---
title: 'TILT Explained - How To Avoid Tilt - Mentality Required To Climb - Psychology of Improvement'
source: 'https://youtube.com/watch?v=tLHRJpQrJ1A'
video_id: 'tLHRJpQrJ1A'
date: 2026-06-15
duration_sec: 0
---

# TILT Explained - How To Avoid Tilt - Mentality Required To Climb - Psychology of Improvement

> Source: [TILT Explained - How To Avoid Tilt - Mentality Required To Climb - Psychology of Improvement](https://youtube.com/watch?v=tLHRJpQrJ1A)

## Summary

The video discusses the psychology of tilt in League of Legends, focusing on mindset and responsibility. The speaker shares coaching insights on how to prevent tilt and improve performance by adopting a 'player' mentality rather than a 'victim' mentality.

### Key Points

- **Player vs Victim Dilemma** [01:33] — A player sees themselves as central to shaping their situation and focuses on what they can control, while a victim blames external factors. To improve, you must see yourself as part of the problem.
- **Questions to Elicit Player Response** [04:14] — Ask yourself: How did I contribute? Could I have taken a more effective action? Could I have prepared better? What can I learn? These questions focus on self-improvement.
- **Cycle of Tilt** [05:39] — Lack of confidence leads to half-hearted attempts, poor results, unsatisfying feedback, and further reduced confidence. This cycle perpetuates tilt.
- **Toxic Cycle of Blame** [06:37] — Inconsistent gameplay leads to blaming external factors, which leads to tilt and autopilot, then back to inconsistent gameplay.
- **Identity-Driven Improvement** [07:17] — Instead of letting impulses dictate behavior, define your desired identity (e.g., focused, resilient) and reverse-engineer behaviors that align with that identity.
- **Core Reasons for Tilt** [12:43] — 1) Not aware of how they could have impacted the game. 2) Unrealistic expectations of their own skill. 3) Not understanding that not every game is winnable. 4) Playing when not focused.
- **Attention Residue** [22:44] — The brain retains focus on previous activities. To avoid tilt, avoid consuming emotionally charged content before games. Instead, watch League-related content or replays.
- **Inner Game of Tennis** [24:29] — When tilted, focus on breathing to become present. This helps quiet the mind and refocus on the game.
- **Chaos and Fundamentals** [26:51] — League is inherently chaotic. Master fundamentals (CSing, map awareness) so they become muscle memory, freeing mental space to adapt to chaos.

### Conclusion

Overcoming tilt requires taking full responsibility, setting realistic expectations, and focusing on what you can control. By defining your ideal identity and practicing mindfulness, you can improve your mental game and climb.

## Transcript

hi everyone welcome to another video so
today's video is going to be a little
different to my usual content this one's
going to be a very much a personal video
just me and you me in the camera and
talking all about tilt now I've had a
lot of you guys in the discord or in the
YouTube comments talking to me about how
do I overcome tilt how do I prevent
myself from tilting what should I do if
I get tilted or what's going on mentally
how can I prepare myself how can i play
my best League of Legends now I haven't
really shared any of the information
that I'm about to share with in this
video to anyone else apart from the team
that I actually coached for the past
three years so you know especially in
2017 2018 2019 I've been learning a lot
refining my craft as a coach and really
learning a lot about the mental side of
League of Legends so this one's going to
be quite interesting I'm not sure it's
gonna be very I guess Theory oriented
but again I'm gonna have a very
practical element to it talking about
specifics that you guys can implement in
your own soloqueue experience but again
it's going to be very much just me in
the camera talking through a bunch of
stuff so if this is a for you you can
stop now but again I highly highly
recommend taking the time to watch this
video and and really conceptualize it
and have a think about it in your own
time because again it is very dense but
trust me it will be worth it now so work
the way we're going to do this video is
I'm going to talk about a few theory a
few underlying concepts that are
important to understand then we're going
to go into the specifics about tilt and
then one give us gonna round it off with
a few more a little bit more Theory now
so let's talk about firstly one of my
favorite concepts with improvement this
is all concepts around improvement and
preventing tilt now this one is called
the player versus victim dilemma now
back in the day when I coached I walls I
used to talk about this one a lot and I
always used to try and get my players to
be a player now what is a player verse
victim mean now to be a player it means
you need to see yourself as a central
character as someone who has contributed
to shape the current situation they are
in and thus affect its future now a
player is someone who focuses on all the
things that are within their control
where as a victim you know they play the
victim just like you
real life they focus on all the things
that are outside they can feel they
blame externals they never take
responsibility for anything that's
happening around them now you can choose
to either focus on the things inside
