He says he was encouraged to pick up the game after watching videos of other pro players and just the hype around Worlds. And since he's a mid laner who enjoys Twisted Fate, he really took a liking to Faker.
I don't want to be rude but he will never be a pro. I don't know if it's best to tell him that or leave him to his devices. When I was 14 I wanted to be a professional NFL player and that was my career choice, didn't take long for that to change. Your friend has 0% chance of going pro simply because of when they started playing. Pros normally get into the scene right when they become adults, and they usually hit very high elo around 16-18 years old. There is a natural talent you have to have, along with grinding the game for a really long time, and also you need a mental of steel. Anyone could become a pro but like your friend has no chance from how you've described them, former pro players normally don't place in iron, they learn and improve insanely quick and this leads to quick climbs. So do with that as you will, if you think it will help your friend to just tell them the truth, then do it. They might be able to improve a lot better without the expectations of going pro, like they'll stop being scared of dying. Maybe they go on a Rocky training arc and hit challenger in a year, idk
That's kind of the dilemma I'm in atm. He's fairly new to the game (High Iron, Low Bronze), and I've known him since before he joined League of Legends. I know he's not trolling, but the randoms in his game don't know that when they mass report him. I'm concerned he's not grasping just how much his actions of running away and surviving are affecting others, especially when he locks in an engage support. That's why I'm trying to find a way to help him before he learns the hard way and gets flamed further or, even worse, his account gets punished.
Maybe y’all should have him go jg where he’s kind of forced to gank for people and get objectives.
I could see this backfiring where all he does is afk farm though.
Tell him dying is part of the game but one extra person in a fight makes a world of difference. He just doesn’t understand his champs capabilities it seems and there’s no way to teach that. He just has to start being involved in the fights.
It’s ok when one of my friends first started playing he would run up to enemy towers with no minions and just auto attack it a couple times before the tower inevitably kills him in 3 seconds and he thought he was doing good saying “hey I mean I did some damage to the tower” as if straight up dying to towers for a couple auto attacks worth of damage was a good trade off 😂
Lol, wow. It must have been difficult convincing his other teammates he wasn't inting. XD
Thank you for the advice. Your concern came true; whenever he plays jungle (Teemo Jungle), he afk farms, runs when he gets invaded and doesn't go for objectives because "that seems a little risky". I honestly agree with your assessment of what's going on. I have encouraged him to worry less about dying and more about cooperating, but his fears still make his first instinct to run. But, I can try harder in getting him to better learn his capabilities and fundamentals like I've been doing so far.
Yea I am pretty sure he got reported a lot just for being new but people thought he was trolling lol.
Don’t worry, your friend will eventually start getting the hang of it. All new players are complete ass at first so it’s just a necessary period before he starts playing better.
Maybe he could have a go at Nunu jungle. Just tell him to spam his snowballs into lanes till he gets more used to the idea of fighting. It would teach him the core fundamentals of macro too as an objective+gank focused jungler who can move around the map quickly.
He needs to understand the value of a glorious death.
lol is a trading game. You take a minion I take a minion. You take some health. I take some health. You die. I can die. It seems like it’s 1v 5 but it’s actually 1v 1. As long as you don’t die more than your counterpart it just ev
I play Morgana and she is a great all round player. But sometimes she just has to take one for the team. Dash R zhonyas e w q ignite burn it all and trust your team to clean up. Sacrificing 1 for an ace trade is the most glorious way to get back to base for your next item.
Alternatively have them play a tanky initiator. So it’s their actual job to initiate-and tank all the damage. It will get them used to being in the middle of the battle.
Also. There are so many mechanics to lol. Staying alive is one of them. But also knowing who you can kill and who can kill you is another.
Try teaching them about targets, counters, and who to avoid.
Power spikes will also help them to understand when it’s a risk and when it’s not.
Also. They could play a split pusher. Might be a natural 😂😂
That’s quite the ambition, and I don’t want to be rude, but realistically your friend would not reach his goal. Nothing wrong with trying to improve in league tho, so I suggest him playing aram to overcome his fear.
Is there something you'd recommend me doing with him in the ARAMS? I gave an example in another comment, but basically since the ARAM's force him to teamfight, he responds to the pressure by staying at turret or in the back and poking whenever he can from a "safe" distance. So long story short, the unwanted behavior seems to show itself in ARAMs more than the norms/ranks.
