Specialize in a few champions, or generally play a lot?
Just wondering how many of you specialize in a few champions or have a wide selection you go-to.
What are the benefits of each?
18 Comments
I try to specialize in champs I enjoy playing more than anything and also try to play champions that can to an extent move between roles.
For example I enjoy playing Olaf top but if I am forced to jungle because sometimes it happens I feel comfortable enough on him that I can jungle with Olaf.
For support I play a decent amount of Morgana, but not just because she is all "op" right now but because I was very comfortable on her as a mid laner long before she was considered a good mid, so I still feel comfortable enough moving her to mid if I have to.
I mean I have even moved Cait into mid and have done VERY well with it, though I still get yelled at for it (before the game at least :P). I try to play what I enjoy and what I'm comfortable on. I don't shy away from trying new things but I try to get to know a champion so I know my limitations on the champion and it helps me learn my limitations in that role.
For example, if I play olaf, then xin, then yi, then Lee Sin in the jungle I may do good on half of them or 1 of them and think I'm bad, when I'm really not giving myself a chance to be consistent, but if I find one and get in a groove then I no longer have to focus solely on the champion and I can focus on the role, THEN it allows me to branch out into other champions. This isn't true for everyone, but I feel if I have a comfort level with a champion then I can pay so much more attention to everything else. Once I'm comfortable with a role I can then do it in reverse and learn a new champion in that role thanks to my initial strategy.
I would advise that it would be MORE beneficial to be able to play a wider variety of champs, at least 4 for each role. (Logic behind this : Ranked, you could get beat to the pick (1 down), and usually fizz/zed are banned (3 down) so you'd need a fourth. Now, the banned champs DO change with the meta, so take note of that as well. Normally, not more than 2 champs from a role are banned, unless the banner is super selfish and banning for his lane only. )
So, I would say pick up both when able, and also start playing free champs, at least in bots, to see who else you synergize with, and work towards getting them too.
For instance : My champ pool :
Mid (main) : Lux, Morg, Ahri, Talon, Zyra, Swain, Karma, Lulu, Ori. Support : Janna, Lux, Morg, Leona, Braum, Sona. ADC : Cait, Lucian, Varus, Graves. Jungle : Vi, Wukong, Shy, Lee, Kha. Top : Irelia, rene, lee, Mao.
I'm not saying you'll be great at all of those immediately, or that some of them, like Ori, won't take a -very- long time to master, but it would be more beneficial to be good at a pool, and great at a select few. Obviously, by that list, you can see who I thought of first in each role. If I have a choice, those are my go to champs. But if not, I have others I can play.
Also, if you would like, you can add me, and ask questions. Or, I do mod a stream with a pair of DIamond's that might be able to answer questions for you as well :
http://boards.na.leagueoflegends.com/en/c/tips-tricks/W7KqoJiI-free-coaching-from-diamonds
They do free coaching on Saturdays (Sunday this week), but they're always willing to answer questions for you.
-T
I think when you specialize, you know your limitations better and can make much better plays with those champions.
I really think it's silly to only Main 1 role, even 2 roles sounds a bit too little.
So I main 3 roles (and in 99% of my games I get one of mid, adc, or jungle). Adc: caitlyn, tristana, and recently jinx (also have sivir from before I bought jinx, so I had an option when they pick caitlyn and ban tristana, and would still go to sivir against caitlyn). So this is my primary main role where I'm very comfortable with 3 champions and have counter pick options.
Mid: ahri, Syndra I prefer mid the most, and play it when I can. I've gotten very good with ahri and only recently started working Syndra in. My main role of adc really showed via how much faster I've picked up jinx than I was able to pick up Syndra. I don't have a third option here yet because all of the strong mid lanes seem to be 6300, and mid is so popular I only get it as an early pick and my options are available.
Jungle: hecarim. I only need 1 option here as he's never picked/banned, which gives me a lot of experience with him. I do have cheap alternatives (jax, Warwick, kayle) if absolutely necessary. That said I'm looking to add j4 next. ****
So I'd say my champion pool is 6 champions. I have Morgana/alistar/Taric as support options when necessary, and will bring hecarim top (or jax or Ryze) if I'm ever forced top (never have been though). I play one if those 6 in over 95% of my pvp Games.
I specialize in backline supports (I don't like being the easiest to target). I've been called a god on occasion for my main fish Nami bubbles, but 1/10 games I can't be support or Nami (or both)...
...so, I'm practiced enough to run even (at minimum) in mid with a small handful of my favorites, and decent as ADC Caitlyn/Sivir too. I know I can't always get what I want, even if I try sometimes, so being comfortable with those is necessary to be a team player.
Play what you like, for any reason at all; just be good enough to not feed, and contribute to the match. Knowing 2-4 champs for each role is necessary, and being familiar with a few more is a good idea.
Nami, Soraka supp: Back line, relatively safe, always prepared to save your teammates. Always poking in laning phase. Thresh, Braum supp: Front line, risky, but keeps initial focus away from the carry. I love how they are play makers, but it is highly dependent on your team following up on it...which is why I don't bother anymore in my low elo.
Diana, Anivia, Ahri, Cass Mid: Benefits? Hell if I know. I play what I think is cool, and the fun is proportional to how well I do, so I can at least guarantee going even because I love several mid laners.
