Is being a one trick pony ok ?

Ban the Hand ··1 votes·3,303 views

So, been playing a butt load of panth. (top/mid lane) I have won like 14/15 ranked games in a row with my premade and i have been learning a lot. Im wondering, is it ok to suck anywhere else? I legit suck at every other champ. I can lux support SOMETIMES if my skill shots are on point. My maokai is OK, but my winrate is pretty low with him.

If i do decide to try and panth my way to gold, im sure the top lane matchups will get harder. Any advice when going up in rank? I feel like they will get smarter and counter pick me with a ranged champ like veloz/brand OR some tanky champ like voli and just out endure me. SO going forward, anything i can do to win these matchups or at the very least come out even cs and no deaths ? I have duo/qued with some plat players and this ^ happened. I did OK, but felt like i could have done better in lane

24 Comments

FacerollKatarina4 votes

One tricking is the way to go! I one trick Katarina, just hit 1.2 million mastery points today One tricking a champ is 1000000% ok to do, but i would have a backup just in case

DeathTheHorseman1 votes

dat moment when you one trick Akali and had no back up.... Fck LoL dota 2 it is.

1wolfpack3 votes

people go to plat and diamond being one trick ponies, so yeah its okay

EcchiOtakuTM1 votes

Challenjour* more than okay* -fixed :D

Eedat2 votes

Ranked season ended today lol. Gonna have to wait till next year buddy

Kwon Ri Sae2 votes

If you are looking to climb fast, then yes, being a one-trick is fine. Less to learn, faster to master.

theArtifacts1 votes

To get out of bronze, sure. To get out of silver/gold, not really. (That being said, I'm silver still)

I am Pacman1 votes

I would reccomend picking up a couple more champs you like to play (me its jax, illaoi, poppy) just so you at least something else to play when people ban panth/pick counters/dont get primary role.

Otherwise though yeah its completly fine. Having a small champ pool is one of the first things you got to do to start climbing.

I am Pacman1 votes

Also if you know you aren't going to be able to win lane as pantheon (a champ who REALLY needs to do good early) then try to save your ulti to gank bot lane and either pick up some kills or get your team rolling.

dunder kill1 votes

You have 103 games played as Panth and a 49% win rate in bronze 3. Don't think that will work out.

Ban the Hand 1 votes

^ o please. I got placed in silver 3 and decided to go on tilt with a maokai for liek 20 games straight. LOL i went from Silver 3 to Bronze 4 all on maokai. Since then ive been playing nothing but panth and went 14/15 and went from bronze 4 to bronze 2 in one night..(btw i was with a premade so the people i was facing in lane were all silvers) like 11 panth wins in a row. So i probably spent like 3 hours in bronze 3 before i got promoted. Thanks for your answer though..

Leo10241 votes

Idk I always like having a deep champion pool just in case my pick gets banned or I don't feel like playing a certain champ, this said I can play any role and do decently because of my diversity in champs, sure I won't do as well in the adc or jg position as I would mid support or top but having those options are nice

Feedlife Ezreal1 votes

Sticking to a small champion pool is the best way to climb. You learn the matchups and as you start to master the champion you start shifting your focus on mastering the rest of the game.

lilpokfluf1 votes

You can choose up to two roles in ranked so I don't see any issue with playing a single champion in both those roles top/mid I assume. Any others might be a problem tho

Athenes Lulu1 votes

As long as you have backup plans if your one-trick is picked/banned/very heavily countered, should be fine.

You don't have to play your backup at your OTP's level, just don't suck so much that you look like an intentional feeder.

I mean, I have been almost one-tricking Lulu support for like 4 years and don't come into too many problems.

Swiftstrike41 votes

I am a Nasus main and while I play support and mid sometimes in ranked I have climbed largely playing only him top.

I think it is a highly effective strategy to climb from lower Elo into Plat. You will need more champions later, but you can practice them in normals. At the moment I only play Nasus Brand Sona and Leona in my ranked games. And probably 80% of my ranked games are with Nasus.

The mistake MOST lower Elo players make is they play too many roles and too many champions. They end up OK with a bunch of a champions, but not really good with any one champion.

Pantheon isn't countered by too much in the top lane so you should be OK. It will allow you to focus on other aspects of your game playing one champion, such as warding, map presence, CSing, because you will already be mechanically sound with your champion.

