S5/S6 Ranked: One Way Ticket To Hell

Hey guys,

As mentioned in my Community Spotlight, one of my goals this season is to start playing ranked games in SMITE and achieve a ranking. In order to do this, I figured a good first step would be to create a ranked thread in which I track my progress; this is a rather common thing people do on MOBAFire (where they have a separate subforum for threads describing personal ranked journeys & threads discussing competitive play), so who knows, maybe it'll catch on here too :D

First things first: I believe I'm currently far, far away from being good enough to play ranked, the main reason being that I haven't played the game enough (recently). My plan of action, therefore, is divided into 4 steps:

1. Establish a roster (see below)
2. Practice, practice, practice; I expect to do this mainly during the summer holidays.
3. Achieve a ranking
4. Success!

Goal

You might be thinking: "Well that all sounds well and sweet, but what are you aiming for?"

The truth is, I'm not sure. When I actively played League of Legends, I was Diamond V. However, I'm not sure how realistic it is to expect that rating to transfer over to SMITE in a ranked setting (I'm guessing it's not very realistic).

With that said, provided I play a decent enough amount of games, I would probably be disappointed to end up anywhere below Gold.


Roster

So, let's start by talking about step 1; this is the part where you can help me out!

While I had a clear set of favorite Gods for every role last season, I haven't really played the game yet in Season 5, which is why my roster, for now, is as follows:


That's right, outside of the fact that I'm definitely playing Bellona this season, I'm leaving everything open. My question to you guys is, which of the Gods that I have experience playing would you recommend to add to this roster? In order of familiarity, these are:

• Assassin: Nemesis, Hun Batz >> Kali, Ne Zha >> Thor, Camazotz, Fenrir
  
  
• Guardian: Geb >> Khepri, Sylvanus, Terra >> Ares, Ymir, Athena, Ganesha, Kuzenbo, Fafnir
  
  
• Hunter: Neith >> Hachiman, Medusa >> Anhur, Artemis, Izanami, Skadi, Cernunnos, Hou Yi
  
  
• Mage: Janus >> Agni, Eset >> He Bo, Chang'e, Hel, Kukulkan, Poseidon, Ra, Sol >> Freya
  
  
• Warrior: Sun Wukong >> Osiris >> Chaac, Ravana, Guan Yu, Erlang Shen, Amaterasu, Hercules

Where >> denotes a significant gap in familiarity (meaning I feel like I understand Sun Wukong better than I do Osiris, who I in turn am more familiar on than the other Warriors in the list, for example).

Alternatively, which Gods that haven't been mentioned at all should I include? I know Cu Chulainn & Artio were strong for large parts of Season 4, but I avoided them because of how much I disliked playing against them; are they still worth picking up now?

Thanks in advance for any responses!


disclaimer: the title and banner image are a reference to the commonly used term "elo hell", in which players get "stuck". Personally, I don't think it exists.

Mid: Sol, Thoth (definitely Thoth) , and whatever mage you like the best.
Support: Ganesha, Geb, Sylvanus. (maybe swap geb or sylvanus for Artio.
Solo: Sun Wukong, Amaterasu.
Jungle: Nemesis, Hun Batz, Ratatoskr/ Thor. (maybe even Freya.
ADC: Ullr, Izanami, Chronos/ Sol (either one whichever you prefer, double lifesteal is really good on them at the moment for them due to objective taking).

Wayne, I'm stealing your table XD

Damn, I need to get off my *** and do this too. I have absolutely no expectations of myself though, especially since Marki got originally slotted into Bronze for whatever TF reason. I started my blog and got through 1/2 of the qualifiers with video recording and commentary...just a lot of work.

So, here is a list of my suggestions...I'm going by role rather than class. Where applicable, I think being familiar with gods that can be played in multiple roles will help you narrow the gods you need to be comfortable with.

• Solo: Stick with Bellona and Sun Wukong. If you'd like, add in Cu Chulainn or Amaterasu. I think considering 1 or 2 magical gods for the solo lane would also be smart. Maybe consider Chang'e as a somewhat unconventional pick (which could double for mid-lane if you're comfortable with her) and choose a Guardian as the other (think Kuzenbo or Cabrakan or Xing Tian...or maybe Ymir).
  
  
• Jungle: Personally, I'd suggest throwing Odin in there...not just jungle, but for Solo and for Support as well. He's pretty versatile, and so being comfortable with him would give you a lot of flexibility. Anyway, Nemesis, Hun Batz (since those are your top 2) and Ne Zha would be good. Ne Zha is also functioning very well as a Support right now (check some of EmilZy's vids). Get one magical god in there as well. Agni might work there, since I see you have him in your mage list.
  
  
• Support: You can stick with Geb as the passive support. You've got that great Terra guide if you want to get to know her better. Otherwise, I'd say consider Athena and Ganesha. Again, Ne Zha and Odin can also double as supports if you want someone physical.
  
  
• Mid: Agni, Eset. Maybe Sol, since she can also double as an ADC.
  
  
• ADC: Sol for magical, maybe Freya as well. For actual hunters, Hachiman and Medusa look good. I'd say Cernunnos or Hou Yi, but you have them far down your list.

Don't play Ares in ranked because he's so easy to shut down. Sure his ult is great crowd control, but unless you can keep track of bead timers and have good communication with your team, I don't think he'll do very well. He might be worthwhile in bronze, but once you start getting into the higher silver levels, your opponents should know how to avoid him and his CC; plus he's near useless if you fall behind. Geb's a solid pick and can either be played aggressively or passively depending on the needs of the game, as can Sylvanus:

1. Blink into the middle of the enemy lines.
2. Ult.
3. ???
4. Profit.

You'll want to familiarize yourself a bit with the current meta. In one of your matches, you might be put in charge of choosing picks and bans, so it is good to know who is strong right now.



