Why do pros move erratically instead of walking randomly?

Taliyah Rocks·Oct 16, 2017·1 votes·423 views

I've always understood the benefits of walking randomly, it confuses the opponent with your movements, and also makes it harder to get hit by skillshots.

But i noticed that this year, pros ditched the habit of walking randomly in favor of erratic movement, they'll change direction really fast, but without moving.

I don't understand how this could be more beneficial than randomly walking. If you were to throw a skillshot at an erratic mover, their general hitbox barely moves, wouldn't it be easier to hit them? By randomly walking, you constantly move your hitbox, which makes it hard to guess where you'll be next, and harder to hit as you might guess their next movement pattern wrong.

Plus, moving erratically must apply a lot of stress on the hand and wrist.

6 Comments

DoozkuOct 16, 20172 votes

Erractic movement is there to mask your intentions. When you do that, your opponent doesn't know whether or not you are going to walk up to cs, or if you are going to trade with them. Compared to just moving side to side and then walking up when you are going to trade, its better.

Also once you get used to doing it, it really doesn't put much strain on your wrist. I'd recommend incorporating it into your games if you play a lane, it'll make you much harder to read.

Mysticman89Oct 16, 20171 votes

Presumably it's just a lot of habit surrounding kiting, so they'll kite backwards basically out of reflex, and just not actually go significantly backwards if their target(s) are relatively stationary. If they do get engaged on though, it'll save them a fraction of a second since they've already issued the initial move command.

TiltoverEnforcerOct 16, 20171 votes

I find myself moving erratically rather than randomly. For me, it's so that when I identify where a skillshot's going, I might not have to click again to dodge it, I may just let my champion's current movement command dodge it.

Darkdemon653Oct 16, 20171 votes

It's just something to do. It's basically the same concept as fidget spinners.

hi ìm grootOct 16, 20171 votes

Makes you harder to predict with skillshots, and also keeps you warm for when you need to attack move or something. I attack move between every attack regardless of if I need to or not just out of habit and to adjust to my attack speed as it changes throughout game. Its not rly stressful on the hands, I can do it without lifting my wrist, but 90% of mechanics of the speed and accuracy you can click so its a pretty good habit to pick up.