League of Legends Primer - Consolidated

League of Legends
World Championships 2016 Primer
Part 1: What is League of Legends?
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

Well, yes.
It is just a video game, I guess.

But maybe it’ll surprise you to
know just how big and influential a
video game can get.

A “MOBA” is any game where a player controls a character (“Champion”), and the objective
is to destroy the opposing team’s main structure (“Nexus”) with the assistance of periodically
spawned computer-controlled units (“Minions”).
What is League of Legends?
LoL has approximately 100M monthly active users (“MAU”) [1]
League of Legends (“LoL”), is a video game released on October 27, 2009 by Riot Games
LoL is categorized within the multiplayer online battle arena (“MOBA”) genre of video games
[1] http://www.riftherald.com/2016/9/13/12865314/monthly-lol-players-2016-active-worldwide
313M 409M150M
Exhibit 1: MAU Comparison

0.0
20.0
40.0
60.0
80.0
100.0
120.0
140.0
10/27/2009 7/26/2011 11/1/2011 10/1/2012 1/28/2014 9/13/2016 12/31/2017
MillionsofMonthlyActiveUsers
Riot Games and LoL Through Time
Exhibit 2: Riot Games Timeline
Growth to end of 2017
approximately 130M MAU
based on projected figures.
You may have heard of
Tencent! They recently
purchased the Clash of
Clans series, and are the
developers of instant
messaging application
WeChat.
Tencent Holdings acquires
93.0% in Riot Games for
approximately $400M.
Tencent Holdings
purchases the remaining
7.0% in Riot Games.
5Million concurrent
players
1Million concurrent
players
8Million concurrent
players

World Championships Through Time
Location: Jönköping, Sweden
Prize Pool: USD $99,500
Peak CCV1: 210,000+
2011 was the inaugural year
for the World Championships,
and the only year a Western
team has ever won!
1st
2nd
3rd
1 CCV: Concurrent viewers – unique viewers watching simultaneously at any point during the broadcast of the final series.
2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016

Location: Los Angeles, USA
Prize Pool: USD $2,000,000
Peak CCV1: 1,100,000+
1st
2nd
3rd
/4th
2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016

Peak CCV1: 8,500,000+
1st
2nd
3rd
/4th
2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016
With 32,000,000+ views,
the 2013 World
Championships were
more watched than the
2013 NBA Finals.

Location: Busan, South Korea
Peak CCV1: 11,200,000+
1st
2nd
3 /4thrd
2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016

Location: Berlin, Germany
Peak CCV1: 14,000,000+
1st
2nd
3 /4thrd
2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016

Peak CCV1: ???
1st
2nd
3 /4thrd
2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016
? ?
2011 World Championships
CCV: 800,000
CCV: 14,00,000
CCV: ???

http://www.investopedia.com/stock-analysis/101916/cbs-commissions-candy-crush-game-show-atvi-
cbs-lgf.aspx
http://www.riftherald.com/2016/9/13/12865314/monthly-lol-players-2016-active-worldwide
https://www.searchenginejournal.com/pinterest-monthly-users-2016-150-million/176314/
http://www.riotgames.com/articles/20140910/508/115-million-playing-lol-each-month
http://forums.euw.leagueoflegends.com/board/showthread.php?t=337971
http://www.riotgames.com/articles/20121015/138/league-legends-growth-spells-bad-news-teemo
http://www.forbes.com/forbes/welcome/?toURL=http://www.forbes.com/sites/insertcoin/2014/01/27/riots-
league-of-legends-reveals-astonishing-27-million-daily-players-67-million-
monthly/&refURL=&referrer=#199b15e63511
http://venturebeat.com/2008/07/10/riot-games-raises-round-for-quick-hit-3-d-online-games/
http://www.tencent.com/en-us/content/ir/news/2011/attachments/20110519b.pdf
http://www.wsj.com/articles/tencent-acquires-full-control-of-u-s-based-riot-games-1450342769
Sources Used

League of Legends
Part 2: Understanding the Basics of LoL (1/2)

Understanding the Basics of LoL

This is the Rift!
…but, of course players
don’t play with a bird’s-eye-
view of the entire map.
That would make it too easy
to see everything that’s
happening on the map.

