Tag Archives: League of Legends

Why I Main Thresh

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Thresh: The Soul reason to main support.

Thresh is the reason I call myself a support main.  This champion managed to turn what I thought to be the most boring role in League of Legends when I first started the game (Season 3) into my favorite role by far.  I remember when I first started playing League of Legends and getting stuck with support and playing Janna / Nami / Annie every single game.  I only played Annie because I thought it was fun and super cheesy, and this was before she actually took off as a top tier support.  Even in the Annie games I had played I felt like I was just sort of mashing buttons and standing in a bush, waiting for my next back to buy wards.  Nothing was very enjoyable down there in the bottom lane of Summoner’s Rift, and I felt like I was more of a spectator than someone actually playing on the team.

Then I picked up Thresh.  I remember how excited I was to play the champion because of how popular he was in the LCS, and I had never played him before.  His kit looked incredibly fun to play, and I come from an FPS (first person shooter) background in video games, so I absolutely love champions based on skills shots (I’m looking at you Ezreal).  Thresh’s hook is an incredibly fun mechanic to play with, and I love the constant threat that I give in lane with it.  This ability was very easy to learn and adjust to immediately, and I always smart cast all of my spells so I didn’t feel the need to practice it too much.  Thresh’s lantern is also an amazing ability, perhaps the greatest spell in the game that isn’t an ultimate.  This ability is a huge factor in lane, in teamfights, and just roaming around the map in general.  It can be used to create a gank, escape a gank, get a teammate into a good position, get a teammate out of a bad position, to give vision, and even to bluff and scare the enemy team thinking someone is going to take it.  This ability took me a small amount of time to get the range down, but I quickly learned it and it is very simple to use (if your teammate GRABS THE DAMN LANTERN).

Now onto the E… the Flay.  Oh. God.  My first few games with Thresh I was told to not smartcast his E.  I wish I had these games recorded, because they were absolutely hilarious I’m sure.  I would basically try to E, and do one of the following things:

1. Miss completely

2. Stop walking, stand still trying to figure out the direction I wanted the flay to go, and miss completely

3. Flay in the opposite direction, either saving someone’s life on the other team or costing someone’s life on mine

4. Did I mention MISS COMPLETELY?

After a few games I said YOLO, and decided to smart cast it.  This was the best decision I have made in my short League of Legends gaming career.  As soon as I started smart casting this spell, I understood the mechanics of it more and didn’t need to think about the range or the direction I was going.  It just made sense.  Put the cursor behind me parallel to where they are running = They will come back to me.  Put my cursor in front of me, or literally on the enemy, and they will go in front of me.  It was simple. It made sense.  I highly recommend you do this if you are learning Thresh, because a Flash+Flay is nearly impossible without it.

Thresh’s R is very simple to use, but it is also very simple to mess up.  The Box is his ultimate ability, and it goes off immediately upon hitting R.  Until his last nerf, the box literally went up immediately and slowed anyone who walked into the walls. This basically meant that upon landing a hook post level-6, you would follow the hook, hit R, then flay them into the back of the box.  This was almost an insta-gib in lane if you hit the ADC (or the squishy Sona/Nami support), and if you’re maxing E (you better be), your auto will take a huge chunk out of them as well. Match this combo with a Draven or any ADC with burst and you pretty much guaranteed a kill regardless of summoner spells on the enemy.  However, with the latest nerf, The Box takes a little bit of time to “be built”.  The walls need a moment to set up, and this can let the enemy escape before it even slows them or does any damage (which is a ton by the way).  I have found that I have had to change the combo up a bit here, and I will now flay them immediately upon hitting R if they don’t have flash.  If they do have flash, I will wait for them to flash, flay them immediately at the end of their animation, and then hit R.  If you let them flash AFTER you use your ult there is a good chance that they will dodge all walls and you will be left with a useless box in the middle of the lane.

