To My Sweetums in Bronze and Iron: Toxicity, Dmg v. Vision Meta, & Long Term Game Flow

Okay so, I decided to return to League after having been floating around since -- oof, 2012 at least? I remember when there was more MoBA competition than just dota and LoL had to try a teensy bit harder. There were some real fun ones. Like, there was this one that had basically a Priscilla [Elise be cute, but Priscilla still better sorry, not sorry] style summoner/minion-spawning type that was sooo fun + cute. Malz but with fashion, ya know? Then there was that one that tried to mix a farmville style "base" for I don't even remember what honestly and had the ability to play like a bubble pop/match three to create ... I dunno, I want to say scrolls? Could give em to people in lane or for your own sexy self. Was such a nice way to bring in other gameplay styles beyond just twitch reflexes. That one might still be going on since was heavily Russian even then but heck, go explore.

Anyway, the state of the game here is actually pretty good. At least -- that's my opinion. Anytime I can make Heimer work, in any lane, anywhere, is my bar just so we clear. The community's toxicity levels have spiked hard since the whole community roundup and honor system was initially implemented though. It's real rough out there. Mute more, it sucks to have to take the time to do that but is better than attempting to engage. Also, side note Riot -- when you report someone, please like keep em blocked and muted. After a player abusing Irelia called me an offensive slang term for developmentally delayed they tracked me since they liked my Lulu game. Which, obvi and sweet, but oh my glorp no. They shouldn't have been able to get in touch with me after I had sent in a report about them.

But, let's get to the meaty bits and this is for my low ELO sweetums who are earnestly trying to improve. I have always been a support main. The vision items are amazing. In fact, they are so amazing that I would recommend them on every lane that feels willing to break out of their netdeck builds primarily geared towards the highest of ELO and just spend a tiny bit of their overall gold on vision and map control. I've been enjoying success as off-support Heimer mid [shhhh-- I'm not sure people have figured out what that is yet. So, ya know, just keep it between us, okay my lovelies?] I've only seen one other player [a sexy, yummy Morganna: Fallen Angel of Baked Goods] doing the same and in response to being told they should sell it by a Yi or else risk falling behind I let em know that Vision is sooooo good and soooo worth it. Morg's response? "Yup" truer words have never been yup'd. 7 min wards for people not realizing what's going on just makes my heart sing.

My actual twitch and last hit ability is total garbo, but that's only a small portion of this style of game. It's why a certain chilly company's attempt at it didn't even include that element in their overall match flow because meh -- it's a skill that is only important until about 15-20 min tops and then drops off sharply. So, don't put too much focus on it. Particularly if you, again, be willing to pick up some vision that helps even out your gold curve that yeah -- sets you back if you have L33T skills. If not though, supplement that with some vision and often any gold advantage will get hot ironed out if can take advantage of the other team's assumption that you're also just trying to ram 3 bloodthirsters into their bodies hoping that it'll do 1 more dmg than them before you realize what happened in the teamfight.

I'm well aware that the success of those things is primarily because most people aren't actively engaging with the game at hand. I know this because the amount of times that people have ignored my Morello and that I have seen maybe 5 people attempt to unlock their spellbook. Also, so good, try it. Flash isn't even that good. I know sorry. But if your positioning is off, you deserve to give up that yummy gold to em. Unless you have an actual plan for how it will help you engage/disengage -- try something else. Anything else. So many champs already have lots of broken movement to them and having yet another leap is redundant.

I haven't gotten a ff at 1st blood in awhile, so that's nice but the toxicity here is draining. It's why I'm putting this all up and letting you under my many petticoats to see the multi-limbed wonders therein. Summoner's Rift is well balanced to end at 40 min but that's a long time. Your laning phase is only a small portion of it. Most of the snowballing that happens is as a result of people getting tilted. If you're not doing well, just turtle and try to deny that turret plating. I promise that if you and your team can properly collapse after that point that whatever early damage spike build your enemy is running will likely putter out faster than they expect and send them spiraling into the blame game themselves.

Which, ya know, is even easier if y'all have vision and map control too. I know, it isn't big damage numbers but a win is a win. Otherwise, all I can tell you is like -- leave one item slot open for either a counter item pick [Morello makes all these Soraka's so sad. Cleave is good for like 50% of top laners. Spooky Ghosts for that extra vision and slow is waaaay better than redemption so just be nice to your support and try to be safe so they can be more helpful. Same for Shurelia whatever that tiara is called] OR some kind of defensive item. Any kind of defensive item. People love going straight dmg in this meta and even a slight halt to that steamdunk train can leave you with 10 hp more than they thought you would have, all their skills on CD, and likely some /all chat confusion/face slamming to let you know you're on the right track.

Also, just play a few normal games before trying out a new champion or build. Once you've gotten to see how it plays out a few times THEN take it into ranked. It's also okay to just watch what your opponent does for awhile. I see so much potential while I'm playing with people who aren't just smurfing to avoid whatever ban they were likely given for being human shaped sewage all over the place -- but you don't need to play like the pros. In fact, that advice is probably unproductive for the games you're actually playing.

Since, while we're here let's get into that: Let's pretend that you and your opponent have your full build and are faced off in a bizarre 35 minute 1v1. However excellent their stats might be, there is always a 10% human error factor to consider. The "ideal" no longer matters in that face off and you don't even need to play "well" -- simply better than them in that moment. Which could be anything from a hit skill shot to their miss or just a hot bait of theirs -- often easier if they have an assumption about how "ez" you may be.

Okay, that's it. I'm going to go back to considering if this is even the community I want to spend my free time with. Sorry for not having like, super cool infographics or whatever, but I think we need more real talk here rather than just pro guides from 4 seasons ago or whatever. Also, if ya don't like anything I've put here and just want people to have big dmg numbers in order to git their gud or whatever -- try Battlerite. It's a good game that is just twitch reflexes and champions smashing into one another. It's fun for that style of gameplay but it's not the teamfight game I love so much here. Everyone else, believe in your teammates until they start reciting antisemitic literature to you and then go for whomever seems like they're actually trying. Stick with them, believe in each other, and check builds/if you died to BLUE or RED and make your decisions from there.

For those who are sticking out this game and community for neither fame nor money, you're the true champions. I love you all <3

*Oh, and -- stop banning Sett. His big straight line isn't all that bad. Just walk to the side, wiggle that biddle and you be fine. He's actually great for the game in helping to get people to look a little bit more at what enemy champs are doing with their abilities. It's so hard telegraphed that sure, maybe them numbers need to get crunched, but that's not what I would worry about myself. Mord is way more broken if we sipping tea about it.