Although players can move
their cameras to anywhere on
the map, they can only zoom
out to the size of this square!

Although players can move
their cameras to anywhere on
the map, they can only zoom
out to the size of this square!
And so, this is the
amount of the Rift a
player sees on their
camera at any time.

But, they do also have this thing
called a “Mini-Map”.
The areas of vision that any
teammates have will be illuminated
on the Mini-Map.

So essentially, a player can see what’s
directly on their screen through their
camera, but…
…they can also see what their
teammates see indirectly through the
Mini-Map!
But, they do also have this thing
called a “Mini-Map”.
The areas of vision that any
teammates have will be illuminated
on the Mini-Map.

All the un-illuminated portions of
the map are called the “Fog-of-War”.
That means that no one on the team
currently has any vision of this area.
So, Fog-of-War can be illuminated if
anything from the Blue team is
around it!

“Why is any of this important?”
Good question! It’s because LoL is
a decision-based game.
In order to make good decisions,
you need information. At the most
basic level, you need to know
where your enemies are!
You wouldn’t want to walk into the
entire enemy team!
Now, back to the Rift…

There are two teams in every game of LoL, and
they start on opposite ends, as highlighted on
this bird’s-eye-view of the Rift.
You have the Red team on the top-right, and you
have the Blue team on the bottom-left.

A team wins when it destroys the opposing
team’s main structure (their “Nexus”), as
highlighted.
There is no time limit.

There are three pathways that connect the two
teams together (“Lanes”).

There are also portions of the Rift that aren’t
covered by the Lanes.
This entire area is generally known as the Jungle.

Remember that the goal is to destroy these
things (the Nexuses)!

So, in a standard game of LoL, the two teams
will start by splitting their team up into the
different Lanes and the Jungle, in order to start
working their way towards the Nexus.
I’ll explain why it’s
ineffective to send
the entire team into
one Lane later!

So, in a standard game of LoL, the two teams
will start by splitting their team up into the
different Lanes and the Jungle, in order to start
working their way towards the Nexus.
I’ll explain why it’s
ineffective to send
the entire team into
one Lane later! With that said, players are
not forced to stay in a
specific Lane.
They can move around and
help their teammates in
other Lanes if they want!

However, it’s not as easy as simply avoiding the
enemy team, running to the Nexus, and
smacking it a few times.

Each team has two defensive structures in each
Lane (“Turrets”).
You can think of these as checkpoints.

A team can’t destroy a Turret if the one
immediately before it hasn’t been destroyed.
Think of each Lane as its own onion!

Each Nexus also has two Turrets guarding it
(“Nexus Turrets”).
The Nexus can’t be destroyed until both Nexus
Turrets are destroyed.

And the Nexus Turrets can’t be destroyed until
at least one of these things are destroyed
(“Inhibitors”).

…which you can only destroy after you destroy
the Turrets directly guarding them
(“Inhibitor Turrets”).

So essentially you just have to destroy a lot of
things in a sequential order…
Outside – inside!

But don’t worry – you get help!

To help the teams out, the Computer will
generate lesser units (“Minions”) at regular
intervals.
Each Lane spawns its own set of equally strong
minions, and they are programmed to walk down
the Lane and attack the first thing they
encounter – be it an opposing player, opposing
Minions, or an opposing structure.
This could eventually mean
the Nexus if there’s nothing
left in front of it!

When a Lane’s Inhibitor is destroyed…
(remember, it’s these circled things!)
…the opposing team’s Minions in that Lane will
be much stronger (“Super Minions”) until the
Inhibitor fixes itself over time.
This will eventually put
pressure on that Lane since
the opposing Minions will get
to the Nexus!

So we know what the Computer does…
…and we know how to win…
…so what does a player do?

Each player selects a unique character to play
for the entire duration of the game
(“Champion”).
Along with a standard basic attack, most*
Champions have four unique abilities (“Skills”). Teemo
The Swift Scout
* Some have more!
There are currently 133 Champions
and 724 Skills in LoL.
Professional players, and even most
competitive players, probably have
the basic details of most of these
memorized.

