I'm Going Pro

Well, not really. But I have been playing with a lot of pros recently; including WildTurtle, who holds the #1 spot in Challenger. Basically, he's the best Solo Q player in the NA region. I peaked at 80 points, but have fallen to the low 70s since. I haven't yet been able to get my name out there, but people are beginning to recognize me as "the guy with the slow computer". Yes, I've been playing on the same, old laptop since I began playing this game one year ago. Once you begin playing in the high ranks of Diamond 1/Challenger, the game becomes a lot more enjoyable. Everyone at that level understands that winning isn't everything, but improving is. They aren't so concerned with winning that they flame, but they aren't bad enough that they make many mistakes. Some of the games do get troll, which makes it a lot more fun to play.

Orianna Reveck, the Lady of Clockwork

I've been playing a lot of Orianna recently. She's an incredibly strong champ, with a unique kit that is very potent if used correctly. She is one of the higher skill cap champions, with a very high skill ceiling. The plays you can make with her are endless. If you want to improve your mechanics, I'd highly recommend learning Orianna. She's also a very good champion to carry with, so she's great for climbing as well. She proves high damage, utility, and a strong AOE ultimate.

Here's a cool trick I learned with Orianna after watching Bischu, a Challenger mid player. If you ult with the ball on top of you, you can flash while the animation is going off. This catches most people off guard, and is nearly impossible to react to. The typical ball-on self -> Flash -> ult is still hard to dodge, but at a high level of play, people will flash this almost instinctively. With this trick, the animation for her ultimate will start before you flash, so it appears that the ultimate will miss, until a split-second later, when they've gotten hit by a suicide-bomber Ori ult. I don't have any footage unfortunately, but I've done this a few times when I was ahead. Again, it's not very practical, as it basically is a suicide if you do it during a team fight, but it's very fun and the reactions are hysterical.

Paint skills op.

Solo Q Tip: You know those sites that give you stats of other players? I'm talking about Lolking, LolNexus, and others. Don't use them. Sure, they might give you a preview of both teams, and you'll be better prepared. But you'll play differently because of it. Even though you might not think it affects your play, it does. If you see someone has only 5 wins, but incredibly good stats, you'll know they're a smurf. If you have to lane against them, chances are you'll play more scared, and be afraid to make bold plays. If you see someone on your team has bad stats on a champ, you might be compelled not to gank for them. You'll never improve if you don't try new things.  I used to use a site like these for nearly every game I played. Sure, it was helpful, but it made me play in a game-specific manner. It might help me win those single games, but it didn't help me improve overall as a player. It's like a coach teaching repeatedly teaching a single play and nothing else. The players would be able to execute this play perfectly, and there will be times where the play will work. However, if there's no variety, the opposing team will quickly catch on and be able to defend against it. I stopped using those sites when I had just hit Platinum, and I climbed through Platinum faster than any other Tier.

Good luck on your journey through Summoner's Rift.