How to master a champion?

BamBoozzled·3/23/2015, 11:27:48 PM·2 votes·914 views

Hi everyone my last post i took your guys advice and it really helped me alot as of now. I climbed 2 divisions now at gold 2 48 points. Im here to ask you guys a question ive played alot of support and basically know the ins and outs of the lanes. I dont rage that much when i lose lane cuz i know its a risk depending on the adc i get and normally dont rage when i lose a game i just sigh and move on to the next one. However; I was wondering how does one actually master a champion like i know all the support champions but what about other champs. For example: I really enjoy playing zed mid and I know how to do the basics as in what items to get and how to combo. However I dont know how to play against match ups such as cass and other champions that can poke. So my TLDR is how do you master a champion with difficult match ups and situations in game.

9 Comments

Dr FreakinSmarts3/24/2015, 12:26:35 AM3 votes

Play the champion
Play the champion alot
Play every single role with the champion. Zed support can be a thing
Play against the champion
Experiment builds with the champion.
Experiment builds with the champion in every single role.

There you go! That's how you master a champion!

Fae Sorceress3/23/2015, 11:37:23 PM2 votes

Honestly I feel like the best way to "master" a champion is to play them over and over. Learn from each game - even ones you win. Look for things you could have done better. As you play against certain match-ups over and over, or encounter certain situations over and over, you'll start to get a better feel for it and learn your Champion's strengths and weaknesses through trial and error.

TehNACHO3/23/2015, 11:39:51 PM1 votes

It usually depends on the champion in question. For example my favorite champion MasterYi :

Passive:

Staying consistently aware of the potential burst damage of his passive, which can be comboed with W resets and Wuju Style's on hit damage.
Timing this ability with Alpha Strike in lane to get extra burst damage in an engage, along with correctly timing auto attacks to either get Alpha Strike off Cooldown faster or perfectly lining up Alpha Strike's Cooldown with a Double Strike.

Learn how to Alpha Dodge; using Alpha Strike's invulnerability as a defensive tool to negate Yi's main 2 counters: Burst Damage and CC.
Predict the enemy's movements and what abilities they are likely to use to predict with Alpha Strike, rather than focusing solely on reaction.

Negating burst damage with timely Meditates
Knowing when to Meditate or when to Alpha Dodge.
Use Meditate's Auto Attack reset to set up extremely high moments of burst.
Combining Meditate's Auto Attack reset and damage reduction to turn around duels

Between these three abilities are a rather large assortment of secondary skills you can learn to really be able to improve Yi's capabilities, and hell, I'd argue this is just the tip of the iceberg. The problem is however that many of these secondary skills Yi has for higher level play simply does not exist in many other champions.

I know you mentioned Zed, but are there any particular champions you want to know about?

redniwediS3/23/2015, 11:40:46 PM1 votes

Mastering a champion means you know enough about that champion and how they interact with items and other champions that you can make correct assumptions about them in unknown situations. You will know what to do when winning, when the lane is evenly matched, and either what to do to come back or what to do to prevent yourself from falling behind in a losing scenario. You won't always pull it off, but you will know what to do.

The best thing you can do is to pick the champion you intend to master into unknown lanes. Play that champion against hard counters until you know how to avoid that champion's strengths and defend against your own weaknesses. If you can't lane against them, how do you optimize roaming paths to assist other lanes while still defending your tower? That sort of thing.

Try playing your champion in lanes they are not supposed to be played in. For Zed in particular I would suggest top and bot lane, as they both have wildly different experiences than you will find in mid, and each will teach you valuable things you could never have learned about your champion if you stayed to where he is the strongest.

Basically treat every single game as a learning experience. Don't be afraid to try new things, an idea is only a failure if you learn nothing from it.

Drackolus3/23/2015, 11:50:29 PM1 votes

play, experiment, play, experiment, play, experiment, etc. You know you've mastered the champion when you go into a lane against what you KNOW is a counter and you don't even care. I'm like that with Soraka and Lux. I know, also as a support main, it's really hard to play other roles, since you don't get a lot of practice farming. I do drills. I make a custom, no bots, no runes, masteries, or items. I farm until 10:00. The goal is 86, which is 80%. I still only get ~50. It's a noticable improvement to my old 35-40 I was getting a month ago, and it makes a big impact on your games.

Pæan3/23/2015, 11:56:07 PM1 votes

You must know their damage output, the amount of damage they can take (with or without items), the cooldowns, that champion's playstyle etc.

The only champion I know I could play in any role building AD or AP would be Shaco , with Lulu being a close 2nd.

Just takes lots and lots of practice then you'll pick up on things you didn't notice before.

Ruudi3/24/2015, 12:08:58 AM1 votes

Let's see...

-Have multiple builds for that champion, along with a mastery page dedicated to them -Know how to adapt to who you're going against, regardless of WHO it is. -Be able to take at least 2 different positions on Summoner's Rift. -Make combos.

Fredart3/24/2015, 1:10:34 AM1 votes

Experience, I've only scratched the surface of nidalee and i've played her for over 3k matches. I've grown to like her due to her ability to hit and run which is my play style.

Kratos2633/23/2015, 11:37:38 PM1 votes

Play him a lot. Improvise build you think could work and see if it does. Maybe add a personal touch.
Study the other champs' play styles. If you've mastered the champ, you should be able to find a way to win or stay even if you never played that match up.

Not much else I think.