By controlling their Champion and using a
combination of skills and basic attacks, players
look to destroy the opposing team’s Nexus…
…and of course, any of the opposing
Champions, Minions, and Turrets, that stand in
their way!
Teemo
The Swift Scout
It might be a good time to explain that…
If a Champion ever dies, they will
eventually respawn back in their
base. The dead player is not
penalized, other than the fact that
they are dead for a period of time.

By controlling their Champion and using a
combination of skills and basic attacks, players
look to destroy the opposing team’s Nexus…
…and of course, any of the opposing
Champions, Minions, and Turrets, that stand in
their way!
Teemo
The Swift Scout
It might be a good time to explain that…
If a Champion ever dies, they will
eventually respawn back in their
base. The dead player is not
penalized, other than the fact that
they are dead for a period of time.
For you hockey fans out there, think
of this as a Powerplay - the enemy
team is one player down, so you have
to take advantage of it!

Teemo
The Swift Scout
Every source of experience (killing a
Minion) gives a set amount of
experience.
This means that if you have
teammates around that that
experience is split!
Champions all start at level one.
A Champion levels up by gaining experience
(from killing, or assisting in the killing, of
opposing Champions and Minions, etc.).

Teemo
The Swift Scout
Every source of experience (killing a
Minion) gives a set amount of
experience.
This means that if you have
teammates around that that
experience is split!
This is why having all five team
members push one lane won’t
work.
You’ll all still be level one when
your opponents are all level
three!
Champions all start at level one.
A Champion levels up by gaining experience
(from killing, or assisting in the killing, of
opposing Champions and Minions).

Teemo
The Swift Scout
Skill One: Blinding Dart
Skill Two: Move Quick
Skill Three: Toxic Shot
Every time a Champion gains one level, they
can make one of their Skills stronger.
“Hey, but why would anyone
use basic attacks if they have
these special skills!?”
Well, because Skills are so
special, they require more
energy! In LoL, this is usually
called “Mana”.
More impactful Skills usually
use up more Mana.
Don’t worry, though - Mana
replenishes over time!

Teemo
The Swift Scout
Skill One: Blinding Dart
Ultimate Skill: Noxious Trap
Skill Two: Move Quick
Skill Three: Toxic Shot
“So can players just buy items
that give them lots of Mana
then?”
Nope! After using a Skill, it
can’t be used again for some
time (a “Cooldown”)!
Stronger Skills usually have
longer Cooldowns.
Ultimate Skills typically have
the longest Cooldowns, so
it’s important to use them
wisely!
At level six, they gain access to a special
Skill, called an Ultimate Skill.
It’s important to keep an eye out for when
Champions hit level six, as it typically
results in a big spike in power!

Furthermore, all players are allowed to select
two unique abilities (“Summoner Spells”).
There are 10 Summoner Spells that can be
selected. The following are the ones I believe are
the most important to know as a new viewer:

Flash
Instantly teleports a Champion a short
distance.
Can use every 300 seconds.
Useful for escaping from enemies, or
for surprising them by instantaneously
positioning yourself in a new location.
Almost all players will select Flash as
one of their two Summoner Spells.

Heal
Instantly heals and speeds up the
player and the most wounded nearby
ally.
Useful for keeping the player and/or
their teammate alive and running away
or chasing an enemy.
Heal is typically selected by ADC*
players, and situationally, Mid players.
* ADC is explained in Part 3.

Smite
Instantly deals damage to a neutral
monster or Minion.
Only selected by Jungle players, as it
helps them clear Camps* faster.
Used to deal the killing blow on neutral
monsters, such as Drakes and Baron
Nashor*.
*Explained soon!

Teleport
After 4.5 seconds, teleports the
Champion to an ally ward, unit ,or Turret.
Can be used to return to Lane quickly,
or to surprise enemies by teleporting to
a ward behind enemy lines.
Used primarily by Top Lane players
since they are so far from the Bot
Lane. Can situationally be taken by Mid
Lane players as well.
A ward is a special item that
can be placed around the
player to provide vision for a
few minutes!
A player could, for example,
go deep into the enemy
team’s half of the Rift, and
place down a ward.
The vision from the ward
would illuminate a portion of
the Mini-Map!

