"Main" Champs and bans

[quote=iNspiRe21]Heya. So I'm pretty rapidly approaching ranked play, and I had a discussion with a friend who has played LoL for awhile now, and I was telling him my plan for beginning ranked play. I told him I wanted a champion that could control a game by pulling off saves when people put themselves in bad positions during the "ELO Hell" brackets, or just a champion that could get a lot of kills and snowball a game. So, he asked me who I was thinking of, and I told him, "well, for my tank, I want probably Shen or Amumu" and he stops me and says, "alright, look, that's never going to work. Shen and Amumu are probably 2 of the most common bans out there". Which got me to thinking of what champs I should really be focusing on that aren't going to get auto-banned a lot so I can actually use the champs I practice with. For tanks, I don't know. I've only ever played with Amumu seriously, and I was about to pick up Shen. Shen was really appealing because you could always save that one guy who keeps feeding the enemy champs, or just people who get in bad spots too frequently. AD Carries: Well, I play Ashe alot, and I think that's a good choice for helping out, as whe has a lot of stuns/slows to keep people away and to stop a gank in progress AP Carries: I play Annie almost exclusively for AP. I love her pyromania passive and an energized tibbers is just so godlike. However, I'm not sure if she'll be much of a help getting out of the "elo hell" bracket. Am I wrong on this? If I am correct, I would appreciate a few more AP carries I can try out that are good in this respect? Support: I still haven't played a support, I usually get stuck playing amumu and when I don't have to I usually end up with Annie or Ashe Junglers: Amumu, obviously is the one I have used, but I guess he's out the window. Thanks Guys, ^^[/quote]

[quote=Temzilla]Basically, try to play characters with good team fight presence, and you will eventually succeed. The difference between 0 elo and 600 elo is mechanics. The difference between 600 elo and 1200 elo is knowledge. The difference between 1200 elo and 1800 elo is team composition. And the difference between 1800 elo and 2000+ elo is coordination and consistency. Personally, my favorite character in each role is as follows. Tank: Amumu, if you want someone not commonly banned, then try Rammus. Support: Sona or Taric are really fun. AD Carry: Corki is really good in poke comps. Kog'Maw is really strong now. Miss Fortune is underplayed, but she's pretty good. AP Carry: My favorites are Annie, Brand, and Mordekaiser, they all have nearly game changing ultimates. It's all a matter of personal preference though.[/quote]

[quote=Dante Rebellion]^ pretty much this. But don't make the mistake I made and just jump into ranked gaming, make sure you have some experience (around 300+ wins normal), all the runes you need for optimum play, make sure you also understand what situational items to get and not just follow a said build. My characters for each role: Tank: Jarvan (I play jarvan as my tanky DPS due to the steady CC he provides, strong buffs, and pretty strong damage) In ranked play you do not want to have a pure tank like shen but instead a tanky dps that can provide CC! CROWD CONTROL WINS GAMES! AD Carry: Renekton and Gangplank (Optimum imo would be ashe or vayne).. The reason I play renekton for my AD DPS is because he remains tanky and can deal heavy damage, the problem with melee dps is that you have to get close to deal damage so a tanky bruiser like renekton is perfect, also remember that he has a stun (CC WINS GAMES YO), strong poke E-Q-E and AOE damage + inbuilt heal. I would not recommend you to play renekton unless you have alot of experience with him, gangplank is also a strong dps (I play him in lane) he can sweep carries off very easily. Support: Soraka .. I barely play support, I think soraka is a decent support due to how well she can heal and also she deals some decent damage, the best would be janna or sona imo. AP Carry: Mordekaiser and Sion .. Annie is one of the best AP casters, but I don't like playing her. Instead I play game changers like Mordekaiser and sion. Sion has alot of offer when built AP and is extremely scary in teamfights because he does HEAVY AOE damage, and again he has CC! Mordekaiser is more of my nuke truck if I can get solo top Jungler: Nocturne, Udyr and Shaco .. 3 of my best junglers, offer powerful ganks and fast clear times. That's all you need imo.[/quote]

