Pocket Picks: Matt's Bard
Have you ever wanted to sling Ashe arrows like Sneaky? Or use LeBlanc to juke your way into another dimension like Bjergsen? Well, now’s your chance.
With Lolesports' Pocket Picks, we’re here to deliver the best tips and tricks straight from the pros to help you master the champions closest to their hearts -- their Pocket Picks.
In this episode, Liquid's support, Matt, is here with advice to help you master his Pocket Pick, Bard the Wandering Caretaker.
"The most fun thing about Bard is how, no matter what state the game is in -- you could be winning, you could be losing -- but you can always have fun doing your own thing," says Matt with a smile. "No one else can just roam around the map and collect Chimes!"
But the best thing about Bard's passive, according to Matt, is that is scales infinitely. "Especially late game, when you're in a 40-50 minute game, and you've collected over 100 Chimes, you're going to start dealing a lot of damage," Matt explains. "And the slow also scales. So later on you can almost one-shot their back line AD carry."
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Before you get to late game, Matt also has a tip on how to devastate the enemy team with an early roam mid. "When the mid lane minions are meeting in mid lane, you want to time yourself to enter the lane so that you can catch the mid laner running with the minions," says Matt.
"It allows you to get a really easy stun."
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Bard can also surprise enemies more than ever with a 45% cooldown reduction build -- one that Matt describes as his favorite. "It might not be very efficient, but it's very feel good," says Matt. "Because you feel good playing after you get 45% CDR!"
Matt suggests getting Eye of the Watchers first, followed up by Ionian Boots of Lucidity. Then, "you want to go straight into Kindlegem and Forbidden Idol," Matt says. "With this build -- plus your 5% cooldown in masteries -- you'll be able to spam Q on cooldown and frustrate your enemies, because they aren't moving very far."
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It's not just your Q that benefits from this build, though, says Matt. "Once you get five points in your E, you'll be able to lower the cooldown to a point where you can have two portals open at the same time."
"That can lead to some really amazing jukes," he continues. "If they're all chasing you through one portal, you can go through. Then you go through again. And by the time you go through again, the portal is already out, so they have no way to chase you."
"The more portals you can make, the more distance you can create between you and your enemies," says Matt.
"All and all, it's really about frustrating your enemies when you have 45% CDR."
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An excellent way to frustrate your enemies as Bard -- or any champion -- is by stealing a juicy objective, especially Dragon or Baron. But rather than throwing your ultimate on the objective, Matt has another idea.
"Get vision over the wall, and once the objective gets low enough -- right before the Jungler is going to Smite it -- use your ultimate on the enemy jungler. Then, Portal your Jungler in, and he'll have a very easy Smite battle," says Matt.
"Then you can portal him away, or he can Flash away," Matt says. "And it could very easily save your game."
Have you ever saved a game with an incredible Bard play? Let us know about your best Bard moments in the comments.
Below you can download various wallpaper sizes of the Matt Bard illustration by Nips. You can follow Nips on Twitter and Facebook to see even more of her art.
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1280 x 720 Pocket Picks: Matt Bard Wallpaper
