That's it.
My struggles with LOL and the infamous ELO Hell zone have finally come to an end.
It's been months (years?) since I stopped playing on a regular basis.
So many things happened.
I lost love, I found love.
My partner and I split up. It surely was for the best, for both of us... but I was heartbroken for a long time. It IS true that some scars never really disappear, they just heal, even if really slowly. Ok, now I'm just being pathetic, but since he was one of my "gaming partners" aswell, I just slowed down the pace of gaming.
My current partner really is the best person with whom I could think to start a family. I love him very much. I was so lucky to find "true love" more than just once. I don't really think there is only one true love in your life - there is "one" for every "you". And I changed so much in these years. Well, I still play, and he's also a gamer. Couldn't change that much!
I lost hope, I found hope.
My dad died. My son was born. I think details here are not really necessary.
At the moment I don't really have much time for opening my PC and indulge in games... I occasionally play an ARAM or two before my son wakes up. And my PC has a big, blue, shiny power button that seems to be irresistible for him.
So, this is it. I really enjoyed playing LoL and I surely needed the commitment and motivation of a blog to keep playing ranked games. For now I want to focus on other things.
So thank you, random reader, for checking out this blog. I hope you've enjoyed my rants, drawings and little hopes.
It was fun :)
GG, cya!
Being the adventures of a LoL gamer trying hard to get out of the infamous low-ELO zone... playing as a support
Tuesday, November 7, 2017
Monday, August 25, 2014
My "free-skins" sense is tingling...
Whoa.
New rewards for end of Season IV?
...when did the season begin, again? O.o
Man, feels like ages since my last ranked game. This year has been so full of... things, for me, that I barely managed to play some ARAM now and then. Ok, maybe my return to the WoW world could've had some impact... maybe. But truth is, I just didn't feel like playing anymore.
"I'll start playing again when in the right mood."
So, it's almost september and I didn't even play one single qualifying game. Not even the cuteness of Gnar could bring me back to my enthusiasm towards the game. Or the community. Or, you know, just the game.
What could possibly OHMYGODFREEMORGANAVICTORIOUSSKIN!!!
Well, that's it. I needed some serious motivation.
Wood V, here I come!!
Well, I don't feel like recording every single game anymore, so I'll just randomly note my defeats and the frustration of being so rusty I'm not even able to place wards.
Wait for it.
New rewards for end of Season IV?
...when did the season begin, again? O.o
Man, feels like ages since my last ranked game. This year has been so full of... things, for me, that I barely managed to play some ARAM now and then. Ok, maybe my return to the WoW world could've had some impact... maybe. But truth is, I just didn't feel like playing anymore.
"I'll start playing again when in the right mood."
So, it's almost september and I didn't even play one single qualifying game. Not even the cuteness of Gnar could bring me back to my enthusiasm towards the game. Or the community. Or, you know, just the game.
What could possibly OHMYGODFREEMORGANAVICTORIOUSSKIN!!!
Well, that's it. I needed some serious motivation.
Wood V, here I come!!
(Thanks to who published such epicness.)
Wait for it.
Wednesday, November 13, 2013
End of an Era
End of an Era - as Nightwish would say.
(Warning! Wall-text alert!)
Season 3 ended, and in its last days I didn't feel the urge to play no-stop to raise my rating or league.
(A minute of silence for a friend who didn't manage to pass the wall between Silver and Gold. You deserved more than 0 LP per win. You may be silver outside, but you sure are gold on the inside!)
On the contrary, I was so relaxed that I spent more time playing Hearthstone than LoL.
As a "former" World of Warcraft and Magic: The Gathering player, I was really excited of the beta key I managed to receive at Lucca Comics & Games. And here I am, totally caught by this new game. BLZURD STAHP! But let's go back to LoL.
In S2 I started at 930 rating (deep Bronze of course) and reached the highest ELO of 1210: the bare minimum to be classified as Silver (it was a very close call!!). It's been a long and desperate trip.
Preseason time, the ELO reset bringed me up to 1250, and after the placement games I was listed... Silver, with a rating of 1292. In the preseason games I dropped to 1172.
S3 came, and I was thrown into the Silver V division. Better than expected, to be very honest. Game by game I managed to climb the ladder even tho I didn't play that much, and as the season ends now I find myself in Gold IV.
The time has come to ask myself the question: did I make it?
Did I finally climb out of the ELO Hell?
Well some time ago I found a tweet who was citing a reddit quote (et cetera et cetera) which I found really inspiring:
"Elo Hell is like traffic.
(Warning! Wall-text alert!)
Season 3 ended, and in its last days I didn't feel the urge to play no-stop to raise my rating or league.