Teleport
After 4.5 seconds, teleports the
Champion to an ally ward, unit , or
Turret.
Can be used to return to Lane quickly,
or to surprise enemies by teleporting to
a ward behind enemy lines.
Used primarily by Top Lane players
since they are so far from the Bot
Lane. Can situationally be taken by Mid
Lane players as well.
A ward is a special item that
can be placed around the
player to provide vision for a
few minutes!
A player could, for example,
go deep into the enemy
team’s half of the Rift, and
place down a ward.
The vision from the ward
would illuminate a portion of
the Mini-Map!
If a ward is placed in a
good spot, it could help
you see an enemy from
another Lane try to
come flank you for an
ambush (a “gank”)!
You’d have to be
looking at your Mini-
Map, though!

Players can also empower their Champions by
purchasing items in their base with gold.
Gold accumulates over time, but can also be
earned from killing opposing Champions, killing
opposing Minions, and destroying opposing
Turrets*.
*Among other things…
There are over 175 items available for
purchase, each with their own unique
effects.
A Champion can have six items, max.

Stronger items cost more gold, and are built by
combining multiple items.
The items a player buys will depend on the
strengths of their Champion, but also how well
they’re doing and how much gold they have!
If they’re dying a lot and not earning gold, they
might have to settle for weaker items.
Here’s a brief summary on the different sources of
gold, and how much gold they pay out!
Source Notes Gold
Start of Game 500
Minion [1] 19
Champion Kill [2] 300
Assist on Champion Kill [2] 150
Outer Turret [3] 250
Inner Turret [3] 175
Notes
[1] Average of melee and ranged Minions.
[2] Represents minimum.
[3] When nearby at time of destruction.

One last thing!
Remember that there’s an area of the Rift called
the Jungle.

Minions do not spawn in the Jungle. Instead,
neutral monsters spawn (“Camps”).
Camps also provide gold and experience.
Securing the killing blow on certain Camps
provide power-ups (“Buffs”).

Drakes
(Fire, Cloud, Mountain, Ocean)
• Securing the killing blow on the Drakes will provide
the team with a permanent Buff.
• The first Drake spawns 2:30 into the game.
• After the first / previous Drake is killed, the next one
will spawn after six minutes.
• There are four types of Drakes, and the type of
Drake spawned is random.
Because Drake Buffs are permanent,
they’re hotly contested!
Look for lots of fights around this area
early on in the game.

Increases the damage done by the
entire team.
Infernal Drake

Increases the team’s damage to
structures, and monsters in Epic Camps*.
Mountain Drake

Increases the team’s Health and Mana
regeneration when not fighting.
Ocean Drake

Increases the team’s movement speed
when not fighting.
Cloud Drake

Elder Dragon
• The Elder Dragon takes the place of Drakes after the
35 minute mark.
• If a Drake already exists, it must be killed before the
Elder Dragon can spawn.
• The Elder Dragon increases the power of all
previous Drake Buffs by 50%, as well as the
damage of the team that dealt the killing blow for
two minutes.
• After it is killed, a new Elder Dragon will respawn after
10 minutes.
In most games, about four Drakes will have been
killed by the time the Elder Dragon spawns.
That means four Buffs that can be amplified!

• The Rift Herald first spawns at the 6:00
mark.
• One member of the team that secures
the killing blow on the Rift Herald will
have their basic attack empowered for
20 minutes.
• There is only one Rift Herald per game.
Rift Herald

• Baron Nashor replaces the Rift Herald at
the 20 minute mark.
• After it is killed, it will respawn every seven
minutes.
• For 3.5 minutes, grants bonus damage
to the team that secured the kill, and
empowers all Minions around members
of the team that have the Buff.
• If a Champion dies they will lose the
Buff, regardless of how much more
time they had with it.
Baron Nashor
Sometimes all a team needs is some empowered
Minions in order to take down the last few Turrets
and get to the Nexus!
Look for big fights here as teams try to close out
the game!