All in all, Thresh is just fun to play.  Every game he makes an impact, and his utility is second to none.  He has an incredible kit for both supporting and carrying, and he can be built many different ways.  If you build a full CDR Thresh you can land a hook every 4 seconds. I do this nearly every game now because I find it to be the most fun and rewarding part of the game.  Everytime you land a hook, whether it be from 2 pixels away or max range in an unwarded part of the map, you get this satisfied feeling that just isn’t matched by many of the other champions on The Rift. If you haven’t tried out Thresh, or you don’t like the support role, I highly recommend you pick him up and play with him for a bit.

Final thoughts: Thresh top lane, Thresh ADC, and even Thresh jungle are all pretty fun to mess around with.  I prefer top Thresh out of all of these, and if your team comp allows it, build full Attack Damage and watch the enemies melt with one auto attack.

Have fun Flaying!

– Steve

My Thoughts on Team Builder

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My first thought when I opened up the new lobby type on League of Legends called “Team Builder” was “damn… am I playing Warcraft 3 again?”.  The layout was very simple to understand, and it looked like it was made for a Battle.Net game which came out about ten years ago.  This isn’t necessarily a bad thing… I actually really enjoyed the layout, and it made me feel like I was playing an online competitive video game again.  Staring at an outdated client while there is a countdown at the top of the screen has never stood out to me as something a competitive game would have, so this new lobby just made the game feel more intense before it even started.

Okay, okay, I talked about the lobby enough… right? Nope.  It’s a small part of the experience, but it really is a necessary part of any online game in my opinion.  Hell, even Halo 2 had an amazing pregame lobby on the Xbox and that game came out a couple thousand years ago. My favorite part about the lobby is the opportunity to chat with your teammates while you are waiting for a match to be found.  This is a great way to get to know your teammates and joke around a bit before the match, and I felt like it got rid of much of the toxicity which plagues the fields of justice.  In this lobby you can see the champions and roles that everyone is playing, and you can discuss strategies using your team composition.  On top of this, everyone got to play the role that they asked for, so there was no need to argue in the lobby over “pick order vs. call order”.  I felt a much friendlier atmosphere in the Team Builder lobby than the usual blind pick / draft pick lobbies.

Some issues with Team Builder that I ran into during the few games that I played are as follow:

1.  The roles aren’t properly labeled.  I had a “fighter” support, and it ended up being a Darius who actually wanted top lane.  The roles mix sometimes in the pregame lobby process of choosing them, and this can make for some odd team compositions.  I had a Malzahar ADC that same game.

League of Legends Team Builder Issues

Team Builder please…

2.  You cannot establish a solid team composition without booting players on your team and waiting for the right champion to show up.  It would be nice if you could call a role and maybe 3 champions in which you wanted to play so that you could choose based on your teammate’s champion choices.

3.  My final complaint isn’t really a complaint, but a suggestion.  This lobby was really fun and reduced the toxicity in every game I played ten-fold, and I would like to see it implemented in a non-blind pick format.  As I stated in problem #2, I think that you should be able to choose a few champions to go into the draft lobby with, and choose from those after a banning phase has gone through.  In a ranked lobby, I think that you should just need to call a role and not a champion.  This would allow for both the banning phase and the picking phase to occur.  Draft would still go in order like it currently does, but you would only be able to choose a champion to fill your respective role, and everyone would be happy because they would get the role they wanted.  For example, if I wanted to jungle Elise, I would go into ranked queue with “jungle” as my role, but not Elise.  The draft lobby would go through as normal, and if Elise was up when it was my turn to pick, I would pick her.

On a completely unrelated note, I am terrified of spiders but Elise is my favorite champion in the game.  Oh what a tangled web we weave…

All in all, I really enjoyed Team Builder and I hope that they find a way to implement it into the Live server forever very soon.  The toxicity levels dropped dramatically, and I actually felt like the people on my team were my teammates rather than crazy psychopaths sitting behind a computer screen waiting to stab the next person who stole their blue buff.  The game was fun… really, really fun.