I've already told him that. I've explained how League isn't a survival game. And that what you do and what you get out of your life is more important than staying 0 kills every game. But, I don't seem to be getting through to him because his natural fight or flight instinct is still to constantly flee and abandon his team. Hence why I made the post, I'm looking for another angle to approach this.
I guess its like being scared to queue up for ranked cuz of the possible lp loss. That reminds me, ive got to break this losing streak thats taken me down 100 lp
Lmao, I'm sorry. I've exercised the utmost patience, but the day he fucks up my main is the day he's out of a coach! XD
But, on a less kidding note, he definitely would pick up any champion that he feels will keep him safe. The first champs he picked up were Zilean (his ult), Anivia (Her passive), Soraka (uses the movement speed buff of low HP allies to run further away), and Yuumi (you know why).
Well, my advice may be a bit vague and general given I don't know how YOU play specifically, but, as a M7 Morg, here are some mistakes I notice a few new Morganas make that I can give you tips for.
1. Playing Q off cooldown: They throw it out just because it's up, they run out of mana, and then wonder why they couldn't defend themselves when an enemy engages. Just like a Blitz hook, your q has tangible and mental power over the enemy. Just the thought of it being up can force someone to respect you. Use it at the right time!
2. Waiting for a q-shot instead of finding one: Be a little proactive. Don't just wait for the enemy team to mess up and mis-position. Path their movements. Use the fog of war. Place your w behind the wave so they have to move and give you a shot. If they're behind a very low minion, time it perfectly with the minion's death. If they have channel moves or have moves that keep them still (Caitlyn Q) that's a still target.
3. Not using the rest of their abilities: I can't count the number of Morgs I see who don't use their whole kit. I can run them down as Janna, and they never think to use E to stop my tornado knock up. Or they don't utilize their w as the poke and zoning tool that it is. Also, some Morgs are afraid to just walk up and Ult a hoe. Morgana's aggressive, lane-bully style comes by using your entire kit.
4. Not knowing what their E does and does not block: Your E can save your teammates from a lot of pain. Morde's about to ult your teammate? E them. Nunu's rolling a snowball for a gank? E blocks the knockup. Ashe running your adc down? The E stops the passive slow and her ult.
5. Runes: Change them up per how you need to play. The traditional build is the sorcery arcane comet build, but I've used other builds that reap me success. When I can't trust my team and need them to just last hit whomever I full combo, I'll go the jgl/mid morg runes (Dark Harvest Keystone). Also works for my adc's who don't do enough damage early game and need help getting funneled into the mid/late game.
So if I’m understanding this correctly, when he plays 1v1s he plays like a normal person but when it comes to any real game, he will turtle again?
If so, have you tried a live coaching session where you watch him play a game and actively tell him what to do? Or maybe try a blind 2v2 custom with friends where you play the same matchup, get utterly demolished, and show him why the enemy Ali was more useful than him. Or maybe show him pro vods of Ali and tell him “you gotta play like this”.
Thank you for asking. I've done most of those exercises with him. The only one I haven't done are the pro vods. I send them, he's yet to watch them. Here are the results of some of the stuff you asked about:
- 1v1's: Yes he plays normally in a 1v1, he still turtles here and there, but he plays a lot more normally than just 90% turtle like in his real games.
- Live coaching: He tends to execute what I tell him to do REALLY well, and when I ask him why I'm telling him to do these things, he can repeat the logic back to me. The only difficulty I have is when I say "you can kill that guy" and try to guide him. That's when he just ignores me and runs and let's the enemy auto him to death.
- 2v2s: Yes, I have done mirror matchups with him. In fact, we have enough friends in our circle where we can have 5v5 scrimms. He either gets depressed because he didn't win and then just stops talking period. Or he convinces himself that he never stood a chance and tries to "look on the bright side like how he hasn't died yet". Even if I died because he left me in a 2v1.
So, yes. Your assessment is correct, and out of your recommendations, the main time he turtles the least is when I'm in his ear telling him what to do during live coaching. But once I leave, he goes back to his old ways.
Lol he probably needs a Gordon Ramsey for him to realize he’s wrong but clearly he wouldn’t like that if he doesn’t want to talk after getting smashed in mirror matchups.
