Link to the game stats is here.
In my second Ranked Conquest game ever, I got to experience a rage-quitter (
Kali on the enemy team). My team was pretty darn cool...I didn't do well, but they were okay with that.Here was how bans/picks went:
Banning & Picking
Artio
Skadi
Ganesha
Freya
Cu Chulainn
Odin
Sobek
RavanaWith an enemy
Kali, 
Ullr, and 
Erlang Shen, I made sure this time to choose a build style that actually fit 
Witchblade...went with the 
Transcendence build, with a 
Bluestone Pendant and 
Bumba's Mask start. Planned to get Witchblade after Trans, in place of 
Asi. The game never got that far. And in hindsight I shouldn't have gotten Bumba's. When going Trans, I think it's better to just get it online ASAP. Also, she won't need the clear help as much, since she'll have plenty of mana and can use both 
Acid Spray and 
Viper Shot as needed without worrying about running out.Actual gameplay starts at around 4:20 of the video time.
Medusa planned it that way. In the early game, we started in lane, and although I was still timid (see game 1), my 
Athena was really aggressive. Although she almost died, she helped me get a kill (2nd team kill by 2:10, geesh). In that first sequence, I really should have been more aggressive...my passivity probably could have gotten Athena killed, or we could have killed 
Geb significantly earlier.My first death started its approach at around 3:30 (gametime is referenced from this point forward)...got caught heading back to lane by
Ullr, who burst me close to death...at that point, I had 65 health, and should have backed. Instead, I stayed under my tower. I mean, I knew it was stupid...I THINK I was thinking to hold off the minions by getting one last hit in or something...but Ullr has range, and I DID think about that. Like I said, stupid decision. If you've got to back, just back.At 6:10, I was able to get some good hits on
Ullr alone in our lane, and I was just looking to maintain pressure on his side. I had gotten 2 wards up...one offensively, and one defensively. My placement didn't pick up 
Scylla who almost ganked me. Athena ulted in to help, and for some wonderful and unknown reason, I was able to survive (hear me mashing my keys in pure terror at 6:30ish).2nd death (of 2 on our team, lol) was at 10:15. Prior to that one, I was on the wrong health side of an
Ullr exchange. Athena came to ult again, but holy **** that duration seemed to last forever. She landed right as I died.Had some solid jukes to delay my impending death (3rd) around the 14:00 mark of the match, immediately before which I got my 2nd kill.
Ended at 3/3/4, with...let's see...lowest gold on my team even with Bumba's, most deaths...3rd on my team in damage (at least I beat out Vulcan), but hey, most objective damage as well. At least I did something.
But in all honesty,
Kali quit at 4:30...we had a 4v5 for the majority of the match, so my performance was inexcusable. But it's also me, so I guess it's okay.Build Critiques
Rangda's Mask
Hydra's Lament
Obsidian Shard
Swift Wing
Gladiator's Shield2 down, 8 to go. 2 wins, 0 losses.
Game 3
Link to the game stats is here.
In my third Ranked Conquest game ever, I got to feel the pain of my first loss. This one isn't very pretty, folks.
Here was how bans/picks went:
Banning & Picking
Ao Kuang
Chronos
Da Ji
Hou Yi
Sun WukongThought it would be interesting against a very squishy team. I've honestly never faced a
Hel Support, but I absolutely know she's got high potential...probably still solid even after the upcoming 4.17 nerfs. With 3 magical gods, I felt I would pass over the normal 2nd item (
Jade Emperor's Crown) to get a magical protection item, especially as time went on and both Hel and 
He Bo made their presence felt strongly.Actual gameplay starts at around 5:10.
