I have a fairly large base of friends playing League of Legends now, mostly thanks to my shameless plugs every time we’ve spoken over the last several months. Of those people I was the first to hit 30, so I get asked most of the questions regarding strategy, hero choice, etc. The big question of late, though, is what to do when you get into a losing streak.

Games like LoL tend to ebb and flow quite a bit. I often feel unstoppable for as many as ten games, only to turn around and lose the next ten because of sloppy play and unskilled teammates. Things are never completely out of your hands, though, and a little focus can save you a lot of frustration.

First off, take a look at your team comp. It sounds really basic, but it’s a mistake I see from almost every team. You cobble together a few wins and think you must be so skilled you can win with any comp. Not so, and it’s usually the base reason behind a streak of losses. Make sure you have a balance of range, nuke, dps, and meat.

You also need to take a look at lane comps. A balanced team means nothing if you have a lane with no disable. Try to put at least one disable in each lane and if you have spares, pair one lane for ganking. That lane can be responsible for pushing tower first and then roaming to help the team.

Lastly, take a look at your summoner spells and tune them to account for you team’s weaknesses. If you’ll have trouble laning early, consider Fortify on at least 2 champs. Exhaust is great for shutting down the enemy Twitch or Shaco in team fights, and Cleanse can help save you in big team fights. Avoid relying on spells like Flash and Heal because they can quickly turn into a crutch that you’ll be unsure how to play without.

Once you’re back on your feet, try to at least keep a few of these things in mind. If you have a regular team to roll with you can be a little sloppy, but playing pugs, you need every advantage you can get.