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Am I at a "disadvantage" if I try to learn multiple champs at once?

Morał Support·9/14/2019, 8:52:28 AM·2 votes·4,668 views

I have a whole list of champs I want to play: Fiora, Akali, Neeko, Qiyana, Zoe, Katarina, Taliyah, Lux, Evelynn, Annie, Ahri, Camille, and all the other support champs I play. Thing is, I never stick to a champ until I'm "good" at them. I play them strictly for a day, then I'll go on to another champ or go back to playing my m7/m6 champs. I want to be able to play all of these champs well enough to where I don't have to focus on what I'm doing w/ the champ, but focus on the game itself (if the makes sense). But, it's a long list and they're all quite different (especially since I main Soraka and other enchanters, it's a big change) which makes me assume I'll never be able to learn them all with how I currently go about it.

So, title. If I am, then how should I go about learning these champs? I had someone tell me I should stick with enchanters since it'd be too difficult to switch to an AD assassin or something. But I'm really not a fan of support, it's just a role that was easiest to start with and it's holding me back mechanically I'd think which makes it even harder to learn these champs.

I'm also scared if I don't play the champs enough I'll forget how to play them since it's a long list, because it happened with Akali. I played 40 or so games with her and did decently enough then I went back to playing support. Once I came back maybe a week later to Akali, I couldn't play at all her at all (still love her though).

25 Comments

The Highest Noon9/14/2019, 11:57:01 AM4 votes

Not really? [sg-lux-2] People try to make this game and these champions seem like they take 2000 IQ to learn and master, but tbh if you're anything like the average good player and understand the basics of this game, you can learn a champ after like...5 games, and that's just being generous. Champs aren't that difficult to learn.

BLACK REALM GOD9/14/2019, 9:06:01 AM2 votes

if you have limited time then yes.

Keiaga9/14/2019, 9:08:54 AM2 votes

The quick and easy solution is to play any champ you want for fun, in normals. Then there's no bother whether you win or not. If you insist on taking them into ranked, bouncing from champ to champ might hurt just a tiny bit.

Akali Katarina Fiora Qiyana in particular are very high investment and high commitment to perform well. You'll probably be terrible until you spend 50+ games actually learning their skills and the general flow of the champ since they're so unique, and their skills have a lot of details to them and taking a break from them will get you rusty very quickly. If you care about winning, I highly suggest practically "one tricking" these guys or leaving them alone entirely. Akali and Qiyana in particular are very weak and underperforming right now.

Camille Taliyah Zoe Evelynn Ahri Aren't too complicated and after taking a day to learn what their skills do you should be able to play them effectively enough, even if you take a break from them and come back.

Lux Annie Neeko Are all pretty similar and have easily transferable skills. you could probably pick up any of these in ranked for the first time and do just fine. Except for maximizing the effectiveness of Neeko's clones and disguises. But hardly anyone uses those.


As far as changing your roles/champ type I wouldn't worry about it for the most part.  It might be a little rough switching back and forth between tanks and glass cannon assassins since  you'll forget just how squishy you are, but whether you're going mages or assassins, you shouldn't pick up any bad habits.  The hardest thing you'll have to deal with is going from a long-time support main to mid and not remembering how to farm.

If you're trying to 'git gud' and climb ranks then I only have one thing to recommend. Experiment with your champ pool and find the one champ that you absolutely love and adore because of mechanical playstyle, general feel, visuals, or whatever. Marry that champ and one-trick them and never stop. You only need your main champ and then a single backup if they're taken, banned, or severely counterpicked.

Saezio9/14/2019, 11:54:30 AM2 votes

Play 100 games with each champion. Then move to the next. Or if after 20 or so games you don't like the champ, just ditch it And yes you are at a huge disadvantage if you swap champions on a weekly, let alone daily, basis.

preternatural9/14/2019, 11:59:10 AM2 votes

just learn one champion, maybe 2 at most. play one champion enough and that champion eventually teaches you the game.