And with that, you know enough to sit down,
watch a game of LoL, and actually have an
idea of what’s happening!

You don’t need to know everything…
…but the more you know, the more you
understand, and the more you understand,
the more fun you have watching.

• http://league-analytics.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Prolly-Coaching-1024x683.jpg
• https://4.bp.blogspot.com/--
MxYUj6CJiY/Vxbk214uSiI/AAAAAAAA6AE/K1xZwuJboRYbuGDwbcwsahiRFWAd59NHQCLcB/s640/%255EFFDDA78945E1D6C0F99381C91E7B75158CA848C6DD883E16B
C%255Epimgpsh_fullsize_distr.jpg
• http://riot-web-static.s3.amazonaws.com/images/news/June_2014/SRDB3/srdb3-1.jpg
• http://blog.gaming.stackexchange.com/files/2011/05/nexus_0.jpg
• https://cdn1.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/rx3WR65cmncWySHYdy3oaw16eGI=/0x17:700x484/1310x873/cdn0.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/50496089/uhhhh.0.png
• http://s3wc0.goplay.com/wysiwyg/2016/02/26/inhibitor-LOL.jpg
• http://vignette2.wikia.nocookie.net/leagueoflegends/images/d/d6/Minions.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20141107214159
• http://pre11.deviantart.net/aa5b/th/pre/f/2015/186/9/1/pixelol___teemo_animated_by_serklaz-d903dnv.png
• http://vignette4.wikia.nocookie.net/leagueoflegends/images/d/d6/Teemo_Render.png/revision/latest?cb=20150416175359
• http://vignette4.wikia.nocookie.net/leagueoflegends/images/1/1d/Fire_Dragon_Ingame.png/revision/latest?cb=20160420053204
• http://vignette3.wikia.nocookie.net/leagueoflegends/images/6/6c/Air_Dragon_Ingame.png/revision/latest?cb=20160420050520
• http://vignette4.wikia.nocookie.net/leagueoflegends/images/c/c4/Water_Dragon_Ingame.png/revision/latest?cb=20160420052104
• http://image2.redbull.com/rbcom/010/2016-06-20/1331801643319_2/0010/1/1500/1000/2/the-cloud-drake-not-up-to-scratch.jpg
• http://lkimg.zamimg.com/assets/000/002/479.png
• http://de.easy-lol.com/images/articleImages/elementalDragons/elder-dragon.jpg
• http://vignette2.wikia.nocookie.net/leagueoflegends/images/f/f0/BaronSquare.png/revision/latest?cb=20141023045837&path-prefix=de
• http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-pbdlkcLbbuo/VjPIRO71LhI/AAAAAAAAzpM/5PaCEOv_HXk/s1600/SRURiftHerald_Circle.png
• http://vignette3.wikia.nocookie.net/leagueoflegends/images/1/1e/Rift_Herald.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20151213174828
• http://vignette3.wikia.nocookie.net/leagueoflegends/images/5/5b/Baron_Nashor_VU.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20140618120136
• http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-uxnxaxOC-aw/VM_lNb9qsdI/AAAAAAAAjMc/vcW6c8eXJzM/s1600/blueeoff.jpg
• http://i.imgur.com/TPfw18d.png
• https://images.alphacoders.com/574/574521.jpg
• http://i.imgur.com/0b2KH5j.png
• https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-E_pm3Tdxthw/VwhU2SpzihI/AAAAAAAANUY/8e4hq5xCx8I0muVluWXftx--h0Eqs1sgQ/s1600/zhonyas.jpg
Sources Used

League of Legends
Part 3: Understanding the Basics of LoL (2/2)