your control and be a player or you can
choose to focus on the things beyond
your control and be a victim now
remember if you want to be a part of the
solution you need to see yourself as
part of the problem and you can't this
is literally the crux of improvement in
League of Legends and preventing tilt is
seeing yourself as a you won't even be
able to get to the solution unless you
see yourself as part of the problem now
remember that all results are a
consequence of the interplay between a
certain challenge and the ability to
respond to it that literally and you can
kind of see how that's literally
response ability now remember that power
is the prize of responsibility and
accountability is its price now if you
want to be a player and totally
responsible it's obviously going to come
at a cost and that caught a cost of that
price is accountability now it doesn't
feel good sometimes to be accountable
because every single game you lose and
if you have this player mentality you're
gonna be like what could I have done
better and it's it's very easy to play
the victim it's very easy and tempting
to just be like you know what I'm gonna
blame the result on my bot lane or my
jungler or my teammate or my partner
whatever it is or even the ranked system
riot game for the lack of the poor
matchmaking whatever it is it's a lot
easier to go down that route now this is
something that will take time and until
you really embrace this over time and it
will take time so I'm gonna be overnight
until you feel the power of
responsibility and feel the power of
accountability and earn it and you and
over time it actually manifests in so
many different ways and over time if you
can really embrace this it will it will
have massive results on your mindset and
your ability to win games now what are
some questions that actually elicit the
player response now these are questions
that these are the questions that you
can just ask yourself players are
questions like how did I contribute to
this situation so you
ask these questions after the or game
interviewed how did I contribute to this
situation number two
Ken could I have thought of a more
effective course of action that I could
have taken in the game number three
could I have made reasonable
preparations to reduce the risk or
impact of what happened in that game
maybe I wasn't focused from level one
and maybe I could have prepared mentally
by thinking or what is their ability or
their likelihood that they will level
one invade and lastly what can you learn
from this experience now notice how all
of these questions are bringing the
earnest on you you're not blaming anyone
else you're not asking question these
questions are all in your control how
did I contribute what was a more
effective course of action that I could
have done or or I could have taken what
is you know some of the preparations
that I could have done to reduce the
risk or impact of what happened in the
game what can I learn from this
experience it's all me me me which is
very empowering you'll notice that this
is a common theme when within this video
it's all about improving it's all about
putting it all on you taking
responsibility being accountable for
what actually happens in every single
game now generally people who get stuck
in a specific illu or they get tilted
they get into this form of cycle now
this can get a little deep so if you
need time if you have any questions
about this feel free to leave them below
in the comments or in my discord now
generally a player because when they're
tilted or stuck they lack confidence now
when they lack confidence this leads to
having you know a half-ass attempt or a
hesitant attempt at winning a game so
playing a game when they're not their
best self then that leads to poor
results right because you're not going
to be playing your best so you're gonna
have a poor result of the game that's
then gonna lead into having unsatisfying
feedback because there's not really much
to review in the game because you
already know inside of you that you
didn't really play your best and then
again that reiterates and continues to
reduce your confidence now this is a
never-ending cycle that it goes around
and around and until you are aware of
this cycle happening in the background
you won't be able to get out of it
another very toxic cycle that actually
goes on is this one where you have
inconsistent gameplay
due to a lack of focus or a lack of
fundamentals which leads to you blaming
external factors whether it's teammates
riot games matchmaking your joy partner
whatever it is then that leads to tilt
that leads to autopilot and then it's a
rinse repeat again inconsistent gameplay
so this is why again I also try and
focus I always try and really really
talk about the importance of having mid
solid mid fundamentals and taking
complete responsibility and every single
every single game and coming in
completely focused now let's tie this
into another interesting concept this is
one that I'm really I guess I have a
personal attachment to because this was
very much me when I was struggling in
soloqueue and this one was again a
concept that resonated with a lot of pro
players as well now I'm gonna quickly
step it through and then go back and
then go into more detail now generally
the overarching principle here is you go
from this there's two overarching ways
to bring about a confident being and
