[Video]League of Legends Top Fails of the Year - 2013

Enjoy The Video Guys

Read more »

[Video Guide] League of Legends - Jinx Build - with Commentary

Get Excited about Mini-gunning your way to victory! Jinx Build and Guide!

Items-
-Dorans Blade lvl 1 (sell late)
-Bloodthirster
-Berserker Greaves
-Last Whisper
-Phantom Dancer
-Infinity Edge
-Guardian Angel

-get BotrK over Last whisper if enemy team is stacking Health.

Runes-
-Attack Damage Marks
-Armor Seals
-Magic Resist per lvl Glyphs
-Lifesteal Quints

Read more »

The Best LoL Match Ever Played

Watch the best League of Legends game ever played as team CLG EU goes up against Team WE (Formerly World Elite) in game 2 of IPL5.

Read more »

The ten best pubstomping champions in League of Legends and how to counter them

I have compiled a list of what I believe to be the best pubstomping characters for solo playing League of Legends in 2011. What I mean by pubstomp is the champions that are easiest to obtain multiple kills on with less skill and effort than the enemy team. You have little justification to pick the characters on this list, unless you're a tryhard =3

Please bear in mind, this list is for normal games only. This has nothing to do with ranked or elo, just stomping in a casual match. By no means will any of these characters have the same effect in a ranked game.

This list is now outdated, it was accurate during 2011.

I have also provided some general tips on how to play against and counter these overpowered champions, since it's likely you'll encounter at least one on this list every couple of games. Bear in mind, this advice might not be too useful, they are the most overpowered after all.

I had trouble choosing the top 5, so it's open to interpretation. But in my experience all of the characters in this list deserve to be here.

Honourable mentions:
There are a few other noteworthy characters who might of gotten into the charts, such as Annie, Evelynn, Akali, Rumble, and Master Yi. After careful deliberation and recent patch notes, I made my decisions. Most of them didn't make the list because they can be a little more tricky to play, which means they aren't faceroll.
 
Top ten overpowered Champions and how to counter them

10. Mordekaiser

Why he's overpowered: Morde is classed mostly as a soak, but he can also put out an incredible amount of damage. Lane control is quite often granted to those of Mordekaiser status, because of his big bad shield. While he isn't really considered viable in ranked, it's not uncommon to see this guy fending off hordes of scrubs and carrying in normal games.

How to counter him: 

• In the laning phase try to auto-attack his shield down when you get a good opportunity. Use your abilities to damage him when his shield is low, to work on his health.
• He doesn't use mana, so the only way to stop him is to kill him or deny/harass him. If you can prevent him reaching creeps he won't be able to charge his shield, making him very vulnerable.
• Mordekaiser has a long range on his ultimate, and it does a fair bit of damage. If he has ignite it will really do a number on you, so beware.
• In the early team fights it is vital you kill higher priority weaker targets before taking him down, since he can be quite difficult to kill. Use your best judgement.

9. Malzahar

What makes him overpowered: Malzahar is one annoying bastard. He is granted rank nine on the list purely because of his ultimate, which is a guaranteed kill on practically anyone. The rest of his abilities are surprisingly lacklustre, but they compliment his stupidly OP stun. A good malz in mid will get first blood at level 6 most of the time, since there are almost no characters in the game that can stand up to his Stun+DoT+AoE combo.

How to counter him:

• When facing Malzahar in the lane, you can win fairly easily with your lanemate by double teaming him.
• If you're fighting Malzahar in mid, stay out of his range when he hits level 6. If you can harass him without being ultied, try to send him away. If not, call for a gank or ignore him and farm away. 
• A little magic resist like Banshee's veil or Force of nature will make him target someone else or make you laugh as you shrug off his pathetic combo.
• I thought it would be straightforward, but avoid his silence and AoE like the plague. You gotta be stupid to stand in the purple voidy stuff anyways. His pet shouldn't be too much of a problem. 
• If you can exhaust him before he ults, it will do no damage. Edit: Someone kindly pointed out his ult is a suppression, so even if you have cleanse, sadly you're still fucked.

8. Xin Zhao

Why he's overpowered:  Although some recent changes have somewhat nerfed Xin, he still remains one of the best Champions to win your lane. With an awesome gap closer and faceroll knockup, enemies will be eating your spear as you carry your team to victory.

How to deal with him:

• Xin's passive allows him to regenerate health when attacking, so don't let him get near creeps if you have harassed him.
• Once you learn the range he can leap on you from, take advantage of this knowledge and kite him.
• Stay near towers because getting surprised by Xin isn't pleasant.
• Don't bunch up in team fights, spread out a little so Xin can't hit multiple targets with his ultimate.

