How a Challenger Would Learn League of Legends Today
It would be a massive understatement to say League of Legends is a game with a ton of depth. The game offers 163 champions who fit into a variety of critical roles that apply to the game and the meta in different ways. We have years upon years of meta-shifting changes, strategies, and concepts that many players will never truly comprehend. Ultimately though, that lack of comprehension is a choice. With commitment and effort, any player can learn the finer points of League. To help drive this point home, we’ve looked at how a Challenger would learn League today, and broken it down into the simple concepts to help beginners get started.
Understanding the Objective
The primary objective of League is simple enough: destroy the enemy’s Nexus. This structure, located deep within the heart of the enemy’s base, is the ultimate target for every player. However, reaching and destroying the Nexus is no easy task. It requires a deep understanding of the game’s mechanics, a strategic approach to gameplay, and the ability to work effectively as a team. Players must accumulate gold, secure objectives, and eliminate enemy champions to gain advantages that will aid in destroying the enemy Nexus.
The Importance of Roles
With League’s five roles; top laner, mid laner, jungler, and support, each role has distinct responsibilities and occupies specific lanes or areas of the map.
The top laner, typically a durable champion, focuses on dueling and holding their ground at the top part of the map. The mid laner controls the middle lane and plays a pivotal role in team fights and rotations. The jungler roams the map, killing neutral monsters and assisting their team by ambushing enemy champions.
The ADC is a ranged champion who deals heavy damage, usually found in the bot lane with a support champion. The support champions provide utility, peel, and crowd control to aid their ADC and team. Understanding the different champions and their abilities is crucial to success in the game.
Learning from Resources
It’s important to watch and learn from the available resources in the League world. Instead of playing multiple games a day, we suggest finding quality content that highlights certain champions and their gameplay, skill order, and builds. This approach will help you learn from the experiences of others, gaining insights into effective strategies and tactics. Understanding the champions and gameplay mechanics, including last-hitting minions for gold, is essential.
The Power of Mindfulness
Practicing mindfulness is another key to improvement. We suggest using practice tools to work on specific aspects, such as combos or last hitting, and experimenting with different items. Players should constantly question their actions and consider if there are better alternatives. This process is ongoing, and conclusions will evolve over time. Limiting oneself to a few champions allows for a deeper dive into advanced mechanics and theory.
Strategies for Winning
In order to win games, players need gold and experience points, which translate into the ability to grow faster and defeat enemies more easily. Accumulating gold while denying the enemy gold is a strategy to gain an advantage in the game. Strategies such as freezing, slow pushing, jungle tracking, collapsing, and using pattern recognition can be employed to gain an advantage.
Understanding the enemy’s existence and desired trading patterns is important. Deductive reasoning can be used to predict the enemy’s movements and make strategic decisions. Understanding trading patterns and spacing, using minions to your advantage, and focusing on objectives are key strategies.
Understanding Stats and Objectives
The game also features various stats and objectives that empower characters and help them achieve certain goals. Understanding the payout and opportunity cost of obtaining certain stats, as well as the objectives of Herald, Dragon, and Baron, can be used to gain advantages in the game and weaken the enemy’s defenses. Once you have a good understanding of the stats and their benefits to your champions, you’ll have a better grasp on how to build each champ for success.
The Importance of Consistent Income
Consistent gold and XP income are important in a game. Gathering and using information to improve and gain more resources is essential. Consuming streams and video content to gain different perspectives on champions and reviewing personal performance can aid in improvement.
With the entry-level view of how a Challenger would learn League now, we would suggest you explore some of the deeper resources available and begin to learn more about the current meta, the roles that would be a good fit for the way you would like to play, and the champions that will fit your playstyle the best.
