Need Some Advice For Picking A Lane / Consistency Issues

Draconic Inferno·Mar 5, 2015·1 votes·585 views

Hello everyone!

I've been playing league for a little over a year now, and found that I have a crisis on my hands: I can't pick a lane for myself to stick with. At the beginning I started with support, then switched to top when I completely fell in love with Shyvana, and soon after ended up realizing that I was being carried every game by my friends so I switched to mid for a tiny bit and finally adc so I could carry myself through ranked games. I ended up Silver IV last season, and am starting this season as Bronze I, so it's rather obvious that I need to improve my skills if I want to climb. But I digress.

Recently I've realized that I'm not as big of a fan of being an adc as I could be. Certainly it's nice carrying games and getting fed, but I just don't enjoy the role as much as I enjoy top lane. I've always loved the top lane champs like Gnar, Shyvana, Renekton, and even Rek'Sai; a trend being that they're all top laners that require no mana, and go off a fury system. The problem with my toplaning is that I never leave the lane. I just like to sit there and farm, usually pushing my enemy off of CS and as a result, (unintentionally) pushing my lane. Because of this my team ends up suffering if they need help other lanes, as I usually don't know when to teleport and help either. On the other hand, when I play adc (usually as Vayne) I end up getting a lot of kills and some decent farm, and carry about 55% of my games. The percentage could be better, but I have a problem with being rather inconsistent with my carrying abilities, even if I do get fed every game. Plus, I have to rely heavily on my support or jungler in order to get kills, or I have to wait until a good moment to condemn the wall-hugging enemy. On top of that, I just simply don't like adc. It's just kinda... Boring I suppose. Too many things are similar with each adc so there's really no fun to playing it. And if I do find a champ I like I end up doing rather poorly. (When I'm used to somebody with an escape, such as Cait or Vayne, playing Jinx can become rather difficult because of the casting time of her CC abilities, especially when you just can't get a kill.) Other than that, I'm better at rotating lanes and knowing how to freeze as an adc, since I've played probably 1/4th of my league games as an adc.

This is the dilemma I'm having: I want to carry my ranked games, so I feel like I should stay as an adc so I can get to higher levels of play, since I don't really have a duo partner. But at the same time, I don't like adc and really, reaaallly want to become a top main, but I fear that at my level of play I'll be unable to carry my games as a top laner and climb the ladder.

So I suppose this is where I'm stuck, and I need a bit of advice. I really want to climb higher in my ranked games, but really don't want to do it as an adc. At the same time, I don't see a possible way of doing so as a top laner with the rank that I'm at right now. I simply feel like I don't have the skill to do so. From this I suppose I have a few questions: Should I switch to top lane, or stick as an adc for a bit longer? If I stick with adc, how do I become more consistent in my playstyle? If I top, how should I go about fixing my current issues, and should I try to go for more bruiser champs like Riven or Irelia in order to carry more?

Any advice would be appreciated. Thank you!

14 Comments

hh the thinkerMar 5, 20151 votes

I think you should do what you enjoy, which is top. one thing you might enjoy since you stay in lane is split pushing. just beat your laner and keep pushing, but back off if there are too many mias on the map.

don't worry about winning or losing, just improving and you will end up climbing once you get better with top.

Draconic InfernoMar 7, 20152 votes

Alright! I'll try that! Thank you for the advice!

RogueWillMar 5, 20151 votes

You can carry games at any lane. From top i recomend Fiora She can shut down most top champions and push the first 2 towers for teh extra gold income or just roam and fed mid as well

Draconic InfernoMar 7, 20151 votes

I suppose trying fiora wouldn't hurt, although I do like the champs that don't really use mana. Thanks for the advice!

RogueWillMar 7, 20151 votes

if no mana is your thing I would Try Riven Riven , she has a rather high skill cap and need the early kills to snowball but if the right hands she is a nightmare to go against. She is on the same list as Lee Sin, an avergae player won't do much with him but an skilled player will become him a monster. So perhaps you want to give her a try.