7. Swain

Why he's faceroll: If you haven't laned against Swain, you can count yourself lucky. This guy is one of the most rageworthy champs in the game. His AoE snare deals substantial damage, and combined with the DoT Swain is capable of killing weaker players early game. He trades that all in at level 6 for the godmode hat of douchery, since his ultimate heals him incredibly quickly. Those idiots who have trouble controlling the toggle on Swains crows and can't land a stun still get kills, which is why he is rank 7 on the list.

How to kick his ass:

• Before you get boots, it's difficult to avoid his snare, so make it hard for him to land it on you. When you have boots, you can screw around with him by moving unpredictably. 
• A lot of his damage is DoT
• His ultimate gives him a ridiculous amount of health per tick, it can require a team effort to take him down, or an ignite. Try to burn his mana if you can't finish the kill.
• Swain is almost defenseless against heavy DPS carries, he moves slowly and they can slaughter him mid to late game.

6.  Irelia

Why she's rollface: With a gap closer that resets every last hit, farming on Irelia can be like a creep hoover. Hiten style allows for a little lifesteal to help in the lane and some true damage for good measure. Her ultimate is amazing at shooting down runners, and she is surprisingly tanky. Due to some comments, I have replaced Yi with Irelia, since it seems like a logical trade.

How to subdue her:

• As usual, the best way to shut down a carry like Irelia is to deny her farm and experience.
• Don't waste time using stuns and silences on her in a teamfight, just burst her down.
• She is an excellent 1v1 champion, don't approach her unless you know you can win.
• Irelia can shoot several missiles for a lot of damage. They can be quite easily avoided if you strafe.

5.  Jax

Why he's overpowered: Jax is a whore. You can jump him with 2 people, get him to 10% health, then he'll one shot the both of you and take your tower. His burst is so ridiculous he can eat tanks in seconds, and weaker targets just dissapear. Fear the Jax, fear him.
He isn't the most mobile of characters, but that's more than made up for by his damage.

How to counter him:

• To stand up to Jax toe to toe you need to be fairly tanky. He can be bursted down, but beware he can easily take a squishier character down with him. 
• I know I've mentioned Exhaust a lot, but it is a very useful spell to shut down annoying pubstomping champions. Yes, it works wonderfully on Jax.
• Before level 6 he is very weak, and with a little co-ordination you and your lanemate can harass him out of the lane several times.
• Don't leave him to cruise around destroying your team, focus on shutting him down.

4. Tryndamere

Why he melts face: Everyone knows the Tryndaking. His 'R' is arguably the best ultimate in the game, 5 seconds of wtf he can't die. I've seen people play tank on Tryndabling and still get a godly score while carrying the team. Up until level 6 he's nothing special, but after that a good player can't really die on him if cautious. What makes him rank four on the top overpowered list however, is not his ultimate. When Tryndamere gets on you, slows your ass, then start critting you like Batman you know it's all over.

How to combat him:

• He always has his ultimate up, trust me. 
• Ignite him before his ulti wears off, it will usually finish him.
• Be wary of tower dives, Tryndamere can and will do it at level 6. If you can kite him around the turret, it could backfire on him.
• Don't waste time nuking him while his ulti is up, focus other targets instead.
• If you face him when he casts his slow, it will reduce your attack damage but you won't be slowed. If you can abuse this, it makes it much easier to kite him.

3. Nunu

Why he's wtfOP: With unstoppable lane staying power and a hard hitting slow, Nunu earnt his place as rank 3 in the overpowered chart. In a normal game his ultimate turns the tide of team fights, and is easy to place. At max rank Nunu's snowball and speed increase is awesome for setting up ganks and teamfights. There's nothing to aim, it's near impossible to die if you're playing cautious, and you can harass/kill most champions in the lane.

How to beat him down:

• If you're quick, you can escape his ultimate before it's fully charged. Flash is excellent for this.
• Eating creeps restores a massive chunk of Nunus health, if you can force him back, you can keep him on the defensive.
• Beware if Nunu is missing, he is very fast and his snowball makes it very hard to escape.
• Silence or stun his ultimate, it will do no damage if you interrupt it early.
• In a teamfight focus his allies first. Besides his ult, Nunu has little utility in a 5v5 situation.