[quote=Joobieo#41288]1200 Elo is a team comp issue on a serious level. People mainly just pick what they want to play and not what the team needs.[/quote]

[quote=Summoner][quote]The difference between 0 elo and 600 elo is mechanics. The difference between 600 elo and 1200 elo is knowledge. The difference between 1200 elo and 1800 elo is team composition. [/quote] No. The difference between 0 and 1400 ELO is everything. Everyone in those ELO ranges who cannot climb out intentionally (there are a lot of people who troll their ways down for easy games and because they like to troll) have no real understanding of champions, last hitting, objectives, building, etc. The difference between 1400 and 2500 elo is the amount of knowledge you and your team has. The higher you go, the more knowledgeable your team is about the game. [quote]I want probably Shen or Amumu" and he stops me and says, "alright, look, that's never going to work. Shen and Amumu are probably 2 of the most common bans out there".[/quote] Shen and Amumu are only banned in low ELO. Shen is a terrible tank now (ok, not terrible, but compared to others he is) and Amumu doesn't make a game a win or loss, just people in low ELO are scared because they have no idea how to dodge skill shots and avoid his ultimate. If you're wanting to be versatile in what champions you play, you need to be able to play at least 2 of each type: Ranged AD Carry: Ashe is fine, but she's a common pick. Learn how to play Tristana and Miss Fortune - two very easy champions to pick up but take some time to utilize to their full potential. AD Melee: Lee sin, Irelia. Two very durable champions that can dominate lane (and in lee sin's case, jungle occasionally). They deal very high damage. AP Carry: Annie is a very good pick. Learn another AP Carry that is combo based like Brand or Malzahar and you'll have a good set of AP carries there. All of them scale very very well into late game and have extremely strong early games as well. Support: They are all easy to play, pick one up, read the skill tooltips, go nuts! Of course there is a degree of skill involved with timings, precision, positioning, skill shot supports, but otherwise, really easy. Soraka, Sona and Taric are great supports with heals, easy to pick up and they change the course of teamfights just by their presence alone. Tanks/Offtanks: Amumu is fine, Jarvan is amazing and is never really banned until you go really high, but even then it's not common. Singed is easy to play, never banned, very durable, very hard to lose lane with him. Nunu and Warwick are good junglers who are never banned but can tank very well, Udyr additionally. Low ELO ban the WORST tankers out of them all (Rammus, Shen, Malphite) so abuse the fact they ignore the better tanks and just pick one of them. Junglers: Don't pick Shaco, in low ELO no one knows how to capitalize on his presence. Udyr, Amumu, Warwick, Nunu, all durable junglers, all provide great CC and control of the map and jungle without much pressure on yourself, pick those. Everyone knows how to react with those champions too as they provide very simple and easily understandable benefits (Udyr stun, WW suppression, Amumu snare+stun, Nunu slows.)[/quote]

[quote=Temzilla][quote=Summoner] [quote]The difference between 0 elo and 600 elo is mechanics. The difference between 600 elo and 1200 elo is knowledge. The difference between 1200 elo and 1800 elo is team composition. [/quote] No. The difference between 0 and 1400 ELO is everything. Everyone in those ELO ranges who cannot climb out intentionally (there are a lot of people who troll their ways down for easy games and because they like to troll) have no real understanding of champions, last hitting, objectives, building, etc. The difference between 1400 and 2500 elo is the amount of knowledge you and your team has. The higher you go, the more knowledgeable your team is about the game.[/quote] I basically meant this... If you are 0-600 elo you can carry yourself out purely through mechanical skill, you need no actual knowledge of how the game works, you require no map awareness, and there is no need to even try to learn things from those people. In the 600-1200 range, you need to start to understand how to last hit, how to ward, how to decide when to dragon/baron, and a lot of other basic skills. In the 1200-1800 range, the deciding factor is team fights, and if your team can't win team fights because of your team composition, then you will have problems winning. In the 1800-2000+ range, your team compositions are solid, and the main factor is teamwork and communication.[/quote]

[quote=Jebus McAzn]Yes, but as soon as you hit 2000, "mechanical skill" that's needed to carry you out of low ELO becomes much more important. At that high ELO, most teams have a good comp. Most teams are coordinated on relatively the same level. Most teams have the same general game knowledge. What's going to turn the tide at that point is personal player skill.[/quote]

