Top 10 Things High Elo Players Do Better Than Low Elo Players

What do high level LoL players do that low level players don't?

In every division, League of Legends players look for some sort of magic edge that allows them to get to the next rank, no matter if it's silver to gold or grand master to challenger. The truth is, everyone has things they need to work on and a variety of factors in combination make you "worthy" of the next rank.

Someone who is great at one thing but terrible in the others might end up in the same rank as someone who is mediocre in all categories. Meanwhile, someone who improves on all the things below WILL end up at a higher rank than they are now.

Read on find out what higher level players are doing better than you!

What do high level LoL players do that low level players don't?

In every division, League of Legends players look for some sort of magic edge that allows them to get to the next rank, no matter if it's silver to gold or grand master to challenger. The truth is, everyone has things they need to work on and a variety of factors in combination make you "worthy" of the next rank.

Someone who is great at one thing but terrible in the others might end up in the same rank as someone who is mediocre in all categories. Meanwhile, someone who improves on all the things below WILL end up at a higher rank than they are now.

So what do high players do differently? They...

1. Flash strategically
2. Control spacing
3. Shove waves
4. Buy control wards
5. Help teammates
6. Track summoner spells
7. Group for objectives
8. Stay safe in lane
9. Think about enemy junglers
10. Win Games

Read on to find out more about each of these things and how to do them!

1. Flash damage spells at high health

Players tend to "save" their flash summoner for right before they die. Similar to Kayle ultimate, using a spell defensively should be done not as a last resort, but instead to mitigate the highest amount of damage possible. 

Sometimes, this ends up meaning using flash to dodge a Morgana binding at level 2 before it hits you at full health. Depending on the lane positioning and level advantage, getting hit might mean losing a huge chunk of HP and getting zoned the rest of the laning phase.

Lower level players tend to wait and hope it misses, then flash as they realize they're ignited with 10 HP left. Higher level players understand the gold advantage flashing early would provide.

2. Control Spacing

In lane, low level players tend to try walking up to enemy champions and throwing down poke spells or auto attacks in a very obvious manner. This allows players plenty of time to move backwards and avoid those attacks.

High level players take advantage of "wiggling", which means moving your character back and forth rapidly in order to confuse the enemy as to how close to being in range they actually are. This allows you to both dodge skill shots they throw and also land more skill shots (or auto attacks) since they're less ready to anticipate when you throw it.

3. Shove waves after ganking

At lower divisions, players will often spam ping their junglers to back off their precious minions even after the jungler successfully ganks their lane. 

At higher divisions, if the jungler doesn't help their laner shove lane after a successful gank, they're likely get flamed by their laner for losing them the lane.

Pushing minions to the enemy turret denies the enemy laner gold, resets the lane, and also provides the jungler some much needed experience after the jungle nerfs.

4. Buy control wards

At some lower divisions, not even the support buys control wards. At higher divisions, players prioritize control wards over their other items and make sure that they always have one handy. 

As both an offensive and defensive mechanism, control wards enable junglers to perform and for you to pressure the enemy laner by cutting off their vision in strategic locations. 

5. Help teammates

At lower divisions, players might ask for help and not receive it. At higher divisions, players expect the help once enemies appear on the map and they ping it. At the highest divisions, players expect their allies to already be moving into position to help before enemies even show up.

The point being, if you don't drop golems when your top lane is being ganked, you'll probably end up in a lower division. 

6. Track summoner spells

Flash and teleport are the most obvious summoner spells to track the timers on. However, the higher you go the more summoner spells are going to be tracked. It's also important for players to understand the pressure that summoner spell advantage provides and abuse it when possible.

7. Group for objectives

In casual divisions, dragon might drop from a jungler soloing it or sit there for 20 minutes without action. As you advance through the divisions, every dragon becomes highly contested and 5v5 teamfights often breakout around objectives. It's rare that a lop-sided battle occurs at an objective the higher you go, and this also goes along with the "help teammates" in #5.

8. Stay safe in lane

Even at relatively "high" divisions, players often aren't as safe as they should be. As junglers get better, it's more important than ever to understand the potential gap closing distance of enemy jungelrs and how long the enemy laners can hold you there.

If your jungler isn't nearby, higher division players often choose to stay extra safe in lane and rarely push past river, even if it's warded. A bit further down, laners may drop a ward in river but still die to extraordinarily powerful gankers like Hecarim. Even further down players will push even if the river isn't warded and just complain about jungle difference.

9. Think about enemy junglers

Staying safe in lane also means thinking about the enemy jungler. As you advance through the ranks, every bit of information on where the juingler is or just was is extraordinarily useful. It allows you to understand the psychology of the enemy laner and how much pressure they're willing to exert.

It also allows you to know if the enemy laner is overextending or baiting you in. Good players will be thinking about the jungler's clear path the entire game and their chances of dying if the jungler is nearby.

10. Win games

Higher division players win (won) more games than lower division players. This is a simple matter of ranking, and it's only natural. However, some players forget this somehow, and end up pursuing other objectives including:

• Maximizing farm
• Camping the enemy fountain
• Griefing their allies
• Clearing every jungle camp

If you're focusing on these objectives instead of on the main objective "Win The Game", naturally your division will end up lower than it could potentially be.

Got more tips for getting to higher divisions? What changed as you climbed the ladder? Comment below!