2. Udyr

Why he's godly: With a slight buff recently, Udyr is now terrifying. If you find yourself fed on this guy, you've pretty much won. Towers, Nexus, Players, or Baron, it's all dead if it tries to face the stance shifting bear man.What surprises me, is how underplayed this guy is. His turtle stance has something like a 2 second cooldown, which makes him a good soak, practically as good as Mordekaiser. Tiger stance is where it's at, it places a powerful DoT on everything, including towers. I think a lot of people just don't know how to play him, but you'll want to when you see an Udyr go 10-0 in 3v3.

How to fight him:

• If he's jungling, put some wards up and gank him early game.
• Don't waste time trying to harass him in the lane, he can heal and shield himself. Either attack his lanemate or burst him down.
• Udyr is incredibly vulnerable to kiting. It is the best way to survive his burst. Flash is also excellent.
• Seize control of the game early on and don't allow it to get to late game. A fully built Udyr is a wrecking ball.

1. Katarina

Katarina statistics on Lolbase are better than any other champion

 Why she's an overpowered bitch: Now we're down to the rank 1, I can really start complaining. Katarina takes no skill at all, yet kills fall into your lap faster than a drunk ugly chick at a party. Her ultimate is spin to win kill everything nearby except tanks, and to top it all off, she can teleport directly onto enemies for optimal spinnage. All of Kats abilities reset cooldown upon killing an enemy, so the more you faceroll the more you can faceroll wut? Seriously, if you can't succeed on Kat you really need some practice, kills are easy pickings. If you want to learn more about her, take a look here.

How to not get killed by her:

• Her ultimate cooldown is supershort, so have a disable ready every time you encounter her.
• Early game her damage output isn't very good, and she can't farm very well. Capitalize on this by denying her experience and gold.
• Don't let her farm throughout the game and she won't be a threat.
• Exhaust stops her ult killing your entire team. 
• She can use shunpo to escape easily, try to see which creep/champion she is going to teleport to before she does it.
• Don't risk standing in the ultimate, unless you're a tank

Read more »

[League Of Legends]Top Team Comps #35: Ideal Preseason 4 Blind Pick 5 Man Team

While it might not be the most interesting title I've ever made, this team composition will be fairly straightforward. Basically, it's a team composition that has extremely good group synergy, strong lane presence, and will likely do well against any team that isn't trying as hard as you guys. 

SUGGESTED LINEUP Top: Shyvana Mid: Swain Jungle: Jarvan IV AD Carry: Sivir Support: Taric

ADVANTAGES: - Strong AOE damage - Strong 1v1 burst damage - High CC potential - Extremely tanky - Strong engagement - Good Arpen synergy

DISADVANTAGES: - AD Heavy - Low AP Burst damage - Low poke ability

Overall Strength: Very strong
Difficulty to Counter: Hard
Difficulty to Execute: Medium
Fear Potential: Very Scary

STRATEGY:

1. Focus on Bot/Mid Lane
In this case, Shyvana will likely be able to outpush and outduel any top laner even if she falls slightly behind early. This means that Jarvan should focus on bot lane and mid lane, which both have strong CCs to assist on ganks.

2. Keep Top Lane Pushed
The key here is to force the enemy jungler to assist top lane, while Jarvan pummels the crap out of bot and mid. Eventually, once Taric gets enough assists he'll be able to 1v2 all their squishies while the rest of your team does their duty. (Gotta love pre-season balance changes on supports)

COUNTER-STRATEGY
In order to easily beat this team, it's really a matter of keeping Shyvana in check. (Even though this plays straight into their strategy.) You can't leave Shyvana free farming top, since she'll if she gets any opening, she can take down a turret with ease.

Here's a sample team that would do well:

Top: Olaf - To beat Shyvana you need someone who can out-tank, outsustain,  perma CC, and out-duel her. As of this point, Olaf is your best bet.
Mid: Galio - Although he's not an ideal pick against so much AD damage since he scales majorly with magic resist, he's still a very good pick here as he's one of the few champions that has the ability to keep up with Swain in lane, and his ultimate is no joke. He'll also be excellent for keeping Shyvana off your carries.
Jungle: Amumu - I'm still a huge fan of Amumu. Since the composition focuses heavily on chaining CCs together, the harder you can hit them with your own CCs, the more your allies can get away to safety.
AD Carry: Twitch - With his true damage passive, he'll be able to pump a lot more through Taric's armor aura than other AD carries and he also does decently against Sivir. Also, with Gallio + Amumu's lockdown, he'll get to maximize his ultimate.
Support: Leona - Just as Taric does well against Leona, Leona does well against Taric.

Overall, this team will have less damage, but higher CC potential, which can also be very fun.