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;
Kyle Lowry
Point Guard

i) Point guard;
ii) Shooting guard;
Kyle Lowry
Point Guard
Demar Derozan
Shooting Guard

i) Point guard;
ii) Shooting guard;
iii) Small forward;
Demarre Carroll
Small Forward
Kyle Lowry
Point Guard
Demar Derozan
Shooting Guard

i) Point guard;
ii) Shooting guard;
iii) Small forward;
iv) Power forward; and
Jared Sullinger
Power Forward
Demarre Carroll
Small Forward
Kyle Lowry
Point Guard
Demar Derozan
Shooting Guard

i) Point guard;
ii) Shooting guard;
iii) Small forward;
v) Center
Jonas Valanciunas
Center
Jared Sullinger
Power Forward
Demarre Carroll
Small Forward
Kyle Lowry
Point Guard
Demar Derozan
Shooting Guard

i) Point guard;
ii) Shooting guard;
iii) Small forward;
v) Center
Each position plays its own unique
role on the team, and are defined by
certain generic traits*.
Just a tall dude
Center
Main rebounder
Power Forward
Versatile player
Small Forward
Enables the team
Point Guard
Shoots a lot
Shooting Guard
*I’ve simplified the positions. Like, really simplified them.

i) Point guard;
ii) Shooting guard;
iii) Small forward;
v) Center
certain generic traits.
In LoL, there are five positions:
i) Top Lane;
ii) Jungle;
iii) Mid Lane;
iv) Attack Damage Carry (Bot Lane); and
v) Support (Bot Lane)
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!

i) Point guard;
ii) Shooting guard;
iii) Small forward;
v) Center
In LoL, there are five positions:
i) Top Lane;
ii) Jungle;
iii) Mid Lane;
iv) Attack Damage Carry (Bot Lane); and
v) Support (Bot Lane)
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.

i) Point guard;
ii) Shooting guard;
iii) Small forward;
v) Center
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).

i) Point guard;
ii) Shooting guard;
iii) Small forward;
v) Center
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
Poppy
Keeper of the Hammer
Key Skill: Keeper’s Verdict
After 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
Poppy
Keeper 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
Gnar
The 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
Gnar
The 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
opponents in Lanes.
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
opponents in Lanes.
Camps.
far away.
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
opponents in Lanes.
Camps.
far away.
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
opponents in Lanes.
Camps.
Common Jungle Champions
Lee Sin
The Blind Monk
Key Skill: Dragon’s Rage
Lee 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
opponents in Lanes.
Camps.
Lee Sin
The 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
opponents in Lanes.
Camps.
Olaf
The Berserker
Key Skill: Ragnarok
Olaf 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
Orianna
The Lady of Clockwork
Key Skill: Command: Shockwave
This 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!
Orianna
The Lady of Clockwork
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!
Viktor
The Machine Herald
Key Skill: Chaos Storm
Viktor 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
Jhin
The Virtuoso
Jhin 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)
Jhin
The Virtuoso
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)
Ezreal
The Prodigal Explorer
Key Skill: Trueshot Barrage
Ezreal 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)
Ezreal
The 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
Zyra
Rise of the Thorns
Key Skill: Stranglethorns
Zyra 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.

Alistar
The Minotaur
Key Skill: Pulverize
Alistar 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.

Alistar
The 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 Legends
Part 4: How to Watch a Game of League of Legends

Having come this far, and having learned this
much, it must be apparent by now just how
much information has to be organized and
processed during a game of LoL.

Even as a spectator, it’s important to be able
to separate the important information from
the extraneous. This will help make sure that
the viewing experience is still enjoyable, and
doesn’t become a struggle.

This current slide is a direct screen-grab of a
RiotGames production, and shows the Heads-
Up Display (“HUD”) that’s used on the
broadcast.

Now that you know the basics to the game,
it’ll be easy to simply walk you through the
layout of the HUD, and explain where certain
information is shown, and when you should
pay attention to it.

This is the team score bar.
Moving left-to-right, it highlights:
These are the most generic statistics, and can
be used to assess how well each team is
generally doing.

1
Quick Hits:
• The icons directly under a team’s
acronym represent the different Drake
buffs that the team has acquired.
• The greyed silhouette to the side of
the acronyms will be coloured in when
the team has an active Baron Nashor
buff.
1. The neutral buffs acquired by the team;

2. The number of towers destroyed by the team;
1 2
Quick Hits:
• Each team has 11 towers in total.
• Comparing the number of towers
destroyed can help assess which
team has more control of the map.
• The less towers a team has
destroyed, the more “on-map” gold
exists (consider this when comparing gold
leads).

