League of Legends General Discussion Thread

[Dantski]

Silly things from SoloQ (aka why I hate being 1300):

* Jungler doesn't realize you can complete Wolves/Wraiths before Buff spawns
* Mid doesn't realize you let jungler hit Wolves first
* Jungler thinks people staying around hitting for Wolves means 1/2 xp, therefore putting them behind
* People not talking in pick then taking whoever is the free AD that week 'cause that's the only role left and they don't play AD
* Complaining a lane is losing and never coming to help
* Feeling really bad for the jungler because they try to help and all lanes are losing all the time

You can't pick a free week champion in ranked if you don't own them.

[spellman]

Silly things from SoloQ (aka why I hate being 1300):

* Jungler doesn't realize you can complete Wolves/Wraiths before Buff spawns
* Mid doesn't realize you let jungler hit Wolves first
* Jungler thinks people staying around hitting for Wolves means 1/2 xp, therefore putting them behind
* People not talking in pick then taking whoever is the free AD that week 'cause that's the only role left and they don't play AD
* Complaining a lane is losing and never coming to help
* Feeling really bad for the jungler because they try to help and all lanes are losing all the time

You can't pick a free week champion in ranked if you don't own them.

Oh, maybe that was the Normal Game I was playing where we picked free Ez for the swap. Other definite SoloQ instance was guy picking Ashe 'cause ADC was only spot left and explicitly saying he doesn't play ADC. I dodged that game.

[Sir Bruce]

Well at least the opposing team probably has the same sort of problems but for all 5 of their players!

[Sullla]

Spellman, have you considered playing a role other than support in ranked games? Yes, you can carry games as a good support player, but it is a role that's inherently more difficult to win lanes than others. If you do stay on support, I'd also suggest shifting towards more aggressive ones (Blitz, Leona, Taric, etc.) because it's much easier to win lanes in solo queue with them. In your match profile, you've been heavily tilted towards Sona and Soraka in ranked games, and while they definitely have their strengths, you're putting a lot of faith in the ability of your AD partner to play well.

Always keep in mind that solo queue is nothing like ranked 5s. It's all about taking over and carrying your team to a win. You're putting yourself in a position where it's very difficult to do that. In other words, it's not terribly helpful to keep complaining about your bad teammates when you've put yourself into a role where you have to depend on them to achieve victory.

[v8mark]

Spellman, have you considered playing a role other than support in ranked games? Yes, you can carry games as a good support player, but it is a role that's inherently more difficult to win lanes than others. If you do stay on support, I'd also suggest shifting towards more aggressive ones (Blitz, Leona, Taric, etc.) because it's much easier to win lanes in solo queue with them. In your match profile, you've been heavily tilted towards Sona and Soraka in ranked games, and while they definitely have their strengths, you're putting a lot of faith in the ability of your AD partner to play well.

I agree with this to some extent. I played a lot of Soraka at that Elo, and did very well with her there. But it's a very situational pick, and you are reliant on your team being OK at the mechanical side of things. There's only so much stupid you can fix with Soraka...

Specifically she's good for:
- when you're allied with champions (in whatever lane) that have no inherent sustain
- when you're with a relatively passive, mana-intensive carry; there are relatively few of these. Sivir and Varus are the two that come immediately to mind. Maybe nerfed Ez will revert to this role now that he's lost his AS debuff
- when you're likely to need a quick silence (Katarina ult, Galio ult, DoT mages like Cass)

Basically, when you're playing Soraka, you're playing the numbers. There's very little you can *do* with Soraka to help you win lane (some things, but not many)... you're relying on Soraka improving your team comp to the extent that it makes you more likely to win just by having Soraka.

(also: Soraka was better when I played her than she is now!)

[spellman]

I've learned the jungle via Normal games, but I'm still woefully underpowered in that role. Somehow the evemy jungler is always clearing better than me and ganking when I'm not around to help, meaning I'm not giving enough map presence while keeping my farm up. Similarly I've pulled off a decent Top a few times (yay Kayle farming at tower), but I don't trust my abilities there either yet for Ranked.

As for going more aggressive, I've been messing around with a more poke oriented Sona (I haven't used Soraka in a while) and Taric recently. I really need to buy Leona and just play her to death. A few times I've gotten Blitz but it's surprisingly difficult to decisively crush the lane with Blitz. Most people understand stay in your creep line is the way to avoid the grabs. So it comes down to clutch grabs during teamfights.

