*Some good information for playing AD with various supports, how to play with Janna, how to play against aggressive lanes, support basics, last hitting under tower as a support and micro-management.

A tutorial/explaination on Leona. A bit more from the tank perspective than support.

So, I have a lot of anxiety, especially when I play positions other than support in League of Legends. I start feeling sick to my stomach and nervous/shaky. I feel a bit of anxiety even as support in Ranked, especially when I do stupid things I should know better than.

Dealing with Criticism:

Trying to learn a new champion by using them against bots isn’t very useful. You have to learn how to use their abilities against real opponents who move around, use tactics, and build smart, which means playing in normals. The problem is that, especially when you’re learning a new champion or role, normals aren’t as friendly toward testing and learning as they should be (that’s why your normal elo is hidden). You can’t get better without practicing, and not every game will be your best. So, how do you deal with the inevitable criticism?

• If it isn’t blatant insults and  stupid comments, try to listen to what is being said so you can get better. If people are complaining about your positioning, you’re probably getting caught out or split from the team, which reduces your/their effectiveness. Watch the replay of your game and examine what you did.
• If they are being a cancer on the community – put them on ignore (the tiny square in a circle button on the tab screen). Listening to them will just make you upset and depressed, and defending yourself is literally “feeding the trolls”. They’re not going to stop being assholes – at most say “be constructive instead of tearing people down” then put them on ignore. Seriously, the moment you get a hint of someone going “gg noobs u fuking suk” on ignore they go. Don’t let negativity into your life – it’s just a game.
• Report them! You may not think it does much, but the problem is more that there’s a backlog of tribunal cases (have you judged your share lately?) of about 2-3 months. People can, and do, get punished for their actions – and by reporting them you help keep them from hurting other players.

So I’m trying to stream more, now that I’ve worked out some kinks. Still working on fixing the video/sound quality, but it doesn’t stutter or cut out anymore. :D I added links on the side, but in case folks miss them –

My Poor Attempts to Climb ELO (it’s so hard to carry as support!)

Thindol’s Very Small Fan Club IRC  – I’m often in here if you have any questions or want lessons.

I’m also offering free lessons/tutorials on playing support along with commentary on positioning/playing AD carry from a support’s perspective. I only ask for cute pictures or My Little Pony as payment.

When League of Legends players refer to meta, they’re talking about “the game within the game” – the common strategies used within the game.

There are lots of alternate “metas” – and what is old becomes new again (aggressive counter jungling from M5, double brusier bottom from Dignitas, etc). The problem is that none of us really do this for a living, as the other poster mentioned, but it goes further than that – if you’re on Reddit, reading this blog, or really interested in the game, you probably watch streamers a lot – which means you develop your meta and understanding based on what they do, and unfortunately deviations to that (especially at non-30 or low elo) are insulted/decried.

Great example – I love running AP Soraka mid and AD Kayle bottom. But try and do that in a smurf game/normals/lowish elo (I’m 1400) and expect olks to AFK/complain. For every game I’ve had someone go “awesome, I’ll try to pick a champ around that!” I get 5 more that dodge queue for it. But then pro players started running AP Soraka and AD Kayle – it became more accepted and okay. Rinse repeat – I have enough time on my hands that I can theorycraft and develop new strategies, but because I’m not famous, nothing I say matters.

Try running an Orianna/Soraka double mid or bottom sometime, and you’ll see what I mean, despite those two being ridiculous together.

We’re stifling innovation by only accepting change when it comes from our streamer gods. Non-pro players can, and do, come up with excellent strategies and meta-breaking ideas. You don’t need a pro player to tell you if your build, runes, or masteries are “right” – just practice it and try new things until it works. (I mistakenly used AD masteries on Sona and… well, I dominated that lane.)