Draconic InfernoMar 7, 20151 votes

You must be telekinetic or something, I seriously just bought her yesterday. XD I'll try practicing her then, since everything you said does ring true. Easy to pick up, hard to master. Thanks!

Angelofchaos16xMar 5, 20151 votes

I do recomend that 1, you leave adc. Do not play a role that you don't like. If you do not feel comfortable in a role go to another one. 2: Try out Irelia. Once she gets her Trinity force she 1v1 almost any champ in the game, as long ( obviously) that the diference in feed is not too big. The True damage she does is great for taking down most top laners, she takes down towers pretty fast, has good wave clear, is a fantastic split pusher, after getting you needed items can go full tank and still do damage and is great for diving the back line to kill the enemy carry, with her Q. Also when you are pushing the lane, ward all the time. Solo Q , you don't do that too much, but it saves lives. As far as when to teleport, use it when for instance you see that the 2v2 in bot lane will turn into a 3v2 against your team. If you are up against a Shen and he starts ulting, if you are beating him in lane, tp after him, as your presence will be stronger then his.

Draconic InfernoMar 7, 20152 votes

I'm not uncomfortable per se with adc, it's just not my most favored role at the moment. :P As for your Irelia suggestion... I already have her! She's really fun to play, albeit a bit hard since I find her rather squishy early game. Nice power spike at level 6 though. It sounds like Irelia is an all around good champ for me, considering your description of how she can potentially be played, so I'll have to test her out some more. :) Thank you for the good advice!

Angelofchaos16xMar 9, 20151 votes

You are welcome m8

MrBuffingtonMar 6, 20151 votes

Play both roles; no reason you can't play both. If you start playing more than 3 roles consistently then you might have trouble keeping track of everything, but having a handful of champions across like 2-3 roles is pretty typical.

On to your dilemma though; I'd say focus on top lane, since it doesn't seem like you're thrilled about playing ADC. There's no reason you can't carry games from Top; a lot of my recent games have been won with a top lane carrying the game. You can also just start to play champions that shove lane endlessly and win the game through splitpushing; sure you have to help your team once in a while, but if your teams feeding and losing the game but you just backdoor anyways, it doesn't really matter does it? There are a lot more ways to help your team than just grouping mid and sitting around doing nothing; splitpushing can help draw a ton of pressure off your team; if you get fed enough as like a Jax or something, the enemy team has to send like 2-3 people to deal with you cause you can kill all of them. Play the role you like and learn how to carry in that role; watch VoDs and stuff, they really help. Playing a role/champion you actually like will serve you much better in the long run than just doing something to gain elo.

At the same time, you can learn to like ADC, even if you find it boring right now.

Draconic InfernoMar 7, 20151 votes

That is true! I suppose I could juggle two roles, I just have to put some time into both when practicing. I might eventually add a third role, but for the most part I have at least basic knowledge of how to play other roles. Heaven forbid that I jungle though. But I digress.

That is true, but I suppose my challenge then would be figuring out just how to carry. That ability/knowledge comes with time I would assume, so I just have to practice. Regarding carrying though, would it be technically easier to carry with a bruiser like Renekton, or is it still possible to carry with tankier champs like Shyvana? I know that champs like Riven, Gnar, Irelia, Fiora and others can carry quite easily, as they snowball really well, but I used to play top as a Shyvana main, and still enjoy the wall-like lifestyle. Or in another scenario, would it be viable to take the snowballers mentioned previously and build them somewhat tankier, while still being able to snowball easily?

Yeah, I'll have to start researching again on how to be successful in my lane and how to play the champs I choose. Immense research really helped me when I first threw myself on Shyvana, as I didn't try her out before just buying her and playing her. I just researched everything about her and ended up doing quite well for a first timer.

