league of legends primer #3 - understanding mobas and league of legends (pt. 2)

League of LegendsWorld Championships 2016 PrimerPart 3: Understanding the Basics of LoL (2/2)

Prepared by: Luc Ryu

This primer is meant for individuals who are interested in learning about the basics of League of Legends – both as a game, and as a spectacle.

The 2016 World Championships are just around the corner (October 29, 2016), and awareness of the game is at an annual high. With that, comes a large influx of individuals who are interested in watching, but have no idea what the game is, how its basic gameplay functions, or even how to properly watch the game.

This Primer will be comprised of multiple sections, each designed to explain a unique component of League of Legends – be it its history and growth, its basic gameplay, or the head-to-head matchup at the 2016 World Championships.

Altogether, the goal of this Primer is to help beginners learn the basics of League of Legends, such that they can enjoy the experience of watching the 2016 World Championships.

The biggest barrier to entry for any video game is the steep learning curve involved in learning the fundamentals. It is my hope that this Primer will help to break down those barriers, and help introduce the fascinating world of competitive League of Legends to new viewers.

About This Primer

In the previous segment, we learned about the underlying basics involved with a game of

League of Legends.

Now, we’re going to put all that knowledge together, and learn about how the game is

played as a team.

1/3

The most important part of a team in any MOBA, is its composition of Champions.

Remember, that all five members of a team are required to pick different Champions who they’ll control over the course of the game.

They are not allowed to switch partway.2/3

There are 133 Champions in League of Legends. Each Champion has their own set of

unique strengths and weaknesses, and therefore, is best suited to play a certain role

and playstyle on a team.

It’s imperative that a team picks a team of Champions that can fill these roles, so that

the team is more well-rounded.3/3

And here come the 2017 Toronto Raptors to help me

explain this next part!

In basketball, there are five positions:

i) Point guard;ii)iii)iv)v)

Kyle LowryPoint Guard


i) Point guard;ii) Shooting guard;iii)iv)v)


Demar DerozanShooting Guard


i) Point guard;ii) Shooting guard;iii) Small forward;iv)v)

Demarre CarrollSmall Forward




i) Point guard;ii) Shooting guard;iii) Small forward;iv) Power forward; andv)

Jared SullingerPower Forward





i) Point guard;ii) Shooting guard;iii) Small forward;iv) Power forward; andv) Center

Jonas ValanciunasCenter

Jared SullingerPower Forward






Each position plays its own unique role on the team, and are defined by certain generic traits*.

Just a tall dudeCenter

Main rebounderPower Forward

Versatile playerSmall Forward

Enables the teamPoint Guard

Shoots a lotShooting Guard

*I’ve simplified the positions. Like, really simplified them.



Each position plays its own unique role on the team, and are defined by certain generic traits.

In LoL, there are five positions:

i) Top Lane;ii) Jungle;iii) Mid Lane;iv) Attack Damage Carry (Bot Lane); andv) Support (Bot Lane)

Each position plays its own unique role on the team, and are defined by certain generic traits.The traits that define Champions to

certain lanes are set by what’s known as the current “meta”.

Riot Games updates LoL weekly, and this can make certain Champions and playstyles stronger or weaker. This is

how the meta is determined!




In LoL, there are five positions:

i) Top Lane;ii) Jungle;iii) Mid Lane;iv) Attack Damage Carry (Bot Lane); andv) Support (Bot Lane)

Each position plays its own unique role on the team, and are defined by certain generic traits.The traits that define Champions to

certain lanes are set by what’s known as the current “meta”.

Riot Games updates LoL weekly, and this can make certain Champions and playstyles stronger or weaker. This is

how the meta is determined!

Think of it as how in the past, big center players used to dominate

basketball, but now the focus has shifted to smaller players who can

shoot well.




This next section will delve into the details of these five different roles, so

that we can get a basic level of understanding as to what their

generic traits are.

We’ll focus on the generic traits that are desired when the team, as

a unit, is strategically playing to always fight as a team

(a “team-fight) composition).




This next section will delve into the details of these five different roles, so

that we can get a basic level of understanding as to what their

generic traits are.

We’ll focus on the generic traits that are desired when the team, as

a unit, is strategically playing to always fight as a team

(a “team-fight) composition).

