Choosing a main ?

Junkoo Enoshima·3/17/2017, 7:03:23 PM·11 votes·10,604 views

Ok so i have been playing about a little over a year now (I started last January just as season 6 started) and I have yet to be able to figure out who to choose as a main. I have tried multiple times over the year from gragas to syndra to jhin and just all over the place. The reason being is that after a few days or week of playing the same champ I get bored and want to play a different lane or role. At this point I basically play any and all lanes comfortably but I don't excel at any particular lane or champ. Basically a jack of all trades master of none. I was wondering if any of you had some advice on how to find a champ/lane that I would be able to main? It really bothers me because I want to be able to play ranked and have a set champion that I can do really well with but I just can't find the attatchment to any champ or lane.

71 Comments

Sahn Uzal3/17/2017, 7:10:01 PM20 votes

Don't force yourself to have a main.

Play whatever you want, learn the game, see what you enjoy the most! If I recall correctly, I used to play a lot of Nasus, Maokai, Trundle and Nautilus top. I enjoyed those champions and played them a lot.

Then Sion got reworked, and GP got reworked later. I Enjoyed those champions more than any other champion this game has to offer, so I decided to main those 2 champions. And here I am, still maining those 2, currently over 550k mastery points on Gangplank! Because I can keep playing GP and enjoying him!

You can stay a diversity player, there's nothing wrong with that. It gives you a lot of freedom when it comes to adapting to Matchups!

If you find a champion that you want to main, go for it. But I'd say you shouldn't Force yourself to main something ^^

Melledoneus3/17/2017, 9:41:31 PM7 votes

Shen

For when you want to lose lane, get affected even harder by stupid teammates, and be even more disappointed in Riot.

Otherwise a season with Shenpai, this is fucking heaven.

AgeOfTheMage3/17/2017, 7:09:00 PM6 votes

Just keep looking, you'll find one eventually, or be like me: love too many champs so you don't have a main

Kukan Seishin3/17/2017, 7:04:34 PM5 votes

Ahri Ahri is love Ahri is life

Rákãñ3/17/2017, 8:39:43 PM4 votes

Well, what you can able to main is debatable if you're will to play those champs over and over without really getting bored of him to play other champions more. But I can list a good group of champions that is good to main as they can usually fit in quite of team comps. But don't limit yourself to what I show, its best to find champs that you love playing.

Top: Jayce Pantheon Gragas Nautilus Trundle Jungle: Hecarim Gragas Trundle Zac Diana Mid: Ahri Viktor Jayce Lux Diana TwistedFate ADC: Caitlyn Lucian Draven Varus Vayne Sup: Trundle Janna Lulu Thresh Lux

Main thing is good is having a champ that can do well in multiple roles. Sure, one lane might be stronger for him, but you're not going to have that spot 100% of the time. And it's good to have a backup champ that you can play in auto-filled scenarios and when your main champ gets banned. Though, if your champ does well as support role, then you don't really need to worry about getting auto-filled, but you may be find yourself playing support often. And you get check on Reddit too when is a good time to play them too.

Like for an example, you'd be looking at the list and why Trundle support? There has been LCS game where they had a Trundle support and this thread here on reddit https://www.reddit.com/r/summonerschool/comments/3zeab7/when_do_you_pick_trundle_support/ lists his advantaged to be picked. Though, don't have it your first time with it in a ranked senario, practice with it in normals till you feel like you got it and spice up the skills more in ranked.

Bârd3/17/2017, 10:28:41 PM3 votes

It sounds like having a particular "Main" doesn't actually suit you.

You should just construct a large pool of champions that have easily transferable skills.

By "Transferrable Skills", I mean that your practice on one of them would also help you on other champions.

For example...

Lulu gives you experience playing a poke lane with no sustain, which helps you with champions like Zyra Zilean Velkoz Karma MissFortune . She also gives you a lot of experience with a playstyle oriented based on keeping allies from getting bursted down, which is transferrable to Ivern Janna Karma Nami Taric Zilean .

Ezreal gives you experience landing line skillshots. There are so many of these in League of Legends that I am not even going to bother listing all the champions this is transferrable to.

In comparison, someone like Riven is so incredibly specialized that very few of her skills are transferrable to other champions. The closest one is Fiora , who has her own unique mechanics.