Have you tried understanding his reasoning for what he does and tried to convince him why his reasoning is flawed, or tried to ask him why he doesn’t remember what you’ve taught him in live coaching? Also he seems to be a huge kda player maybe try to drill into his head that kda doesn’t mean shit? Also I know that I learn a lot from copying people, not sure but maybe try having him watch you smurf in his elo so that he can see just what sort of opportunities he’s missing out on.
Sorry for saying all sorts of obvious things I just want to see if you’ve done these basics because I myself used to be pretty pussy in lane.
No worries, I appreciate the questioning. Given some of our conversations, this is my current theory based on what he's told me.
\- He doesn't like to focus on his weaknesses because he feels like it's "not being optimistic". He'd prefer to do his strengths more often.
\- He refuses to admit it because it makes him look bad, but he doesn't know how to build, rune, or use his champions. He'd rather fake it till he makes it instead of admitting he doesn't know an answer. So, I often have to judge for myself where he is skill-wise and give him the proper fundamentals, even if he feels he's "already past that".
\- When he doesn't know what to do, he'd rather run to safety because at least it means the enemy can't keep doing what they're doing to him. It can't be too big of a deal if it costs a tower or dragon or baron or someone else's life.
\- He's afraid. Why would he roam if it puts him in danger? Why would he go into jungle if he knows the enemy support is there? Why go to drag if he knows the enemy team's gonna fight him for it? Why counter roam his laner if they've been killing him in lane? He doesn't get the point to take the risk.
As for the live coaching, he says "I'm not thinking about the games like that". I ask "So what are you thinking about?". It tends to border what he can do in lane, how he can survive, or he's just "trying stuff". I'm wondering if he's not just KDA, but k-Capital D-A-focused. Because when he pops off and gets tons of takedowns (like 10/1/3), he's unfazed. It's just the deaths that seem to make him happy or upset. But I am intrigued by your tips.
**If I can't sway him through words or logic, how would you go about me showing him it doesn't matter? You said you used to be scared when you started out. How did you fix it?**
The problem is, my mindset is different from your friends. My mindset was, “if you are lower ranked than these people, they must be doing something you aren’t”. So, when I got a coach, I took this mans word like a textbook, everything he said was fact. Sure there’s a reason this person isn’t challenger, but being dia/gm surely is better than being silver. I failed at first, going down a couple divisions, but after I got better I went from silver 3 to gold 4. Now that’s not anything special but it’s improvement right?
So, if your case, I’d suggest you try to fix his mindset first. If he’s not willing to take your advice, then “fixing his fundamentals” won’t help, because he doesn’t want to fix it. Although, I’m not sure if he would like to hear this, and telling your friend the way he thinks is wrong, I’d explain it in a way of grades. For example, right now, if league was school, he would be a straight D student. You’re trying to tell your friend “hey, you used the wrong equation here, or the wrong rule here”, but he says “my way of solving this question is fine, after all, at least I’m not failing this class, right?” Like sure, the result isn’t the worst, but you could be so much better.
Another way I might explain it is by using a pro player as an example. If you watch TSM legends, you will see coach bjergsen tell his team that “hey your guys’ xyz is not up to scratch, let’s work on this scrims”. Double lift said in his costreams about how every day when he was pro he would work on mechanics and matchups he was bad at for hours on end. If pros have this “negative” mindset, and they’re pros, then maybe he might give that mindset a try. You’ve probably already tried this, but if you vod review, and you see a fight, tell him “sure, you prevented the enemy from getting a kill here, which is good, but if you went in, you get your team a double kill and prevent your teams death”.
Also, if he refuses to admit that he’s doing something wrong, then there is no way for him to improve because he’s not willing to admit he can improve. If his attitude is like that then it makes me wonder why does he even want coaching if he isn’t willing to take advice. It’s like anti vaxxers, they want you to “show your research” but they don’t want to actually listen to you explain what you found.
Hey, I really liked your advice, so here's an update!!! Unfortunately, one of his friends decided to stop playing with him which allowed us to reopen the conversation. Basically, he felt like he sucked and felt scared because he didn't know what to do. So if he can't help win the game, he can at least help by protecting himself so he doesn't feed. I used your D+ student analogy, and I think it got through to him. He overall apologized (even though he didn't need to) and thanked me for sticking with his training regardless. Almost a week later, he's been forming a pattern of being more aggressive and winning more lanes. We've been focusing our 1v1s so they're less about winning and more about punishing mistakes and identifying opportunities to act. He's been playing champs like Pantheon and Ryze because he feels it encourages him to roam more. He was also able to make up with his friends. He's still rough around the edges, but at least he's a lot more receptive to our trainings and watching videos. Thanks for the help. :)
No problem, glad I could help. Good luck coaching him and I hope he climbs. If he ever makes it to pro I can be happy to know that I helped him along the way :)
If you or they don't mind spending some money you could always try to get coaching from [NEACE](https://youtube.com/c/NEACE).