2Charmnot2Charm9/14/2019, 12:46:43 PM2 votes

No you're really not at a disadvantage. Just make sure you keep your brain active instead of auto-piloting so you don't miss stuff on the minimap or forget what you should or should not be doing when someone on enemy team is doing X (Or even your own teammates)

Might want to ditch Akali tho, that 160 seconds ult rank 1 is just oof for solo queue (but if you don't plan on playing ranked then continue, maybe if you flex with friends it wouldn't be as bad too)

The only time first timing a champ actually matters negatively, is when you're picking a hard champ or you turn your brain off and forget all the fundamentals of the game you already learned.

Crystalysk9/14/2019, 9:03:19 AM2 votes

I think this is a disatvantage.

It will take you so much time to even get decent with all this champions that by the time you get at that level you could have mastered some of them if you dropped the majority of that list.

Mastering a champion will make you win more and will make you do less mistakes with them. Playing that amount of different champions in ranked will be the reason most players have average winrates.

Just check my account and look at how many champions i played and on how many of them i have negative winrate. If i didn't play them and i was able to stick on my few mains my overall winrate could be higher.

If you just play normal games, then pick whatever you feel like playing. But why play normal...

Lost R9/14/2019, 3:14:26 PM1 votes

BROTHER!

I, too, am trying to learn all the champions. I prefer to focus on two at a time (per role) so I'm not switching gears constantly while trying to learn them and I can focus on the champion until I am comfortable with them and know their strengths and weaknesses.

Ignore these assholes that say you should only learn one champion and that champion should be Yasuo. Specialization is for insects.

Kovorix9/14/2019, 3:25:15 PM1 votes

You can be a one trick and everytime you can't pick it be dead weight for your team.

Sky Cardis9/14/2019, 3:28:56 PM1 votes

Depends...if you take the game way to serious and or play rank...At first its good to learn a few champs, see what fits your play style best...but then you double down on that champ all the way. Then realize the meta champs and meta builds are where its at then spend all your times learning them or stick to your champ/style and get demolished.

BUT...if you play this game just to have fun and just want to be versatile and not be a meta slave. Then no, there is no real disadvantage.

Illabethe9/14/2019, 5:02:10 PM1 votes

Yes in some ways. No in Some ways.

Yes: If you try to play a large sample of champions, you will tend to apply your own bias as to what counterpicks are. You will generally try to overcompensate, choose the "best" counter for a specific champion/team comp, and as a consequence, you may field a champ you feel you are "okay with" rather than one you are excellent with. And Okay in reality may make your so-called counterpick, the weaker pick, because you don't know enough to behave in that lane.

No: By learning a lot of champions you generally learn more of their interactions, and what they can do for the next time you are opposing them. You begin to develop circular logic rather than just linear logic (one role versus many).

For example, suppose you have a dominant adc role you play, and will win your lane, but there is a Nocturne in play. You're Sivir. Do you push and win the lane? The answer is usually NO. Why? If you blow Sivir's E on an aggressive lane stance with a Nocturne jungle, he's going to nail you to the wall, taking advantage of you blowing your kit. He's going to ult you, Fear you, and ensure you die. Also, people generally don't know how his spell shield works. By playing him a bit, you begin to respect him.

My advice: Play a lot of champs until 2-3 stick out as having successful memory mastery. Then switch to only playing those.

(For me, that's sadly Morgana/Zyra/Nami; I can play Morg/Zyra in ANY role and maintain an almost 60% Win rate in any elo; when I deviate from them, then I start taking some losses/meeting the average)

True Garen9/15/2019, 4:45:09 AM1 votes

League of Legends is not different from life in general, in this respect. You would expect better results from more specialized attention. You would expect to get better grades if you keep a low courseload.

Playing one champion (or a few champions) not only means that you'll be mechanically more proficient in that one (or those few), but that you'll also have more time and attention for learning to understand the game in general. It's an extension of the same argument for learning to play the game using a champion with easy mechanics.

Most of the best players that I can think of, play only a few champions.