Get On My Level

After playing 3 Games with my assigned champion (Ezreal) and then waiting for my friend to play 3 with the champion i assigned him to learn to play (Udyr) I won with 3 out of 3 games won and 2 more games won then him, I effectively learned to play a new champion in 3 quick games and my scores were.
             Game 1                Game 2                     Game 3                    
Kills:10                                   10                             5        
Deaths:0                                   3                             0       
Assists:7                                   8                             1          

Of course i got the grand prize of 1400 Riot points and now know i can play a high skill cap champion pretty comfortably, every time i crush my friend with Ezreal now he'll remember he created a monster with this bet.

Competitive LoL announcement

League of legends is nearing the end of season 1 and will be hosting a $100,000 tornament for top tier teams, I expect to see Counter logic gaming for sure, MyRevenge(EU), Team SK and Team Solo Mid as well as 4 others, but these 4 teams FOR SURE.Check out the video with Mark "Tryndamere" Merill the president of Riot Games.

Champions Challenge

After my friend lost us a game horribly and used the excuse "I never use this champion" I bet him $10 worth of points that in 3 games i could easily learn a champion before he could, He accepted and we agreed that we could pick each others champions, 3 Games 2 Random Champions and $10 Worth of in game currency.


I will update as soon as i figure out all the rules.

High Skill Cap Champions

During the spring break i naturally stayed up to ungodly hours playing my favorite game which just happens to be league of legends, Most recently I've been trying "High Skill Cap" Champions, These champions have abilities that can be utilized in many ways and are usually not the greatest champions unless played well, Some examples are Ezreal, Shaco, Anivia and many more.

High skill cap champions rely more on positioning, timing and understanding of game mechanics then normal champions, Most make use of skill shots which are different from normal skills as you have to free aim them rather then have a targeting reticule that you click on the target.

Lets use Shaco as an example, Every high level solo queue player mained him because they could control control the jungle, Initiate inescapable ganks resulting in kills almost every time, There was a visible difference between a good and a bad Shaco.

Hopefully i can get some games in with one of these champions and write a guide soon, unfortunatly i have 0 experience with most high skill cap champions as I went through my try every champion phase when i as still a new player and swiftly rage quit when i failed.

Update soon. -Thomas

Leblanc

Shaco

Flavor of the month champions

Today i'll be talking about the concept of Flavor of the month champions in league of legends, every month there are 1 or 2 champions that the community "Discovers" usually during free week for that champion, Basically a high ranked player picks up the champion randomly and finds some overpowered new item build, pretty soon you start seeing these champions in every game, then people who dont usually see this champion and dont know how to play against them get destroyed, complain and then a few weeks later that champion gets nerfed down to nothingness.

The best example of a FOTM champions is Malphite, who just happens to have an awesome new skin.

A few months ago Malphite was in every single normal game and in ranked games he was banned constantly, I took advantage of this and played him every chance i got, i admit it was extremely unfair because he had extremely strong early game and at level 6 could kill the enemy laner 100% of the time. Late game he wasn't anymore fair as he could stack sunfires and passively do about 120 damage every second for just being around, this also made him tanky as all hell and unless you were trying to take on the whole team by yourself you could easily win team fights.


A few months before this popularity however almost nobody played him except for of course people who mained him, He was considered the least viable tank in them game, but out of nowhere with no changes, no buffs to the character a few high ranked european players start to roll face with him and he "becomes" the most overpowered champion ever, This is the nature of the game, Another example is irelia, Only a few specialty high ranked players figured out how to build the champion and again, Most overpowered champion and was nerfed to the ground.

When one of these comes along which the invariably do, just enjoy it while it lasts because believe it or not they actually listen to outcrys from bad players who could get destroyed by a small bundle of sticks and most champions do end up being nerfed.

Looking for a main: Singed

The Spiffy Riot singed skin.

Hey guys this is the 2nd post for looking for a main and since my last post I've been playing Singed for *Most* of my games whenever someone hasn't snagged him since he is on the free champion rotation this week. Once again i bought a hella spiffy skin that i like to think helps me get the scores i do with singed.

So some general aspects of singed: As singed you CAN carry a game as a tank, His signature skill Poison Trail does great damage and stomps idiots who like to chase anyone with relatively low health.

Singed Farms like a boss, There is no understating this, He can just Run down a lane killing every minion he comes across and when the enemy team shows up to stop the tank that is singed then you can simply hit your (R) skill ultimate called insanity potion and run like a Kenyan. When playing this character you should try to free farm as much as possible pushing all lanes when not grouping for a fight. If your going to lose a tower for sure, just sit in your safe lane and farm up as much as possible to hit them hard later.

Runes: For runes i like to take Magic penetration Reds.
Dodge or Health per level Yellows.
Any Blues will do but flat value magic resist or magic resist per level is best on singed.
And Movement speed quintessences are a must.