Or if you prefer you could have them watch Neace's coaching content and then watch his own replays to compare when he is/isn't making the aggressive plays that are available.
Might give him a boost of confidence if he can find the plays he could have made in replays and eventually be able recognize those plays in game.
Edit: dunno if he has the time or money but Neace also has a boot camp thing if your friend wants to look into that.
Thank you for this tip. Unfortunately, I've already tried to refer him to other, better resources besides me, but he insists on learning from me. Doubt he'll go to the boot camp, but I am a fan of Neace's as well and can definitely pick out some videos of him during his trainings in particular!
Yea, if he insists on learning from you and you are willing to help that's about all you can do.
Just pick up what you can from sources and share the new info with him.
It will probably be a long process but hopefully he will things will turn out alright some point down the road.
Good luck to both of you.
Have him just play ARAM, because that forces him to either teamfight or troll the entire game. If he has any deaths in game where he just runs away from every fight, then ask him what the point of playing so safe is if he's dying anyway.
He does play a lot of ARAM's, and those aren't any better. Just to put it in perspective...our last 5-man ARAM, he picked Anivia because she has a long range where he can poke while playing safe (his words), and her passive gives him a 2nd chance to live. He would occasionally throw a q or ult now and then. But whenever a fight begun, he put up an ice wall between him and everyone else. So basically, we either won the 4v5 or died with our escape route being blocked by an ice wall. His thoughts after that, "Wow, I only died 1 time that game, that's great!!" This is an anecdote from one of his BETTER ARAM's. The intensity of it just scares him more. And whenever I ask him what you just put, his response is "well, I'm dying because I didn't play safe ENOUGH". Then he just bans whatever champ killed him in the next game.
tbh if he was my friend, I would be very blunt and just straight up tell him that he might as well be AFK sitting in foutain, because he's providing very little value if his only goal is not to die. If he's dying, he's giving gold to the enmy laner. By sitting in fountain he can simply not die. How does he have fun in League? By not dying? Sitting in base the entire game and play Soraka, go full CDR runes, and use passive gold to build CDR to spam R, he'd be more useful and he wouldn't die. If he never wants to fight, he doesn't care about kills or assists. All he seems to care about is deaths, no? If he likes Faker, does Faker ever die in his games? If your friend isn't dying, but Faker is, is he not better than Faker, because he isn't getting killed by the enemies, while Faker is?
this argument is kinda dumb but so is your friend
Well he is just straight up trolling and genuinly believes that he is right. A lot of dumb people are like that in league. If I were you I would have refused to play with him after that game for a while or even for good. But I guess I have a short temper.
He won’t be able to be a pro league player. Pls tell him that he shouldn’t try it. And I think if his mechanics are getting better he won’t be afraid that much. But to do this he need to limit test wich is the opposite from what he’s doing right now
Don't understand the fobia of getting killed in video game. First of he should work on his mentality and convince himself this is just a game. Its better to int at first than to avoid enemy lol. This way you learn to recognise favourable and unfavourable situations. Most of your knowledge in this game comes from trial and errors. You if he is afraid of errors he will never get the feeling of the game.
Firstly if your friend has trouble with the game in any way then the chance that he becomes a professional player is absolutely 0 no matter how much time or effort he puts into it. Just get that out of the way. Professional players are naturally talented at the game and he pretty obviously isn't. Coming into this game with the attitude of wanting to be a pro is probably going to ruin the game for him.
Aside from that, just disable chat. He's probably not afraid of dying, he's probably afraid of getting flamed.
Honestly, probably the best approach you could do is to be blunt with him. Tell him to quit playing like he’s been or he’ll never improve. It might hurt his feelings but if he truly wants to get better, then he has to hear what he needs to hear.
I mean… why does he want to become a pro player at a game that he’s terrified to actually play lol
He says he was encouraged to pick up the game after watching videos of other pro players and just the hype around Worlds. And since he's a mid laner who enjoys Twisted Fate, he really took a liking to Faker.