I don't really agree with this. He can work with the right team around him, and his Ult isn't the only part of his kit that makes an impact...

Shackles is one of the best abilities in the game if you can land all 3. More times than not, Shackles will actually burn an enemy's purification beads so that they can use their escape to avoid punishment. Then, you are free to ult (unless they have a CC-immune counter ult). Particularly, if the enemy team has a weaker early game phase, Ares can be a straight up bully.

You are correct in the fact that he is weaker when you fall behind (but so are most other gods), and that he(like any support) relies on teammates to play well with him. That being said, there are definitely stronger picks out there (see my list above).

Thanks for the replies so far, I've added some gods which I'm pretty sure will make it into the final roster. I want to add Sol as a mid/carry flex pick but feel like I need to get more practice on her first. Chang'e solo is something I've also played before, but I'd need to try that more often before making a call on whether or not it's strong enough to add her as a mid/solo flex.

Planning a god or set of gods to main in ranked can be complicated, as the higher up you climb, the more the value of a blanket pick decreases, and the more important that counter picking becomes. That being said, I'll give you what I think are the current best picks. These will do well for you up until around Plat, maybe Diamond, but I would look to branch out. And also variety is the spice of life.

Solo: Really matchup dependent generally, but these are gonna be safe first picks, so you won't have to worry about that.

Bellona, Cu Chulainn, Artio can win lane and carry games, Nike is just an easy character to play if you feel like you're going against someone better than you, as she really doesn't die after level 5.


Jungle: All about who can pubstomp more, especially in lower ranks.

Da Ji, He Bo, Nemesis are all good at that, although you can play any jungler you're familiar with.

Mid: The opposite of Solo, just focus on farming over 1v1's. Probably the easiest role at the moment.

Janus and Agni are really good right now, which is good because you mentioned having familiarity with them, but also Thoth is another character you should have in your god pool. The mid meta right now favors high mobility and good poke damage.

Carry: Much harder compared to Season 4, 90% of first bloods happen before or during the first two waves. What character you pick greatly depends on your support, and your playstyle as a carry. Interestingly enough, the best characters in the role are only good with a specific playstyle. For example, Ullr is the best at fighting early, but Jing Wei is the best at farming to late game.

There's no truly bad pick, but Hachiman and Medusa can both farm and fight well at all stages of the game. If you were going to main anyone, it'd be those two. And you'll never have to worry about getting banned out.

Support: Same deal as carry, very situational, but there's also the added factor of teammate skill at lower levels.

Artio, Athena, and Sylvanus are probably the best guardians to "carry" with. Geb is great, but playing him with bad teammates feels like a single mother of 4 simulator.

You can also try assassin support jungles. Incon and JeffHindla start at the enemy red.



But yeah, enjoy your time in ranked, don't get discouraged, and keep learning. Good luck!

When you are starting out to play ranked and do your qualifiers and games in bronze, silver and gold even in some platinum games I would recommend going gods you can carry easily with. This is especially important for solo and support. When you get into good games you can start playing supporty gods in solo and support.

Solo: Bellona is great, Sun Wukong is also fine but Cu Chulainn would be preferred, Osiris is fine but Artio would be preferred. I myself can pretty much only play Sobek in solo, it works decently but a bit hard to carry with it.

Jungle: Nemesis is great (AA based is best IMO), Hun Batz is great, Kali is actually really decent in low elo games. Thor is always fine just build him as a warrior atm IMO. You should try and get some Da Ji, Serqet and Mercury practice in. But Nem and Batz is definitely strong enough picks that you do not need any more great jungle picks (just ban the rest). You should also 100% play He Bo jungle when ever you get the chance, he should be banned every game though.

Mid: Thoth is stupid strong, He Bo as well (should be jungle though, Scylla is good and Janus is good. Agni is also in a really good spot right now. And Freya is good, but better in ADC and should be banned every game.

ADC: Freya is insane (should be banned though), Ullr is stupid good but should also be banned. Neith is fine/bad no steroid is bad when it is crit meta. But I just go comfort picks in ADC myself, so I play Neith/Anhur pretty much :P

Support: Definitely do not recommend Geb in low elo games. It is just way to painful, he is insane though if you got a good team (same with Khepri. Sylvanus with Hunter's Blessing is great in low elo games insane amount of pressure and you can invade jungle camps and get kills or freeze lane with it. Terra is good just play aggressive. Ares is also good in low elo games. I feel Ganesha is the same as Geb you need your team to win.

First of all I have to say that Ares is a fine pick for ranked at any rank as a counter pick.
Especially against Serqet, Fenrir and Janus.

You should always type out beads CD in chat. and you yourself should pay attention to beads. Always try and ult at least one target without beads. Chains are just as deadly.

I think he is a great pick for support all the way up to platinum games if you are looking to carry as support, yes he falls off late game, but you still have great ways to burn beads and your aura is actually pretty busted. Just be careful about blink ulting under tower and stuff.

I love Ares though, he is just so much fun. And even though you are behind you can still do damage. Just look at this game: http://smite.guru/match/pc/391199859

That was me being piss drunk and playing like I was against silvers in a "masters" game though. So a bad showing of what Ares can do, but still 13 deaths and more damage than the enemy mid :P Hou Yi was emilitoo just trolling with me because he had lost like 10 games in a row.

Hey, Wayne.

I noticed you're still looking for another Solo candidate. I would suggest Nike, even though you don't have her listed.

In my opinion, she is very strong right now, and can hang with the top Solo laners out there like Cu Chulainn and Bellona. Also, her kit is relatively straightforward and not too difficult to learn. So, if you feel like taking the time to familiarize yourself with her, I think she could be a great addition to your arsenal.