Proving Grounds

With the positive feedback from both teams and requests for more I received for the Eggtart vs R66Y match, I've decided to make the mentor matches a regular event. Every 2 weeks, experienced players will take teams of new players under their wing, giving them a tutorial game against a similar team. The goals are to provide a competitive, yet fun atmosphere for new players to advance their game knowledge and skills, improve mentors' skills by giving them a fun and challenging platform to teach from, encourage cooperative game play at all levels, give new players a means of connecting with others of their own level, and introduce players to the concepts of ranked play (bans and picks) prior to reaching level 30 to help prepare those that intend on making the jump to ranked play.

When:
Every 2 weeks on Saturday. Games will begin at 6pm Eastern time and nominally end by 9pm Eastern, although teams are encourage to continue if they want.

Where:
Join the LoL University chat to join a team (details on how to join the chat channel are http://www.leagueoflegends.com/board...36#post5071736) on game day.

Registration:
Registration is strongly encouraged for both mentors and new players. Registration allows us to organize teams prior to game day, speeding up the process of getting games organized and giving us an idea on turnout, allowing us to be better prepared to get you guys playing faster. To register, please look for the sign up threads, posted generally the week before the game. Both mentors and students are encouraged to register for games. Please include your level when you register.

Requirements:
Players: Those wanting to participate in Proving Grounds as new players should be levels 1-29 and have a willingness to learn. We have, on occasion, allowed level 30s to participate, but it is generally on a case by case basis. There are some beginning plans for a similar set up specifically for levels 30s which I hope to get up soon (tm). Players should also have ventrilo for ease of communications (even if you have no mic, being able to listen to mentors makes giving advice much, much easier).
Mentors:
I'll let Somnium tell it since he did so eloquently:

Quote:

Originally Posted by SomniumProxy Generally the only mandatory requirement is being lvl 30 From there we pick up people among those who've signed up/are available for the session things that increase your chances: ranked experience forum posts (and good ones - the point here is to see if you're able to explain well what you know) normal experience - we'll generally pick elderly players in place of newly formed lvl 30s previous participations - if we know you're friendly and can do a good job this automatically puts you ahead that being said, at the moment we don't have that many people so unless there's an unexpected overflow you're likely to be picked as a mentor as long as you're 30 and have a positive attitude/are friendly.

Rules:
In all games, the following rules will be adhered to:

• Mentors must lane against one another (this is to prevent snowballing off of new players, remember the focus is to teach and have fun, not be the better smurf), although this does not need to be the middle lane.
• Games will use an unofficial draft mode (custom games won't let us start draft as many players may not have the requisite # of champs). Bans and drafts should be done in the chat room prior to starting the game.
• Free week champions MAY NOT BE BANNED! This will ensure that no one is effectively "blocked" from having a champion choice (at least 10 champs available for everyone) in addition to giving newer players experience playing with/against champs they have been seeing for the past week.
• Unsportsmanlike conduct is not allowed. While these games are supposed to be psuedo-competitive, raging, flaming, or trolling are counter-productive and are all discouraged. While I have no problems with a little friendly banter between teams or teammates, excessive or excessively nasty comments will result in you no longer being allowed to participate. If you are unsure if a comment is "excessive", best not to say it.

Brackets:
There will be 3 brackets based on the level of players, with slightly different rules to create a more level play field and prevent overwhelming newer players:

• Levels 1-10
  • Mentors are not allowed to jungle
  • Runes/masteries should be turned off for mentors (blank rune page and 0/0/0 for masteries)
• Levels 11-20
  • Mentors are not allowed to jungle
• Levels 21-30
  • Jungling is allowed for mentors

Lower level games should focus on basics of champion itemization, basic laning strategies, and last hitting vs. pushing. Higher level games should cover those as well as getting into greater depth in mid/late game strategies and team fights, team composition, countering specific champions/teams, buffs and jungle control, and baron/dragon control throughout the game. While these are ideals, the brackets may be flexible if turnout warrants it (ie, if we only have a few in the 1-10 range, they will be grouped with some players from the lower teens to make as even of teams as we can).

Vent:
Players are encouraged to download http://www.ventrilo.com/download.php for ease of communications in game.

I maintain a ventrilo server for use during PG. Connection info is below. Please download and set-up ventrilo prior to the start of PG in order to help speed up the start of games

Hostname: copper.typefrag.com
Port: 22585

Mentor Melee!
Mentors participating in the Proving Grounds are invited to partake in the Mentor Melee at the end of the day (around 9pm Eastern on gameday). Mentor Melee will be a no holds barred draft match with teams composed entirely of mentors. We will endeavor to stream the match, so all can watch and cheer for their favorites (or laugh at how nub some of us really are!).