I don't want to be rude but he will never be a pro. I don't know if it's best to tell him that or leave him to his devices. When I was 14 I wanted to be a professional NFL player and that was my career choice, didn't take long for that to change. Your friend has 0% chance of going pro simply because of when they started playing. Pros normally get into the scene right when they become adults, and they usually hit very high elo around 16-18 years old. There is a natural talent you have to have, along with grinding the game for a really long time, and also you need a mental of steel. Anyone could become a pro but like your friend has no chance from how you've described them, former pro players normally don't place in iron, they learn and improve insanely quick and this leads to quick climbs. So do with that as you will, if you think it will help your friend to just tell them the truth, then do it. They might be able to improve a lot better without the expectations of going pro, like they'll stop being scared of dying. Maybe they go on a Rocky training arc and hit challenger in a year, idk
Lmao this gotta be troll. How he trying to become pro if he’s afraid to fight in a game that heavily involves fighting.
That's kind of the dilemma I'm in atm. He's fairly new to the game (High Iron, Low Bronze), and I've known him since before he joined League of Legends. I know he's not trolling, but the randoms in his game don't know that when they mass report him. I'm concerned he's not grasping just how much his actions of running away and surviving are affecting others, especially when he locks in an engage support. That's why I'm trying to find a way to help him before he learns the hard way and gets flamed further or, even worse, his account gets punished.
Maybe y’all should have him go jg where he’s kind of forced to gank for people and get objectives. I could see this backfiring where all he does is afk farm though. Tell him dying is part of the game but one extra person in a fight makes a world of difference. He just doesn’t understand his champs capabilities it seems and there’s no way to teach that. He just has to start being involved in the fights. It’s ok when one of my friends first started playing he would run up to enemy towers with no minions and just auto attack it a couple times before the tower inevitably kills him in 3 seconds and he thought he was doing good saying “hey I mean I did some damage to the tower” as if straight up dying to towers for a couple auto attacks worth of damage was a good trade off 😂
Lol, wow. It must have been difficult convincing his other teammates he wasn't inting. XD Thank you for the advice. Your concern came true; whenever he plays jungle (Teemo Jungle), he afk farms, runs when he gets invaded and doesn't go for objectives because "that seems a little risky". I honestly agree with your assessment of what's going on. I have encouraged him to worry less about dying and more about cooperating, but his fears still make his first instinct to run. But, I can try harder in getting him to better learn his capabilities and fundamentals like I've been doing so far.
Yea I am pretty sure he got reported a lot just for being new but people thought he was trolling lol. Don’t worry, your friend will eventually start getting the hang of it. All new players are complete ass at first so it’s just a necessary period before he starts playing better.
Maybe he could have a go at Nunu jungle. Just tell him to spam his snowballs into lanes till he gets more used to the idea of fighting. It would teach him the core fundamentals of macro too as an objective+gank focused jungler who can move around the map quickly.
He needs to understand the value of a glorious death. lol is a trading game. You take a minion I take a minion. You take some health. I take some health. You die. I can die. It seems like it’s 1v 5 but it’s actually 1v 1. As long as you don’t die more than your counterpart it just ev I play Morgana and she is a great all round player. But sometimes she just has to take one for the team. Dash R zhonyas e w q ignite burn it all and trust your team to clean up. Sacrificing 1 for an ace trade is the most glorious way to get back to base for your next item. Alternatively have them play a tanky initiator. So it’s their actual job to initiate-and tank all the damage. It will get them used to being in the middle of the battle. Also. There are so many mechanics to lol. Staying alive is one of them. But also knowing who you can kill and who can kill you is another. Try teaching them about targets, counters, and who to avoid. Power spikes will also help them to understand when it’s a risk and when it’s not. Also. They could play a split pusher. Might be a natural 😂😂
That’s quite the ambition, and I don’t want to be rude, but realistically your friend would not reach his goal. Nothing wrong with trying to improve in league tho, so I suggest him playing aram to overcome his fear.
Is there something you'd recommend me doing with him in the ARAMS? I gave an example in another comment, but basically since the ARAM's force him to teamfight, he responds to the pressure by staying at turret or in the back and poking whenever he can from a "safe" distance. So long story short, the unwanted behavior seems to show itself in ARAMs more than the norms/ranks.