Cait, Sivir, Trist ADC: All easy to master champs. I don't main ADC so being easy is a good prerequisite to make this my third role choice.
Vi, Khaz JG: I do good early ganks but that's about it. I just stick with what I'm familiar with if I'm forced into jungle.
Top: Don't make me top. I try not to feed but I make no promises. I have not found a champion I'm really decent with up there, so none have any benefits. I might as well pick Heimerdinger and camp my Tier 1 turret.
If you want to climb elo, specialize in 1-2 champs then have 2-3 as backup.
If u wanna have fun, play whatever.
You only need a few champions, this is overkill.
For example; say you main mid.
Pick 2 mages for mid, 1 tank, 1 bruiser, and 1 ADC. You are now covered in all roles EVEN with a ban against you (except ADC).
So the mages can also go top OR support. Tank can go support top, or jungle. ADC is just for ADC.
Have 1 mage you are MOST comfy with. You can do mid, top, or support with her.
I like having a few core champions I know in and out. I try to have at least one for each role, and at least three for my best role.
i do both. i play every champ in norms and have a few mains for ranked.
play what you are good at and you win more. play everything and you know how to play against everything. know their CD's like second nature because you have been in their shoes, know when the window of opportunity is open. much harder for the enemy to zone you when you know how long you have to harass them before they can retaliate.
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I prefer to specialize in champions that can play a variety of roles. This allows you to know the limitations of the champion while also getting a different perspective and change of playstyle now and then.
EX:
Tank Sejuani going jungle/supp. Or Ap mid/top
Tank Malphite jung/supp/top or AP mid/top
When it comes to champions with limited role placement, I think for ranked smaller diversity will allow you to know matchups and limitations better while more diversity will give you an idea of enemy capabilities.
I do think both are important
smaller pool = ranked (champions you feel comfortable with)
larger = normals (champions you want to experiment with)
I've been putting a lot of games on
Glad that it's not a terrible idea, I'll keep trucking - up to I think 21 games on Zed so far.
Personally, I think specializing in a certain category of champs with shared skillsets is the best bet. In English, if you play ranged auto attackers, expand your pool to ranged auto attackers. Melee mid laners? Pick up more assassins. Etc. etc.
Think of it like this; expand yourself too thin, your skills with an individual champion will become lacking. Be too homologous, and you could end up screwed over if your champ ever gets banned or if you're countered hard (especially by someone who knows how to play that counter). However, if your skills apply to multiple different champions, you can get the quality of drilling the same skill set over and over with the diversity and utility of an expanded champion pool.
My strengths for example lie in Melee Carries and Fighters:
The strengths of powerful objective control, good split pushing, solid dueling, dynamic(ish) itemization, and maneuvering the front lines of battle. I get to constantly train these skills over and over again and I can play consistently across all these champions.
On the other hand however, I'm not stuck in a rut in terms of how I approach situations. If my top lane opponent has low sustain, GP's Parrrley or Tryndamere's early cheesing suddenly becomes very enticing to use against their inability to heal off pokes/engages. If my mid lane opponent has big cast animations and low-ish range, Yasuo, Master Yi, and Wukong are all prime picks. If I need to round out the team based on the situation, Jax, Trundle, Wukong, and Xin Zhao all have tanky fighter/raid boss capabilities to act as the front lines of battle. Or maybe my team picked too safe; everybody has reliable champions but our late game potential is weak. Master Yi, Tryndamere, or Yasuo with their hyper scaling capabilities can fix this. There are like a thousand more examples based on team comp and enemy lanes/junglers, but I think you can see where I'm going here. All these champions are similar enough that if I practice one, the skills I drilled transition well to others. At the same time however, each champion offers some form of unique utility that they can bring so that even though my playing skills are 'limited', my way of applying them are widespread and rounded off well for many, many situations.
Not to mention, I'm not even done yet. All these champions are melee carries/fighters that I'm confident I can pick up quickly if I tried:
All once again sharing similar enough strengths but offering all sorts of tools that I have yet to access with my current pool of champs.
Furthermore, my play style in Mid Lane with Yasuo, Master Yi, and Wukong has given me a strong sense for assassination. Even though I've only played a few games with them, I'm already relatively comfortable with Talon and Katarina, and maybe I could expand my play style to Assassins.
Start simple. If you get used to a certain type of champion, keep drilling that class of champion, expanding to other champions of that class that fill different niches. Once you're done or confident with your skills at that class of champions, look through the ones you can play that share traits with entirely different classes. If you work consistently well, you can get the quality of a well honed skill set for your class of champions with a varied and powerful pool that won't let you down when you need it. That in mind, any champions in particular you play?
I normally try a new champ and play them for a while, like when I got Aatrox I played him a lot, then I started playing Diana, and so on with other champions. I would play them until I got fairly decent, then eventually I would try a new champion and repeat the process. I also play a lot of ARAM, so it let's me try new champions and learn them faster that way.
I also like to try experimental roles with champions that I like playing. Like AP Aatrox, Azir top (I've seen a lot of this recently though), Support Warwick, etc etc. I feel like this lets you learn their kit and how it works more than simply playing them how they're intended.
I end up playing mostly Top Lane or Jungle, but I sometimes Mid or ADC. I haven't played much support, but I did just get Galio after trying him in the free week and he's pretty fun.