3. The overall accumulated gold by the team; and
1 2 3
Quick Hits:
• Differences in gold are more impactful
in the early-game.
• Never look at this number in isolation
(Try to understand why it exists. Differences in gold
can only exist through kills, assists, towers taken,
and creep score. Is the gold lead a function of
individual outperformance, or macro-play
outperformance?).

1 2 3
If you ask me, this is the only statistic that
will change frequently, and will require your
attention.
With that in mind, you don’t really have to
pay attention to this part of the HUD all that
often!

4. The number of kills secured by the team.
1 2 3 4
Quick Hits:
• This number represents the most
basic indicator of a team’s
performance.
• It should never really be assessed on
its own.

This is the individual statistics table.
This area highlights the key individual
statistics for each player.
Lane match-ups are presented side-by-side,
and move from Top Lane down to Support.
Checking this part of the HUD can help you
assess which lanes are being won by which
team. This may help you think about who the
priority targets on either team might be.

1. The items owned by the player;
Quick Hits:
• You can see the portraits of all items
owned by a player here.
• There are over 180 unique items in
LoL, many of which have multiple
passive effects, as well as over 25
items with unique activatable effects.
1

1
Keep an eye out for the following items,
though! Their activatable effects can really
change the course of a battle!
Shoots the player forward.
Great for quick positioning!
Hextech
Protobelt-01
Removes stuns on a selected
ally target.
Mikael’s
Crucible
Turns the user invulnerable, but
they also can’t do anything!
Zhonya’s
Hourglass
Removes stuns and slowing
affects on self.
Quicksilver
Sash

2. The player’s kills, deaths, and assists (“KDA”)
Quick Hits:
• To see how active a player as been in
fights, add up their kills and assists,
and compare the number against the
teams total kills above.
• It’s important to not look at KDA in a
vacuum. For example, if a Support
player is getting all of the kills, that
means they’re taking away gold
earned from delivering the killing blow
to an enemy from their ADC.
21

2. The player’s kills, deaths, and assists (“KDA”);
3. The number of Minions killed by the player
(“creep score”, or “CS”).
Quick Hits:
• Remember that killing a Minion gives
an average of 19 gold.
• During the beginning of a game when
players are less likely to roam out of
their Lanes, you can look to this
number to assess who is winning in
the Lane.
31 2

2. The player’s kills, deaths, and assists (“KDA”);
3. The number of Minions killed by the player
(“creep score”, or “CS”);
Remember that all Champions in LoL are
unique and have their owns strengths and
weaknesses.
Some Champions are relatively ill-suited for
the Laning Phase (the time before
teammates start grouping up), but are
dominant in big team fights!
31 2

These are the team status boxes.
There are a number of key
visualizations to keep track of:
Make it a habit to check these boxes often.
They communicate some of the most
information available on the HUD.
Many of the visualizations here communicate
information involving timings (cooldowns on
Ultimate Skills, and Summoner Spells).
The more-informed viewer will have a general
sense of the cooldown times for certain
Ultimate Skills, and Summoner Spells, and will
therefore likely spend less time making sense
of this information.

1. Respawn timers;
Quick Hits:
• If a Champion’s portrait is greyed-out,
that means that they’re dead.
• The red number beneath indicates
how many seconds are left before the
Champion respawns back by their
Nexus.
• You can quickly glance at these timers
to see for how long a team may have
a number’s advantage.
1

1. Respawn timers;
Remember that LoL is an objective-based
game that only ends when a Nexus is
destroyed. To ensure a game will eventually
end, the duration of respawn timers
increases as the game goes on.
Eventually it’ll take over a minute to
respawn!
1

1. Respawn timers;
2. Ultimate Skill cooldowns;
2
Quick Hits:
• Every Champion has a portrait of their
Ultimate Skill on the top corner.
• The portrait will be greyed-out
whenever it is on cooldown.
• The relative time remaining on an
Ultimate Skills cooldown is indicated
by the clockwise re-colouring of the
portrait
• Note, how EDG PawN’s Ultimate Skill
is about a three-quarters of the
cooldown length away from becoming
usable again.