(A minute of silence for a friend who didn't manage to pass the wall between Silver and Gold. You deserved more than 0 LP per win. You may be silver outside, but you sure are gold on the inside!)
On the contrary, I was so relaxed that I spent more time playing Hearthstone than LoL.
As a "former" World of Warcraft and Magic: The Gathering player, I was really excited of the beta key I managed to receive at Lucca Comics & Games. And here I am, totally caught by this new game. BLZURD STAHP! But let's go back to LoL.
In S2 I started at 930 rating (deep Bronze of course) and reached the highest ELO of 1210: the bare minimum to be classified as Silver (it was a very close call!!). It's been a long and desperate trip.
Preseason time, the ELO reset bringed me up to 1250, and after the placement games I was listed... Silver, with a rating of 1292. In the preseason games I dropped to 1172.
S3 came, and I was thrown into the Silver V division. Better than expected, to be very honest. Game by game I managed to climb the ladder even tho I didn't play that much, and as the season ends now I find myself in Gold IV.
The time has come to ask myself the question: did I make it?
Did I finally climb out of the ELO Hell?
Well some time ago I found a tweet who was citing a reddit quote (et cetera et cetera) which I found really inspiring:
"Elo Hell is like traffic.
Everyone thinks they are in it, when they actually ARE it."
That's it. There's no ELO Hell. I should know, I visited it and drawed a map of its circles, too XD
There are players who are so bad, they can ruin a game all by themselves.
Flamers and ragequitters do exist and lower your chances of winning by 80%.
Blame the jungler and blame the support are #1 and #2 excuses for losing a lane, respectively.
Getting sick of your teammates and wanting to surrender @ 20 without even trying is a harsh but common reality.
But I found all and if possible more of these things in both bronze and silver. And in gold it was no different.
What changed for sure was my playstile, my attitude towards my fellow teammates and the conciousness of my errors. (Correcting them is a different story, I will have a hard time working on this!!)
What can I tell from my games history? I must thank Nami and Janna who totally carried me. That is, the characters I am most confident with. I can play them better than anything else and know their abilities and weakpoints very well. I was able to win lanes and contributing to the victory of many games 'cause of that.
On my experience I can totally suggest to master 2-3 characters per role one can play and focus on these ones to improve both playstile and rating.
Many will not agree. And it's ok with that. Someone could try a new character in ranked for the first time and still carry games (THE MECHANICS ARE AMAZING!).
But players like me, who don't feel confident with 3/4 of the available characters, should probably limit themselves to their very best heroes of choice in ranked queues.
I continue seeing some people I know still struggling in bronze, trying hard to improve their rating and play, but almost never blaming themselves when they lose a game. (Typical sentence: "I was 20/1/7! And I still lost the game, noob teammates feeders and leavers!!")
I didn't blame myself a lot, too. This is also a weak point which I want to improve in the coming season.
But I learned that a game is never really lost until the very end. Or, as a friend of mine says, "A game is only lost when the nexus is down".
A positive team spirit, the will to cooperate and help each other: that's what wins games. It really does. In Summoner's Rift, not just in Happy Rainbow Land. Encouraging a failing teammate instead of crucifying him for his errors has always proven to be a worthy choice. My team was able to completely turn the fate of an apparently lost game due to good team presence and fights. "In late we trust", as I said once XD and it worked. As a support, not only can I help my team by playing well, but also by supporting the team spirit.
I also realized (well there was no real wonder in that, to be honest) that a good warding can, in every game phase, give a huge advantage even when your team is behind in farm, turrets and kills. I never had a full build as a support, not even in 60-minutes-long games, 'cause the majority of my gold was spent in wards and oracles. And it was good as it was.
"Whoa whoa wait: are you trying to give us suggestions? You're still a little nab, don't you know?"
Oh I surely am. But sometimes pointing out the most basic notions can be helpful, too. So why not? :)
Last but not least, I am really excited to see what will happen in the preseason, with all the changes they planned for supports.
I'll have to learn the mechanics from scratch again :V
Oh well, I'm ready. I really like the feeling of having build choices depending on situation, hero and playstyle. I guess the meta will point out the strongest combinations soon, anyway :p and some items / trinkets will soon become a must!
No matter what the new meta will be, I will continue cheering up my teammates as much as I can, even though my work often remains in the shadow.
I want to end this needlessly long post with one of my favourite mottos, which also sums up the spirit of good team cooperation:
See you at the start of the preseason :)
That's it. There's no ELO Hell. I should know, I visited it and drawed a map of its circles, too XD
There are players who are so bad, they can ruin a game all by themselves.