That being said, your win rate with Pantheon is probably too low to "one trick" with him at the elo you are in. You probably still need to polish you pantheon games if you want to climb with him. It should be over 52% if he is your main, so you probably just need to improve with him.

Your CS is also pretty low per game with him for a single laner. Which either tells me you focus too much on kills or you stink at CSing.

Ban the Hand 1 votes

Ya the 49/% stat is kinda eh. It was at like 60 percent but i went on full tilt a while back to where i just dont try in games. I have been playing with a premade lately and NEVER go on tilt, i feel great about wins OR losses. The losses i can learn from. A few plat players speculated on of my games and said i had a great early game, great late game but BAD mid game. Since then i have been trying to help lanes more during my power spike. Won 14/15 sincei have been doing this but have also been with a premade so our team comp always worked. As for CS it depends. If im not roaming or facing a decent top laner im usually stuck top, resulting me in getting 2x the cs. But ya sometimes i get outpoked by ranged mages and getting cs is kinda hard. But ya if im 0/0/0 after 20 min i will probably have around 150 cs at least ? But usually yes i am roaming. I do pay attention to my opponet and make sure i always have more cs.

But what do you thin man ? i get differant advice from pro players like one will say, STAY TOP GET TOWER AND GET CS ALWAYS. Others will be liek "wtf are you doing?" you are up 2 kills and you havent roamed? "this is why you are losing" So i guess i just need get better at understanding whats best for the team at any given point?

Swiftstrike41 votes

[{quoted}](name=Ban the Hand ,realm=NA,application-id=3ErqAdtq,discussion-id=TmHMAvYI,comment-id=000b0000,timestamp=2016-11-08T20:11:02.597+0000)

Ya the 49/% stat is kinda eh. It was at like 60 percent but i went on full tilt a while back to where i just dont try in games. I have been playing with a premade lately and NEVER go on tilt, i feel great about wins OR losses. The losses i can learn from. A few plat players speculated on of my games and said i had a great early game, great late game but BAD mid game. Since then i have been trying to help lanes more during my power spike. Won 14/15 sincei have been doing this but have also been with a premade so our team comp always worked. As for CS it depends. If im not roaming or facing a decent top laner im usually stuck top, resulting me in getting 2x the cs. But ya sometimes i get outpoked by ranged mages and getting cs is kinda hard. But ya if im 0/0/0 after 20 min i will probably have around 150 cs at least ? But usually yes i am roaming. I do pay attention to my opponet and make sure i always have more cs.

But what do you thin man ? i get differant advice from pro players like one will say, STAY TOP GET TOWER AND GET CS ALWAYS. Others will be liek "wtf are you doing?" you are up 2 kills and you havent roamed? "this is why you are losing" So i guess i just need get better at understanding whats best for the team at any given point?

It depends if you run ignite or TP. I would say if you run TP, CS early and try to get that first tower. Once you hit level 6 you can ult into the bottom lane if you want and get that tower.

That way you can TP back to lane if it is an issue.

If you run ignite top it means you have to get that first kill AND you will likely use your ult to return to lane and you probably will have less CS on average. You will probably be a bigger threat early, but TP helps in your late game more.

In general, if you don't get a kill as pantheon early you are doing something wrong. He scales pretty poorly past the mid game and is just a stun bot after he uses his ultimate.

Also, in terms of preference I think thunder lords is worse than deathfire touch with pantheon. It depends though. If you want the "best overall mastery" for him then I suppose thunder is adequate. But if you want the best laning mastery against specific opponents it is deathfire (you spear poke is really good with it).

I also see some run fervor and warlords, in general most of the masteries are pretty good on him but I think it is better to be in the offensive tree with him than down the cunning tree. Just a thought.

Also you don't build this item 3142, which should be in your builds or you go cleaver and ghostblade and full tank afterwards.

You should also be starting item 2033 most of the time and skip the refillable potion. It does depend on the matchup, but almost every pantheon I play against goes corrupting because he has mana issues and health issues. Corrupting covers both those in early laning.

Your CS should be around 160-180 if you have a single lane per game regardless if it is a win or a loss. Though if you take him into the jungle a lot then that explains a lower average.