Apollo wanted to start at our buffs. He knew way better than me about Hel and that clear, so it was a good call to secure buffs. Normally I expect us to head to lane, so I was apparently on auto pilot, because when he wanted to get the Purple buff, I left it behind after clearing before he had to remind me. LOL. I honestly think I'm just psyching myself out too much at this point, and not thinking clearly. Stop it, Bran.We were pushed back the entire time. Hovering near what felt like pending doom for an eternity (about 5 minutes) before backing to get full Travelers Shoes. I've decided I don't like laning against
Hel.The whole game felt disjointed. For the first 11 minutes of the match, we were basically even with them (though our
Bellona was 2 levels behind He Bo in the Solo lane). 2 quick deaths (including my first) started giving them fresh powder to start snowballing.Holy **** did I miss a lot of my dashes. Also just wasn't in the right place to best support teammates, at least in my estimation. Now, I don't know how much was my fault and how much were some of my teammates faults...at 17:20ish, you can see
Thor go in to try for a kill on Hel, with 2 other enemies close by...I was backing out because we were in dangerous territory, and I'm pretty sure he should have been too...granted, I could have been with him and disrupted a lot, probably...but not sure how that would have turned out. All I know is, that wasn't the best situation to aggress.At 20:40,
Bellona was chasing a potential kill and got jumped by 2 others, and instead of backing out, ulted in to try to secure a kill.Shall I just assume they had already given up and so didn't care?
Surrendered at 21:08 with a score of 0/2/7...let's see...didn't tank nearly enough, but got more damage than
Apollo and was within 100 damage of Bellona... Thor and 
Vulcan did less than 2,000 more than me. Only plopped down 4 wards, but that was more than any of my teammates. I really need to body block more, place my ults better, and not miss that damned dash.That was rough.
Build Critiques
Jotunn's Wrath
Divine Ruin
Warrior Tabi
Bancroft's Talon
Rod of Tahuti
Shaman's Ring
Sands of Time
Genji's Guard
Ichaival3 down, 7 to go. 2 wins, 1 loss.
Athena can be considered a support with damage that can easily help kill someone. which is in the rock-paper-scissors of the duo lane the winning side.
even though smite doesn't really have it because it's a get the best wave clear combo to win duo lane, it sometimes sticks it head around the corner.
I'm curious if you get dropped in gold or higher. Which we will onyl know when you finish the qualifiers (cause the W/L don't give a good example for it. I know people who won more games and got dropped in a lower rank then someone who won less games.)
EDIT:
Also you said you could use 2 abilities. I would say to be carefull with that. if both people do it okay however losing one ability more can make a turn around in a trade. (let's say you use both abilities to clear the wave you only have a dash if they decide to engage.
Looking forward to the next games ^_^
Again good points. BTW, it's "Yippie Kai Yay."
Just like the other point about not using my actives, I get stingy about using my ult sometimes. I just need to go all out sometimes. I consistently play too timidly.
The overall gameplay was decent.
Reaction time and mechanics could be improved (but you are aware of that), like if you had used beads when geb ulted (when ullr killed you with his jump) you probably would have gotten out.
And for map awareness you can apply this simple tip quoted from GOT:
"Don’t fight in the North or the South. Fight every battle everywhere, always, in your mind. Everyone is your enemy, everyone is your friend. Every possible series of events is happening all at once. Live that way and nothing will surprise you. Everything that happens will be something that you’ve seen before."
Do basically dont just think about what you see on the map. But also what you do not see on the map. Thid is especially usefull for ADC and mid in my experience :p
By playstyle, you meant actually taking more chances when I spot a weakness, rather than being very passive. Playing passive ensures I don't die too much, but it also prevents me from getting the opportunity to get ahead, which not only helps myself, but my team as well.
By gameplay, it's my actual execution and results of my playstyle. When I was aggressive, was it the right time? Did I notice that enemy abilities were already used and thus on CD? In taking an aggressive path to get to a new destination more quickly, did I make sure it was safe first (e.g. pay attention to that damn map and make sure I ward enough)?
And yeah...if
I prefer pentargonite's guide line watch the map every 5 sec
As jungle you look for buff timers, overextended teammates and enemies (an overextended teammate is a good indication to where the enemy jungle could be).