Flamers and ragequitters do exist and lower your chances of winning by 80%.
Blame the jungler and blame the support are #1 and #2 excuses for losing a lane, respectively.
Getting sick of your teammates and wanting to surrender @ 20 without even trying is a harsh but common reality.
But I found all and if possible more of these things in both bronze and silver. And in gold it was no different.
What changed for sure was my playstile, my attitude towards my fellow teammates and the conciousness of my errors. (Correcting them is a different story, I will have a hard time working on this!!)
The Ward Call is too strong to be resisted!
What can I tell from my games history? I must thank Nami and Janna who totally carried me. That is, the characters I am most confident with. I can play them better than anything else and know their abilities and weakpoints very well. I was able to win lanes and contributing to the victory of many games 'cause of that.
On my experience I can totally suggest to master 2-3 characters per role one can play and focus on these ones to improve both playstile and rating.
Many will not agree. And it's ok with that. Someone could try a new character in ranked for the first time and still carry games (THE MECHANICS ARE AMAZING!).
But players like me, who don't feel confident with 3/4 of the available characters, should probably limit themselves to their very best heroes of choice in ranked queues.
I continue seeing some people I know still struggling in bronze, trying hard to improve their rating and play, but almost never blaming themselves when they lose a game. (Typical sentence: "I was 20/1/7! And I still lost the game, noob teammates feeders and leavers!!")
I didn't blame myself a lot, too. This is also a weak point which I want to improve in the coming season.
But I learned that a game is never really lost until the very end. Or, as a friend of mine says, "A game is only lost when the nexus is down".
A positive team spirit, the will to cooperate and help each other: that's what wins games. It really does. In Summoner's Rift, not just in Happy Rainbow Land. Encouraging a failing teammate instead of crucifying him for his errors has always proven to be a worthy choice. My team was able to completely turn the fate of an apparently lost game due to good team presence and fights. "In late we trust", as I said once XD and it worked. As a support, not only can I help my team by playing well, but also by supporting the team spirit.
I also realized (well there was no real wonder in that, to be honest) that a good warding can, in every game phase, give a huge advantage even when your team is behind in farm, turrets and kills. I never had a full build as a support, not even in 60-minutes-long games, 'cause the majority of my gold was spent in wards and oracles. And it was good as it was.
Sightstone, sight wards, vision wards, oracles: this is (or was, after S3) the only support's build!
"Whoa whoa wait: are you trying to give us suggestions? You're still a little nab, don't you know?"
Oh I surely am. But sometimes pointing out the most basic notions can be helpful, too. So why not? :)
Last but not least, I am really excited to see what will happen in the preseason, with all the changes they planned for supports.
I'll have to learn the mechanics from scratch again :V
Oh well, I'm ready. I really like the feeling of having build choices depending on situation, hero and playstyle. I guess the meta will point out the strongest combinations soon, anyway :p and some items / trinkets will soon become a must!
No matter what the new meta will be, I will continue cheering up my teammates as much as I can, even though my work often remains in the shadow.
I want to end this needlessly long post with one of my favourite mottos, which also sums up the spirit of good team cooperation:
support the support!
See you at the start of the preseason :)
Just a little sketch I made in some spare time at work. Sushi-Zombie Nami was also my idea
for the Zombie Hero Harrowing contest, but I had no time to put up some real art.
for the Zombie Hero Harrowing contest, but I had no time to put up some real art.
Monday, November 4, 2013
LuccaComics&(promotion)Games
Back from LuccaComics&Games 2013... woo guys, I really enjoyed it this year :D
I was there 3 out of 4 days and managed to do all the things I wanted to (see stands - play boardgames - buy stuff - eat tons of instant ramen)!
It was the first year of Riot attending the convention. There was a "huge" League of Legends stage with some italian rioters where you could participate in small games and competitions.
I was picked in a team for a champion mime game and won a Triforce t-shirt ^^
"TONS OF DAMAGE!"
I was expecting to receive skin codes instead, so I wasn't 100% happy about this victory... BUT!!! Later on I realized that the code on the convention ticket could be redeemed to receive both Riot Blitzcrank and Arcade Hecarim skins *_* wooooo!!! DOUBLE WIN!!
And though this year I couldn't afford doing a cosplay, next year I will definitely put up some support costume... I can't decide between Koi Nami and Hextech Janna *_* (btw my boyfriend is already complaining about me going around with a fish tail all day, so I guess I'll do something simpler). Can't wait for LC&G 2014 :D
Since the convention was on Halloween's weekend, I came home to participate in the Harrowing event. My friends and I had planned to gift each other a Mystery Gift, and at the time I received Dragon Slayer Jarvan IV and Fisherman Fizz.