[quote=iNspiRe21][quote=Summoner] [quote]The difference between 0 elo and 600 elo is mechanics. The difference between 600 elo and 1200 elo is knowledge. The difference between 1200 elo and 1800 elo is team composition. [/quote] No. The difference between 0 and 1400 ELO is everything. Everyone in those ELO ranges who cannot climb out intentionally (there are a lot of people who troll their ways down for easy games and because they like to troll) have no real understanding of champions, last hitting, objectives, building, etc. The difference between 1400 and 2500 elo is the amount of knowledge you and your team has. The higher you go, the more knowledgeable your team is about the game. [quote]I want probably Shen or Amumu" and he stops me and says, "alright, look, that's never going to work. Shen and Amumu are probably 2 of the most common bans out there".[/quote] Shen and Amumu are only banned in low ELO. Shen is a terrible tank now (ok, not terrible, but compared to others he is) and Amumu doesn't make a game a win or loss, just people in low ELO are scared because they have no idea how to dodge skill shots and avoid his ultimate. If you're wanting to be versatile in what champions you play, you need to be able to play at least 2 of each type: Ranged AD Carry: Ashe is fine, but she's a common pick. Learn how to play Tristana and Miss Fortune - two very easy champions to pick up but take some time to utilize to their full potential. AD Melee: Lee sin, Irelia. Two very durable champions that can dominate lane (and in lee sin's case, jungle occasionally). They deal very high damage. AP Carry: Annie is a very good pick. Learn another AP Carry that is combo based like Brand or Malzahar and you'll have a good set of AP carries there. All of them scale very very well into late game and have extremely strong early games as well. Support: They are all easy to play, pick one up, read the skill tooltips, go nuts! Of course there is a degree of skill involved with timings, precision, positioning, skill shot supports, but otherwise, really easy. Soraka, Sona and Taric are great supports with heals, easy to pick up and they change the course of teamfights just by their presence alone. Tanks/Offtanks: Amumu is fine, Jarvan is amazing and is never really banned until you go really high, but even then it's not common. Singed is easy to play, never banned, very durable, very hard to lose lane with him. Nunu and Warwick are good junglers who are never banned but can tank very well, Udyr additionally. Low ELO ban the WORST tankers out of them all (Rammus, Shen, Malphite) so abuse the fact they ignore the better tanks and just pick one of them. Junglers: Don't pick Shaco, in low ELO no one knows how to capitalize on his presence. Udyr, Amumu, Warwick, Nunu, all durable junglers, all provide great CC and control of the map and jungle without much pressure on yourself, pick those. Everyone knows how to react with those champions too as they provide very simple and easily understandable benefits (Udyr stun, WW suppression, Amumu snare+stun, Nunu slows.) [/quote] Really, I hadn't heard Shen was bad at tanking. This is a recent development? I've heard a LOT about how he is an unbelievably good tank becasue he is supremely good at peeling and saving people durring laning phase. What makes him suddenly so lackluster? As for tanks, will I be fine trying to tank with a jungle udyr, or is he strictly an "off tank" sort of toon? Thanks for the replies so far ^^[/quote]

[quote=Jebus McAzn]Shen used to be banned all the time. With support+AD carry bottom, Shen can no longer hold a lane in the laning phase. His jungle time is slow and he deals little damage in late-game fights. The current meta is MUCH more suited to tanky DPS champs that can take a beating, draw fire, and still do a lot of damage. One of the few exceptions now is Amumu because of his excellent jungle strength, speed, and ganks, as well as his superb CC and initition late-game. Shen has simply tapered off.[/quote]

[quote=The_Nameless_Bard]If you want to learn a support, you should consider trying Taric. He has a reliable stun with a reasonably short cooldown and can be played several way (tank and tanky AP support being the most common). He almost never gets banned (at least at my ELO) and very few people play him in ranked games from what I've seen, so odds are you will get him if you decide to play him. He's kinda underrated, but he's one of the most versatile supports out there.[/quote]