So you want to play Dominion?
Hello community! Koravel here. We've all heard the statements about Dominion. “It's fast, it's fun!” being the most commonly used one, which is often thrown out to dismiss Dominion as a serious or competitive game mode. Heck, some people don't even know that the map exists.
I am here to tell you that the common perception of Dominion as a skill-less map is entirely in error. Dominion has a competitive scene which culminates in the DominateDominion tournament every Saturday at 8pm EST/5pm PST. We have had this tournament for over a year and a half running now.
You can sign up for the next tourney, DominateDominion #98, here: http://www.mobafire.com/league-of-legends/tournament/dominate-dominion-98-109
We simply need to be able to get information about how to play Dominion out there to the general community. Hopefully, this thread will be a great starting point.
So why should you play Dominion? Glad you asked.
You Love Team Fights
-Dominion is all about teamfights from the word go. The laning phase is entirely eliminated for the four team members who are top, and the focus is on jungle presence, teamfights and player vs player ability.
-Revive timers are much lower in Dominion, half of what they are in Summoner's Rift. More uptime means more teamfights. Constantly keeping pressure on the enemy team in order to force them into making those mistakes that can turn games around is a big part of playing Dominion well.
You Hate Rigid Team Role Meta
There are a wide variety of champions that are viable on Dominion. Poppy? AP carry Fiddlesticks? AP Sona? All perfectly viable, there is no laning phase to keep them down.
You aren't locked into one standard setup. Example teamcomps:
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You want poke? Zyra/Ezreal/Janna/Maokai
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You want to destroy everything with fire? Jarvan/Brand/Annie/Sejuani
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You want to assassinate the enemy team every time they are out of position? Talon/Ahri/Fizz/Leona
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You don't want anyone engaging on you? Gragas/Xin Zhao/Janna/Maokai
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You want to protect the ADC so she can destroy everything? Vayne/Janna/Maokai/Jarvan
You Hate Snowball
-It is very difficult to snowball in Dominion. There is a passive gold gain aura on the map that allows people to stay in games that would not be possible in Summoner Rift. You can't just get on top of someone and relax, you have to keep outplaying them. Even with your total nexus health down to six points, you can still make a comeback and win the game! Don't believe me? Have a look at the final 5 minutes of Amputease's comeback in round 1 of the LoLPro Dominion Tournament: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZDtm-ydRND0#t=40
-There are no wards on the map, constant jungle roaming and pressure is therefore highly encouraged to help keep the pressure on the enemy team. Since there are no wards, the team in the lead cannot lock down the map using vision. Constant outplay of an enemy team is necessary to finish off a win.
-Catching a player of an opposing team out of position immediately allows you to turn on his comrades and make a significant play that can turn games completely around. Dominion requires constant good play in order to win.
If you want to improve your Dominion play, some more in-depth guides and strategies can be found below:
Helpful Links
Koravel's LoLPro Gameplay Guide to Dominion: http://www.lolpro.com/guides/game-play/1434-game-play-guide-dominion
FancyWolf's Dominion Handbook! (Now in video form!): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FsGl2OaW8tk
Painkillar's list of Dominion guides: http://forums.na.leagueoflegends.com/board/showthread.php?t=3703792
Sauron's Tier List of Champions for Dominion, (Bot and Top lanes!): http://forums.na.leagueoflegends.com/board/showthread.php?t=2152948
Nexus Crawler's Map-Specific Item Balance for Dominion: http://forums.na.leagueoflegends.com/board/showthread.php?t=3978405
RiotManWolfAxeBoss's Compendium of Map-Specific Champion Balance for Dominion: http://forums.na.leagueoflegends.com/board/showthread.php?t=3911754
It's also helpful to watch others who know what they are doing, so here are some links to streams of good Dominion players:
High MMR Dominion Streams