TL;DR:  Team Builder = #Worth

– Steve

What to watch for TSM and Lemondogs

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Unless you have been living under a rock you know that Reginald has stepped down as the mid laner for Team Solomid, and they have picked up Bjergsen. In Europe Bjergsen was a little bit overshadowed by all the great mid laners, relatively unknown in NA until he moved into the TSM house and started streaming under the TSM banner. We are all very excited to see how TSM operates without their shot caller, I expect to see TheOddOne be able to make more of his own decisions and maybe play better. Dyrus might be able to expand his champion pool, and get some help from TheOddOne without Regi in the mid lane. Bjergsen should be top 3 if not the best mid laner in NA right off the bat, and Wildturtle and Xpecial are only getting better. I believe this will be a good change for TSM, and they will be one of the top two teams in NA.

Lemondogs will be a whole new team with a bunch of unknown players, their only experience being in the amature scene. Mym will be their top laner, ImSoFresh will be their jungler, Shlaya will be playing mid lane, and Crazycaps and Zeriouz will be their duo lane. I have no idea what to expect out of these guys, it should be interesting.

I expect TSM to win this fairly easily based off individual experience alone, 5 players with LCS experience vs 0 players with LCS experience should tell you everything you need to know about this matchup. It will be fun to see what this Lemondogs team is all about. As for TSM, I’m excited to see if Dyrus and TheOddOne step their game up and take a little bit more of a carry role with Regi gone.

Patch 3.15 Quick Rundown

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Hey guys riot just released the patch notes for 3.15, and we are going to do a quick rundown to tell you everything you need to know so you can get back onto the Rift.

New Champion

Yasuo will be released, see champion spotlight

Champion Changes

-Ahri

Less mana problems early, nothing major.

-Fiddlesticks

Terrify and Crowstorm reduced mana costs. Terrify longer at level 1 shorter at later levels.

This puts fiddlesticks in a better spot in my opinion, the 3 second fear was really unfun to play against, and he can now spam abilities a little bit more.

-Janna

Ult costs less mana, no real changes

-Lee Sin

Safeguard no longer puts the shield on minions or wards that he jumps to, no real power change.

-Lucian

Piercing light has less range and does a little bit less damage early on.

Allows for more counter play in lane, you will now at least be able to trade an auto for his q to even things out.

-Lulu

Passive does a little more damage, Shield is stronger. Ult costs less mana.

I think this puts Lulu up near on the support tier list, you will probably see more of Lulu in the near future.

-Rammus

Changes similar to the fiddlesticks changes, taunt duration reduced at higher ranks, mana costs reduced.

Level 3 ganks got a little bit stronger but I don’t think that is enough to make up for the taunt duration being reduced later, I don’t think rammus will be a very strong pick right now.

-Sivir

Passive now scales up to 50 movement speed weaker early stronger late. Spell Shield duration reduced, shouldn’t effect anything if you use spellshield properly, does allow for more counter play and mind games however. On The Hunt total duration decreased movement speed duration lower at early ranks and cooldown increased later on.

This will put Sivir right around where she should be, skilled Sivir players will still be very deadly, but it will be harder for just anyone to pick her up and dominate.

-Soraka

Armor and base movement speed increased, nothing major. However, something major may be coming in the future.

-Taric

Passive armor scaling reduced. Shatter scaling reduced around the board.

Taric will now be a little bit easier to deal with.

Jungle Items

Ancient golem and Spectral wraith now have the conservation passive, they are less reliant on kills and assist for gold income than the Elder Lizard. Makes them a safer choice.

Trinkets

Red and blue trinkets buffed to make them a more viable option.

Jungle Camps

Ancient Golem and Lizard Elder do a little bit less damage early. Wight gives a little bit more gold on first clear.

First jungle clear is a little bit less painful, nothing major.

Assist gold

No longer ramps up with game time, less snowball effects later on.

Super minions

Damage and armor boost now increased, will make taking an inhib a little bit more impactful.

