Climb to Gold

I've set my goal this year to climb up to gold in ranked play. I've already won a promotion series to get to Bronze III. Currently, I'm sitting on 56 points in my division. The way the Match Making Rating (MMR) works is a bit odd right now but, essentially, as you beat expectations, your rating will increase. Your rating relative to your division determines the number of points won or lost in the division. If the system thinks you're "over skilled" for your division,  you'll earn more points and therefore be eligible for promotions faster. If you're "under skilled" for your division, you'll earn fewer.

Currently, I'm sitting on 54 points in Bronze III after two wins (28 and 26 points respectively). I suspect that two more wins will get me a promotion series into Bronze II. The promotion series are a tricky thing. Because you have to win your final game to get INTO a promotion series, they effectively require you to win 3 out of 4 (for division promotions) and 4 out of 6 for league promotions. It's not horrible but when confronted with a system that is designed to gravitate to a 50/50 win rate, it can be frustrating.

My current plan is to main the following

Jungle: Hecarim (Nocturne / Diana backup)
Support: Sona (Nunu backup)
ADC: avoid at all costs (Vayne or Urgot right now but hopefully one of Caitlynn / Miss Fortune / Graves will suit me better)
Mid: Kassadin (Talon / Diana backup)
Top: Yorick

I can also play three of the power 4 (Blitzcrank, Malphite and Amumu) and will try to learn Shen just for completeness

Primarily I'm going to try to focus on Jungle and Support. My twitch reflexes aren't up to par with a lot of the better players but being smart can make up for those significantly in the jungle/support roles. By focusing on a few champions and positions, hopefully I'll also find myself improving significantly in those areas.

One thing I've discovered in solo queue is the power of pink wards as a jungler/support. A pink ward essentially guarantees you a ganking lane and/or a clean teleport target. Why more supports don't throw down a pink ward in the river to clear vision for their jungler or an advanced pink ward in the bottom bush as a teleport target is beyond me. It's so easy to do and for a cost of simply 50gp, it seems like a no brainer.