The biggest problem I see with low elo Pantheon players is that they focus SOOOO much on getting kills that they do not CS. Then they get out scaled and go "how did I die I have 8 kills". Well it is because pantheon scales like crap.

It doesn't sound like you have that kill focus problem, but you DO have a CS problem. It is simply too low.

Pantheon will probably become more and more popular in preseason with all the assassins coming out. As a bruiser he can still quickly kill an assassin with his burst.

You may also want to try to learn Renekton because they both have almost identical play styles and scaling. I would also suggest Darius as a better late scaler if your comp is a late scaling comp.

I just looked at the people you play with often and I will say that some of the champions they play don't really fit the pantheon comp.

Vayne is a late game hyper carry (that will probably soon be banned A LOT with the stealth changes and her crit build) and pantheon is an early game champion. They don't really mesh because it requires YOU to put A LOT of early game pressure while Vayne scales. Which is probably why they direct you to places early and mid game. Meaning if you lose lane or you fall off without doing anything the teams mid game will probably be terrible.

Another one of your buddies appears to play a lot of Ahri and Kennen. These are team fight champions with decent scaling. Ahri would be better than Kennen but I can see you ulting to where kennen is ulting, stunning them and keeping them in the kennen ultimate.

One of your buddies plays Blitzcrank and Leona while another plays Fizz and Nunu. Nunu will probably be soon nerfed (probably why your buddy is playing him is because he is so strong).

I guess how I see it if you are looking to consider comp so you can keep playing with your buddies, you probably want and early game pick comp. And not a late game scaling comp.

A good comp would be Pantheon Ashe Ahri Fizz Leona or Blitzcrank

While a poor comp for pantheon would be Pantheon Vayne Xerath Nunu and a different support that isn't about landing picks.

But I will say, in the elo you are playing at, comp doesn't matter at all. You simply should play the champions you are best with, but if you want to continue to 5 man or 4 man with this crew you should consider you comp questions more. As you play against better opponents the lack of synergy with your comp will be more noticeable. You probably wouldn't notice it until gold though.

Ban the Hand 1 votes

wow man thanks i read the whole thing. I just made a new rune page for panth. The reason i was picking longsword/potion is because im running mana regen seals. I just made another rune page with magic resist glyphs for fighting ap champs. I have been using the corruption pot a lot when i go mid lane (seems to work here) And yes the first thing you said was reach 6 and ult bot. when i run tp thats EXACTLY what i do. I always try to be ahead by level 6 without using tp so i can ult bot and give vayne kills. Ill usually tp right back to top unless for some reason the wave is pushed. As for cs, ya. I have been watching a lot of diamond panth streams and i check their cs at certain times in the game and try to match that. I think i just need to return to lanes with waves more. I noticed these panths will always rotate bot and clear wave/push towers. Anytime there is a wave with no one there they are on it. For me i probably wouldnt do that i might think "oh mid laner will come get it"

As for our comp ya im trying to just be the best panth i can be by the time we get to that point. Any comp with a good stun that gives me time to ult is great like blitz/naut.. and ya arhi's charm is op with panths ult.

BTW The Ivern bush + panth ult is the most op combo. Its late game and both teams are hovered around 2nd mid turret and ivern throws a bush out. everyones fighting and its like, whered panth go ? ..o

Swiftstrike41 votes

[{quoted}](name=Ban the Hand ,realm=NA,application-id=3ErqAdtq,discussion-id=TmHMAvYI,comment-id=000b000000000000,timestamp=2016-11-09T00:21:19.463+0000)

wow man thanks i read the whole thing. I just made a new rune page for panth. The reason i was picking longsword/potion is because im running mana regen seals. I just made another rune page with magic resist glyphs for fighting ap champs. I have been using the corruption pot a lot when i go mid lane (seems to work here) And yes the first thing you said was reach 6 and ult bot. when i run tp thats EXACTLY what i do. I always try to be ahead by level 6 without using tp so i can ult bot and give vayne kills. Ill usually tp right back to top unless for some reason the wave is pushed. As for cs, ya. I have been watching a lot of diamond panth streams and i check their cs at certain times in the game and try to match that. I think i just need to return to lanes with waves more. I noticed these panths will always rotate bot and clear wave/push towers. Anytime there is a wave with no one there they are on it. For me i probably wouldnt do that i might think "oh mid laner will come get it"

As for our comp ya im trying to just be the best panth i can be by the time we get to that point. Any comp with a good stun that gives me time to ult is great like blitz/naut.. and ya arhi's charm is op with panths ult.