Sure I'm frustrated in the 1300s, but my intuition is that mechanically I'm somewhere in that region anyways, maybe low 1400s. My game theory is much higher, but mechanically I'm still hesitant to land the clutch plays and maximize my summoner skills. Just last game I'm pretty sure I gave up 2 kills by saving my Sona Ult instead of just using it when my partner engaged. We still got the Corki, but my AD died in the process and then Singed chased me down. If I had ulted we probably would have finished earlier, and gotten away with no deaths.

[Deceptus]

I've learned the jungle via Normal games, but I'm still woefully underpowered in that role. Somehow the evemy jungler is always clearing better than me and ganking when I'm not around to help, meaning I'm not giving enough map presence while keeping my farm up. Similarly I've pulled off a decent Top a few times (yay Kayle farming at tower), but I don't trust my abilities there either yet for Ranked.

As for going more aggressive, I've been messing around with a more poke oriented Sona (I haven't used Soraka in a while) and Taric recently. I really need to buy Leona and just play her to death. A few times I've gotten Blitz but it's surprisingly difficult to decisively crush the lane with Blitz. Most people understand stay in your creep line is the way to avoid the grabs. So it comes down to clutch grabs during teamfights.

Sure I'm frustrated in the 1300s, but my intuition is that mechanically I'm somewhere in that region anyways, maybe low 1400s. My game theory is much higher, but mechanically I'm still hesitant to land the clutch plays and maximize my summoner skills. Just last game I'm pretty sure I gave up 2 kills by saving my Sona Ult instead of just using it when my partner engaged. We still got the Corki, but my AD died in the process and then Singed chased me down. If I had ulted we probably would have finished earlier, and gotten away with no deaths.

For jungling at low Elo, I recommend learning pubstompy bruisers like Lee Sin or Darius (Skarner or Mundo work well, Amumu can win teamfights on his own too) and pretty much adhering to a few simple rules:
1: Ward as much as possible because at this Elo people getting out of position happens all the time and then you kick their ass with your superior dueling skills.
2: Gank, ganks are overpowered here because people's reaction time and map awareness tends to be poor as hell -- this is one thing where watching high Elo streams can give you the "bad" habit of just staying in jungle and farming, which is a good thing to do when you're in a high Elo team with people being much more map aware and predicting, but not perfect when some guy thinks a single ward will protect him when he's balls deep by your ally's turret. Stonewall isn't a world class jungler but his videos show tactics that work better on lower Elos and I find them a worthwhile resource.
3: Time buffs religiously. Ward spots in their jungle before taking those buffs for safety, you don't want to give first blood because you wanted to try out some Shyvana cheese.
4: Don't throw.

For laning at low Elo, I think it's easier. All I believe you honestly need to do is play a few customs and perfect your last hitting, and I mean perfect. It already gives you a huge edge over your enemy laner. Then you just have to work on decision making. Preferrably just play the hell out of select 1-2 champions; don't assume one "role" as your main role, this gives diminishing returns, it's better to be a great Sona player than mediocre at everything because even if they pick Sona your instincts from playing her carry over to other champions - reflexes and timings and stuff. If you really want to get out of low Elo by supporting which is viable, you just have to never die, probably call out all the MIAs on the minimap and lead your team if you're carrying your AD carry. Also, you can't just stay in the lane and keep farming after winning your lane, just go out there and kill some other people and they should rage after dying.

[mostly_harmless]

Quickly, what has changed in the metagame in the last 6 months, which I was not following LoL at all?

mh

[v8mark]

Quickly, what has changed in the metagame in the last 6 months, which I was not following LoL at all?

mh

Come play and find out

[spellman]

Quickly, what has changed in the metagame in the last 6 months, which I was not following LoL at all?

mh

Biggest shifts I can think of:
* Movement back toward aggressive lanes. The sustainers have been nerfed to equality, and instagibbing your opponent is the name of the game often times. Also, invades seem a bit more popular now.
* Global ults like Shen are still a pain to handle.
* More wards, even at lower ELO. Smart junglers (as noted above) will make use of other gank paths due to the river always being warded (through lane seems to always surprise and pathing through the enemy jungle never ceases to make me happy). Even in my lowly 1300 ELO all lanes are buying at least 1 ward on their first back, and often middle brushes are warded up most of the game.
* Movement to mobility. Ez, Corki, and Graves reposition and damage output make them the AD kings. Faster jungle gankers are supreme instead of safe farmers.
* Lane swaps (AD/support go up against 1 "top" bruiser) are more viable now to ensure your AD gets farm. This is due to a shift away from securing Dragon on a single death and Top Lane moving towards a more isolated kill-and-snowball style instead of take-teleport-and-have-global-presence.

The rest of the minutiae though just take playing a bunch.