The Sword Saint3/17/2017, 8:46:52 PM2 votes

Find some theme or character fantasy that you can really get into and enjoy over the long term, and then find the champion that most closely fits that ideal.

For me that was swords and then Riven specifically followed from that. No regrets.

Dreadlocks3/17/2017, 7:17:33 PM2 votes

it takes a really long time. think abt the things u like abt certain champions and make notes of that. maybe u like specific items on x champion, or damage, cc, initiating power, healing etc. keep tabs on these things and then look for a champion that has those and see if u get hoomed

Finn Teh Human3/18/2017, 3:27:25 AM2 votes

If you only play League casually in normals don't worry about having a main. But if you're looking to go try hard in ranked then having a main is one of the best things you could ever do. The reason is because when you main something, you know everything about it. I think you need to play many champions in the same role because there are different playstyles in each role. Eventually you'll play a role and a champion that you'll love so much you will main them.

Oelyk3/17/2017, 8:57:41 PM2 votes

Find lanes you commonly enjoy, Find a champ who can (questionably) do both. Test and repeat interest in champions. A main is not necessary, but having a small group of champions that complement each other well is really fun too.

For example, myself: Azir Talon Jayce

Plus more, but this is the trinity.

Baron of Bread3/18/2017, 12:47:31 AM2 votes

Try reading through the lores, see if any catch your eye. Sometimes a good lore is enough to get you really into a champion and from there it is just practice.

ModKnightsKemplar3/17/2017, 8:26:52 PM2 votes

I didn't ever choose a main consciously. If you can be good at lots of things, that's great. My goal is to be able to put "fill" in queue and never feel bad about what I got assigned. I'm getting there.

Gregor Gysi3/18/2017, 12:17:39 PM2 votes

Many people here want you not to "force yourself" to have a main - I strongly disagree.

The issue is that this game is very complex - and the higher the level of play, the higher the complexity. If you try to play everything a little you will simply get overwhelmed with the challenges of the different roles and champion. In my experience you should really focus on a role/champion as this allows you to understand the micro/basic challenges of what you play so that you can actually focus on the macro game. I am sure you too realized that whenever you try a new champion your decisionmaking seems to suffer because you are too busy with mechanics/simple questions of what to do. But it seems that you realized that already and that people simply ignored your actual question.

So how do you find your main champ/lane?

I'd first approach the choice of lane as you will probably not suddenly be an OTP so it's better to decide on a lane rather than fixating on a champion.

Top: 1v1 focused, wave manipulator, choice between tank or splitpusher, somewhat isolated from the flow of the game

Jgl: early game focused, decides the game flow, plays god, has to read situations quickly and act accordingly, needs to be confident

Mid: most important lane, 1v1 if you want, very different playstyle depending on champion, your roams decide games and you are literally in the middle of everything

Adc: love depending on your support?

Sup: love depending on your Adc?

If you really can't decide then just throw a coin. If you do not have a premade I'd generally suggest staying away from botlane as the other positions are more enjoyable solo imho.

And then focus on your champion. As you don't seem to have a clear preference try something with rather complex mechanics as this will allow you to engage deeply with the champion and their mechanics. I for one main Riven and I spent a lot of time on learning mechanics and understanding how they work (buffering, animation cancelling, resets etc.). Make a list of complex champions for the lane of your choice and if you can't decide just choose the one that looks the best to you. Then look for tutorials and guides on how to play that champion and spend a lot of time in practice mode. Take a look for OTP streamers and follow them, this will help your attachment to the champion.

My personal tip is Gangplank top. You can play him mid and top (you should still pick 1 of them as your main lane, but it solves the issue of choosing your 2nd position) and he is complex, mechanically demanding (tripple barrel and comboing in general, input buffer etc.) and has a certain flair. He allows you to stick to a very disciplined playstyle (don't go for kills, learn lasthitting and stay back) while also giving you the power to solocarry games (you can waveclear when behind, oneshot teams when ahead). Focus on not dying first and farming second, the rest should come on it's own.

FantasySniper3/18/2017, 8:36:29 AM1 votes

Play what you find enjoyable. It should go without saying that a champion's power level factors in to how enjoyable they are, so don't let it bother you if you don't pick a weak and/or non-meta champion.

You don't have to one-trick-pony, either. It's always better to have some variety in your champion pool, anyways.