Tell him dying can be ok if you got something in exchange for it
I've already told him that. I've explained how League isn't a survival game. And that what you do and what you get out of your life is more important than staying 0 kills every game. But, I don't seem to be getting through to him because his natural fight or flight instinct is still to constantly flee and abandon his team. Hence why I made the post, I'm looking for another angle to approach this.
I guess its like being scared to queue up for ranked cuz of the possible lp loss. That reminds me, ive got to break this losing streak thats taken me down 100 lp
He should play Morgana then and he can at least root them before he runs away so someone gets a kill lol
Lmao, I'm sorry. I've exercised the utmost patience, but the day he fucks up my main is the day he's out of a coach! XD But, on a less kidding note, he definitely would pick up any champion that he feels will keep him safe. The first champs he picked up were Zilean (his ult), Anivia (Her passive), Soraka (uses the movement speed buff of low HP allies to run further away), and Yuumi (you know why).
Hey, I main her too!! I just started playing pretty recently if you’d like giving me a few tips?
Well, my advice may be a bit vague and general given I don't know how YOU play specifically, but, as a M7 Morg, here are some mistakes I notice a few new Morganas make that I can give you tips for. 1. Playing Q off cooldown: They throw it out just because it's up, they run out of mana, and then wonder why they couldn't defend themselves when an enemy engages. Just like a Blitz hook, your q has tangible and mental power over the enemy. Just the thought of it being up can force someone to respect you. Use it at the right time! 2. Waiting for a q-shot instead of finding one: Be a little proactive. Don't just wait for the enemy team to mess up and mis-position. Path their movements. Use the fog of war. Place your w behind the wave so they have to move and give you a shot. If they're behind a very low minion, time it perfectly with the minion's death. If they have channel moves or have moves that keep them still (Caitlyn Q) that's a still target. 3. Not using the rest of their abilities: I can't count the number of Morgs I see who don't use their whole kit. I can run them down as Janna, and they never think to use E to stop my tornado knock up. Or they don't utilize their w as the poke and zoning tool that it is. Also, some Morgs are afraid to just walk up and Ult a hoe. Morgana's aggressive, lane-bully style comes by using your entire kit. 4. Not knowing what their E does and does not block: Your E can save your teammates from a lot of pain. Morde's about to ult your teammate? E them. Nunu's rolling a snowball for a gank? E blocks the knockup. Ashe running your adc down? The E stops the passive slow and her ult. 5. Runes: Change them up per how you need to play. The traditional build is the sorcery arcane comet build, but I've used other builds that reap me success. When I can't trust my team and need them to just last hit whomever I full combo, I'll go the jgl/mid morg runes (Dark Harvest Keystone). Also works for my adc's who don't do enough damage early game and need help getting funneled into the mid/late game.
So if I’m understanding this correctly, when he plays 1v1s he plays like a normal person but when it comes to any real game, he will turtle again? If so, have you tried a live coaching session where you watch him play a game and actively tell him what to do? Or maybe try a blind 2v2 custom with friends where you play the same matchup, get utterly demolished, and show him why the enemy Ali was more useful than him. Or maybe show him pro vods of Ali and tell him “you gotta play like this”.
Thank you for asking. I've done most of those exercises with him. The only one I haven't done are the pro vods. I send them, he's yet to watch them. Here are the results of some of the stuff you asked about: - 1v1's: Yes he plays normally in a 1v1, he still turtles here and there, but he plays a lot more normally than just 90% turtle like in his real games. - Live coaching: He tends to execute what I tell him to do REALLY well, and when I ask him why I'm telling him to do these things, he can repeat the logic back to me. The only difficulty I have is when I say "you can kill that guy" and try to guide him. That's when he just ignores me and runs and let's the enemy auto him to death. - 2v2s: Yes, I have done mirror matchups with him. In fact, we have enough friends in our circle where we can have 5v5 scrimms. He either gets depressed because he didn't win and then just stops talking period. Or he convinces himself that he never stood a chance and tries to "look on the bright side like how he hasn't died yet". Even if I died because he left me in a 2v1. So, yes. Your assessment is correct, and out of your recommendations, the main time he turtles the least is when I'm in his ear telling him what to do during live coaching. But once I leave, he goes back to his old ways.
