Hey, I've been playing for a bit now and I'm generally used to normal casting.
My question is, is it necessary to be able to smartcast to be good at the game?
Does anybody in higher elo use normal cast? And do all abilities need to be smartcasted?
Would really love and appreciate some help on this topic!
It isn't necessary, but if you are playing with smart cast you are giving yourself a free advantage. I used to think it was useless, but it only takes about 10-15 matches to get completely used to it, after which point normal cast feels incredibly slow. There are a few cases where normal cast can be better, or possibly quick-cast with indicators, but in general, I'd say learning smart cast is a simple and easy way to give yourself the upper hand against someone who doesn't use it.
definitely try smart casting abilities and see which ones feel better smartcast.
for example, lucian is borderline unplayable without smartcast, but on thresh I don't smartcast any abilities... So just play it by ear, every champ is different.
Once you hit higher elo things come down to split seconds. Do you want to use your ability/item or do you want to have to click again? Only Smart cast abilities you are use to. A lot of people don't like to smart cast rumble ult (I do, but I only smart cast) or abilities like it that require 2 actions to use. Those aren't necessary, but something like a Q or any normal skill shot should be smart cast if you want to move up.
I think smartcasting is extremely useful in certain situation, like when playing skill shot champions. But for some champs, I find smartcast to mess me up a bit (for example, I like to aim my ults over time with 
).
Here's a suggestion that I saw a streamer, pretty sure it was Voyboy, use. He had all of his abilities set to smartcast and he could hold shift and and use a key in order put it onto a regular cast. It works pretty well.
It's just personal prefrence don't worry about it.
Trying to smartcast Vel'koz's Q is absurdly difficult. Gotta have a ruler for that geometry.
Necessary, I don't think so. Do all abilities need to be smartcasted, I still don't think so. Personally I turned on smartcasting early into my league playing days and never turned it off. Honestly it just takes a few games to get used to and it has no negative effects.
Smartcast is all about preference. Not using or using smartcast will not make u a better player.
Almost all abilities should be smartcasted. I too used, USED, normal casting and I thought I would do fine and still be able to get better. However, it held me back. Some abilities, such as chargeable/auto-attack enhancers, don't need to be on quick cast, but usually all of yours should. Try using quick cast, one ability at a time(starting with Q, then W, etc.), eventually even doing it for trinkets/activated items. It enhances your gameplay by a ton, and it allows you to become a better player. it also helps you learn your champions better, getting to know their ranges without the indicators. Now whenever I try to play with normal casting, I can never get my spells off as quickly or do my combo as cleanly.
