Going for the Gold Part XLIII: Promoted, Then Almost Demoted

Three seasons in a row, I sought Gold, but remained stuck in Bronze. Am I delusional? Let's see what happens this time around. I got a late start to this season and I've been thrown into Bronze again by placement matches. This is the story of my attempt to turn reverse the trends of previous seasons. This is Going for the Gold.

Mid: Ahri
Top: Swain (me)
Jungle: Vi
Marksman: Varus
Support: Morgana (Al0ysiusHWWW)
vs.
Mid: Lux
Top: Wukong
Jungle: Lee Sin
Marksman: Twitch
Support: Lulu
In my lane, Lee Sin tried to camp me. But I surived and dominated my lane. Nick and his ADC also came out ahead, and our Vi picked up a lot of kills. They held out for a while, but we were way ahead and were able to get into their base and win eventually. I went 14/4/12.

Mid: Brand (Al0ysiusHWWW)
Top: Singed (me)
Jungle: Vi
Marksman: Graves
Support: Braum
vs.
Mid: Diana
Top: Vladimir
Jungle: Jarvan IV
Marksman: Twitch
Support: Morgana
I think my teammates might have surrendered this one, but I forget. Nick was there to help, but he lost lane anyway. I killed Vladimir and was winning my lane, but he got help from Jarvan IV and then other members of the team too. I started killing champions and getting strong enough to tank most damage, but then Diana ulted onto me and destroyed me. I looked at the scoreboard and saw that she was stacking a Mejai's Soulstealer. My allies had simply fed too much. On top of that, I had most of our kills. I did make a few embarrassing mistakes in this one, but for the most part I think I played well and just couldn't overcome the massive difference between the two teams. In the end, I went 4/5/1, while our whole team only picked up a total of 9 kills against the enemy's 36.

Mid: Karma
Top: Diana
Jungle: Udyr (me)
Marksman: Sivir
Support: Leona (Al0ysiusHWWW)
vs.
Mid: Galio
Top: Jax
Jungle: Riven
Marksman: Miss Fortune
Support: Morgana
Another very one-sided match. Top and bot were frozen at first, so I killed opponents there a few times, then went back to farming for the rest of the match while my teammates snowballed. Sivir had 28 kills by the end. They actually managed to drive my team out of their base in a last stand, but then I ran in with baron-boosted minions and took down the nexus. In the end, I went 10/1/6. This was incredibly dominant. After I gave them some initial help, my team only needed me for dragon and baron control and could probably have won without me. Meanwhile, I was probably close to being able to solo the enemy team. It was that one-sided.

Mid: Malzahar (me)
Top: Rengar
Jungle: Xin Zhao (Al0ysiusHWWW)
Marksman: Ashe
Support: Morgana
vs.
Mid: Fizz
Top: Jax
Jungle: Hecarim
Marksman: Miss Fortune
Support: Sona
I got to carry a game as Malzahar! It might have been even better than if I'd played Karthus, since I was able to apply early pressure to Fizz and kill the fed Jax with my ult. It took a bit of time to catch up to Jax, but the rest of his team were easy to pick off. In the end, I went 19/9/12. Another really dominant match.

Mid: Karthus (me)
Top: Riven
Jungle: Wukong
Marksman: Jinx
Support: Leona (Al0ysiusHWWW)
vs.
Mid: Morgana
Top: Nasus
Jungle: Master Yi
Support: Blitzcrank
How does someone completely fail to play against their own main champion? Our Riven made a big deal about calling Nasus top in two lobbies, but then the other team got Nasus first. I figured that top should be fine, although Riven was an odd counterpick choice. Instead Nasus easily killed Riven and farmed like crazy. Our bot lane went better, but ultimately Jinx was rather unskilled. Didn't matter. I carried them. Wukong helped me get ahead so I could completely control my lane, then Nick provided initiations so that I could stomp on the other team. In the end, I went 14/2/10.

