Knowing champions and matchups

Let’s begin with a look at the dude giving you evil eyes from the other side of the lane, and go from there. As we start to look at and analyze different champions, matchups, and how to play against them, we need to keep in mind that no two champions are the same. All champions have different themes to them, different strong points in the game, and varying strengths in different characteristics like sustain, trading, etc.

One of the first steps to becoming a solid, well rounded, top laner is learning select champions that you enjoy playing, and figuring out how matchups against different top laners play out. There are several ways to learn. My favorite is literally hurling myself into the fray, learning by experimentation, and seeing for myself what works, and what doesn’t. (Do this only in Normal games, or practice games against friends; do this in ranked and you announce with trumpets that you’re a retard.)

This type of eager experimentation isn’t for everyone. Other people enjoy reading about matchups and getting a rough idea of what to expect before diving in. For these sorts of people, I can direct you to websites  to find specific matchups where your champions are good, or bad (though, oftentimes not why). The guides section of LoLKing.net also isn’t too terrible anymore; many high ranking guides have rather good information with regards to matchups.

Regardless of the how, the bottom line is you need to do your best to learn matchups in top lane; you don’t want to be that Nasus who thinks he can free farm at level 1 against a Riven because he’s an ignorant shit.

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3 Hidden Killers of Becoming a Good League Player

Pride

Pride is an interesting concept, it is not necessarily bad in moderation but when it prevents you from realising the truth it will quickly become your worst enemy. The only person that can tell you that you’re bad is yourself. The very first time I supported Doublelift in solo queue he told me I was bad. He died twice in lane and I got the kills after he died and he told me I’m bad. Immediately without even a thought I let my pride get the better of me. I basically told myself “I’m not bad, he’s wrong. He’s not even good”. The first time I played with TheOddOne he told me I threw after he got caught and we got aced 4v5. How do you think I reacted? “WTF IM NOT BAD! YOU GOT CAUGHT!”

It took me a long time to realise, “you know what? I am actually bad”. When I look back at those two cases: Doublelift died because I wasn’t in position trade tanking the enemy ADC’s damage. TheOddOne died because I hadn’t warded the right places for him to maintain jungle control. But it doesn’t take a star player’s word for you to realise you’re bad. Despite many people saying otherwise, the LoL ranking system IS a good indication of skill. It is safe to say if you are not in challenger tier, you are at least some degree of bad.

Greed

Greed will make you play this game for the wrong reasons. Riot has marketed this game in such a way that the things you do give you a great sense of reward. The biggest ones being winning and kills. How much more satisfying is a double kill in lane than killing dragon or a tower. How good do you feel when you get that last win before you go to bed? There are problems with both of these short term rewards. Objectives should always take priority over kills. Kills allow you to take objectives and if you’re chasing an enemy Nidalee for 5 minutes after a team fight then you’re doing it wrong.

If you trade wins for losses in a 1:1 ratio then chances are you don’t care. You get a reward equally as much as you don’t and you’ve probably learnt to not care about losing. This gives rise to the “surrender at 20 I want to start the next game already” mentality. The top players can get to diamond I with as little as 16 losses in 100. That’s a 6.25:1 win:loss ratio therefore approx. 85% of games are winnable (see below)!

Screenshot from Wildturtle’s smurf “Wildturtl”.

Anger

Anger is the most obvious and most limiting trait that you can express. It is well known that people think irrationally when angry. Rage has a common place in competitive play. If you try your hardest and lose, you will get angry. The sad thing about this is that many players channel their rage to their team mates or opponents and create a toxic community. The best thing you can do and should ALWAYS do when you’re angry is detach from the source, cool off, and re-approach it when you’ve calmed down.

If you truly understand the cause of your loss there is little room for anger and it will be very short lived. So when you look back at your last loss, why did you lose? The answer is not “because of my team mates”. The answer is because “You did not carry”. Many mistake carrying as a good K/D/A, although important, it is only a piece of the pie. A more in-depth article can be found here. But believe it or not, 4v5s are absolutely winnable.

Throughout your League of Legends career you will constantly be tested by trolls and players with higher skill than your own. If you remain mindful of these three vices your growth as a player has less chance of stagnation and ultimately your rewards will be much greater.

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