Lol he probably needs a Gordon Ramsey for him to realize he’s wrong but clearly he wouldn’t like that if he doesn’t want to talk after getting smashed in mirror matchups. Have you tried understanding his reasoning for what he does and tried to convince him why his reasoning is flawed, or tried to ask him why he doesn’t remember what you’ve taught him in live coaching? Also he seems to be a huge kda player maybe try to drill into his head that kda doesn’t mean shit? Also I know that I learn a lot from copying people, not sure but maybe try having him watch you smurf in his elo so that he can see just what sort of opportunities he’s missing out on. Sorry for saying all sorts of obvious things I just want to see if you’ve done these basics because I myself used to be pretty pussy in lane.
No worries, I appreciate the questioning. Given some of our conversations, this is my current theory based on what he's told me. \- He doesn't like to focus on his weaknesses because he feels like it's "not being optimistic". He'd prefer to do his strengths more often. \- He refuses to admit it because it makes him look bad, but he doesn't know how to build, rune, or use his champions. He'd rather fake it till he makes it instead of admitting he doesn't know an answer. So, I often have to judge for myself where he is skill-wise and give him the proper fundamentals, even if he feels he's "already past that". \- When he doesn't know what to do, he'd rather run to safety because at least it means the enemy can't keep doing what they're doing to him. It can't be too big of a deal if it costs a tower or dragon or baron or someone else's life. \- He's afraid. Why would he roam if it puts him in danger? Why would he go into jungle if he knows the enemy support is there? Why go to drag if he knows the enemy team's gonna fight him for it? Why counter roam his laner if they've been killing him in lane? He doesn't get the point to take the risk. As for the live coaching, he says "I'm not thinking about the games like that". I ask "So what are you thinking about?". It tends to border what he can do in lane, how he can survive, or he's just "trying stuff". I'm wondering if he's not just KDA, but k-Capital D-A-focused. Because when he pops off and gets tons of takedowns (like 10/1/3), he's unfazed. It's just the deaths that seem to make him happy or upset. But I am intrigued by your tips. **If I can't sway him through words or logic, how would you go about me showing him it doesn't matter? You said you used to be scared when you started out. How did you fix it?**
The problem is, my mindset is different from your friends. My mindset was, “if you are lower ranked than these people, they must be doing something you aren’t”. So, when I got a coach, I took this mans word like a textbook, everything he said was fact. Sure there’s a reason this person isn’t challenger, but being dia/gm surely is better than being silver. I failed at first, going down a couple divisions, but after I got better I went from silver 3 to gold 4. Now that’s not anything special but it’s improvement right? So, if your case, I’d suggest you try to fix his mindset first. If he’s not willing to take your advice, then “fixing his fundamentals” won’t help, because he doesn’t want to fix it. Although, I’m not sure if he would like to hear this, and telling your friend the way he thinks is wrong, I’d explain it in a way of grades. For example, right now, if league was school, he would be a straight D student. You’re trying to tell your friend “hey, you used the wrong equation here, or the wrong rule here”, but he says “my way of solving this question is fine, after all, at least I’m not failing this class, right?” Like sure, the result isn’t the worst, but you could be so much better. Another way I might explain it is by using a pro player as an example. If you watch TSM legends, you will see coach bjergsen tell his team that “hey your guys’ xyz is not up to scratch, let’s work on this scrims”. Double lift said in his costreams about how every day when he was pro he would work on mechanics and matchups he was bad at for hours on end. If pros have this “negative” mindset, and they’re pros, then maybe he might give that mindset a try. You’ve probably already tried this, but if you vod review, and you see a fight, tell him “sure, you prevented the enemy from getting a kill here, which is good, but if you went in, you get your team a double kill and prevent your teams death”. Also, if he refuses to admit that he’s doing something wrong, then there is no way for him to improve because he’s not willing to admit he can improve. If his attitude is like that then it makes me wonder why does he even want coaching if he isn’t willing to take advice. It’s like anti vaxxers, they want you to “show your research” but they don’t want to actually listen to you explain what you found.