Mid: Morgana
Top: Darius
Jungle: Vi
Marksman: Kayle (me)
Support: Leona (Al0ysiusHWWW)
vs.
Mid: Akali
Top: Irelia
Jungle: Sejuani
Marksman: Graves
Support: Thresh
The Graves/Thresh bot lane combo is very dangerous. Nick and I didn't coordinate with each other very well and we made ourselves vulnerable, falling behind. Sejuani charged in and helped secure the laning phase for them, but our Darius was way ahead and Morgana was ahead too, so I thought we might get carried. My teammates messed up and got taken out by Graves one-by-one after he killed me when I was asking for help against him (they were focused on dragon), giving him a quadra kill and helping him snowball. And then on-hit Kayle struck again. I'm so glad I've gotten to keep this build for as long as I have. Full on-hit builds aren't very popular, but mine have been working, especially my Kayle. In the end, I went 9/5/10. Not my best Kayle game, but it wasn't too shabby.

Mid: Karthus (me)
Top: Zac
Jungle: Tryndamere
Marksman: Jinx
Support: Braum (IMLRG)
vs.
Mid: Heimerdinger
Top: Cho'Gath
Jungle: Wukong
Marksman: Sivir
Support: Leona
I've never seen such a passive Heimerdinger. While he was an easy lane opponent, our bot lane completely collapsed, as our Jinx was outclassed. The enemy team roamed and killed me under my turret a few times. Tryndamere got fed, which kept us going until my massive CS let me get fed too. Zac also started getting fed, and while we were still behind on total kills as a team, the combination of a fed Karthus, Tryndamere, and Zac was enough to win us teamfights and take the match. In the end, I went 10/5/7.

Mid: Yasuo
Top: Cho'Gath (IMLRG)
Jungle: Tryndamere
Marksman: Tristana (me)
Feed: Lux
vs.
Mid: Malzahar
Top: Galio
Jungle: Vi
Marksman: Lucian
Support: Viktor
I say "feed" for Lux, but I was actually the one to give up the most kills overall. Lux did start feeding from early on, but the real problem was that Lux made no attempt whatsoever to support me or do anything useful. She did pick up a couple of kill and assists over time, but she may as well have been a bot. Actually, I think she might have been except a bot should have done better. I'm not exaggerating: our Lux was useless, even going so far as to shoot ults off the map instead of at enemies. I tried to overcome that disadvantage, but our whole team was behind. I picked up several kills, but my allies weren't getting kills and we were all dying too much. In the end, I went 6/11/2. I swore off going as marksman with random players. Having a bad jungler can make mid or top dangerous, but having a bad support makes bot absolutely miserable.

Mid: Ziggs
Top: Cho'Gath (IMLRG)
Jungle: Skarner (me)
Marksman: Varus
Support: Leona
vs.
Mid: Zed
Top: Kayle
Jungle: Irelia
Marksman: Sivir
Support: Sona
This wasn't a total shutout, but we were able to get ahead and stay ahead. I successfully ganked top and bot multiple times, and our team won both, which left us with three fed champions. They put up a fight, but we overpowered them. In the end, I went 11/7/7.

Mid: LeBlanc
Top: Cho'Gath
Jungle: Udyr (me)
Marksman: Jinx
Support: Braum (IMLRG)
vs.
Mid: Galio
Top: Garen
Jungle: Nautilus
Marksman: Kalista
Support: Nami
I tried to help my team, but they fell way behind before I could get going. In the end, I went 1/6/7. This one sucked.

Mid: Fizz (IMLRG)
Top: Aatrox
Jungle: Shen (me)
Marksman: Caitlyn
Support: Zilean
vs.
Mid: Zed
Top: Nidalee
Jungle: Pantheon
Marksman: Jinx
Support: Janna
This was a repeat of the previous game, only I was playing Shen for some reason. I went 1/6/5. Tried to help, but the lanes fed aggressively before I could get going. Scott eventually picked up some ult kills, but it was too late.

