Different approaches come with different levels of experience
There are a few levels to which the understanding of league of legends changes.
At first we just need to learn the basic mechanics of the game, such as the commands and how to win a game.
Slowly but surely the experience with the game and it’s inherent limitation puts us to start focusing on smaller details, such as:
-How to CS effectively
-Using level powerspikes to our advantages
-When to use a summoner spell
-When to rotate and when to mindlessly split-push.
These are all different aspect to the game that become more apparent the more we are comfortable with the basics.
My belief is that most of the people playing League are focused on less important details, such as “how to play a certain champion”.
Champions are Kits, not abilities
We can have a philosofical argument whether champions are all the same or they are all different. My point is that although their “micro-mechanics” differ. They are basically the same.
- All champions gain access to stats and a new ability with each level
- Every champion has health
- Every champion moves around the map and is controlled with the same commands
Now they do have different mechanics in how they are meant or how our community thinks they are meant to be played, yet my point with this article is that learning a champion doesn’t merely consists in how it’s skills are activated but in what you can do with those skills and how they sinergize with the kit.
I read a forum post talking about how Garen’s and Mundo’s passives are pretty similar yet the former requires you to not receive champion related damage while the other is always active.
The reasoning behind such similar yet different passives is understandable when you take a look at the full kit of the champion.
Mundo is meant to live forever and just go in the backline and keep walking toward the enemy carries while cleaving and auto attacking.
Garen instead has higher burst damage and an execute, but he has longer cooldowns. Garen wants his opponent to feel like he will die soon and wants him to recall.
Mundo on the other hand wants to sit wherever he is, forever.
Thresh is an example of a over-packed kit. He is ranged (although has low range), he has an hook (although he doesn’t pull his enemy into his team), he has the lantern to save everybody (yet the shield is lackluster), he has a way of peeling the enemy(that grants him just barely enough damage to last hit with targon’s passive when playing with uncaring marksmen) and has the box to slow people down from either escaping or chasing.
On paper Thresh should be the best champion in the game, and I believe he is. Yet his damage is low enough that his kit cannot work without a team around him. And that’s what allows League to have a champion such as Thresh.
Focus on possibilities, Focus on the Kit.
The whole purpose of this article is to make you think that when you consider mastering a champion you should think of it as a full package and not the mere sum of his skills.
Think of Ahri and Lux.
Why is Lux almost never played competitively?
It has to do with versatility.
In this game is most of all defined by mobility, yet is more than that.
With Lux you can land a Binding and kill someone.
With Ahri you can land a charm and do the same.
Are these champions the same?
Nope.
Ahri’s ultimate will make her gain 3 flashes.
Lux’s ultimate will give her a decent damage and waveclear.
Ahri is in my opinion more versatile than Lux, hence why she is more played.
Does that mean that Lux is weaker?
No, it means that Lux has more of a “fixed” playstyle, while Ahri has different ways of approaching the same problem: killing your enemies.