Huebone3/18/2017, 8:48:53 AM1 votes

You connect with a champion. That's it. I recently hit 500k mastery with Gnar and the only thing I can say is when I started playing Gnar I was having fun. And even now, he's still fun. I'm comfortable with his kit, I can mindlessly play him. You don't have to have a main, it has its downsides, the upsides are that the more you mindlessly play a champion the more you learn about the game. You also can't give up on a champion you've never played. Try to carry with each champion before you give up, pick the one you enjoyed the most, but the most important thing is who you have fun with. The downside however... If your champion is bad, you feel bad, or you feel frustrated when someone is better with your main than you are.

zaire903/18/2017, 2:34:08 PM1 votes

You just have to know your playstyle and choose a champ based off of that then play them and see how you like them. Before i played league I read the champ descriptions while waiting for the long af 1st time download and knew I was going to like the assassin role and Katarina more specifically just by reading her abilities and this is from when i had no clue how the game played ( thought league was an mmo and you could only choose 1 champ) now since the 1st game i played ive loved her

SkZ DoPe3/18/2017, 4:13:24 PM1 votes

I don't main a specific champion but ADC as the whole role, I have 8 ADC's on Mastery 7 but i don't really pick one for everything so i don't need to worry about bans too much

Sassmast3r3/18/2017, 5:16:36 PM1 votes

Like Tidal Tyrant said, do NOT force yourself into a main.

Do you know how much I wish I could go back to the days I first started playing league, where I wasn't afraid to choose any champion, play anywhere, perform however, and not give a damn? Man, those were the days, enjoy them while they last...

Being able to play every role and have a wide span of champions to choose from with no reason not to is absolute bliss, enjoy it fam.

Clementine3/18/2017, 12:03:21 AM1 votes

Lulu

SlashStriker3/18/2017, 12:14:52 AM1 votes

main = what you enjoy the most

Ariel the Cruel3/18/2017, 12:30:25 AM1 votes

Main support and yolo queue will love you. Queue times too.

Just be prepared; they will blame everything on you also. It's in the job description.

MoldyCheese13/18/2017, 1:02:10 AM1 votes

Same with me, but i find alot of fun playing:

WW, Darius, And zed all fun and i dont really get sick of em try em out.

Lady Hammerlock3/18/2017, 1:34:40 AM1 votes

TBH Your firsts step should be to find 2 main roles(ex: i main top and bot) Then find champions that you enjoy in those roles, and if you think your good enough and enjoy said champion, you can decide to main them(ex: I main Fiora/Singed for top while i main Vayne for bot) boom

Heinz Doof MD3/18/2017, 2:35:01 AM1 votes

I was very lucky and found my main once i hit level 30

Tattersall3/18/2017, 2:54:21 AM1 votes

"Jack of all trades, master of none…

…Is oftentimes better than master of one."

Cantrip3/18/2017, 4:20:08 AM1 votes

Find a role, then find a champion in that role. You're putting the horse before the carriage

Sammystorm3/18/2017, 4:27:49 AM1 votes

What I did was found a champion that really appealed to me lore and kit wise and then got really good at said champ. That is how I choose my main. I still screw around all the time and play many other champs but in ranked play almost exclusively my one champ. Mine is Anivia

Leonerdo3/18/2017, 4:58:49 AM1 votes

It's a video game; it's supposed to be fun. So if you have more fun by playing a ton a champions, do that.

You can still be competitive and play ranked while bouncing from champ to champ. It's just more of a measure of your general mechanics, game knowledge, and strategy, rather than your skill with a particular champion. Plus, what you'll be lacking in champion-specific mastery, you'll make up for in flexibility and well-rounded game knowledge.

JhamSleaz3/18/2017, 5:55:19 AM1 votes

MY BEST TIP. Play a champion that you can still have fun playing even when you're behind. Ekko and Lucian feel fun no matter what

Fondling Gems3/18/2017, 6:11:17 AM1 votes

I am a Taric main. That being said I only play Taric about 1/10 games. I still play him far more than any other champion (though naut is up there too) but I could never play only one champion. Maining is different from one tricking. If you main something that just means that is a champ you play far more than your other champions that you enjoy playing and feel comfortable enough on to take into unfavourable matchups.

Just play what you feel like playing, if that means you end up playing a certain champ far more than other champs then that means you can say you main that champ. Don't force yourself to have a limited champ pool though.