So, you are stuck in a rank that you do not belong to. You are better than your teammates, but you still can’t rank up. Your teammates are dragging you down. How the hell (no pun intended) do you escape ELO hell?
What Is ELO Hell?
ELO hell is a circumstance in which higher-skilled players, are dragged down on the rank ladder because of reasons outside of their control like poor teammates, smurfs, toxicity etc. Therefore, their “real” rank is higher than their current one. This is a very frustrating experience as you feel like things are out of your control.
Does ELO Hell Really Exists?
ELO hell does not exist. ELO hell is an excuse for bad players to feel good about themselves for not ranking up. Let me explain. Players in ELO hell are ranting about poor teammates, smurfs, toxicity, poor team coordination, trollers and many more. But think about it. Your enemy team has the same players with the same problems. Your enemy team are playing against smurfs, have bad and toxic teammates. Their team coordination is not good, and many more. Basically, it is a fair fight, right?
Think about it this way. If you are really good, better than your current rank, it means that you have “4 players” dragging you down, while your enemy team has “5 bad players”. The odds are with you. You should win this match. Everyone deals with the same stuff. Remember that.
Imagine a player is a diamond. Let him play against golds \ silvers. He would easily advance on the rank ladder. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose. But overall, your team has the better odds.
Does ELO hell exist? ELO hell is a topic that has been proven again and again that it does not exist. It is used as an excuse for not ranking up to save ego and feel better about ourselves. If you aren’t climbing, it means that you are not good enough for the next rank.
Why Is This Important?
Realizing that ELO hell does not exist is the first step to “getting out” of it. Realize that it is all mental and all in your head. That’s how you actually improve and rank up. Playing with a big ego and with a feeling that you are better than your teammates and that you do not belong there, will harm you in the long run. It can lead to toxicity, frustration, and much more.
Fixing your mindset, is key here. That’s why, I want to introduce the 40-20-40 concept.
40-20-40
The 40-20-40 rule says, that you win 40% of your games. No matter what you do, you just win. It can be because of a good team, smurfs, or even trollers on the opposite team. You just win the match without doing anything. The other 40%, you lose no matter what. It can be because of many reasons, but that doesn’t matter. You lost and that’s it.
The 20% is where it gets interesting. The 20% of your games, are the games which you have an impact on. These are games, in which you can actually turn the tides. If you play well and you deserve it, you win. If you perform poorly, then it is on you and you lose. Every player who starts to get tilted (How To Stop Getting Tilted) has to remember this rule. Remember to perform the best you can on every game, so you can actually have an impact on the games that matter.
If you are “stuck” in ELO hell, it means that you are probably not winning all 20% of the games in which you have an impact. Therefore, you are not better than your competition. It is best to just focus on getting better.
How To Actually Rank Up?
After realizing that ELO hell is purely mental, now you can actually start to improve. Your ego didn’t want to improve. Why would he? You are already better than everyone in your rank. You don’t need to improve. That’s the reason you were in ELO hell. You have to let it go. It takes courage to say to yourself, that you deserve this rank. Now, the journey can start.
Learning from your mistakes is key to developing and improving your gaming skills. You have to honestly review yourself and really understand what is holding you back. (Spoiler alert, it is not your teammates). Find out, why you are dying. Find out why you lost that round. Really try and see through the bull**** and understand yourself and your common patterns.
Not willing to admit that you are the issue for your own ELO hell closes the door for improvement because you are too focused on things that are outside of your control. Therefore, you don’t pay enough attention to the only thing that matters. You.
Get Good
Yep, you probably didn’t want to hear that. But git gud. As I said, a player who is really above his current rank, will rank up quickly. So make sure to actually be above your rank. Improve, so you will consistently win 20% of your important games.
Game Sense
So, to develop a pro game sense, you need to learn from the pros. Watch demos, review VOD’s. Analyze pro players decision-making and put yourself in their shoes. Then, review your own VOD’s and find your own mistakes. Learn from it and put your knowledge to the test. Remember, game sense is built from experience.
You can learn more here: How To Develop Pro Game Sense: Fastest Method
Aim
Start aim training. Start deathmatching. Utilize custom lobbies and learn spray patterns, peeks, angles. Learn how to tap fire, how to spray etc.
To aim train effectively, you should follow a well-known guide like Aimer7’s guide. Choose the focus of your aim training (tracking, click-timing) and stay consistent with it. Remember to sleep well as sleep is crucial for developing your aim, and enjoy the process!
You can learn more here: How To Aim Train Effectively: Actually Improve Your Aim
Quick Tips
- Make Sure You Are Consistent. Playing one match and being the top fragger and then bottom fragging next, is not ideal. Make sure you are consistent with your gameplay, and your practice as well. Mental state is usually the reason for inconsistencies in your gameplay – How To Be More Consistent.
- Make Sure You Are Not Tilted. Tilt will ruin your game and your mindset. You don’t want that. Make sure to stay away from tilting as much as possible. – How To Stop Tilt: Win More Games.
- Make Sure You Are Focused. Being focused and immersed in the game will help immensely with improvement and realizing your own mistakes. – How To Improve Your Focus While Gaming
- Make Sure You Are Calm. Being calm helps with decision-making and clutches – How To Be More Calm And Reduce Stress While Gaming
- Make Sure You Are A Good Team Player – Just because you are the top-frogger, does not mean that you’ve contributed way more than any other player. The impact of your kills is what matters. So make sure you are being a good team player. Make callouts, smoke when needed, play with your team, stay together and be coordinated as much as possible. Be the best teammate you’ve never had.
- Make Sure You Are Not Toxic – Being toxic will ruin your team’s energy and your ability to perform well. Learn to accept that sometimes, you can be bad teammates. Toxicity is never the answer. Learn to accept losses and move on. It is a natural thing. Everyone experiences it. If someone else is toxic to you, then use the mute function. It is there for a reason. Don’t let other people trigger you. In the end, you are the one who pays the price.
Conclusion
To summarize, the first step to escaping ELO hell, is realizing that it does not exist. Realizing that ELO hell is an excuse for not being good enough opens the door to improvement. From here, you should be working on being the best player you can. Review VOD’s, learn from top players, aim train etc.
