Boards›Tips & Tricks

I don't know which lane to main... Help

Lt Sekhmet·10/9/2014, 5:20:28 AM·2 votes·14,087 views

So I've been playing since the preseason for Season 3. I've played every role more times than I can count. I've tried maining a specific lane many times but run into problems each time, and I get really demoralized and start over.

These are the the problems I've ran into with each lane:

In the Jungle I seem to have had a lot of success many times, but have the worst tilt when I play jungle. I usually play champions like Fiddlesticks, Evelynn, Elise, Kha'zix, Nocturne, Vi, and Xin Zhao. I don't know if it's the champion pool or if it's my style of jungle. I usually farm the jungle and try to keep track of their jungler, and gank or countergank accordingly.

In top I've had the least experience, haven't played much of any top lane. The biggest problem I've ran into in the top lane is not being able to carry my team in the bad games. I have no problem doing my job farming, or even teleporting in for crucial fights, but when it comes to having 1 lane losing too hard, I can't carry my team through it. The champions I usually take top are Ryze, Garen, (AD) Nidalee, Xin Zhao, and Shen.

In mid I usually end up doing really good and stomping then enemy team, or I feed so hard I could end world hunger. I usually have a CS advantage, and sometimes feel I don't roam enough/farm too much. Most of the time whoever kills the other first in mid will determine whether or not I feed or hard carry. I will note that when I do win mid, I hardly ever lose. I've had a lot of success carrying games that I'm ahead at in mid. My champions I play mid are Ahri, Lux, Zed, Karma, Orianna, and Karthus.

As support I've probably had the second most experience in(first being jungle), and I can seem to consistently win the laning phase. The problem is I run into numerous ADC's that have bad positioning in team fights to the point where I can't peel hard enough. My warding is usually fairly good, may not be the greatest, but usually get 2-4 picks a game from the wards I place. My support champions are Nami, Sona, Karma, Taric, Annie, and Morgana.

As ADC I feel I've had the most success, but the biggest problem I run into(and this applies to support as well) is not being on the same page as a random support. In lane it's a toss up as to whether or not me and my lane partner have the same playstyle or even if we can react at the same time to something. There is also always the problem of when you get someone who is stuck with support that either can't play it or worse just doesn't want to and is forced to. My main adc's are Ezreal, Caitlyn, Corki, and Tristana.

I feel like I'm a jack of all trades, but a master of none. I've played league long enough to get decent at every role, but have yet to master just one. Can I get some opinions on what lane I might should play, or even what lane you play and what sealed the deal for you and that lane?

10 Comments

Sammander10/9/2014, 6:54:50 PM2 votes

I felt like a jack of all trades, master of none for most of my time playing league. But maining a role is important. It allows you to learn champions and match-ups better than you possibly over the same amount of time playing a wider variety of champions at every role.

My advice: Pick the role you enjoy the most, play it whenever possible and try to stick to it.

MrBuffington10/10/2014, 1:54:04 AM2 votes

I find myself in a similar situation to you. Honestly I would say main the role you enjoy the most and would seek to improve the most at. Currently I've been playing a lot of ADC, since I'm getting more involved with team play and my teammates and I don't know many good ADC mains, oddly enough. I've also been playing ADC because I'm coming to enjoy the role, and also as a general means of improving my mechanics and positioning. I would say it is important to be able to play every role competently, so that you know how that role thinks, which better enables you to function in your role during a teamfight or a game. As far as maining a role, pick the one that you feel suits you best.

Daishø10/10/2014, 3:24:12 AM2 votes

I had the same problem for a while. I would jump from lane to lane, because i would do bad in one game, get discouraged, then blame it on the lane im playing. Then, i started really liking the playstyle of the champs in mid lane, such as zed, yasuo, orianna, leblanc, talon. I started to enjoy the lane more and more. What im trying to say is, just find what playstyle you like, and once you start to learn more about the lane they play, the more you will enjoy it. But i always try to keep tabs on how to play other lanes if im forced to play them. Good luck finding a lane you like, and good luck.

Spreek10/9/2014, 6:53:18 AM1 votes

Here's my take:

Top lane is best for pretty chill people. A lot of random shit happens in top and if you aren't willing to roll with it, you won't do well. It's also a good lane for champion variety as you can take a large number of champions top (in solo queue at least).

Jungle works best if you like to rely on your decision making and game knowledge moreso than your mechanics. Jungle is all about making the correct decisions in different game situations.

