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PSA: They're called "skillshots" for a reason

EkkoFroffles·8/10/2015, 11:36:09 PM·17 votes·2,122 views

If I'm supporting a Jinx , Ashe , Ezreal , or Draven , I don't go into chat to say "(blank) has only hit 1 ult all match." For that matter, if any of my teammates whiff on skillshots, I don't say a thing. Why?

First of all, if you're playing someone like a Thresh or Blitzcrank where you live and die by your hook, there's already enough pressure placed on you to land it without your teammates piling on anytime you miss even one. Even Madlife isn't perfect.

Second of all, not all skillshots are the same. I, for instance, am trying to learn Thresh . I've played tons of Blitzcrank and Nautilus, but each hook is different. Blitz's fires instantly and pulls the enemy to him. Naut's is slower and can pull you to terrain, meaning whiffing can screw you over. Thresh's has a bit of a delay as well, as well as a huge hitbox, making threading the needle a huge challenge. With each champion, I had to start over from square one, in essence.

Third of all, skillshots in general take loads of practice. It took me reaching Level 5 with Blitzcrank to get decent at them. That experience has carried over somewhat to other champions and skillshots, but it's still a constant learning process.

Lastly, people have off matches. We all have the occasional off-match, and that's magnified with champions like Blitz, Naut, and Thresh since people have tunnel vision on you all match, watching for any missed hooks.

Mostly, though, I think people are just ignorant to the challenge presented by champions like Thresh, and/or they conveniently forget they're no better because screw the support. For example, I looked up everyone in my last match, where I was getting piled on by my team for not landing enough hooks, and here's how they've performed with the hook-centric supports.

Teammate 1: 2-3, 1.44 KDA (Blitzcrank ); 1-2, 3.31 KDA (Thresh ). Teammate 2: 9-11, 2.24 KDA (Blitzcrank ); 7-7, 2.31 KDA (Nautilus ). Teammate 3: 1-4, 0.43 KDA (Blitzcrank ). Teammate 4: No ranked experience.

These are the people who think they have room to judge, and this is ignoring their own poor performance in this particular match. I know the community in general needs to learn how to focus on themselves, rather than pointing out their teammates' every mistake, blaming them, but the phenomenon's at its worst with skillshot-based champions. At least in my experience. It's why I refused to bother with Blitzcrank for the longest time, and why the prospect of leveling up Thresh had me worried.

23 Comments

Enosetc8/11/2015, 1:16:56 AM5 votes

well said. i've been with some downright awful skill-shot reliant supports, but i try to never be vocal about it. it doesn't make them improve; just tilts them even more

OperationDEEZ18/10/2015, 11:52:46 PM3 votes

First of all, if you're playing someone like a Blitzcrank or Thresh where you live and die by your hook,

But Thresh has tons of damage and utility outside his hook. HE HAS A FREE FUCKING ESCAPE FOR ANYONE ON HIS TEAM.

JAGMAG8/10/2015, 11:45:41 PM2 votes

there's a chart called how to play blitz crank it starts off with a single question....can you hit skill shots? if you answer yes it says hit qer...if you say no it says you have the wrong champ buddy. if you cant hit skill shots you should not play skill shot oriented champs there's a difference between me going 4/8 on ez ults (lol that dosent happen) and a blitz literally only landing two hooks the entire lane and both of them on the enemy leona so dont get upset if you cant hit a skill shot but your playing a skill shot champ and your teams not happy yes i understand these things need practice but honestly its not hard to hit a blitz q just practice against bots (intermediate bots actually dodge better then most players)

Wheatloaf8/11/2015, 6:20:38 AM2 votes

Katarina: "N00b learn to hit skillshots."

DrCyanide8/11/2015, 7:25:45 PM2 votes

I reserve the right to laugh (and be laughed at) for sending a skillshot in the opposite direction of any and all enemies.

MrWasjig8/12/2015, 11:33:41 AM2 votes

Finally! Someone else who understand how hard it is to land Death Sentence! I've been playing Thresh since about midway through last season. Got a good 500 or so matches on him (awkward to find out the number of Ranked and Normals combined) And despite how much time I've put into him, I still miss it about 30-40% of the time. That may sound bad I know, but I can still confidently say I'm better than your average Thresh.

Far too many people (especially SoloQ ADC's) just love to blame the support in too many cases. Too many times I've backed away after a rough trade/fail all in with both sides suffering lots of damage. I've even pinged for my ADC to back off, AND thrown out the lantern to bring them with me to safety. But nope they try to dive the enemy turret with 1/4 HP alone. And then they blame me for not helping despite giving several highly telegraphed signs that say "I'm backing off, please join me"

Sorry I went a bit off on a tangent there but it helped make the point (I hope)

TL;DR Death Sentence is hard to land!

SoMNia8/11/2015, 8:29:49 AM1 votes

I actually can't stand playing Thresh/Blitz/Naut because collision skillshots are rendered useless by good positioning in lane. Give me Nami any day. You can't hide from the bubble. :D

Mecha MaIphite8/11/2015, 12:22:19 PM1 votes

and I'm still sitting here missing my point and click abilities lmao

slippykitten8/11/2015, 6:12:05 PM1 votes

Exactly, so it is totally appropriate to say that someone who never lands them has no skill. Post taken crystal clear.

DarthSpectrum8/11/2015, 5:23:00 AM1 votes

I played mid lane before learning support, and I can attest that hooks are much easier to land than most mages' skill shots. Blitzcrank's Rocket Grab travels so quickly that it is almost impossible to dodge without using an ability. Thresh's Death Sentence has a huge hit box. Nautilus's Dredge Line has a pretty good hit box as well.

The advantages mid laners have is that often their skill shots are AOE and spammable, so even though they are slow and obvious, they can still catch an enemy off guard.

Once you get the flow of each unique hook, you will find that you can land them almost every time. One of the key mistake the novice players make is that they don't use the hook at the right time. Often, the land percentage is low, so just save your hook for a better opportunity.

As well, don't hesitant when you are aiming your ability. The more you doubt yourself, the slower your reaction time will be.

If you are feeling nervous about practicing Thresh where a huge part of his power is in his hooks, try learning some mid laners to practice your aim first. Nidalee, Galio, and Lissandra are good options. Yasuo's skill tempest also provides good experience. The tornado is one of the slowest skill shots in the game. I transitioned without a problem to Blitzcrank after learning how to land Yasuo's 3rd steel tempest the majority of the time.

commi6668/11/2015, 11:03:14 PM1 votes

I find it strange that anyone can berate anybody about any type of misplay at bronze 5 level

ABlueQuaker8/11/2015, 6:27:45 AM1 votes

tbh unless I can get a game-winning hook on a valuable target I only use them for follow up or even peel. In most cases the threat of getting hooked is more powerful than actually getting hooked. The hook will finally come right when someone thinks they're safe.

90% of my laning phase as Blitzcrank is running at the Enemy AD Carry with W and waiting for them to make the next move. The other 10% is me either landing the hook, or letting them go.