Read more »

Phreak Explains How Armor/Magic Penetration Work

 Earlier today RiotPhreak gave a brief recap on how penetration currently works. Since it seems like a lot of people are still a little confused on how the current calculations work, let's take a look!

Note that they may change this some time in the future, but as far as Season 4 goes, no plans as far as I know.


Penetration Summary

    Percentage based penetration always factors in before flat penetration;
    Flat reduction is calculated before Percentage reduction;
    Reduction is calculated before penetration
    "Penetration" cannot drop resist/armor below 0;
    "Reduction" can drop resist/armor below 0;
    Dropping below 0 is rare, as that means you have more reduction than they have resists not including penetration.

Magic Penetration Calculation Order

    Flat Magic Reduction (Abyssal Scepter, Fiddlesticks Passive)
    Percentage Magic Reduction (Karthus Wall of Pain)
    Percentage Magic Penetration (Void Staff, Xerath's Locus of Power)
    Flat Magic Penetration (Haunting Guise, Sorcerer's Shoes)

Armor Penetration Calculation Order

    Flat Armor Reduction (Nasus Spirit Fire)
    Armor Reduction Percentage (Black Cleaver, Jarvan's Dragon Strike)
    Armor Penetration Percentage (Last Whisper)
    Flat Armor Penetration (Brutalizer)

Here's Phreak's explanation on it, which includes some number examples:

First, % penetration works first. So if I have a Void Staff/Last Whisper, I pretend your MR/Armor is only 65% of what it really is. Then I factor in things like Brutalizer/Sorc Shoes/Haunting Guise. Those things work additively. So for example, if you had 200 MR and I had Void/Sorc/Haunting, Void reduces 200 to 130, then Sorc/Haunting reduce that 130 to 100.

So instead of dealing 1/3 damage (fighting 200 MR) you deal 1/2 damage (fighting 100 MR). Thus, the passives result in you dealing 50% more damage than before.

Note that penetration can only go so far. What I mean is that, if you have exactly 100 flat magic pen, it will only give you at most 100% bonus damage (your opponent has 100 MR). If your opponents have any more or less than 100 magic resist, you will get slightly lower returns.

Example: You have 100 MR, so I deal half damage. With 100 magic pen, I deal full damage, aka double what I would have before. If you have 200 MR, I deal 1/3 damage. I reduce that with my 100 magic pen to 100 MR, and I now deal 1/2 damage, so 50% more than before. If you have 50 MR, I deal 2/3 damage. With 100 magic pen, I deal full damage, or 50% more than before.

I hope those all made sense.
Mathematically this isn't true; they roughly equal out. If you had 80 base armor and bought Thornmail, and I bought Last Whisper, your armor went from 80 to 180, then I reduced it to 117. Obviously we each got some extra stats (damage return, 40 AD), but it's pretty easy to see that while % pen is useful, it does not completely devastate tank items.

Read more »

[league Of Legends] Let's Talk Talon

In the latest rendition of the solo queue tier list, I've placed Talon as god tier. Naturally, I've gotten my share of questioning stares, as it seems Talon isn't particularly loved by the League community...

Exhibit 1: Haters

"Frankly He Blows"

What? LOL...if I was one of those professional YouTube stars this would be where I embed a video stringing together 5 Talon 1v5 pentakills together with some sick action music. But since I'm not, here are some more pictures and words.

Exhibit 2: Win Rates

If you look at anywhere between Bronze and Platinum, you'll notice that Talon sadly enough doesn't appear in the top champions...however, if you take a peek at diamond and...peekaboo! Check out who makes his way to the top.

Seems to me that there's a level of knowledge that needs to be high enough to use him correctly, but also highly rewards people that learn it.

Talon Pros and Cons

Pros

• High AOE damage; 
• Great synergy with popular champions that shred armor like Jarvan, Taric, and Wukong (especially if Talon builds black cleaver); 
• Strong poke;
• INSANE waveclear;
• Great roaming potential

Cons

• Squishy champion;
• No true escapes;
• Can be countered by Zhonyas.

Why Talon is Good

Talon is a champion touted as offering "no counterplay". This means that it's kill or be killed once he silences you. If he can burst you down, then naturally, you instantly die. As a result of this silence, he's an excellent anti-mage and counters a lot of common champions mid like Lux, Nidalee, and Kassadin. 

However, a lot of people mistakenly think that this means that they can go head-to-head with these champions at any point in the game, which simply isn't true. In order to beat them, it requires strong knowledge of when to poke and when to go all in with Talon.