Skills:
Singed's first skill (Q) is Poison Trail which is a Damage over time trail that he leaves behind him, This is his most signature skill and main source of damage for sure, I max this first but get the first point at level 2, if course getting my ultimate at level 6. This combined with the slow from Rylai's will discourage players from chasing you as most players either under estimate the damage that poison can do to them and end up dieing or over estimate it and give up a kill they had a chance at, This is also a great farming tool but early game should only be used to soften minions until you get your first item as it costs a lot of mana, Remember not to leave this toggled on.

His (W) is Mega Adhesive, he throws a pool which slows any enemy that runs into it, It's an AOE slow and actually slows quite a bit (75% at max rank) this is your gap closer essentially.

Next his (E) ability is called Fling, He throws a target over his shoulder and deals a good amount of damage, This is your main initiator, You throw down a puddle, run at them with your poison turned on and then fling them into your puddle of poison and more importantly into your team mates, This can effectively swing a full scale 5v5 in your favor if you land a good enough fling.

Then of course his ultimate which is INSANITY potion, basically its a steroid skill but a pretty substantial one which gives you damage, Attack speed, ability power, armor, movement speed and health/mana regen.

Finally is his Passive Empowered bulwark, For evey 10 mana he gets 2.5 Health, This means he benefits greatly from magic resist items.

Items: Items for singed are pretty situational but every singed worth anything starts off with a Mana crystal and 2 health potions. This gives him much needed early survivability and builds into some great items.

 Next upgrade your mana crystal to a Catalyst, I'll keep this until level 10ish or when i think i need some extra magic resist. This again Gives him a good amount of mana as well as health.

Then after getting your boots of choice you get your next item or if your steam rolling the team upgrade your catalyst into a banshees veil or rod of ages, Rod is for teams with low magic damage and banshees if you need high magic resist.

If all is going at a normal pace then get your Rylai's crystal scepter, This gives a 35% slow to all of your magic damage skills such as poison trail, Rylais and poison trail are a match made in nerdy,nerdy heaven.

From this point on you could get any tank item you see fit, Sunfire cape or randuins omen for physical and Force of nature if magical damage, Force of natures regeneration per second is much loved.

So if your looking for a fun and solid character to play then give singed a shot, I am by no means a good tank player but singed is an exception, when a good singed is in a game its straight insanity.

All pictures taken from league of legends website. All rights reserved, RiotGames.

Looking for a main: Cho'gath

Recently Cho'gath got a Spiffy Loch Ness monster based skin, I have some sort of unhealthy condition that causes me to pick up an old champion any time they get a shiny new skin, So i naturally picked up Cho'gath for a few games as i used to main him.

This is the first post in a series of guides I'll be writing every time i pick up a champion that i find is worthy of being my main. What i need in my main is basically any champion that can carry a game since i usually only play Solo queue and not arranged team with friends. (Sad face.)

So how did cho'gath catch my attention? A lot of top players play him as solo top or middle because his early game is so strong, His passive (Carnivore) gives him health and mana back instantly every time he Last hits a minion or champion, So he can stay in his lane for a while if played right.
He's also a pretty solid tank with his (Q) ability Rupture which is an AOE (area of effect) that knocks up and slows everyone caught in its small circle of effect. This helps peel people off the carry and also does a decent amount of damage helping to secure a kill.

His (E) ability is vorpal spikes which applies to every auto attack dealing a good amount of damage especially early on in a small cone in front of him, This helps a lot early game for last hitting, i take 1 point in this skill early on at about level 4 to aid in last hitting and max it out last.

Cho's W ability causes the most rage from enemy players, His (W) ability is called Feral scream, it's an AOE (Again area of effect) silence with a decent amount of damage and a long silence duration, Landing a rupture followed by a quick Feral scream absolutely screws a caster or anyone who relies on the "Flash" summoner spell to make a quick exit.

Finally we have His ultimate (R) called FEAST, This is cho's most notable skill and makes him a freakin monster. It's a single target nuke that does 800 damage at max rank, If this skill lands the killing blow on a unit (Best used on Champions) Then cho'gath will gain a good chunk of health permanently and also grows in size, This stacks up to 6 times and comboing this with tank items he becomes an unkillable wall that will Nom nom your face. Nothing is more intimidating then a 4000+ health and high armor Monster running at you full tilt.

Okay, so he's good, but what to build on this beast?
I start with Mana crystal and 2 health potions
Transition the mana crystal into a catalyst
Then Frozen Heart or Aegis of the legion depending on which i feel is more needed
If im doing good i'll get rod of ages.
Always mercury tread boots
Then finally i'll build the Catalyst into a Banshee's veil.
The 1 or 2 inventory slots will be for whatever i see fit but usually its a Randuins omen (If an Attack damage carry is fed and wrecking my team) Or a Warmogs, but this should only be bought early on after Catalyst in rare occasions where i think stacking straight health is safe, If not then i'll go for a sunfire cape to do a little extra damage.


For summoner spells i like to use Ignite (Great when comboed with his Feast) And ghost (For escaping or closing the gap to land a feast). So if you want to play a Tank that can still shred, Pick up Cho'Gath and Feast your way to victory.


-Thawmaus