ffffffff by [deleted]

Hello! My name is Ian (I go by lots/fmaB on vg). I am a strategic analyst of many competitive games ranging from Magic The Gathering, Clash of Clans, League of Legends, and Vainglory. Currently I've been devoting 90% of my time to Vainglory to completely understand every strategic aspect of it.

I am coaching for a team (team name disclosed atm). After reading/listening to this guide if you wish to have personal coaching or just have some questions to ask contact me in game!

IGN: lots
IGN: fmaB

What is ELO?

ELO is a system made by Arpad Elo that he used to determine player ratings in Professional Chess. It ranges from 0-2400(+) and is currently used in a wide variety of games. Classes are separated by 200 points, so the higher ELO you have, the higher of skill is expected.

If you want to read more about it, here's the ELO Wiki Link.

How Does ELO affect MOBAs and Other Competitive Multiplayer Games?


Unlike chess, MOBAs have multiple players all contributing to a win or a loss. Due to this, there are misconceptions that occur and negative trends that appear. (AKA, "I'm stuck in ELO Hell because of sh*t players!")

ELO is affected by a 50/50 chance, win or loss, and because chess is a single player game the probability of ELO gain is 50%. Now in MOBAs, there are multiple factors that affect your probability of ELO gain, these range from Champion and Gameplay balance to overall Player Performance. This leads to the rule I like to call, the "40-20-40 Rule".

The "40-20-40 Rule"


The "40-20-40 Rule" is a theory or mindset that basically says that you will WIN 40% of your games, you will LOSE 40% of your games, and you will have a HUGE FACTOR in 20% of your wins/losses.

This means that statistically, the more games you play the more games you will win. This is because you have a 60% percent factoring into winning or losing.

Now, this rule isn't gospel, but when you average winrates of thousands to millions of players in multiple games, this seems to be a constant trend (roughly).

Overall, your sole performance is the PRIMARY FACTOR that affects your ELO. There will be things that cause you to lose that you cannot control, but overall you are the one who affects whether your lose or gain ELO.


4 rules I follow and preach to gain ELO.

• Focus on your mistakes and fix them.
• Follow the Meta and understand why it's the Meta.
• Always Evolve your Gameplay.
• Be the most Efficient you can possibly be.

I hope this helped you fix your mindset over ELO and gaining it.
Have fun and keep playing :)