Other types of playstyles include:

“Poke composition”: Where the team deals chunks of damage from long-range to try and whittle the opponents down.

“Engage composition”: Where the team just runs straight at the opponents.

Top Lane

Top Lane Champions are typically characterized by Skills which allow them to lockdown

multiple enemies.

Top Lane is played 1v1, so most Top Lane Champions

have Skills that allow them to heavily abuse the opponent if

they make a positional mistake.

Top Lane Champions will almost always take Teleport as one of their Summoner Spells so that they can travel across

the map faster to help their teammates.

Top Lane

Common Top Lane Champions

PoppyKeeper of the Hammer

Key Skill: Keeper’s VerdictAfter winding up her hammer for a few seconds, Poppy smashes the ground sending a rippling shockwave.

The first enemy Champion hit by the shockwave will be launched towards their base, shooting them out of the fight!


multiple enemies.






Top Lane


PoppyKeeper of the Hammer

Key Skill: Keeper’s Verdict


multiple enemies.






At 0:12, look at how all those Champions go

flying away – isolating the one player!

Top Lane


GnarThe Missing Link

Key Skill: GNAR!Gnar takes a huge swipe around him and throws enemies in a direction. If they’re thrown into a wall, they’ll be stunned!

If enemies are grouped together near a wall, this stuns a lot of enemies at once, and make them unable to fight for some time!


multiple enemies.






Top Lane


GnarThe Missing Link

Key Skill: GNAR!


multiple enemies.






0:13 – Got all 5 of the enemies! They didn’t all hit a wall, but he caught them for his team to clean up.

Jungle

Remember that the Jungle is usually covered by fog-of-war. Opponents must be cautious and respect the fact that the Jungle player can be almost

anywhere on the Rift.

A strong Jungle Champion is one that has a Skill that allows it

to efficiently ambush (“gank”) opponents in Lanes.

Jungle Champions will always take the Smite Summoner Spell

since it helps kill Camps and secure the killing blow on Epic

Camps.

Jungle







Camps.

The most opportune time for a team to contest an Epic Camp would be when the opposing

Jungle Champion is either dead or far away.

Jungle







Camps.



This is because Smite deals a large amount of damage instantaneously, so regardless of which team is winning, it

almost always ends up being a battle of reflexes between Jungle players which is

super risky for the team that’s ahead!

Jungle







Camps.



This is because Smite deals a large amount of damage instantaneously, so regardless of which team is winning, it

almost always ends up being a battle of reflexes between Jungle players which is

super risky for the team that’s ahead!

If you watch in slow-motion, you’ll see Team 8’s Jungle player misuse

his Smite around 0:16, dropping Baron Nashor from 884 health to 204

health.

GV Move then uses his Smite to secure the killing blow.

Jungle







Camps.

Common Jungle Champions

Lee SinThe Blind Monk

Key Skill: Dragon’s RageLee Sin kicks an enemy in the direction that he’s facing.

Other Skills Lee Sin has revolve around quickly repositioning himself. Watch to see if Lee Sin can get behind a target and kick them into his team so that they can kill them!

Jungle







Camps.


Lee SinThe Blind Monk

Key Skill: Dragon’s Rage

0:12 – Special delivery! Lee Sin uses all of his

Skills and Flash to get in position to kick the enemy

into his teammates.

Jungle







Camps.


OlafThe Berserker

Key Skill: RagnarokOlaf goes complete man-mode and can’t be slowed or stunned!

Perfect for an engage composition – watch for Olaf to find a target out of position and just run right at them to kill them quickly.

Mid Lane

As the name suggests, the Mid Lane is right in the middle of the

Rift. This gives the Mid Lane player the opportunity to quickly roam to either side lane to help

their teammates!

A strong Mid Lane Champion is one that can absolutely delete a priority enemy target by using all of their Skills (“bursting”).

Mid Lane Champions take the Summoner Spell that enables

them to sustain the most pressure in their Lane.

Mid Lane



their teammates!




Losing pressure in a Lane (“getting pushed”) is especially

detrimental in the Mid Lane. This is because this allows the enemy to begin a roam first, which allows

them to impact a side lane first!

Mid Lane



their teammates!




Common Mid Lane Champions

OriannaThe Lady of Clockwork

Key Skill: Command: ShockwaveThis Skill sends out a shockwave around Orianna’s ball, which deals a large amount of damage and pulls enemies towards the ball.