your best self first the first one which
is this is not what not to do this is
where we go from import having impulses
and feelings which lead to a set of
behaviors which reiterate a certain
identity and then there's the other way
around which is you are very clear on an
identity which then you can
reverse-engineer the behaviors which
bring about a certain type of feeling
and impulses now let's let's go back a
little bit and talk about the first one
now let's let's talk about some of the
impulses and feelings that most people
have while they're tilted or stuck in a
specific Ehlo this you know they may
have feelings of anger frustration
sadness you know all those those mixed
emotions of being tilted now if you
combine all that and you internalize
those in you you act on those impulses
and feelings that actually leads to a
set of behaviors now what are those
behaviors look like that that looks like
you know a lack of focus in game auto
piloting missing more CS less side Lane
awareness worse trades
in lane just genuine again playing
poorly and losing LP now over time if
you continually act on these impulses
which reiterate and constantly bring
about the same forms of behavior that
over time reiterates and forces you to
become and identify yourself as that
specific type of person so you begin to
identify yourself as the type of person
who has these sorts of impulses that is
just who he is when he plays league and
that is the sort of behavior that you
identify yourself as so for example you
will eventually identify yourself as a
player who I just play all the time
order on all our autopilot i I just get
tilted every single game I don't really
care if I miss this because that's just
the way I play the game I'm not
disciplined I don't have good sideline
awareness and over time the mental
aspect of this you become and you
identify yourself as this sort of player
now this is so toxic and so hard to
change and it's so common nowadays
within within soul EQ specifically and
Liga Legends is that we we forget that
if we continually go down this cycle we
become a very less less confident less
focused more autopilot centric version
of ourselves now you may ask how can we
change this Curtis what do you suggest
now we can actually go the other way
around we can actually go from identity
to behaviour to to impulses which would
look something like this where let's
let's think about my best self it from
my let's use an example like me my best
self what is the identity of me of
Curtis that I want to bring about in a
game well I want to be the most focused
the most resilient player the part of
the person who doesn't want to miss a
single CS I want to be the player who's
constantly constantly looking at
sidelines constantly being the player
taking full and total responsibility for
my game right so this is what I want my
identity to be but how do I get to that
well I need to be aware of the identity
I want because then that will dictate my
actions in game well that will mean that
I won't queue up when I'm not focused
it will mean that I will play when I'm
very well rested and ready
to put my 100% into the game it will
mean that I won't flame my teammates and
again take a few different deep breaths
to be focused within the game and not
tilt it will also mean that I'll focus
extremely hard on all the detail focus
on the map awareness focus on sideline
roaming focus on my CS and trading
patterns again notice how the behavior
is again tying directly into the
identity that I want and now as a result
if you do these things thought flowing
on from that in the feelings or the
impulses that are brought about because
of that and that's a feeling of you know
satisfaction contentment that you won
this game and you tried your best and
you gave your best shot and you're
actually improving you know happiness in
elation that you won that gained you
expressed your best self so you can see
that this is a much more healthy a much
more healthy way of you know very much a
more healthy way of being and an overall
the soloqueue experience so try this out
yes it is a little bit a little bit you
know lala and stuff and a bit crazy but
trust me if you can take the time to
think about the form of identity that
you want to be who or who do you want to
be I don't even know what your name is
right now and the other side of the
camera right now but whoever's watching
this video say to yourself I Curtis I
want to identify my I want to identify
myself as someone who is untouchable
missus gets every single CS take the
best trades is also always focused in
soloqueue etc and then again you can
bring about their behaviors because of
that now let's quickly talk now actually
let's get into the core reasons that I
feel that induce tilt in a player number
one they aren't actually aware of how
they themselves could have impacted or
altered a game so in their mind they
feel like they played fine or perfectly
in some situations and therefore need to
place blame onto all the other people
that make that to make themselves feel
better about losing that game now this
can be fixed by just a lot of the time
just by educating them and showing them
these are all the ways that you could
have played this game better
so don't direct your attention and all
your energy
worrying about your teammates of what
they could have done better even if you
think in your mind that you've played