I probably will end up liking ADC more eventually, but as of now it's a little difficult. Some of the play styles of ADCs just don't fit me, and I really need someone with a solid escape. Jinx I find really fun, but it's rather hard to escape with her unless you have an easy kill nearby. I might end up eventually trying Corki or Trist, since they both have rather nice escapes while still dealing damage at a nice range. And who knows, maybe I'll pick up my first-ever ADC again: Sivir.

I'll just have to start practicing top more and slip a decent amount of ADC games in. Thank you for the excellent advice!

MrBuffingtonMar 7, 20151 votes

Regarding carrying though, would it be technically easier to carry with a bruiser like Renekton, or is it still possible to carry with tankier champs like Shyvana?

Renekton tends to fall off later in the game since he doesn't have as much teamfight impact and isn't as tanky as say, Shyvana or Mundo. Top lane is actually my worse role, so I don't know how much I can help you here specifically :/. I do know that Maokai is a seriously tanky ~~dude~~ tree and really strong right now. Sion also is incredibly tanky and has one of the highest winrates, for what it's worth. I think if you're a really good Shyvana player you can still carry games, but it's probably in more subtle ways than Fiora just ulting the back line and getting away unscathed. It's been a while since I've seen a Shyvana in a game, but she gets really scary when ahead; she might not insta-gib you, but no way are you killing her without her melting down half your team. It might be more difficult, but I do think you can carry the game as any champion in any role if you really know what you're doing (and it's not like Shyvana is super out of the meta or anything; she's still a very strong top laner).

Or in another scenario, would it be viable to take the snowballers mentioned previously and build them somewhat tankier, while still being able to snowball easily?

I know Gnar in competitive play just builds pure tank (same thing with Sion, sometimes Maokai; he will get RoA sometimes or just go full tank depending); they do plenty of damage with their base stats. In solo-q you might get like one offensive item (Shyvana typically does this too, IIRC), even a smaller damage item is common, like Hexdrinker/Brutalizer/Cutlass/Tiamat. Irelia usually gets Triforce as her only damage item and then goes pure tank from there (Nasus is similar, but I think he typically builds Triforce after his first tank item). Riven and Fiora I think just build pure offense for the most part, so probably not them. Honestly though, there are a lot of top laners that usually build like 1-2 offensive item before going tank (just some more examples I can think of; Jax, Wukong, Malphite, Garen, Trundle, Udyr, Darius, Olaf, Singed, Aatrox, Hecarim. I'm sure there are others; not saying you should play them, you're of course welcome to play them, but I was just listing examples, some are better than others, lol). I think an important thing to remember, though, that there are more ways to carry a game than just killing everyone on the enemy team; heck that doesn't even always do much since this is an objective based game.

I probably will end up liking ADC more eventually, but as of now it's a little difficult.

ADC isn't my favorite role either, but what got me liking it more was using A-clicking (hit 'A' and then Left Click) to attack move; it helped me reinforce the zone I should manage and let me position myself better, and also kind of gave me a rhythm to play around ("A + LMB + RMB + A...") between attacking and repositioning myself. Again, not something you have to do, but just an example of finding ways to like something that you didn't otherwise like :P

Corki is kind of a complicated champion imo, it's difficult managing your spells. If you want an easier champion with a dash, you can also try Caitlyn and Graves; Graves is even a bit tanky with his passive if you like, lol. Tristana's also a good champion, one of my favorites, but I haven't gotten completely used to her after her rework yet. Sivir is also a good champion, I'm pretty bad with her but if you can make her work, go for it :)

Also don't feel embarrassed or anything if you need to go into custom games or bot games to drill ADC mechanics or something; even pros do this all the time.

Draconic InfernoMar 10, 20151 votes

I apologize for not responding earlier, but your response was so well-written that I had a hard time thinking of how to respond!

Renekton tends to fall off later in the game since he doesn't have as much teamfight impact and isn't as tanky as say, Shyvana or Mundo.

