I keep hearing announcers talking about how ProPlayers do "animation canceling"- seems like cheating
What exactly are they talking about? Why would it be possible to cheat like this and they don't want to make it known to all players?
4 Comments
Animation canceling is when you use one command to cancel the animation of another. For example, when ADCs attack move they are canceling part of their attack animation in order to move. Since the projectile has already been fired, the damage will be delt and thus there is no reason for the player to complete the animation. Alternatively one spell can be used to hide the animation of another/speed up the animation, lowering the reaction time for it to be used. Riven is probably the most infamous example of animation canceling, and you can see more on that here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TXsJ3kqpzJc
Anyone can find out what animation canceling is, what the possibilities are, and how to use it properly with just a bit of experimentation or research.
It's part of game knowledge, its a mechanical skill that you as a player can learn and master to improve your gameplay. It also doesn't change the number of attacks you can get off if your opponent is standing still. The difference is when you are trying to attack while running away or towards the enemy. It allows you to start moving slightly sooner than normal.
Animation cancelling is a pretty core part of many games, including LoL. It's basically issuing another command (clicking to move, casting another ability, etc) very soon after another command in order to act faster. It's not cheating, it's just something you learn when you play this or any variety of other games if you really want to get into the nitty gritty details of the game.
I'm hoping this is a troll post, or that you were just uninformed on what animation cancelling is, lol. How is being skilled cheating?