perfectly or fine I could guarantee you
in the first I could watch your void in
the first five minutes and literally
talk for an hour about all the things
you could have done better and I could
do the exact same thing about myself
even myself at a at a grandmaster
challenger level I can break down my
first five minutes a lot of the time for
an hour and talk about all the things I
could've done better now that if they
are aware of that then that's gonna
prevent them from feeling that the game
was out of their control that they they
they won't feel the need to to place
blame on others within the game now
number two this is what a personal
favorite of mine and something that I
still to this day struggle with is
having too high of an expectation of
their own game play where it's not based
in reality so this leads to hearing
things like I deserve to be in platinum
but my teammates always feed or I always
get trolls
now these sorts and all sorts of
comments around this sort of thing now
it's easy to step back it's it's sorry
it's not easy to step back and say you
know what maybe I'm actually not that
good maybe I'm actually not at the level
I think I am because maybe and
especially because we can actually
regress in skill level very easily maybe
you have me number we'll play so much
you haven't been able to play in a week
or two maybe you've played another game
or you've just been really busy at work
or school and sometimes it feels really
bad to just say you know what I'm just
not a platinum mid laner and no one ever
does that they always think I am better
I am the best I deserve to be there and
everyone else is preventing me from
getting there now or maybe you just play
it on a smurf and got worse now the way
to overcome this one is actually just
realize that their current of that is
not their current level of play and take
the eager hit and say you know what
maybe I'm just not a platinum mid laner
but that's okay because I have all the
time in the world to improve it's not a
race
everyone improves at their own pace but
this is actually interesting because it
extends to more of a societal problem
where even from a young age in school we
are always given a pat on the back
and given participation medals no one
tells us we are bad at something like
let's just say for example you're in
math class and you don't get a question
no one says you didn't understand it
because you were too lazy you were too
lazy in class and didn't focus or you
didn't do your homework everyone else
will blame the teacher they will blame
the map math being a an incredibly hard
topic they will they will say oh no it's
just math just isn't your strong point
they will always make excuses as to why
you didn't get that question and
sometimes guys the truth really hurts
right it hurts even for me sometimes I
have to tell myself Curtis sometimes
just not as good as you were but you
know what we need to hear the truth
because that is what will allow us to
focus and direct our attention to where
it can be of most used to us and
actually build confidence in a really
genuine way that is actually will last
will stand the test of time rather than
you know getting a you know what Curtis
pat on the back you're all good you just
you know the Blues your teammates fall
or you are that good just blame
something else you know so that is
probably that's actually a massive one
for a lot of people now the third one is
actually people not understanding that
every game isn't winnable even the best
players in the world only have like a
fifty five percent win ratio or
something and there is literally Korean
guys is literally Korean Pro players
that have negative win rates at the
moment to think about that there's a
player I believe like Cruz on or
something he's like plays for in the one
of the teams I don't know if it's in the
main league but the second leg and he is
an amazing middle in a really good I
think he has like a negative win rails
is one of those mid laners and it's
really common guys so you not every
single game is winnable but remember
that there's a fine line between
understanding this concept and then
complacency because people can take this
to the extreme and use it as a cover-up
for poor performances you know on their
own behalf you know so you've got to be
a little bit careful and this also ties
into players nowadays not having enough
patience they lack patience and they
think that improvement comes overnight
you know it's like remember that
improving at League of Legends is
extremely hard right there's no quick
it's not like you go to the gym one day
you lift a bit of iron you pump me to
iron you go home you're gonna be jacked
you know it's just not gonna be the case
there are things that you can do to
optimize speed up that process but again
there's a lot of hard work and it takes
a lot of time right
so remember pee and a lot of the time
people tilt because they watch one of my
videos they watch it once they go into a
game and they can't implement it and
they're like oh this is so frustrating
I'm so bad or whatever it is and they
get tilted but no you know how many
times how many games I played to figure
out that strategy or figure it or play
that specific champion
I've played like I've played hundreds of
games thousands of games Orianna and
then some of my best champions you know
so it takes time now the fourth one guys