Grouping multiple enemies together may help increase the effectiveness of any of her teammates’ Spells that affect an area.

Mid Lane



their teammates!





OriannaThe Lady of Clockwork

Key Skill: Command: Shockwave

It happens at 0:11, but keep an eye on the ball just flying around - you

could imagine how hard it is to keep track of it!

At 0:03, the ball is flying into the middle of the screen

Mid Lane



their teammates!





ViktorThe Machine Herald

Key Skill: Chaos StormViktor throws out a contraption that creates a storm around it which deals a lot of initial damage, then damages over time as well.

If a teammate can stun enemies within the storm, they’ll take serious amounts of damage over time since they can’t escape!

Bot Lane(ADC)

The Bot Lane is the only Lane that is played 2v2. One of the two players in the Lane is the

Attack Damage Carry (“ADC”).

ADC Champions typically start off relatively weak compared to the Champions in other Lanes,

but get stronger over time because the damage of their Skills scale at a greater rate.

ADCs will take the Heal Summoner Spell. It’s the only

one that can affect a teammate, It also helps avoid getting

bursted when they eventually become the priority target.

Bot Lane(ADC)








ADCs will rarely choose to sacrifice their damage output by buying defensive items. Instead,

they’ll have to rely on their teammates to help get enemies off

of them (“peel” for them).

Bot Lane(ADC)








Common ADC Champions

JhinThe Virtuoso

Key Skill: Curtain CallJhin sets up and shoots four bullets one at a time that can travel a real far distance, with the last one doing tons of damage.

This can be used to poke from long-range to soften up enemies, or to snipe down low-health enemies that think they’ve escaped!

Bot Lane(ADC)









JhinThe Virtuoso

Key Skill: Curtain Call

The bullets start flying from the top-right at 0:02, and the fourth shot lands

at 0:07!

Slow-motion replay starts at 0:11.

Bot Lane(ADC)









EzrealThe Prodigal Explorer

Key Skill: Trueshot BarrageEzreal shoots out a wave of energy that can travel across the entirety of the Rift, dealing damage to all enemies it hits.

This gives Ezreal pressure across the map. If an enemy Champion is low on health, watch for this to fly in from Bot Lane!

Bot Lane(ADC)









EzrealThe Prodigal Explorer

Key Skill: Trueshot Barrage

Look at the Mini-Map -you can see the path the

Trueshot Barrage takes!

…Hell yeah.

Bot Lane(Support)

Support Champions must be effective even without gold,

since they should let their ADC kill the Minions for gold

(“farming”).

Support Champions usually have a Skill that can peel for

their teammates, or a Skill that can generate a shield for them

or heal them.

Support Champions are also responsible for buying the

wards and ensuring as much vision is on the Rift as possible!

Common Support Champions

ZyraRise of the Thorns

Key Skill: StranglethornsZyra selects an area and has a scary plant monster rise up to deal damage and stun* enemies standing in the area.

If enemies are grouped up, this Skill could lockdown a good portion of the enemy team!

Bot Lane(Support)



(“farming”).



or heal them.



*They aren’t “stunned” per se, but are knocked airborne.


AlistarThe Minotaur

Key Skill: PulverizeAlistar smashes the ground around him, sending enemies in his proximity airborne, essentially acting as a stun.

Watch for Alistar to use his Headbutt Skill first, as this rams a selected target which helps to close the distance.

Bot Lane(Support)



(“farming”).



or heal them.




AlistarThe Minotaur

Key Skill: Pulverize

Bot Lane(Support)



(“farming”).



or heal them.



The big bipedal cow headbutts towards the enemies at 0:06, then

uses Flash to get to the low-health enemy before

using Pulverize!

And with that, we’ve covered all the basics of how team compositions are constructed, and

the dynamics of the different Lanes!

1/2

Since we know almost all that we need to know about the game itself, next we’ll jump

into understanding the spectator’s view – so that you know where to look, when to look at

it, and what it is!

2/2

League of LegendsWorld Championships 2016 PrimerPart 3: Understanding the Basics of LoL (2/2)

Prepared by: Luc Ryu

league of legends primer #3 - understanding mobas and league of legends (pt. 2)

Sports