Mid: Teemo
Top: Nasus
Jungle: Amumu
Marksman: Kayle (me)
Support: Braum (IMLRG)
vs.
Mid: Annie
Top: Gangplank
Jungle: Lee Sin
Marksman: Lucian
Support: Alistar
I told Scott that I was sick of losing like that, and that I was going to force mid because I carry matches when I pick mid. He talked me into going Kayle/Braum duo bot with him. It was rough at first, then got rougher when Lee Sin ganked us and got a double kill. I thought that Lee Sin would snowball, but we killed him twice (I killed him once and someone else killed him) and he ragequit soon after. We were already winning by then. I was getting fed and Nasus was getting even more fed. But having a 5 vs. 4 made it even more one-sided. In the end, I went 9/2/10.

Mid: Malzahar
Top: Nasus
Jungle: Udyr (me)
Marksman: Vayne
Support: Leona (Al0ysiusHWWW)
vs.
Mid: Katarina
Top: Jayce
Jungle: Fizz
Marksman: Caitlyn
Support: Volibear
My team had to be pretty screwed up to let Fizz outjungle me as Udyr, but screwed up was exactly what they were. Vayne and Nasus fed the most, which of course left Nick dying a lot too. Malzahar fed a little less, but still more than me. So he decided that our defeat must be my fault. Yeah, the guy raged pretty hard, then called me "butthurt" when I responded. Trolls gonna troll, I suppose. In the end, I went 4/7/3, which sucks, but is better than the rest of my team could do. Recently, it seems like all of my games as jungler involve my allies in the lanes collapsing and losing their lanes while I'm still on my first clear. I'm in danger of being demoted (I forget when I was promoted to Bronze III, but I totally was) because of this crap.

Mid: Orianna
Top: Singed (me)
Jungle: Xin Zhao (Al0ysiusHWWW)
Marksman: Ezreal
Support: Leona
vs.
Mid: Katarina
Top: Maokai
Jungle: Vi
Marksman: Varus
Support: Teemo
Not sure how the Teemo support was supposed to work. I was too busy having Vi fly at me all the damn time. I couldn't keep from feeding with all the pressure she put on me in the laning phase, but I was able to farm like crazy and weaken Maokai's outer turret. While I was doing that, Katarina got incredibly fed. I tried to tank for my teammates, and while none of them were egregiously bad, they just kept getting caught when they shouldn't have. In the end, I went 4/8/10. Another loss, which puts me in even more danger of demotion. What a fantastic start my season is off to. Oh yes, Gold is looking as impossible as ever.

Mid: Karthus (me)
Top: Gnar
Jungle: Rammus
Marksman: Jinx
Support: Thresh
vs.
Mid: Yasuo
Top: Fiora
Jungle: Sion
Marksman: Sivir
Support: Braum
I won my lane. The other lanes lost badly. From there, we tried to mount a comeback. It looked like we might pull it off, but we just didn't have enough competent people. Rammus was good, and Gnar fed early but started getting stronger. Jinx and Thresh just weren't doing enough. I was able to deal with the fed Fiora and the fed Sivir on multiple occasions, but it wasn't enough. In the end, I went 16/5/17. I tried, but I failed. Next loss from here should demote me. And as usual, I think that it just isn't right. I'm getting unwinnable match after unwinnable match.

Mid: Karthus (me)
Top: Teemo
Jungle: Warwick
Marksman: Vayne
Support: Sona
vs.
Mid: Ezreal (AP build)
Top: Pantheon
Jungle: Vi
Marksman: Jinx
Support: Morgana
I messed up rather badly in the laning phase of this one. I held off on teleporting as I took a beating from Ezreal's skillshots. I decided to back off and teleport, but wanted to flash as I saw him ulting. Then Pantheon tried to ult in too. Even though Pantheon's ult was too far back to possibly hit me, I panicked over it and flashed right into Ezreal's ult, giving him a kill. Couldn't believe it. Fortunately, I already had a kill from my own ult, and was able to get Warwick to gank Ezreal and take his outer turret. From there, I got fed and walked all over the whole enemy team. Our Vayne, who had farmed much better than me early on and had dominated lane, got fed too, dooming the other team even more. They tried to play defensively, which just let us pick them apart at our leisure. In the end, I went 10/3/9. Guess I won't be demoted yet! I'm at 20 LP in Bronze III.