this is a really really common one now
people play so much when they're not
focused
remember that League of Legends or
climbing in Sala Q anyway or being able
to carry a game or influence a game more
than you know more than the average
person can actually takes a lot of focus
and a lot of attention now what happens
if you go into a game when you're not
focused and actually leads to poorer
decision-making which can actually again
bring about a loss which then increases
the chances of getting flamed by
teammates when you know you make you
miss play or something which then leads
to you becoming angry or frustrated or
tilted this person then proceeds to
queue up again not even realizing that
they're not even playing there but
they're at their best self they're not
playing at their current level of play
and then it just creates the same
conditions for to an assist of rinse
repeat and then they play all night lose
six games in a row and then you go on my
disco and say oh I'm so tilted my
teammates are so bad but no you just
played when you weren't focused okay and
not every single time you play it at
night maybe you come home from big day
at work or a big day at university or
school and you know what maybe it's
actually not best to climb on your main
that night maybe it's best to do
something else play another game play on
your smurf play a few normals play a few
a Rams anything else because climbing is
it takes a lot of energy guys now this
also if you say maybe you're just not
focus for one game maybe
you're not really tired but you just
you've lacked focus what you can do is
what I what I recommend I say this all
the time is go through a walk class you
know it might be snowing where you are
right now but you know walk around the
house or something get your boots on and
go trudge through the snow go read a
book
go do some push-ups go to the gym it
doesn't matter
step away from the desk and get away
from the computer and mentally refresh
guys and you can't mentally refresh if
you're just on the computer sitting
there like maybe you should queue up
again like that's just a very
inefficient way of refreshing now this
last one isn't really about tilt but I
thought it was awesome to mention is
that nowadays I see a constant fear of
rent like people call a ranked and
anxiety now remember guys that LP is a
byproduct of improvement you have to go
out there and fail and fail and fail
again and then fail some more and then
fail and then fail you know many games I
lost to get when I actually hit rank one
you know how many seasons I was just
losing getting flamed and losing a
perfect example of Shoshone fire he now
is the jungler for Team Liquid Academy I
remember when he was in my games when he
first got to Diamond and he was
originally a gold player the season
before and he used to int every game now
people used to flame him so hard right
because he used he shone used to just
push his limits and just die and int and
everyone says sure just give up what are
you doing stop playing the game stop
killing up you're just trash just stop
that guy focused and then he failed and
then he failed and then he failed he
went to Korea got ranked to come back
and then failed and failed went to na
joined the main team and failed now he's
trying again in an academy we are always
we just we're always stuck in this
fairyland in our mind that we think
we're just going to queue up and have a
really great League of Legends
experience every single time it's just
not the case and in terms of improving
guys you have to put yourself through
the fire to actually improve you've got
to push your limits feel the pain have
those painful experiences to actually
see where you're at and then start from
there
and is exactly like Jim if you go to the
gym and you're lifting really light
weights you're not really gonna gain
much muscle ie you may improve a little
bit you'll get a little bit of
cardiovascular fitness whatever but it
is the exact same for someone who just
plays low elo games all the time or they
just play normal games all the time or
they're just scared of playing ranked
you will not improve this way
now lastly there's a few other concepts
I quickly want to talk about that I
think will be very beneficial for you to
understand in terms of tilt now this one
was one that was very big when I was and
I was that I used a lot for my coaching
there's a concept called attention
residue now the way the brain works is
let's just say you are on your computer
and you're on Facebook and you're in
queue and then on Facebook a really
funny video comes up or a really
controversial video or maybe you're a
political guy and you know I think about
Trump comes up and you get really riled
up you get angry and you're just
thinking about it but then you're Q's
pops and you've already clicked except
you're going into trance like you've
clicked your champion and then you're
still all tapping onto Facebook now
you're gonna get into game and the way
the brain works is that it won't just as
soon as you close that Facebook tab your
brain won't just switch off and be like
I'm focused it takes time attention
residue your mind will still be thinking
subconsciously about what you've just
watched and the more powerful thing the
more powerful or emotional the response
was to whatever you've just been doing
before playing your mind is gonna be
attached to it this is why a lot of the