Masteries

Minor changes to masteries, nothing significant enough to warrant switching your masteries on a champion.

What To Watch For: Dignitas Vs. Alliance

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Team Dignitas is one of the more interesting teams, in the battle of the atlantic tournament. Cruzerthebruzer (Cruzer) has taken over the top lane from Kiwikid, Cruzer has been around the amatuer seen, and at the top of NA solo queue for years. He played on Team Legion in the IPL face off in 2012, and more recently accompanied Bigfatlp on the AzureCats on their quest to get into the NA LCS during the season 3 qualifiers. He is known as an aggressive top laner, who is known for his Lee sin Irelia, and Rumble. I don’t know how good he will and his main champions may not be in the current meta, but one thing is for certain he will be fun to watch. Kiwikid hasn’t gone far, just across the rift to support imaqtpie. While Kiwikid doesn’t have much experience as a support, they have been duo- queueing a lot lately and have been playing well, I saw them beat up on XD-GG’s bot lane a few days ago. Look to see if Scarra can find some suitable champions, and start off season 4 better then he ended season 3, and get back on top of the NA mid lane. I fully expect Crumbzz to be the consistent jungler he always has been.

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Alliance has taken over EG’s spot in this tournament, and the next split. Wickd and Froggen remain from EG, two very consistent mechanical players who have been around for a long time. To replace Snoopeh in the jungle they have picked up Shook, the former jungler of the Copenhagen Wolves. To fill the role of ADC they have picked up Tabzz formerly the ADC of Lemondogs. They are also bringing along a player who was not in the last split of the LCS, Kazmitch, a high elo support who is plays a lot of Thresh and Sona. See if Froggen and Wickd, put more pressure on themselves to carry with this new lineup. We are also interested to see how the other players can mesh together, we know they have the individual skill.

This should be a very close matchup, as most people would say that Wickd should easily win top lane, and Froggen should easily win mid. I would agree that chances are Cruzer is not at the level of Wickd right now, but he could catch him by surprise, we don’t know a lot about Cruzer at this point. I’m actually going to give the mid lane edge to Scarra, it wasn’t that long ago that skill wise it would have been a toss up, and Scarra has the synergy with Crumbzz from playing together, while Froggen and Shook have not played together as long. I think the match comes down to the bot lane, Kiwikid and Imaqtpie certainly have fun together, but has Kiwikid learned enough about support yet? On the other side we don’t know how well Tabzz and Kazmitch work together and if Kazmitch can perform on the big stage.

Enjoy the match!

Thoughts On Showdown 1v1 Game Type

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With Snowdown approaching the League of Legends Live Client, I have been playing the new “Showdown” game type on the PBE.  I absolutely love the 1v1 game type that Riot has introduced, and will explain why.

Rules of 1v1 Showdown:

Draft Pick, 3 bans each

Blind Pick after bans, both players can be the same champion.

First to 100 Minions Wins

First Player to Die Loses

First Player to Destroy the Enemy’s Turret Wins

01010 Day 1…

As you can see there are three ways in which to win a game of Showdown.  The most fun way to win in my opinion is to kill the enemy champion.  I enjoy playing early game champions with fast paced kits, so I mainly play Riven and Lee Sin.  Unfortunately, these champions are usually banned, so I tend to try out a lot of random champions.  Thresh and Blitzcrank were both quite fun, as was Sion and Dr. Mundo.  Showdown is a really great place to try out different champions and test out how they do in low level duals.

My favorite part about Showdown is the ability to capitalize on your opponent’s mistakes.  You don’t need to worry about the enemy midlaner or jungler coming into your lane at any point in the game, so you can control the game however you want.  If your opponent makes a mistake you have the ability to take full advantage of the game and dictate what the opponent can and cannot do for the next few minutes.  If at any point they would put themselves into a situation where they could possibly be killed, you can take that opportunity to finish the game.  I have won countless games at level 3 because of bad positioning and the false sense of security that many players have.  If at any point you see a chance to get a kill, you can go in without fear of being ganked.  The entire game is up to you, which is what makes it so fun for me.