He's better when his food is seen more often on the rift. Talon's a prime example of a "cycle" champion. Since most assassins have been nerfed, this means that poke heavy, skillshot oriented squishy mages are back on the field...Talon's ultimate prey. While he doesn't do as well against tanky champions, his ability to burst down an enemy's back line is still one of the best in the game.

As long as he has enough damage to one shot his primary targets with his combo, he's good. If he doesn't, he's bad. Long story short, with the new masteries and the current set of popular champions (aka targets), he does.

How to Play Talon

1. Talon is an assassin with no true escapes. 

Compare this with champions like Zed, Fizz, Kassadin, and even Katarina, who have the ability to jump in and out of a battle.

This means he's much more unforgiving in a failed all-in.

As a result, a lot of summoners confuse lack of knowledge with playing a bad champ (and also explains his win rate at higher rankings versus average rankings). For example, you almost never want to engage on a squishy against an Amumu or near a Leona before they use a few of their CCs (and especially their ultimates). Although Talon can instantly kill a lot of squishies, a lot of squishies can also instantly kill Talon, especially if their butch friend is holding him down.

Just remember you need to play like a sneaky assassin, not like some broken fish who apparently can dodge bullets and ancient magic using a metal stick.

2. Talon is a champion that scales VERY nicely with armor penetration, and doesn't lose anything by building it early. 

• Your first two "damage" items should be Black Cleaver and Last Whisper; 
• This prevents you from snowballing, then doing 0 damage when their entire team builds armor and instagimps you using their base damage.
• He should still aiming for squishies, not tanks, despite building so much armor shred. He's not an AD carry, and excels at hitting the back line.

3. Talon is a roamer with a super lower cooldown on his ultimate and insanely good waveclear

Check out this win rate with boots of mobility. You'll almost always want to roam bot. Top is where the bruisers will wreck your day, sometimes even 2v1. On the other hand, if you go bot, you can easily chunk 2/3 of both of their health bars by yourself, and naturally 2 kills and dragon is better than being shown on reddit as part of of a video titled

"SICK RIVEN 1v2 OUTPLAY"

How to Counter Talon

Don't die (heh). Basically, once he gets his armor penetration items, your squishies will be easy targets if your team is low on CC. However, if your team is high on CC, make sure someone's carrying a pink ward or sweeper (I prefer pink ward) so that you can blast him down when he engages, although good Talons will avoid any major AOE CCs, so you'll have to watch specifically for him.

Always keep your river warded as well, since Talon's favorite hobby is roaming and insta-gimping. Don't rely on your mid-laner to call MIAs, since his wave clear is so insane that he can MIA every 3 seconds and be down in the river in 6 seconds.

On squishy AP mid laners be sure to get Zhonyas Hourglass, which will give you enough time to prevent his second part of his ultimate from hitting you, and also give some much needed armor. Seeker's armguard is also excellent for surviving early.

Unfortunately as most of you will probably find out, if he's already fed that's not going to help you since he can still easily burst down a squishy during the duration of his one second silence. He can also simply roam bottom and take down the champions without the extra armor.

Conclusions

While Talon might not be the insane faceroll champion he was during the League of Cleavers, he's definitely one of the stronger champions on the field of justice right now. Instead of asking for buffs, you should be asking yourself...why am I not spamming Talon games???

What are your thoughts on Talon? Comment below!

Read more »

Let's Talk Rammus...Why Is He OP?

I'd like for you all to meet Rammus. He's a ninja of few words, and his favorite movie is The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift. (R.I.P. Paul Walker). He has the HIGHEST win rate of all junglers on the rift, but for some reason people still haven't accepted the fact that he's insanely good...

Let's Talk Rammus

Advantages to Rammus

• Super fast moving ganks; 
• High mobility means more ganks faster; 
• Strong single target CC; 
• High base damage mitigation on skills;
• Damage scales with tankiness; 
• Natural tank, especially against AD carries; 

Disadvantages to Rammus

• "Low" late game damage; 
• No AOE CC; 
• Gap closer can be stopped by creeps; 
• Slow jungle clear speed; 

Rammus' Strengths In the Current Meta

In a meta where even mid laners want to be marksmen and champions like Riven, Nasus, and Jax reign supreme, this heavily armored armadillo can stack full armor and HP. This means that his passive and defensive ball curl bonuses are maximized higher than ever before. 