The same with support really, but a bit less focus on buffs :p
As ADC for example if you cant see the enemy mid you should be thinking about the possibility of him heading to gank you.
Ppl who complain about no missing calls just dont have good enough map awareness IMHO.
But you cant always play like you got a gank incoming ofc. sometimes you got to risk it for the biscuit ^_^
Or if they suddenly stop trying to 1v1 you as ADC. If he/she has been in your face and pushing you under tower the entire game and suddenly they let you push.
Ahh, no thanks! I'll just stay in assist range for for the minions and at the first sign of aggression from the enemy ADC or something I will be heading straight back to my tower :p
I think it is so neat to see each of your matches. I bet it is good for you too in the sense that you get to watch yourself and improve (and if you're like me, have some "why did I do that?" moments, lol).
I got to watch a little bit of your 2nd match, but I will watch them through when I get the chance to sit and chill for a minute.
I did want to mention something I saw in the small portion of the video that I did watch. I know you like Medusa, and I was going to ask if you have considered different potions at the beginning of the game (I didn't know if you had a standard potion start with her or if you change it up depending on team comps). It may just have been that specific match that I was watching, but it seems that you could maybe sub the two
It is nice to see your progress though. I can't wait to see where you end up ranking when you qualify. I am still in Gold III with Platinum matchmaking. My latest ranked match is here. I imagine you will be somewhere around there if not higher. Maybe we can do an infamous duo queue one day, lol.
I have a question, though. How do you record your matches? I would like to do that as well. That way I could go back and watch my matches so that I can grow (and probably kick myself a few times).
Good luck with your future matches!
I was probably on a bit of auto-pilot. No, I wasn't thinking of different potion configurations, nor did I notice that... Thanks for pointing it out. I personally think that I probably should have passed over Bumba's, what do you think?
As for recording... I currently use GeForce Experience. It's extremely easy to set up. I can go over it with you if you'd like. Actually, I'll make a quick recording for you tonight... Going over that and Raptr, the other program I've used. Will post later and advise.
Wow, you are too kind! I don't want to put you through too much trouble. I installed the program. Thanks a bunch!
Haha, I'm not lying :P I was 4-6 when I qualified. You are currently 2-1. I can see us being placed in similar divisions. The more Conquest you play the better you will get at it. I really do think you're a good player. Yes, we can all work on our mechanics, but you have intangibles that a lot of people lack. You have exceptional build knowledge, have good map awareness, rotate well, and are a great team player. Even as an ADC, you were willing to help counter build the enemy team and were always there to support them in lane, even when you could have been farming.
We all have our moments, lol. I really like Bumba's, but in your case that match, in hindsight, I would have passed on it. Most of the reason being that you only cleared around 5 camps the entire match, not giving you much sustain or gold benefit from it. That being said, I agree that rushing boots into Trans probably would have been better in this scenario.
Those
I'm not a selfish player in the slightest...I never get mad at "kill-stealing" for example, and WANT to help out the team. My timing just seems to be slow, and I'm not in the right place at the right time to help my teammates sometimes.
I have no clue how HR judges peoples' performances...you went 4-6, but I could easily end up 2-10...and even then, look at Marki's experience...so, I mean, we'll see where I end up, but I'm not betting on anything. Is there a rank below bronze? =P
You did good not dying and resisting until reaching the Gold for Travelers Shoes in that disadvantageous situation in lane, but you shouldn't have tanked the Red Buff at the start, because you had to use a potion there, while you should have just left
A tip: when you have Travelers Shoes, always look to hit the enemy with your 1, especially in the Early-Game. Sometimes you went near to
I noticed that often you dash on someone, but then you keep your silence, and I think it's like wasting
And I think you should have built
Anyway, it's a shame you've lost, you were doing well until that Team Fight in the Solo lane, when
And yeah...Pest is a good idea. I think I thought about it, but decided to delay just a bit. 20% never feels like all that much, but I should have gotten it anyway.