Everybody loves the feeling of getting a Pentakill. It’s just the truth. The harsh reality is that you shouldn’t try to bag one for yourself in every single teamfight, or else you’ll just end up feeding more often than not. When players start wandering out of lane and teamfights start breaking out, you need to identify where you fall in your team’s composition quickly so that you can influence teamfights most effectively. An Annie with 12 kills at 8 minutes is no good if they’re standing in the frontline, waiting to be blown up by the enemy team before they can pop off. Let your tanks take the charge and wait for the right time to fight rather than being trigger happy. This means back out if you’re not in a good spot! It’s better to wait for a 5v5 with your ultimates available than dive in early and risk being wiped off the map.
Speaking of ultimates, tracking cooldowns is essential in all stages of the game, but it becomes the difference between victory and defeat in the late game. If you can draw out a cooldown before a fight (Flash, Quicksilver Sash, etc.), ping it in chat so that your team knows that there is a window of opportunity to take advantage of. This applies to your own team’s abilities as well, and if you are forced to burn a Summoner Spell or Ultimate leading up to a fight, let your team know and caution ping everyone away until your cooldowns are gone. This isn’t always going to be the case, and sometimes you will have to go in without your cooldowns, so stick close to your tanks and focus on targeting! You have a better chance of surviving if your tanks can soak up the damage, and if you manage to take out the enemy carries before they can use their abilities, you nullify your cooldown disadvantage.
Following along with these tips as the game goes on, you should be able to drastically reduce the time you spend dead and maximise your impact on the game. Focus on one element at a time, starting with your Champ Select awareness, and evolve your game to climb the ranked ladder to new heights. GLHF!