Another thing that I love about Showdown is how fast paced it is.  Sometimes I don’t even look at the minions and just wait until I have a chance to either trade very well or get a quick cheesy kill at level 2 after they burn their abilities on the wave.  Lee Sin and Riven are both great for this early game strategy.  Sometimes I win games without even touching the minion wave.

My main suggestion for Showdown is to bring Flash with you.  Many people go fully aggressive with Ignite / Exhaust or Ignite / Barrier.  This can work, but against aggressive players like Riven who will try to all in you early it doesn’t help.  Anytime I see that the enemy doesn’t have flash and I do I know that I can force a fight, and if it is a favorable fight I will be able to chase them down with flash and end the game.  It is also great for surprising your opponent with an engage that wouldn’t be possible without the quick blink across the screen towards them.  I tend to run Flash / Ignite in every match-up.

Make rune pages!  Remember that you don’t need to worry about a lot of the threats from Summoner’s Rift, and you also don’t need to try to scale to late game.  Focus on winning the game early, and adjust your Masteries and Runes accordingly.  Make sure to create a few rune pages with and without Magic Resist, as a lot of the champions used in Showdown do not deal magic damage.

This is your chance to really improve your laning skills as well as testing the limits of a champion.  I already feel a lot more confident in 1v1 situations because of Showndown, and I will only get better as I practice more and expand my champion pool.  This is also a great place to test out unfavorable match-ups and trying to cheese your way to victory with a quick, smooth play before the opponent can even react.  Focus on your strategy in Showdown, watch for mistakes, work on your mechanics, and have fun!

– Steve

Champion and Skin Sale Breakdown: 11.15 – 11.18

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Champions:

Thresh (487 RP) – Thresh has been one of the top supports in Season 3, so much so that he was given the Championship Skin for this year.  A very fun champion to play who has a huge impact on the game.  Can also be played as a carry if one chooses.

Wukong (440 RP) – Wukong is a fighter champion who is usually seen in the top lane.  He has a great escape mechanism in Decoy, as well as an ult that can be devastating in team fights if used correctly.

Shaco (395 RP) – Shaco is one of the most obnoxious champions to play against in the game.  He has boxes that can fear you, he can multiply, and he can even go invisible and teleport to a nearby location.  His early game ganks are devastating when played in the jungle, and can snowball a lane very quickly.  Shaco is best played as a jungler.

Skins:

Infiltrator Irelia (487 RP) – This is actually a very cool Irelia skin, and makes up for the lack of color in the original.  If not a fan of Frostblade, this skin might be worth a look.

Runeborn Xerath (375 RP) – Hey look, Xerath is green now!

Resistance Caitlyn (260 RP) – Fight off the rebels with this skin!  Nothing much to say about it, you will probably either like it or you won’t. 

Our Playlist of This Sale:

Want to Learn League of Legends for Free, or Teach Someone Else?

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I found a website today called LoL-Coaching.  This website is a tool to connect League of Legends players to other League of Legends players, with one player being a coach and the other wanting to learn.  The website is completely free, and students will not be required to pay for their lessons.  Some coaches may charge for lessons, but students can always choose the free coaches instead. This website is based on the goodwill of the community, and I hope this model works.

How LoL-Coaching Works for Students:

  • The student will create a free account at http://www.lol-coaching.com
  • The student must verify their summoner name
  • Student finds a coach, and chooses a time slot that works for both the student and the coach (the coach makes these time slots)
  • The request is sent to the coach who can either accept or decline the request
  • Once accepted and the lesson completed, the student may review the coach

How LoL-Coaching Works for Coaches:

  • The coach will create a free account at http://www.lol-coaching.com
  • The coach must verify their summoner name
  • The coach creates their profile, which states the roles they will teach, their best champions, their division ranking, and the times they have available
  • Once a student picks from the times the coach has offered, the coach may message the student and accept or decline their request for a lesson

All of this is completely free, and I plan on taking a lesson this week.  I will write an article about my experience with this service, but in the meantime if you try it out let us know how it was!

