Reign of Gaming

It is a bit odd. A few weeks ago, I was gaining 27 per win and losing 17 per loss. I took a break after losing two, tried again this past week, and only gained 19 from a win. I'm not sure how much the change is when your hidden rating goes down, but it's also possible that they did some number tweaking.

Quote from Koshijin »

Do you think you would've done just as well/better just by playing more though?

In order to really evaluate whether it's "just one champion" gaining you ELO, you'd have to compare playing 100 ranked games as different champs to 100 ranked games as Janna, and see which was more effective.

Well, in season 2, I was a bit more open with my roles and character choices, but still had Janna as the highest played champion. Comparing the two seasons, I have to say that I definitely learned more with this experience than I did last season. It might just be because of the spreadsheet, but I also think that since I only had to deal with one character to work with, I could see why my choices made sense and think them through.

For example, in one of the last games, I talked about starting off with a cloth armor as opposed to a faerie charm. If I were someone like Leona, then I might have considered taking boots too, but then I'd have to look at the benefits of each one.

Quote from KeroKai »

Quote from Koshijin »

Do you think you would've done just as well/better just by playing more though?

In order to really evaluate whether it's "just one champion" gaining you ELO, you'd have to compare playing 100 ranked games as different champs to 100 ranked games as Janna, and see which was more effective.

Probably not. Your skills in the 4 other roles are likely to be as good as your main role. Support is actually a very easy role to gain elo with given that so many people aren't inclined to play it. You're killing two birds with one stone by 1) You'll be giving another person their better role and 2) You can help win bot lane effectively.

The only issue I have with playing one champion and support to higher elo, is when you do play other roles, you just aren't very good at it. It creates a weird dynamic where while you might be a 1400 elo support player, you'll only be like a 1200 elo mid/top player. The question then becomes: Is there any point raising elo, when your skill levels in other roles are that far behind? 

First paragraph: Definitely nailed it. I picked support because it's the least called role and least likely to be fought over, which meant that I could do what I want with it and do it well while giving people the roles they actually want. I do have a lot of prior experience in playing mid-lane as well, and I can easily hold my own at my level.

For the last question, there is a point, actually. I'm hoping that if I can raise my elo enough, I can get noticed by people who are forming teams or those currently in teams looking for subs or replacements. If I can get to that level, I'd like to hope that the amount of roles I play won't be an issue.

I personally disagree that Lulu does it all better, but I absolutely love Lulu and plan to do this with her at some point (maybe less than 100 games in a row, though. That was strenuous). I find Lulu to be like a more annoying version of Janna, but her harder cc is on a longer cd.

In pre-season 3, I was placed at around 1400 elo after the soft reset, then dropped down to 1350s, when I saw a video talking about how some people have gained a ton of elo with just one character that they mained. I decided to try it out by doing 100 ranked matches as my best character and role: Support Janna. Within half a week, I raised myself up to 1560s, then hovered a bit above 1500.

Halfway through my journey, I posted a thread on this forum, asking for people's opinion. I received mixed responses, with everyone giving good points. What it boiled down to was "It might be good for some people, but not for others."

I believe that it was a great experience for me and helped me to really understand my role, figure out what items to build when, and how to deal with a lot of matchups that I'm sure to encounter tons of times. I documented each game, with my k/d/a, a note about the game, and what I learned from it. Hope you enjoy:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0Aizioq9jQ0ibdFM5U09wbFZNY3VLZzVXamFyUDdRZ2c&usp=sharing

Additional info: My second most played champion in ranked only has 7 games.

I've always had an easy time laning against Poppy as Shyvana if you rush a wriggles, but I'd like to hear other people's inputs on this.

As a Janna player, Taric is one of the easiest matchups I play against. If he tends to overextend and go into your bush and push you out, you can ward it and just auto him for days. If he stuns you, shield before it lands and his burst won't really do much. If he stuns your carry, you can tornado both him and the enemy carry if there's an attempt at follow-up. It's extremely easy if you practice your Janna judgement.

Normally, I play support in ranked. I always say "Support, please." in the lobby, and I get it because nobody else wants to call support. If somebody else does call it before me, I will let them have it, because anyone else who has the balls to straight up call support can probably do it really well, and I can do okay in another role.

I main support and mid. I'm an absolutely terrible jungler so I just camp top all game since I find it the easiest lane to gank.

The reason that I'm not listing the ally adc and enemy bot lane combo is because I'm only trying to write down things that I don't already know from multiple matchups. For example, I believe in one of the earlier matches, I commented on how the burst from Taric+Sivir is crazy because I never took that combination into consideration. However, if I were against somebody like a Vayne+Alistar, I've done the matchup enough times that I've already figured out how to play it, but I still write down any new information or things that I may have forgotten.

After getting gold as support in season 3, I've decided to see how far I could get with just Janna. In less than a week after the soft reset, I pulled myself from the 1350s to 1500s while recording things I've learned from every match. The results so far are here:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0Aizioq9jQ0ibdFM5U09wbFZNY3VLZzVXamFyUDdRZ2c

I'll be doing this until I get 100 Janna games recorded on that spreadsheet.

As for general support tips, here's what I have to say:

Study the minimap. Cut it into sections and figure out which team controls what parts at each stage in the game, as well as what parts of the map the fight for control are currently being fought for. Those are the areas you'll be warding.

Always look at who your jungler is, who the enemy jungler is, and who the enemy adc/support is to figure out how to play and when to start warding. i.e If you're blue side and the enemy is someone who starts red, you can wait a bit before warding the river.

Your role as a support isn't to start shit with the enemy. It's to keep your carry alive and help them get to late game. Follow the pace of your carry, but don't be afraid to harass either.

When you first come into lane, look at how many wards your opposing support has. When they go to the river/tribush to ward, get used to their movespeed and see how long they're gone in the fog of war (I like to trace it with my mouse). Once you get used to it, you'll be able to figure out exactly where and when they warded, so you can convey the information to your jungler.

If you're Janna on purple side and the enemy jungler is a Lee Sin starting red, go into the mid lane brush near wraiths at the start. Put your first point into Q and start charging your tornado at 1:42 to steal the big wraith.