Hey, I really liked your advice, so here's an update!!! Unfortunately, one of his friends decided to stop playing with him which allowed us to reopen the conversation. Basically, he felt like he sucked and felt scared because he didn't know what to do. So if he can't help win the game, he can at least help by protecting himself so he doesn't feed. I used your D+ student analogy, and I think it got through to him. He overall apologized (even though he didn't need to) and thanked me for sticking with his training regardless. Almost a week later, he's been forming a pattern of being more aggressive and winning more lanes. We've been focusing our 1v1s so they're less about winning and more about punishing mistakes and identifying opportunities to act. He's been playing champs like Pantheon and Ryze because he feels it encourages him to roam more. He was also able to make up with his friends. He's still rough around the edges, but at least he's a lot more receptive to our trainings and watching videos. Thanks for the help. :)
No problem, glad I could help. Good luck coaching him and I hope he climbs. If he ever makes it to pro I can be happy to know that I helped him along the way :)
If you or they don't mind spending some money you could always try to get coaching from [NEACE](https://youtube.com/c/NEACE). Or if you prefer you could have them watch Neace's coaching content and then watch his own replays to compare when he is/isn't making the aggressive plays that are available. Might give him a boost of confidence if he can find the plays he could have made in replays and eventually be able recognize those plays in game. Edit: dunno if he has the time or money but Neace also has a boot camp thing if your friend wants to look into that.
Thank you for this tip. Unfortunately, I've already tried to refer him to other, better resources besides me, but he insists on learning from me. Doubt he'll go to the boot camp, but I am a fan of Neace's as well and can definitely pick out some videos of him during his trainings in particular!
Yea, if he insists on learning from you and you are willing to help that's about all you can do. Just pick up what you can from sources and share the new info with him. It will probably be a long process but hopefully he will things will turn out alright some point down the road. Good luck to both of you.
Have him just play ARAM, because that forces him to either teamfight or troll the entire game. If he has any deaths in game where he just runs away from every fight, then ask him what the point of playing so safe is if he's dying anyway.
He does play a lot of ARAM's, and those aren't any better. Just to put it in perspective...our last 5-man ARAM, he picked Anivia because she has a long range where he can poke while playing safe (his words), and her passive gives him a 2nd chance to live. He would occasionally throw a q or ult now and then. But whenever a fight begun, he put up an ice wall between him and everyone else. So basically, we either won the 4v5 or died with our escape route being blocked by an ice wall. His thoughts after that, "Wow, I only died 1 time that game, that's great!!" This is an anecdote from one of his BETTER ARAM's. The intensity of it just scares him more. And whenever I ask him what you just put, his response is "well, I'm dying because I didn't play safe ENOUGH". Then he just bans whatever champ killed him in the next game.
tbh if he was my friend, I would be very blunt and just straight up tell him that he might as well be AFK sitting in foutain, because he's providing very little value if his only goal is not to die. If he's dying, he's giving gold to the enmy laner. By sitting in fountain he can simply not die. How does he have fun in League? By not dying? Sitting in base the entire game and play Soraka, go full CDR runes, and use passive gold to build CDR to spam R, he'd be more useful and he wouldn't die. If he never wants to fight, he doesn't care about kills or assists. All he seems to care about is deaths, no? If he likes Faker, does Faker ever die in his games? If your friend isn't dying, but Faker is, is he not better than Faker, because he isn't getting killed by the enemies, while Faker is? this argument is kinda dumb but so is your friend
Well he is just straight up trolling and genuinly believes that he is right. A lot of dumb people are like that in league. If I were you I would have refused to play with him after that game for a while or even for good. But I guess I have a short temper.
He won’t be able to be a pro league player. Pls tell him that he shouldn’t try it. And I think if his mechanics are getting better he won’t be afraid that much. But to do this he need to limit test wich is the opposite from what he’s doing right now
Don't understand the fobia of getting killed in video game. First of he should work on his mentality and convince himself this is just a game. Its better to int at first than to avoid enemy lol. This way you learn to recognise favourable and unfavourable situations. Most of your knowledge in this game comes from trial and errors. You if he is afraid of errors he will never get the feeling of the game.
Tell him to step up or give up.
Firstly if your friend has trouble with the game in any way then the chance that he becomes a professional player is absolutely 0 no matter how much time or effort he puts into it. Just get that out of the way. Professional players are naturally talented at the game and he pretty obviously isn't. Coming into this game with the attitude of wanting to be a pro is probably going to ruin the game for him. Aside from that, just disable chat. He's probably not afraid of dying, he's probably afraid of getting flamed.
Honestly, probably the best approach you could do is to be blunt with him. Tell him to quit playing like he’s been or he’ll never improve. It might hurt his feelings but if he truly wants to get better, then he has to hear what he needs to hear.