Not only that, but here are some more points to consider:

1. Champions like Kha'zix, Ahri, Graves, Zed, and Jayce have been nerfed out of popularity; this means he forces flashes with ease against popular champions with low or no escapes; 
2. The current state of homeguard and powerball give him a HUGE amount of ganking and jungling uptime, higher than any jungler. Even if he's unsuccessful and loses a lot of health on a failed gank he doesn't fall behind; and
3. People are trying harder to take down early turrets, but aren't warding to compensate...Rammus excels at taking down overextended targets. Even an ultra-fed marksmen will go down when he's CC'ed for 3 seconds straight.

Common Complaints About Rammus

1. "No Pros Play Rammus"

2. "Rammus is Easily Counter Jungled"

3. "Rammus is Weak Late Game"

1. No Pros Play Rammus 

 

2. Rammus is Easily Counter Jungled

Riot gave everyone in the game a free ward, combine that with a real ward, and your team will be in for an early first blood and a free enemy blue buff. If not, you're down 75 gold...not a big deal. He doesn't have a difficult time staying alive in camps anyway, unless you decided to start with powerball lvl 1 and get taunt level 2 for some obscure reason.

For those of you that say solo queue players probably won't help you, realize this: they probably won't help you ward, but if they see an idiot Lee Sin standing in a warded bush lvl 2 with a blue buff, there's no AP mid who's not willing to leave his lane to get it.

Look at this idiot...

3. Rammus is Weak Late Game

Believe it or not, some junglers aren't meant for dealing damage late game, and are instead used to soak damage and to peel for carries. Luckily, Rammus fits both these roles perfectly. While he might not have the damage to take down a tank by himself, he can easily smash a squishy or catch an enemy off-guard late game with his insane movespeed.

This means that when the 60 second death timers roll around, the first person Rammus catches with his homeguard + boots of mobility combo is going to be the target of a lot of rage. Combined with the fact that his combo is one of the fastest engages from the longest range in the game (okay Nocturne you win this time), the chances of someone getting caught out are pretty darn high.

Possible Future Threats to His OP Status

• Nerfs to any of his abilities or stats; 
• Nerf to homeguard; 
• Shift to higher mobility champions; 
• Double AP meta shift; 
• Higher ward coverage; 
• Stronger counterjunglers; 
• Changes in minion aggro AI;

Conclusions

Just look at this win rate, higher than Taric? Something definitely extraordinary about this champion...

Read more »

[League Of Legends]Supporting on a Budget - Beginner setups so you no longer say "I can't support"!

While I make Support Cards that cover most supports and how to build them, not everyone is interested in supporting as a main role (like myself and the target audience of those cards). Some people don't want to build 10 rune pages for all the different support combinations, and instead just want to be prepared in case they are left in the dreaded 5th pick and left to support, and can choose something other than AP Nid botlane.

So, here is going to be a short guide on the runes/masteries/setup/mindset to successful supporting when support really isn't your thing - and maybe you can find the joy and make it your thing! (not probable >_>). 

Item Set

First thing to create in your support build is your item set. You can make them individual to each support that you like if that is your thing, but since you aren't looking for some revolutional specialization, I would just make one support set and put it on all of your support champs. Mine looks like this: 

This has all the general items a support will get, not in any particular order but this will set the options up for you right in your face allowing you to easily see the tradeoffs between each build as most building as support is stream-of-consciousness (how much gold do I have to spend on this back?!?).

However, for those of you looking for an easy outline (a general idea) I would say for melee supports the typical build is philo -> sightstone -> boots 1 -> Aegis/Locket (depending on jungle) -> Mercs/Ninja tabi -> Shurelya's Reverie. For Ranged supports (except thresh who fits above) I go philo -> sightstone -> kage -> boots 1 -> cdr boots -> Twin shadows/Shard of true ice -> Shurelya's > Locket/Aegis. For both of those builds my ruby sightstone timing depends on when I leave lane rather than a specific time in the build order. 

Rune Setup

Alright runes is where supporting on a budget really comes from. For most people they would rather save up that IP for some sick top laner axe smasher rather than girly support runes. So, we're looking for 1 cheap page that can be made and used on all supports. For this I would go with my "Patoy" page. This is made up of: 

9x Magic Penetration Marks - most people will have these already from AP mid. 

9x Armor Seals - this is a MUST for bot lane and good in most roles, so a good pick up. 

5x flat Magic Resist, 4x flat Mana Regen Glyphs - you may have these from other roles, if not you can pick the MR up for 205 each and go for scaling mana regen for 205 each. This split gives good balance of MR for mid-late and mana regen for early. 

3x Gold per 10 Quints - This is the one cost for the support page, and it is worth it. 