1. Respawn timers;
2
Some Champions are heavily reliant on
their Ultimate Skills. As such, if a team
enters a fight with one of their main
Ultimate Skills on cooldown, they’ll be at a
huge disadvantage!
Professional players have many of these
cooldowns memorized, and will try to force
a fight if they know they have the
advantage in this regard.

1. Respawn timers;
3. Summoner Spell cooldowns;
3
Quick Hits:
• Summoner Spells are often used to
enable high-impact outplays.
• An ADC under pressure can Flash to
safety, or Heal to stay alive.
• The cooldown indicator for Summoner
Spells is identical to that of Ultimate
Skills.
• Note, how Ezreal’s Flash and Heal
Summoner Spell cooldowns have just
started their cooldowns. This leaves
him vulnerable for the next little while.

1. Respawn timers;
It should come as no surprise at this point
for me to tell you that professional players
have the cooldowns on Summoner Spells
memorized.
If they ever see one used, they’ll
communicate this to their team so that they
can all start timers in their heads.
3

1. Respawn timers;
4. Health and Mana bars.
4
Quick Hits:
• Players are able to see the Health
and Mana bars above all Champions
whenever they are in vision.
• If a Champion is low on Mana, that
means they will likely have to rely on
basic attacks, thus putting them at a
disadvantage.
• If a Champion is low on Health, that
means they are closer to death, and
must play cautiously, or retreat back
to their base to heal.

This is the key events notification
area.
There are three components to
items that pop up here:
Whenever any major event happens
(Champion kills, Epic Camp kills, Turret kills),
they will show up here for a few seconds.
When things on the screen start to get chaotic
and disorganized, use this area to act as a
summary of what’s happening.

Quick Hits:
• Remember, that the Champion who
deals the killing blow typically receives
(bonus) gold.
• In case you forget which team the
specific Champion is on, you can look
at the coloured glow around the
portrait to see if they’re on the Blue or
Red team.
1
area.
1. The Champion who dealt the
killing blow;

Quick Hits:
• Key events only revolve around
Champions, Turrets, Inhibitors, and
Epic Camps.
• During chaotic team fights, keep an
eye on this area to see if any priority
Champions have been killed.
2
area.
killing blow;
2. What was destroyed or killed

Quick Hits:
• Any Champion that participates in a
key event will be rewarded with a
small amount of gold and experience.
• However, because the gold is shared,
sometimes it may be wise to funnel
the gold to Champions that need it to
scale.
3
area.
killing blow;
2. What was destroyed or killed
3. The Champions that assisted

This is the Epic Camp timer.
There really isn’t much to say
here. These visualizations help
keep track of when the next Epic
Camp will spawn.
You can expect big team fights to
happen when these are alive.

Now you’re all set to watch the best two
teams in the world go head-to-head at the
Grand Finals of the 2016 League of Legends
World Championships!

You may not totally understand everything
that’s going on…
…but don’t be discouraged – the more you
watch, the more you’ll learn!

And the more you learn, the more you’ll
understand.

And the more you understand, the more
you’ll enjoy!

https://www.twitch.tv/riotgames
https://gaming.youtube.com/user/RiotGamesInc
Visit one of these two
channels on October
29th, 2016 to watch!
Opening ceremonies
begin at 7:00PM EST,
and coverage of the
games start at 7:30PM
EST.

League of Legends Primer - Consolidated

Empfohlen

Empfohlen

Weitere ähnliche Inhalte

Was ist angesagt?

Was ist angesagt? (12)

Andere mochten auch

Andere mochten auch (20)

Ähnlich wie League of Legends Primer - Consolidated

Ähnlich wie League of Legends Primer - Consolidated (20)

Kürzlich hochgeladen

Kürzlich hochgeladen (20)

League of Legends Primer - Consolidated