Hey guys I am a professional player from OCE. I competed at worlds in 2018 under the name "UDYSOF" for the team Dire Wolves. I have played Hecarim in competitive matches and played him to top 10 in my region.

This is a new chapter to my guide and I think it's the most important one.

Hecarim is a very versatile champion. He can be built for any situation. The way to play Hecarim is to be permanently checking your lanes. I usually start red go blue gromp for a fast level 3, but as you're walking to blue or finishing blue you should be looking at your lanes to see if they're trading.If your laners are taking trades you can easily blow flashes or get early kills especially against enemies heavy trading lanes. When i path as Hecarim I aim to focus lanes who have hard CC to set up ganks. Once I have ganked early I would have at least blown a laners flash which means I will path towards that lane again and look to repeat gank them either killing them or putting them far behind in XP as they have to base.

Hecarim is about finding fights with his R, look to fight when you have more teammates meaning you can engage without the threat of the enemy engaging onto you because if they do they will lose due to your numbers advantage in the fight.

Ways you can find numbers advantage is pushing a lane with your side laners and then moving mid in the mid game to push down a tower or force a fight.

I take Conqueror because all games I build a lot of Damage stats such as Trinity Force on Hecarim which means I am able to land a lot of burst and push out my damage through my spells and autos. In long fights Conqueror is superior to most runes.

Triumph is great for Increasing longevity in skirmishes your Q makes sure you secure all kills and heal with W. Legend: Tenacity is my rune of choice because it allows me to focus on fighting and reducing CC to stall time and kill carries which is Hecarim main objective. Last Stand Allows me to do high damage even on low HP when I am in the back line.

For my secondary runes I like to take Celerity as I like the movement speed which increased damage due to Hecarim Passive. Waterwalking is also insane because I get bonus damage in river on Hecarim where he thrives in skirmishes and can pick the ADC when they're split in teamfights.

My plan for every game I play on Hecarim is to be passive early - we have no gank threat level 2 and can't fight many junglers in the early game. So I usually aim to either survive early, or punish weak junglers.

If you have weak really weak laners like Kassadin you can full clear the jungle but without pressure early on Hecarim But you must use your early gold lead to then take dragon.

Invading early game

Invading in season 10 is very valuable as killing your opponent stops them farming, which is super important due to the decreased XP of jungle camps meaning it is very easy to fall behind in jungle.

Below are a list of champions you want, and arguably need to invade in the early game:

Amumu

Cho'Gath

Fiddlesticks

Gragas

Hecarim

Jax

Kayn

Maokai

Master Yi

Rammus

Sejuani

Shyvana

Skarner

Vi

Wukong

Yorick

Zac

What commonalities can you guys see in that list? I can see a few to be honest...
-> Tanks
-> Farm heavy
-> Slow clear
-> Weak 1v1

Generally, if the enemy jungler is/has at least one commonality listed above then we definitely want to be invading them early and piling on the pressure. In the 'Early Game' chapter I will talk about HOW we go about invading, but for now it's important to talk about WHERE to invade.

Most junglers start bot side of the map for an easier leash, especially in lower elo, so you guys can easily predict where the enemy jungler is starting and look to invade. Therefore, if they start bot side of the map we want to invade them in their top side at their second buff, and vice versa. Now the champions above will be on their second buff from anywhere between 2.30-3.10ish depending on if they want to hit level 3 as soon as they can or if they full clear.



As you may have noticed, some champions are not on that list, and these include:

-> Elise
-> Ezreal
-> Graves
-> Jarvan IV
-> Kindred
-> Lee Sin
-> Nocturne
-> Rek'Sai
-> Udyr
-> Warwick
-> Xin Zhao

Again, what do these champions share in common?
-> Strong duelers
-> Fast clear

The junglers just mentioned are to be invaded with caution if you choose to do so. I invade pretty much every game regardless of which champion I'm against but I've done it so often that I'm used to it. If you guys aren't comfortable with taking on these guys earlier in the game there's nothing to be ashamed of - and trust me, when I started out playing Evelynn and invading every game it wouldn't be uncommon to see me 0-3 at 5 minutes.

For champions like Elise, Lee Sin, Rek'Sai, their clear is insanely quick. Normally they will start bot side of the map, clear one other camp and finish their 2nd buff and then pressure that side of the map so we only have a small window to invade. Also, they are strong early game champions so if we get spotted by a ward or hit by a crowd control (CC) ability then we may have to ff at 15.

Those champions in the second list, most of them at least, will get their 2 buffs and level 3 as soon as possible and gank a lane - a bit like us but we're slightly quicker since we can gank at level 2. Therefore, we can get to a lane without threat of being (and I'll show you guys the best clear for Shaco in the 'Early Game' chapter if we want to gank) and pick up easy kills. This will be easier to envision in the forthcoming chapter but we need to think about WHICH LANE to gank. I'll list a few reasons why we'd want to gank a certain lane early...
-> Our laner(s) has CC
-> Enemy champion(s) has no Flash or their Flash is on cooldown (CD)
-> Enemy champion(s) will push the lane early (making them more susceptible to a gank)
-> The matchup is 'snowbally' - one kill might decide the lane
-> We anticipate that the enemy jungler will gank that lane early, so we want to counter-gank IF we win the 2v2 or we try to get there first of course
If a lane has only one reason I listed then it's still worthy of a gank early game!

This is not going to be a huge section. But if you would like private coaching dm me on discord udysof#9437(this is my job fulltime).
Mentality is a key part of being a professional player weather you want to be a soloqueue player, amateur player, platinum player any type of player having good mentality will always better you. Ways to improve on these can include focusing on the external parts of your life. Things I did was only play a maximum of 6 games per day, eat only healthy food and worked out every second day. My schedule and life was incredibly strict around performance when I was a professional player and I recommend all people who love the game to also take care of themselves.

Sleep deprivation can easily disrupt concentration, not to mention other cognitive functions, such as memory and attention.

Occasional sleep deprivation may not cause too many problems for you. But regularly failing to get a good night’s sleep can affect your mood and performance at work.

Being too tired can even slow down your reflexes and affect your ability to drive or do other daily tasks.

A demanding schedule, health issues, and other factors sometimes make it difficult to get enough sleep. But it’s important to try and get as close to the recommended amount as possible on most nights.

Many experts recommend adults aim for 7 to 8 hours of sleep each night.

Improving the sleep you do get can also have benefit. A few quick tips:

Turn off the TV and put away screens an hour before bed.
Keep your room at a comfortable but cool temperature.
Wind down before bed with soft music, a warm bath, or a book.
Go to bed and get up around the same time each day, even on weekends.
Exercise regularly, but try to avoid a heavy workout just before bed.

How can taking a break from work or homework increase your concentration? This idea might seem counterintuitive, but experts say it really works.

Consider this scenario: You’ve spent a few hours on the same project, and suddenly your attention starts to wander. Even though it’s hard to keep your mind on the task, you stay at your desk, forcing yourself to keep going. But your struggle to focus just makes you feel stressed and anxious about not completing your work in time.

You’ve probably been there before. Next time this happens, when you first feel your concentration drop, take a short mental break. Refresh yourself with a cool drink or nutritious snack, take a quick walk, or go outside and get some sun.

When you return to work, don’t be surprised if you feel more focused, motivated, or even creative. Breaks can help boost these functions and more.