This service is currently available for NA, EUW, and EUNE servers.

 

Happy Coaching and Learning, and remember to leave a comment if you try it!

http://www.Lol-Coaching.com

Season 3 Is Over – Now What Happens?

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As I’m sure you know, League of Legends Season 3 has ended.  What exactly happens now?

In the preseason, ranked queue will be available.  While games won’t play a huge factor in your Season 4 Ranked Placements, they will still effect your MMR.  Your MMR will be used to determine who you play against at the start of Season 4, and will help you get into a higher division right off the bat.  If you are serious about your rank, continue to go for victories in ranked during the preseason!

That being said, the only players required to play ranked during the preseason are Challenger players.  This is the only division which will have Inactivity Decay applied to it, meaning if players don’t play ranked for a certain amount of time they will be removed from the division.  No other division needs to worry about this, so don’t feel the need to play Ranked Queue during the preseason!

There will be huge changes being implemented throughout the preseason, some of which have already been revealed.  A few which have been announced so far:

  • New jungle camp
  • Baron changes
  • Support and Jungle gold changes
  • New Gold items
  • New ward / trinket system
  • Team Builder

There are many more changes coming to League of Legends in the near future, so keep an eye on this website for articles about those.

Courtesy of LeagueOfLegends.Com

Season 4 will begin about 1 month after the preseason begins.  You will be required to play Placement Matches again, with a “soft MMR Reset” hitting your account.  This reset is currently said to take your current MMR (end of preseason) + 1200, and then be divided by 2.  This equation is not 100% confirmed yet.  Once you play your 10 placement matches in Solo Queue you will be placed into a division based on your MMR.

I hope everyone is happy with the rewards they earned in Season 3, and let’s have a great preseason and Season 4!  I will update this website as new information is revealed about Season 4.

If you have any questions, feel free to ask below!

League of Legends and Working Out

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I have been a gamer since I was 5 years old, and damn did I look it all the way until I was a junior in high school.  I didn’t much care about my appearance, nor did I care about my diet or exercise plan.  Don’t get me wrong, I played tennis at a near collegiate level, and I played soccer all my life.  I was good at these things, but they were never things I had to really work hard on.  When I was a junior in High School I weighed the same amount as my skinny mother.  I was near 6 feet tall, and built like a string bean.  Great for tennis, sure, but it wasn’t a good look.  Junior year I started pounding away in the gym, lifting weights and eating as much as I possibly could.  I would drink a 24 ounce water bottle 7 times a day.  This would eventually lead me to gaining a significant amount of muscle, and evening my height and my weight out a bit.  I still work out 5 times a week, and I am addicted to it.  I love the satisfaction that it brings, and I love how good it makes me feel afterwards.

Why am I telling you this on a League of Legends website?  Well, it’s simple.  When you workout, whether it be playing a sport, lifting weights, or doing cardio, your body releases endorphins.  These endorphins make you feel great, but they also have a positive effect on your mind.  I always have my best gaming sessions after a good workout.  The good feeling involved with working out can carry to your gameplay, and the new found focus can bring reaction time and decision making to a new level.  Diet is also an important piece of your daily life, and if you have a good diet your mind will excel. I tend to plan gaming sessions around my workout times, so that I can benefit from the post-workout effects.

“Do you even lift?” – Alistar (Quote may not be accurate)

I recommend that if you don’t play a sport, lift, or run, you try some things out.  I can almost promise that you will get addicted to your new found fitness hobby, and it will carry positively to other parts of your life, even League of Legends.

Do you workout?  What is your favorite routine / lift / machine?  Do you notice a change in your gaming afterwards?

 

Try it out, and leave a comment if you do!