That is true. He is rather strong early game, which would allow me to press an advantage and get early kills, but he does fall off rather hard. On top of that, I tend to play fairly passively early game, which could cause a problem for me if I did want to play him, since I would never get ahead enough to be still fairly scary late game. So Renekton (although fun to play) might be out of the picture for now.

It's been a while since I've seen a Shyvana in a game, but she gets really scary when ahead; she might not insta-gib you, but no way are you killing her without her melting down half your team.

Yeah, sadly Shyvana isn't played as much as she used to be. While I still love her, it's more of a meta for champs with more potential damage as well as cc at the moment, such as Lissandra, Irelia, Riven, Wukong, ect. I probably should get back into her though, as she is very good with split pushing and applying pressure on the map, and is also very, very tanky late-game, which is rather amusing when it takes the entire team to hold you down.

Honestly though, there are a lot of top laners that usually build like 1-2 offensive item before going tank

That is true! And I think that's where I might find the champions that I like. I like being able to do some amount of damage, while still being able to take a lot of hits too. I suppose that might be a reason why I've taken up Gnar a bit, since he does have that nice base damage and built-in tank with his Mega Gnar. It's also a nice transition between ADC and top, because I can still play Gnar similarly to an ADC, kiting when he's in his Mini form, and then take on the more cc-heavy top role when he goes Mega. Instead of going full tank, I usually grab a Black Cleaver or BOTRK before continuing on the tanky path, but I suppose that's just because it suits my playstyle. I'll have to try out some more top laners who build similarly then, as I've had my eye on Wukong and Aatrox for a while now.

ADC isn't my favorite role either, but what got me liking it more was using A-clicking (hit 'A' and then Left Click) to attack move

Haha, well, if my keybindings weren't weird, then I might have been able to attack move! (Probably why I'm horrid with Kalista) I shifted everything down one to make it more comfortable for my hands. So now instead of QWER I have ASDF. Last time I tried to change back to original bindings, it didn't work out too well. :P But you do make a good point; eventually I will find something that will make ADC more enjoyable. I just gotta keep searching.

Also don't feel embarrassed or anything if you need to go into custom games or bot games to drill ADC mechanics or something; even pros do this all the time.

Custom games are really helpful actually! I always make sure to test out a new champion in a custom game to get a feel for them before I start playing them in normals. It simply helps me to learn how the champ works and how they're played. And drilling, though I don't do it too often it is rather helpful! I understand why it's often recommended for ADC especially, as it does help with the core mechanics that can actually be applied to just about every lane in the game.

Once again, thank you for your excellent insight! :)

MrBuffingtonMar 10, 20151 votes

No problem, I like to chat about this stuff; just remember that I'm not a top lane main, so a lot of what I'm saying is just based off stuff I've seen from other players or coaches, less so from first hand experience.

Yeah, sadly Shyvana isn't played as much as she used to be. While I still love her, it's more of a meta for champs with more potential damage as well as cc at the moment

Yea, I think top lane is in a particularly weird spot since ranged champions keep popping into top lane. I was just looking up some stats and information on Shyvana; she's definitely having more trouble than she used to be, it seems. I think she can still be successful, but you probably have to be a bit more careful about the matchups you're picking her into. Also Riot seems to be pushing her more towards the jungle role (at least as far as her last changes, which were a while ago...I honestly haven't checked on Shyvana in a while, lol), so you can always try that if you want.

Gnar is definitely a strong champion right now, but I find his form change kind of hard to manage. He has an absurd amount of CC though. If you can play him well, go for it, he just seems like a difficult champion to control, imo. Wukong's actually one of my favorite champions; if I have to fill top lane, I'll usually play him (unless I'm in a really bad match up). He doesn't get quite as super tanky as like, Shyvana, but he can be pretty hard to take down late game, and if you build 1-2 damage items he's doing a lot of work. I don't know much about Aatrox, but I think he's stronger early than later; later in the game he tends to get kited out and killed since his gap closer is pretty short ranged and easy to dodge. You can also look into Nasus if you want; I think his typical build is a tank item first, and then build trinity force and full tank afterwards. He can get kited, but he gets super tanky while still doing a ton of damage just the way his Q stacks work; you have to be careful you're getting enough stacks, though. Irelia is also a pretty cool champion; if I played more top lane, I'd probably pick up Irelia, but that's me. Just be sure to try out the champions before you buy them; I've made a lot of poor purchases with my IP, lol