Mid lane is the most flexible lane. Depending on the champion and playstyle you choose, you might be AFK farming or constantly fighting. You might have to land difficult skillshots or find the perfect roaming opportunity. Similar to top, there is a wide variety of playable champions. While there is room for lots of players to main mid, the most successful tend to be fairly mechanically strong.

ADC is the best option for a player who has good mechanics and not as good decision making. Most of the time, ADCs can get by without a huge amount of game sense. They do however have to be able to kite, position well, dodge skillshots (moreso than other roles, getting hit by a skillshot on ADC is normally a death), and stay calm under pressure.

Support is best for the bloodthirsty types. Contrary to popular belief, supports generally do the most fighting of any role. You don't have to CS so you are free to harass, engage, or roam to your hearts content. Of course, this comes with the downside of generally having a little less impact on the game than some of the carry roles.

TehNACHO10/9/2014, 8:29:33 AM1 votes

Personally, I enjoy following a certain champion/type of champion rather than a given role. Melee Carries like Yasuo and Master Yi are my favorite champs to play, for example, and I've gone quite far and wide to bring these champs into even the weirdest positions (Mid Lane Yi, ADC Yasuo) and succeeding relatively well because I'm so comfortable with them.

Cale01710/10/2014, 7:09:03 PM1 votes

ADC can be a difficult one to main unless you can overcome the issues presented with random supports. Ever so often you can get one who plays just as aggressively or passively as you do, and the nonverbal cues will flow from there, but more often than not you and the support are on two different pages like you said. If you want to be an ADC main, since that seems to be what you gravitate towards, consider working on your communication skills and learning how to tailor your laning phase to fit whatever support you have, as not all of them are as aggressive or passive as any other one.

You can pretty much apply what I said about ADC to support, but adding in that you have to learn which supports work best with which ADCs and play accordingly.

Midlane can be one of the most satisfying to anyone attracted to dealing damage, but in my opinion it's incredibly iffy whether or not you do well at all. Most midlaners will have weak escape mechanics during the early game and can be very susceptible to ganks from any of seven directions at one time. It's an incredibly vulnerable role to play, and while the payoff can be massive, if a midlaner falls behind they definitely feel it. Knowing counters is crucial to the midlane more so than the others, as a hard counter can completely shut you down, as can simply being outranged by your enemy's spells. You can also do the same to an enemy, making this an incredibly flip floppy lane to main.

Top was my first true main, and can be one of the easier roles to main while still retaining a lot of tactical importance. Top laners can be mages, tanks, fighters, or even assassin in some cases. In addition it's also relatively safe as there's only three ways for a jungler to try and gank you. In general, laners also won't expect a lot of help from the top laner for quite a while during the early and mid game as they're simply too far away, and many top laners have solid escape or dueling mechanics making it a lane that's more in a constant ebb and flow than the midlane's tendency towards being completely stomped or stomping, or the bot lane's tendency towards having to hope that minion doesn't block Thresh's hook so you can get in that last AA.

Jungle is my main, and I could talk about in in depth but I actually already have a post on the boards about it if you care to look at that to try and work on your plays in the jungle since you mentioned you seem to have a difficult time knowing what to do at any given moment. It's the role that's easiest to branch out with, and carries most of the tactical importance on the team starting with champion select, and going all the way until one nexus or the other dies. Junglers have to be able to fill any role on the team from squishy assassin to unkillable tank and everything in between, and you have more variety with jungler kits than you find with laners, along with a tendency towards higher mobility or stronger CC.

If you consider yourself a jack of all trades, jungle would honestly be the best role for you to main as that's essentially what it is: junglers have to be capable of playing AP, AD, tank, assassin, fighter, offtank, mage, burst, sustained, any and every spectrum of build path, playstyles, and kits that the game has to offer. The difficult you'll face as a jungle main is in knowing which options to take when, as much before the game starts as after it's in motion, and you have to have the best map awareness on your team, be able to land nine out of ten, preferably ten out of ten, skillshots, balance vision control with objective control, farming with ganking, and taking kills for yourself versus giving kills to your laners. Jungle is support, carry, caster, assassin, mage, tank, fighter, all rolled into one.

I hope this helps. If you need help learning other junglers I'd be happy to help, you seem to have skipped over a few strong picks like Volibear, Rammus, and Rengar.