BTW The Ivern bush + panth ult is the most op combo. Its late game and both teams are hovered around 2nd mid turret and ivern throws a bush out. everyones fighting and its like, whered panth go ? ..o

If you are looking at running rune pages, what you should do is have at least two for the matchups. One with a mixture of armor runes and damage for an AD top laner and then another with a mixture of MR runes for the AP top laner.

My suggestion of good runes would be AD reds, Flat armor or scaling health yellows and then CDR blues or MR blues.

Your quints should be damage. You may want to go here http://na.op.gg/champion/pantheon/statistics/top to see what other pantheon's run.

I will also suggest that you find runes that fit your style and adjust around that. I have seen several pantheons run 3 movement speed quints. I will say mana regen runes are pretty terrible in general. I run a few on some mages if I go mid, but they are noticeable in tandem with the doran's ring.

I run three different rune pages for my main champion (Nasus) and they are largely based on my match-up. One of my pages for and AD top, one for an AP opponent, and one for when "I don't know who it will be" or it is Olaf.

If you play him enough you should have a similar set up of runes. You may also want to run high damage runes if you take ignite and more defensive runes when you take TP.

I don't play pantheon, but as a top main and facing that champion so much, I understand the champion pretty well. I can immediately tell if the pantheon I am laning against is silver or gold. Wave management is really important in the top lane and making sure you ult when a wave is shoved under enemy tower is preferable.

I think also pantheon is pretty flexible in that if you get behind you just build tank and if you get ahead you build more damage.

Pantheon is a lot about decision-making since his skill cap is pretty low. I will say that you should be making more of your own choices with that champion over being told what to do by people. It will take time though. If your friends are telling you how to play and where to be a lot, then your game sense is relatively low. But most of your friends look to be silver, so my guess is their game sense is about on par with yours.

I would get in the habit just TPing when you think certain conditions are met. For example, I typically TP when this and this happen, but I never tp when this occurs. Just practice thinking about if your TP play is good or not.

As a top laner with a global ultimate you have a lot of agency in your decision making. It is also worth noting that if a bot laner is telling you to come bottom it is usually already too late if you are responding to them telling you to come. You should be reacting prior them saying to come.

I run TP and I typically only TP if I am 100% certain I can get an objective (like a tower or dragon) or I am 100% certain that it will stop a lot of teammate deaths. I almost never TP just for kills only. The jungler can get the kills, me using a summoner only for kills with no dragon or tower gold is usually not seen as worth by me. You also typically give up a lot of CS for an ultimate or TP play. I will say though kills are a higher priority for pantheon than me as a nasus.

If you ult to bottom lane, you should also try to get a dragon off it along with kills. If you get nothing out of it then using tp to go to the top tower is a bit of a waste.

I will say there are some thing about pantheon I really don't like. I think when he falls behind he is a really really bad champion almost like shaco. You don't "come back" after being behind with him, you just try to not be a liability for your team. You should practice other top laners just in case he is banned. I actually think Darius does almost all the same things as pantheon, aside from the global ultimate, AND is just much better as the game progresses. He doesn't need kills to be strong like pantheon does.

Ruin Lance1 votes

yup. i hit diamond 5 just the other day by playing Yasuo exclusively.

EndlessSorcerer1 votes

Being a one-trick pony is fine.

I wouldn't personally recommend it because:

  • It limits your options (i.e. team composition, counter-picking)
  • I find playing that much of any single champion boring
  • It doesn't help you understand how other roles play

If you enjoy it and find success with it, then go ahead. I just find the choice does not suit me.

bad arcade kitty1 votes

ponies are cute~

Reaper Soraka1 votes

Just need to learn how to play against them. hard engages like leona, thresh and blitz were counters to raka, so I just played a different style against them. Now I have more trouble against Namis and Jannas than I do them, even though they're supposed to be a good pick against me.

Thresh was just flavor of the year for like two years straight, and I think it gave everyone too much experience against him to ever be a solid pick again.

In the end though, being a one-trick pony isn't the best way to go about it. I had to learn another style to stay relevant, and it ended up being the polar opposite of raka. (Brand.) Good for playing against those Namis and Jannas.

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