This is a basic page that you can use on almost all supports to success. Other pages for specific supports often will be a bit more tuned to their use (as seen in the support card's runes), but this page can be used as it gives a good balance of all the stats the supports need to be successful and is built out of relatively cheap parts. 

Mastery Pages

Going with the theme from the item build above there are two main mastery pages I use, one for melee support (or when I'm going to harass a lot and get into the thick of things with a ranged support), and one for ranged support. 

Melee-Support Page: 

This is the standard def-utility mix page. You go for summoner cd, mana regen, and gold in utility. The one you can change around is summoner cd for maybe mana or item cooldown, this can be suited to your preferences but summoner cd is great on supports so you can flash on them and burn their flashes as well as exhaust a lot. The defensive portion is standard as well, you just go for armor > mr and hp & block. 

Ranged-Support Page:

This page is lesser used in general, a lot of people go 9/0/21 or 0/9/21 and I think that for the most part that is not useful, the extra few points in defense usually only surmount to a very negligible amount of hp since the s3 nerf to early defense tree, and the extra points in offensive are not as good as the extra utility points. This page sets you up with 10% cdr at level 1 which is great for most ranged supports, more shields and heals and fears. Also, as seen above most ranged supports are going to get active items such as twin shadows or shurelya's so item cooldown is a great mastery here as well. 

Support Mindset
While this isn't going to be the focus of this 'guide', I wanted to touch on some recurrences I see when people are forced to support who don't want to support (or are bad at support), so here are a few (circlejerky, sorry) slight tips for a quick "how to support" (note: if you wanted to learn more I have a large ppt about it and while its a bit dated the concepts are the same, here).

• In lane make a presence. Many people find support boring because they play support in a boring way, sitting in a bush waiting to Leona E or sitting back and Soraka healing only. Take opportunities to harass the opponent with ranged supports as their ADC goes to last hit. Threaten your stun or engage with melee supports as they farm. 
• If you want to play an aggressive lane, the first thing to do is ward. When you play forward at the creepline or even in front of it make sure you have strong ward coverage as this is when you are most vulnerable to ganks. It's a bit counterintuitive to the other roles but the most aggressive items aren't straight damage items but comprehensive wards and counter-wards. 
• Your teamfight role is not to execute low hp targets. Don't go around teamfights trying to finish opponents or chasing low hp people. I see Leona players do this all the time, your time is way better spent defending your squishies from bruisers than chasing down that one enemy who is fleeing (even if you may catch said enemy). 

Champs to Own

The last part for supporting on a budget is picking the support! After attending PAX East and talking to a bunch of LoL fans there I know that everyone has their own favorite wonky support (Malzahar! Xerath! etc.), this guide is aimed at ranked play and it will stay a bit more orthodox. These are a few cheap supports that give a variety of playstyles and thus can be picked in many situations, so you can have your bases covered while keeping the cost low (so you can afford more axe swingers!)

Soraka - 450 IP.

Soraka is cheap and solid ranged support. When first playing her you can play a bit passive test the waters heal heal heal, but as you gain more expertise you can start using your sustain to harass a ton with bananas and Infuse. Can be surprisingly thrilling. 

Taric - 1350 IP.

Taric is the cheap solid melee support. He has a concrete stun and high stats so he is very forgiving and imo the easiest support to learn. He is good if they have a squishy lane and you want to go a more burst-oriented support. 

Janna - 1350 IP.

Janna is a more advanced ranged support. Good at protecting carries and disengaging, Janna takes a bit more skill to master than Soraka, and can be a bit more viscerally rewarding. I would practice her a few times in norm but she is a great choice.

Leona - 4800 IP.

While Leona is a bit more expensive, for those who don't enjoy support Leona has always been the godsend. She is more viscerally pleasing and you can net more kills (like you are Darius!). She is good in an aggressive lane and if your team needs an initiator especially. 

Conclusion

That is all, I hope this was helpful to those people who are not big on support. Maybe people can take a break from Volibear support to see the complexity in positioning and making the most of every opportunity of a support like Janna and seeing why it is so satisfying. If you guys have any questions or comments or concerns you can leave me a note below.

Read more »

[League Of Legend] Low Elo Jungling with Udyr

Introduction

this guide I will be going over some of the building guide lines, champion matchups and some general jungling tips for playing Udyr in low elo games.
Udyr is a tanky DPS champion with no ultimate, capable of morphing into different animals at will to gain different bonuses on his auto attacks. Udyr can be really influential in solo queue games since most players underestimate how high his damage output is, making you able to perform highly effective ganks. Having a stun as one of your basic skills makes it a lot easier to get a kill whilst ganking, it all just comes down to your timing and jungle path. Making sure that you aren’t spotted by any wards or enemies can pretty much guarantee a successful gank. A gank is successful if you make the enemy player waste his summoner spells or in the best scenario if you get a kill or two.

