungler is, what vision you have available, and which laners are on the map and which are missing? What are your back timers, and can you utilize your recalls to assert an advantage in the lane? Are you able to gain a summoner spell advantage, and can you capitalize on advantages like that? Following this, you also have to look at how you play team fights out— do you fulfill your role in the team when a fight breaks out, or do you tend just to do your own thing and hope that the rest of the team covers your mistakes? Do you really play with your team?
Another thing to look at would be your vision setups, especially once the laning phase ends. Do you put control wards into spots where vision would be contested? Do you even buy control wards? Okay, I understand that control wards do not do any damage, and you’d rather save up for another item, but without vision, the enemies might get the jump on you, and you might end up getting surprised. In addition, do you use your trinkets, or do you let your warding totem get two charges and just sit in your inventory? Remember: vision is important. You will have a hard time dealing damage to opponents that you do not see at all.
Rotations should also be discussed here: do you still get minions once the laning phase ends? Do you maximize your time when you aren’t fighting to get more resources and more items? Do you step too far into enemy territory to try to get their jungle camps or get minions on their side of the map? When you do, do you just get jumped on by the enemy team? Does this happen a lot? And when it does happen, do you have teammates around you, or do you generally just die in an isolated manner?
I understand that I posed a lot of questions there, but one has to consciously think about these things in order for mistakes not to be repeated and for improvement actually to happen. We are creatures of habit, and sometimes we also have to be aware that we develop habits that are not exactly that good…
Play a different champion, or a different role
I understand that people can have a main champion. Sometimes, people play a champion so much that the games kind of blend into one massive blob. Also, sometimes your champion does not just quite fit into what your teams want to do. Sometimes, you have a bad day and somehow end up losing all your laning phases against different opponents on your main champion. It might be time to complain about your main champion’s actual power level, and it might be time to ask for buffs from the balance team, but let’s face it: what is that going to do? Playing a different champion in your main role might be a good change of pace. Getting better matchups in the lane and better synergy with the rest of your team’s champions might be a good idea.
League of Legends is not just about the laning phase. You have to remember that sometimes you have to take a disadvantageous matchup to better use for your team later on.
Sometimes, you lose so much in your preferred role, and you might end up needing a change of pace. To get that much-needed change of pace, one of the things I recommend is playing a different role. If you keep getting frustrated because of the way your junglers or your supports play, maybe give it a try.
Sometimes, it may be just because you get frustrated at the impact that the role you play has. If you are a top laner, I understand that sometimes you generally feel irrelevant to the whole game. If you feel this way, maybe try playing some other role for the time being so you could accomplish what you wanted.
Take a breath
Another way to take a breather from losing games in a row would be to stop playing for a while. Get the tilt out of your system if you’re feeling it. Stretch your legs a bit. Make sure your posture is okay. Breathe in. Breathe out. Go on the internet and check some memes out, have a good laugh. Watch some anime or a tv show. Eat some food. Rest your eyes a bit. Go outside and breathe in some fresh air. Take the time to feel your surroundings. Take a moment to be really outside of the game. Go hang out with your friends if possible. Do some art. Listen to music. Read a book. Do something for school if you’re still studying. Listen to a podcast. Try to keep in touch with what’s happening with the world. Life is more than just League of Legends, but we also have a lot of fun playing it, so…
Bring your friends in
You could also consider duo-ing with a friend or bring the whole gang to play some flex queue. Sometimes the loss is not even about you. So bringing in a friend you trust might be the right solution. Besides, if you have been playing together for a while, you may be able to execute some plays that take a bit more consistency to be able to pull off. But remember: the idea of doing so is to let friends bring in some new energy to you.
Accept that sometimes, you do your best and still lose.
Sometimes you can just be unlucky. A teammate might get disconnected due to a power interruption or a problem with their internet connection. Sometimes, you can get a monstrous smurf in the enemy team who just stomps everyone in the game and puts their team behind their back. Loss streaks do happen, but sometimes you also have to accept those individual losses that may not always happen because of you. Learn to distinguish when you do well and when you do not.
Final thoughts
Losing is never a pleasant experience, and losing streaks feel even worse. Hopefully, all you readers out there keep your cool when this ever happens to you. Keep my tips in mind, and make sure you do your best on Summoner’s Rift.
