Being a challenger tier player is more about discipline and repetition than it is raw skill. Just like playing instruments, playing sports or doing almost anything worthwhile takes discipline. Reading guides don't make you a better player, believe it or not. Just like how reading a book on how to dribble a basketball doesn't make you better at dribbling, or how reading a book on better hand positioning for the piano doesn't make you play any better. You could theoretically read every league guide out there and you wouldn't be a better player. Not to say they don't help you become a better player but they don't make you a better player. The only thing that makes you a better player is practice. If you were to ask any professional player how to get better, they'd probably say just play the game a lot. No, you don't play the game a lot. You're not comparing how much you play League to other games. You're comparing how much you play to other players and chances are there are literally hundred of thousands of players who've played just as much as you or more. If you want to get better you're going to have to play more.
Now even if you play more your rate of improvement isn't going to raise that much. Skill level is not stagnant across seasons, this year's gold players are probably just as good as season 1's platinum. So churning out a ton of games everyday alone isn't enough to reach your goal in a timely manner. What you have to do is be above the curve, if everyone is improving at a rate of x, you want to be increasing at a rate of 10x. This isn't where you run to guides to help you improve, you can probably forgo reading any type of guide and reach challenger. Guides tell you what to do and why you do it and you, which you don't need to know. Knowing why you do what you do doesn't make you a better player, you just know why you do what you do. Knowing what to do is what you want to know and normally guides are the best source material for finding out this information but we have plenty of vods of professional players playing a large range of champions. So this is what I invite you to do; choose one lane and champion, watch a bunch of vods of challenger players playing it and write a game plan(revise the game plan every 20 games or so). The game plan will be comprised of thing common things done in each game. For example the first three minutes would go something like;
Renekton - Top lane VS melee
Buy Dorans Blade + Health Pot + Ward Trinket, Q first
[0:00 - 1:55]
- Guard blue by standing at baron pit ramp; Gaurd red by standing in top tribrush, help jungler until 2:00
[2:00 - 3:00]
- Hit each melee minion once, last hit as necessary, stand close to enemy melee minion and Q enemy as they approach to last hit, if agro taken run back or to brush if close
- Reach level 2 before enemy, Q minions to push harder if needed, clear 1 wave and melee to hit 2
- Push minions into tower by 2:45, ward river brush after
- Should have 18 CS at this point
- Watch for ganks
You're going to take too much damage from helping your jungler. You're going to take too much minion agro/damage from the enemy during trades. You're not going to get 18 cs and you're going to get killed by a gank. Thats only the mistakes you will make in the first three minutes but its to be expected though, but you'll get better with practice. You're going to have to churn out those games until you get 15/16/17/18 cs consistently, until you know when the jungler is going to gank and how to manipulate the lane properly. Knowing/Creating the game plan doesn't make you a better player, playing the game makes you a better player. Playing better than you currently are instead of playing at your level is how you raise your skill level efficiently.
If you're playing at your level and you're not raising in rank and want to, you're not doing something right. If you go 15/5 and still lose every other game your not doing something right. While it may be your team's fault you lost, you're always to blame for not winning. Playing the game is the only thing that will make you better at the game, so if you want to reach challenger you'd better start playing. A lot.