Nice :D I love both! Too bad I also can't play both :V well looks like it's time to learn! ^^
---
So, I came back from Lucca and my promotion series is about to expire :V oh well.
I pick Nami and go bot with Vayne, facing Blitz + Sivir... fail grabs and bad Sivir = ultra fed godlike Vayne.
GG.
W/-/-
---
Uhmmm a bad game with all lanes losing :(
Their Fiora top destroyed our lane (both Garen and Turrets) early, mid our Gragas was getting owned by Rumble, bot Cait wasn't that bad but kept flaming me and / or the jungler... Just an average bad game.
Fun fact: enemy team grouped up in our base, Rumble escaping with low HP, Cait's ulti from our nexus passes through their entire team to reach and kill the poor Yordle. XD
W/L/-
---
Last game... and I have a super-nice team!! o.o People not flaming and helping each other. Thank you, matchmaking system!
Kayle top fed a bit earlt but made up for that later, my Cait was good, we were superior bot ('cause of my lane presence of course u.u ....yeah, yeah, right).
Well, their Leona wasn't really dangerous and Cait was good at avoiding zenith blades :p
I also won the ward war!!
In teamfights our Annie was -literally- MELTING them :)
W/L/W GG!
Gold IV is it!
I was there 3 out of 4 days and managed to do all the things I wanted to (see stands - play boardgames - buy stuff - eat tons of instant ramen)!
It was the first year of Riot attending the convention. There was a "huge" League of Legends stage with some italian rioters where you could participate in small games and competitions.
I was picked in a team for a champion mime game and won a Triforce t-shirt ^^
"TONS OF DAMAGE!"
I was expecting to receive skin codes instead, so I wasn't 100% happy about this victory... BUT!!! Later on I realized that the code on the convention ticket could be redeemed to receive both Riot Blitzcrank and Arcade Hecarim skins *_* wooooo!!! DOUBLE WIN!!
And though this year I couldn't afford doing a cosplay, next year I will definitely put up some support costume... I can't decide between Koi Nami and Hextech Janna *_* (btw my boyfriend is already complaining about me going around with a fish tail all day, so I guess I'll do something simpler). Can't wait for LC&G 2014 :D
Since the convention was on Halloween's weekend, I came home to participate in the Harrowing event. My friends and I had planned to gift each other a Mystery Gift, and at the time I received Dragon Slayer Jarvan IV and Fisherman Fizz.
Nice :D I love both! Too bad I also can't play both :V well looks like it's time to learn! ^^
---
So, I came back from Lucca and my promotion series is about to expire :V oh well.
I pick Nami and go bot with Vayne, facing Blitz + Sivir... fail grabs and bad Sivir = ultra fed godlike Vayne.
GG.
W/-/-
Uhmmm a bad game with all lanes losing :(
Their Fiora top destroyed our lane (both Garen and Turrets) early, mid our Gragas was getting owned by Rumble, bot Cait wasn't that bad but kept flaming me and / or the jungler... Just an average bad game.
Fun fact: enemy team grouped up in our base, Rumble escaping with low HP, Cait's ulti from our nexus passes through their entire team to reach and kill the poor Yordle. XD
W/L/-
Last game... and I have a super-nice team!! o.o People not flaming and helping each other. Thank you, matchmaking system!
Kayle top fed a bit earlt but made up for that later, my Cait was good, we were superior bot ('cause of my lane presence of course u.u ....yeah, yeah, right).
Well, their Leona wasn't really dangerous and Cait was good at avoiding zenith blades :p
I also won the ward war!!
In teamfights our Annie was -literally- MELTING them :)
W/L/W GG!
Gold IV is it!
Tuesday, October 29, 2013
Sorry, Sivir. I had to do this.
Seriously. I like what Riot is doing - giving the old champions a gorgeous new look - but, seriously.
I made fun of the Victorious Elise human appearance - and I like it, though.
How do you expect me to stay still when the new Sivir is just so... so... unbalanced?
I'm not talking about her new ability set.
Nor the in game skin, her VU looks absolutely gorgeous IMHO.
But what about that splash art that has been released in PBE?
COME ON.
Of all the epic battle positions you can imagine...why has it to be the Flamingo Battle Stance? :V
Why are her buttocks higher than her head? Why does his leg reming me of an old Soraka art with a banana elbow? I thought we were over this banana thing.
Talking seriously for a moment... the picture isn't so bad. But I feel that the new "tough adult woman" Sivir concept isn't well expressed in this art. No tough woman would bend like this in battle, showing both her breasts and her rear end at the same time :-V and no warrior would throw a giant boomerang weapon with only one foot barely touching the ground.
