If you’ve spent months stuck in the same rank, spamming 10+ ranked games a week only to end up with the same LP you started with, you’re not alone. An estimated 70% of League of Legends players sit in the same rank for 2+ seasons, not because they lack skill, but because they’re focusing on the wrong parts of their gameplay. If you’re tired of treading water and ready to learn how to level up in league of legends, the tips below will help you climb faster without doubling your playtime.
How to Level Up in League of Legends By Narrowing Your Champion Pool
The biggest mistake low and mid elo players make is spreading their practice too thin across too many champions. It’s common to see players swap between 8-12 different champions every week, never taking the time to master any of their matchups, cooldowns, or power spikes. Pro players, by comparison, almost always stick to 3-5 main champions for their primary role, even at the highest levels of play.
If you want to learn how to level up in league of legends without putting in 40 hours a week, narrowing your champion pool is the single fastest change you can make. Stick to 2-4 champions for your primary role, and 1-2 for your off-role if you get autofilled. When you don’t have to spend half the game worrying if you’re using your abilities correctly, you can focus on making better macro decisions and reading the enemy team’s moves.
You might get bored playing the same few champions every once in a while, but that’s what normal games are for. Save your off-meta picks for casual lobbies, and stick to your mains when you’re grinding ranked. I used to play 12 different mid laners and was hard stuck gold for 2 seasons; when I narrowed my pool to 3 mains, I hit platinum in 6 weeks with almost no extra playtime.
Prioritize Macro Play Over Kills to Gain Consistent LP
Most players who struggle with how to level up in league of legends are fixated on getting as many kills as possible, but that’s a surefire way to miss easy LP gains. I’ve seen 10/2 Yasuo players lose games because they chase a 1/4 support across the map instead of taking baron with their team. A kill gives you 300 gold at most, but a baron buff gives your entire team 500 gold each, plus massive damage buffs that let you push all the way to the enemy nexus.
Your first priority every game is to secure objectives, not pad your kill count. Macro play doesn’t require fast reaction times or perfect mechanics; it just requires paying attention to the map and making smart decisions about where to be at what time. Your macro priorities shift depending on the phase of the game:
- Early game (0-15 mins): Farm minions consistently, secure first turret in your lane, and contest scuttle crabs and first dragon if your team has lane priority
- Mid game (15-25 mins): Group with your team to take rift herald or second dragon, push side lanes to deny enemy farm, and avoid uncoordinated 1v3 fights
- Late game (25+ mins): Stay grouped with your team, ward objectives before they spawn, and never face-check unwarded bushes when baron is up
So many teams throw 10k gold leads because half the team chases a low-health enemy across the jungle while the other team takes an objective for free. That one small mistake can cost you the entire game, even if you’re way ahead on kills. I know multiple platinum players who have below-average mechanics but climb consistently because they always prioritize objectives over flashy kills.
Review Your Losses (And Your Wins) to Fix Blind Spots
Most players only review their losses, and even then they spend the whole time blaming their jungler or support instead of looking for their own mistakes. Even if your teammate ran it down first 5 minutes, there are almost always things you could have done to turn the game around later on. Blaming others feels good in the moment, but it stops you from fixing the gaps in your own play that are holding you back.
You should spend 10 minutes reviewing at least 2 of your games a day, even the ones you win. In losses, skip to the big team fights and objective takes to see what you could have done differently: did you overextend without vision? Did you ignore a ping to group for dragon? In wins, look for moments you got lucky: did you survive a 1v1 because the enemy messed up their combo, not because you played well? That helps you avoid repeating the same mistake next time.
A common blind spot I see is players complaining their jungler never ganks their lane, but when you watch the replay, their lane is pushed all the way to the enemy turret, so ganking would be a suicide mission. That’s the kind of mistake you’ll never catch if you don’t take the time to look back at your play. You don’t need any fancy paid tools to review games; the built-in League of Legends replay client works perfectly for casual players.
Fix Your Mental Game to Avoid Tilt-Induced Losing Streaks
Let’s be real, we’ve all had that game where a teammate intentionally feeds first 3 minutes, and then we queue up 4 more games just to “get our LP back” and end up losing 120 LP in an hour. That’s tilt, and it’s the number one reason players get stuck in low elo for years. When you’re tilted, your decision making gets 30% worse, you take unnecessary fights, and you ignore pings from your team that would have won you the game.
Set a hard limit of 2 losses in a row before you log off for at least 30 minutes. Get up, get a snack, go for a walk, do something that takes your mind off the game. Even pro players take breaks when they’re on losing streaks to reset their head, so there’s no shame in stepping away for a bit. Pushing through tilt will only make you lose more LP and waste more of your time.
Another easy fix is to mute toxic teammates immediately. You don’t owe any random teammate your attention, especially if they’re being abusive. I used to argue back with toxic players all the time, and I noticed my win rate dropped 12% when I did that, compared to when I just muted them right away. It’s not worth the energy, and it only makes you play worse. Also, don’t play ranked when you’re tired or distracted; if you’re coming home from a 10 hour shift, you’re not going to make good macro calls, so save the grind for when you’re well rested and focused.
Climbing in League of Legends doesn’t have to be a miserable grind that takes over your whole life. Small, consistent changes to your playstyle add up way faster than spamming 20 unproductive games a week. You don’t need to be a mechanical prodigy or have 10,000 hours of playtime to hit your goal rank. If you consistently apply these tips, you’ll learn how to level up in league of legends faster than you ever thought possible, without spending every waking hour grinding ranked games. I went from hard stuck gold to diamond in 8 months using exactly these tips, and I know they work for players of all skill levels. Don’t get discouraged if you don’t see progress right away; rank gain takes time, but every small improvement you make gets you one step closer to the rank you’ve been working toward.