time I actually recommend only consuming
League of Legends content or something
that is to do with what's going to help
you in that next game maybe watching
your replay of your last game watching a
vote on YouTube of something or watching
a guide whatever and then go into a game
because those things are going to be
very much aligned or similar to what
you're gonna be experiencing in that
next game but if you're watching some
weird vlog or you know you're doing
whatever you're a cooking show and then
then you go into a game it's gonna be
difficult for you to go from switched
off
to switch on because of this attention
residue and maybe I didn't explain it
too well but if you have any more
questions about this specific topic just
let me know now
from a tennis coach this is a book from
his tennis coach that I got recommended
I think it was called the inner game of
tennis now this book was really
interesting and it spoke oh I spoke a
little bit about quieting the mind now
he said this he said there's a quote he
said the second your mind within a game
drifts and starts wondering about
whether you're going to win the game or
lose the game what he recommends was to
gently go back to focusing on your
breathing to become present in the
moment now in a game if you're tilted or
you just died or you got first bloodied
you had to boil your flash and you're
back in base take if you take a few deep
breaths guys take a few deep breaths you
know in through the nose and out through
the mouth okay now what you do if you
focus your attention on your breathing
you'll notice that you're not gonna be
thinking about winning or losing anymore
you're not going to be thinking about
what people are thinking about you
you're just going to be focused present
in the moment ready to perform now this
is a very simple thing you guys can try
within your own your own games it works
better for others more you know suffer
for some people more than others but I
found it personally to be very useful
and I still to this day use it now
another interesting example of this
something that will kind of reiterate
will tie this all together is think
about if you if you go think back to a
time when you played your best League of
Legends right like maybe you play this
little amateur tournament or ranked 5s
game whatever it was or clash or maybe
it was just a solid cue game last week
that you played
think back to that for a moment now what
you'll realize is that you actually
can't really remember much about it
because this is because you were so
present in the moment that you weren't
thinking about anyone criticizing your
gameplay you weren't thinking about
congratulating yourself after you made a
really good play within that game you
weren't thinking within the game how to
do something you weren't thinking how do
I hit the skill shot whatever you were
just in the moment you weren't thinking
what anyone else thought about your game
play our mind entered that state where
you're just being present in the
that's what we need to look to replicate
that's what we want to aim to replicate
and this is what the breathing exercises
can help you do now lastly guys before
we round up this video I want to talk
you've heard me talk a lot about chaos
now and you in within my silas video
talked a lot about the concept chaos now
it's important to note that there's a
limit to how much you can influence the
game on can all control a game because
you're only one player out of ten within
a game it's a team game right you're
only one player within ten people now
this means that the game is inherently
designed to be filled with chaos and
disorder this is what makes it fun
that's why there's so many different
things happening every single game
that's why you can play this same map
see this play the same champion the same
matchup but you will still have a lot of
fun because there's so many variables
there's so much chaos and disorder now
that's why it is absolutely essential to
be focused on making the fundamentals
like csing map awareness knowing your
trading patterns skill shots etc so well
that they don't occupy space in your
mind it's just muscle memory so that now
you're gonna have all the freedom
mentally to be able to flow free for
adapt overcome chaos that will not if
will occur in the game that you're
playing and that's just some I'll leave
you I'll leave it there just for you to
dwell on and there's I know this was a
very dense video there's a lot of
information again if you have any
questions feel free to hit me up I
wanted to wanted to do a video like this
I'm not even sure if you know how're you
even made it through this video if
that's the case that's completely fine I
thought I would do this video see get
some feedback from the community see if
you like it if it's interesting that
maybe I can do a little bit more like
this because I have so much I can talk
about about the game on the mental side
of things in terms of tilt mentality etc
again I just didn't think it was true
helpful for the general public but maybe
it is alright so let me know thanks for
tuning in guys and lastly remember I'm
actually picking up my new PC today so
I'm super excited so in my next video
quality will be much better and remember
that there's actually in a giveaway
going on at the moment for coaching so
feel free to enter that one as
that's in the discord Cheers thanks for
watching