Sigh, I know where this is going... I'll have to buy that Princess Warrior Sivir skin to get rid of this splash art. GG Riot, you won again!! >.<
I made fun of the Victorious Elise human appearance - and I like it, though.
How do you expect me to stay still when the new Sivir is just so... so... unbalanced?
I'm not talking about her new ability set.
Nor the in game skin, her VU looks absolutely gorgeous IMHO.
But what about that splash art that has been released in PBE?
COME ON.
Of all the epic battle positions you can imagine...why has it to be the Flamingo Battle Stance? :V
Why are her buttocks higher than her head? Why does his leg reming me of an old Soraka art with a banana elbow? I thought we were over this banana thing.
Talking seriously for a moment... the picture isn't so bad. But I feel that the new "tough adult woman" Sivir concept isn't well expressed in this art. No tough woman would bend like this in battle, showing both her breasts and her rear end at the same time :-V and no warrior would throw a giant boomerang weapon with only one foot barely touching the ground.
Sigh, I know where this is going... I'll have to buy that Princess Warrior Sivir skin to get rid of this splash art. GG Riot, you won again!! >.<
Friday, October 18, 2013
AFTER SEASON ELISE X (aka Victorious Elise)
I must "thank" my job for abandoning me in these months, so I could train a lot and manage to reach gold.
Joking aside, well, yes: I was home from work for 6 months due to a deep crisis in the company I work for. Eventually - thanks to the hard work of our boss and all us employees - we were able to rise again from our ashes.
Next week I'll go back to my office and lab, and will have less time to play LoL - but more money to live.
It was a nice time, though, 'cause I wasn't in serious money shortage and could enjoy the summer like the old times, when I was a school girl: doing simple things, visiting my parents and granny, riding my old bike, even sunbathing at the local shore ^^
(And of course playing LoL all night long and sleeping all morning!!)
In the meanwhile the new Victorious Elise skin has been revealed.
I love that spider form!! And spiderlings, too!!
I know it's just a beta-release, and could be subject to changes... anyway, the human form somehow bothers me.
It seems so... like... if.... huh? You know...
Come on, you can't deny it. Just take a closer look... I proudly present you:
---
Enough vent for today, let's go back to the games. Last game as a (currently unemployed) researcher.
Nida support. Oh great :-/ and I'm Morgana mid vs Fizz. GREAT T_T
Well I gave him one early kill due to lack of mana :( but then I was superior, didn't get much kills but did a good job in some team fights. Our team wasn't flaming and all went great at the end... enemy team surrendered early!
Well it could have been, just maybe, 'cause of our Cait who was 8/0 in the first 15'.
But I think we won due of my spectacularly mediocre performance! \o/
100 LP, it's promotion time!! ...when will I be able to play those games, anyway? Doesn't matter, had job :<
Joking aside, well, yes: I was home from work for 6 months due to a deep crisis in the company I work for. Eventually - thanks to the hard work of our boss and all us employees - we were able to rise again from our ashes.
Next week I'll go back to my office and lab, and will have less time to play LoL - but more money to live.
It was a nice time, though, 'cause I wasn't in serious money shortage and could enjoy the summer like the old times, when I was a school girl: doing simple things, visiting my parents and granny, riding my old bike, even sunbathing at the local shore ^^
(And of course playing LoL all night long and sleeping all morning!!)
In the meanwhile the new Victorious Elise skin has been revealed.
I love that spider form!! And spiderlings, too!!
I know it's just a beta-release, and could be subject to changes... anyway, the human form somehow bothers me.
It seems so... like... if.... huh? You know...
AFTER SEASON ELISE X
 |
Just try to deny it, if you dare: it looks like the love child of Gundam and "Cignus" Hyoga.
Come on Riot, there MUST be something you can do about it!! You got some time to remove at least a bit of its current "Mecha" flavour. I mean, it's not even a Battlecast-themed skin.
|
---
Enough vent for today, let's go back to the games. Last game as a (currently unemployed) researcher.
Nida support. Oh great :-/ and I'm Morgana mid vs Fizz. GREAT T_T
Well I gave him one early kill due to lack of mana :( but then I was superior, didn't get much kills but did a good job in some team fights. Our team wasn't flaming and all went great at the end... enemy team surrendered early!
Well it could have been, just maybe, 'cause of our Cait who was 8/0 in the first 15'.
But I think we won due of my spectacularly mediocre performance! \o/
100 LP, it's promotion time!! ...when will I be able to play those games, anyway? Doesn't matter, had job :<
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