Haha, well, if my keybindings weren't weird, then I might have been able to attack move! (Probably why I'm horrid with Kalista) I shifted everything down one to make it more comfortable for my hands. So now instead of QWER I have ASDF. Last time I tried to change back to original bindings, it didn't work out too well. :P But you do make a good point; eventually I will find something that will make ADC more enjoyable. I just gotta keep searching.

Ultimately keybindings are personal preference and whatever you find works best for you, do that, but I would be careful with going tooooo crazy with them, since there are some optimal hand-positional types of things for fast button combinations and stuff; if you're just shifting your control scheme down a row, it shouldn't be too big a deal, but just be careful of what controls you're overwriting and make sure you're not getting rid of a key that might be useful, or making a useful key too difficult to reach with your control scheme. Not trying to raise alarm or anything, just a friendly word of caution is all. (Also, Shift+MB2 is default for attack move as well, in case you didn't know)

Also you don't have to force yourself to like a particular role if you don't; If ADC isn't working out for you, you can always try out mid or jungle; they're a bit more similar to top lane. Tank junglers are also getting a substantial buff in this next patch, so if you like tanky champs, you might find something you like there (again, Shyvana might see a lot of power in jungle with the cinderhulk item, of course assuming you're not getting the devourer enchant).

I still think the best thing you can do is pick champion(s) and role(s) you like and play them a lot; even if you're not succeeding right now, you'll be more motivated to succeed in the long run and will figure out ways to make it work. Again, there can be cases where you can learn to like certain champions/roles, but if it's not working out for you, don't force it. I've known for a while that Pantheon is a super powerful pick, moreover he solves this conundrum I've had in wanting back-up top laners/junglers/an AD mid laner, but for the life of me I can't find a way to enjoy playing him; so I just never picked him up, and I've gotten along fine without playing him.

One last word before I stop rambling; I would gravitate towards 'easier' champions; it's much easier to really nail down the fundamentals of your gameplay when you don't have to wrestle with the controls of your champion; basically pick an easier champion to play, and/or play your champion a lot to really nail down their mechanics to the point where you're not thinking about what buttons you have to press or what you're doing on the keyboard and you can just focus entirely on what you're doing in the game (this is why I caution against Gnar; unless you're willing to devote a lot of time to really practicing him, I would pick a different champion; again, just me, maybe you're fine on Gnar, check your win-rates and stuff)

EDIT: Sorry, one last thing; out of curiosity I was just looking over your match history and op.gg; you do definitely seem to be having more success on Vayne and the ADC role in general than anything else (I also noticed you tend to build IE on Vayne second, which I find kind of strange. Most of the time Vayne will just stack attack speed in order to get as many W procs off as possible, so most Vaynes I see in pro play go for Botrk into Youmuus or PD; again, whatever works for you, it just seems odd to me). What just struck me is that you mentioned you like to play passive, but want to play more top lane; top lane is a pretty aggressive role imo, most of the time you're initiating fights and generally in the thick of things. This is a complete assumption, but since maybe your playstyle is just better suited for ADC, where you're more mindful of your positioning and play safer so as not to die, rather than a top laner who has to get into the thick of things?

I'm curious of what you make of ADCs like Graves and Lucian; they use more spells than some ADCs like Vayne, so maybe you'll find them more interesting to play. Also they're a bit more aggressive in their playstyle, so it might help you a bit in having that more controlled-aggressive mindset as a top laner.

Also top lane might just be something you like to play in normals, even just to practice to the point where you feel comfortable bringing it into ranked.