Jungle Matchups

Instead of listing all jungle matchups, I'm going to list the most popular champions you can encounter in the jungle and some tips on how to gain an advantage over them.
Lee Sin with his high mobility and potential path route changes is a quite a tough match up, he can alter his jungling route to counter jungle you as much as possible, therefore you need good coverage for the buff that you decide to do second. Although Lee Sin has high mobility you can easily out duel him because of your stun.

Jarvan is a really easy match up against Udyr, he has a very slow jungle clear and mainly depends on his ganks to gain a potential advantage. You have to counter jungle him as much as possible due to the fact that he can't fight you at all, as he has a very poor duelling potential and therefore you should try and fight him as much as possible.

Nunu is potentially the best counter jungler in the game due to his "Consume" ability. He can inflict a lot of damage on you due to his ranged slow. Therefore you have to build an item that grants you tenacity to avoid the "Ice Blast". If you see Nunu firing up his ultimate you have to stun straight away to avoid as much damage as possible.

Shyvana is a very even match up against Udyr, she also has high mobility and a fast jungle clear. You can't underestimate her in a duel, although she lacks abilities with crowd control. She has got a high damage output so if you find yourself in a fight with her, you have to keep switching between your abilities to win that fight.

Nocturne is not a tanky champion in the early game, therefore you should contest his buffs as much as possible. You really need to keep your jungle timers right, if you go too early you're losing potential gold that you could be getting from a gank, which could also secure an objective such as dragon, a tower or by even clearing another jungle camp.

How to Build Udyr

I'm going to list some of the most influential items you can buy on Udyr to help you with your game, but most of the time the items you buy depend on the enemy team, who is fed and, most important of all, is what your team needs.
+500 Health
+10% Cooldown Reduction
+14 Health Regen per 5 seconds
+7 Mana Regen per 5 seconds
UNIQUE Passive - Butcher: Damage dealt to monsters increased by 30%.
UNIQUE Passive - Tenacity: Reduces the duration of stuns, slows, taunts, fears, silences, blinds, and immobilizes by 35%.
Spirit of the Ancient Golem is one of the most important jungle items you can get. Not only does it reduce slows but makes clearing out camps in the jungle a lot easier. It is really important you get this item early on, so that you can influence the lanes as much as possible and as early as possible.

+30 Attack Damage
+30 Ability Power
+30% Attack Speed
+10% Critical Strike Chance
+8% Movement Speed
+250 Health
+200 Mana
UNIQUE Passive - Rage: Basic attacks grant 20 Movement Speed for 2 seconds. Kills grant 60 Movement Speed instead. This Movement Speed bonus is halved for ranged champions.
UNIQUE Passive - Spellblade: After using an ability, the next basic attack deals bonus physical damage equal to 200% of base Attack Damage on hit (2 second cooldown).
Trinity Force is one of the strongest items in the game, any jungler that truly benefits from all the stats it gives should get it. Trinity Force is quite an expensive item, especially for a jungler considering how much gold you are getting. Therefore purchasing Trinity Force comes down to how well you are doing; if you are doing well you should definitely go for it so that your damage output increases and your ganks are even more deadly.

+30 Ability Power
+500 Mana
+70 Armor
+10% Cooldown Reduction
UNIQUE Passive - Spellblade: After using an ability, the next basic attack (on hit) deals bonus physical damage equal to 125% of base Attack Damage to enemies near the target, and creates a field around the target for 2 seconds that slows enemy Movement Speed by 30% (2 second cooldown, half-sized field if ranged).
Iceborn Gauntlet is a really strong, gank oriented item, with pretty much every single auto attack slowing down the opposition champion. His surroundings means that pretty much any gank you pull off will turn out to be successive.

Summary

Using these tips on how to build Udyr and how to play against certain matchups should make any player who wants to master Udyr a lot more confident before starting up that Solo Queue. Although you can learn all these things about what to build and how to play other champions, in the end it all comes down to your decision making. Deciding whether to gank bot lane or do red buff could be crucial at times, as much as you have to listen to your teammates and take what they say into consideration.
At the end of the day the final decision comes down to you, if you see a potential kill plus an objective at top lane, don’t go rushing down to bot just because people are mad at you since their lane is being bullied. You have to think in advance and make every step count and think about your overall goal, which is destroying the enemy nexus.

Read more »