Challenger is the highest rank in League of Legends and is one of the biggest achievements for any ordinary League of Legends player. For many, the rank might seem like something that is out of reach and generally unachievable. However, this could not be further from the truth. As with many other things, talent does play a role here, however, there are many things you can do to get to Challenger, even if you are a mere mortal.
In this article, we will go over all the core gameplay elements that are key to becoming a good player. This will include things such as champion and lane mastery, lane fundamentals, objective control, and teamfighting!
Champion and Lane Mastery
To become a challenger, it’s necessary to do almost everything correctly. Therefore, the greatest way to minimize the amount of variables we need to focus on is to play a single champion. Playing only one champion enables us to rapidly learn all the ins and outs of the given pick, and become much more proficient than our enemies.
Likewise, it’s always exponentially better to focus on playing a single lane rather than multiple lanes at once. Since each lane has its own rules and challenges, playing only one role significantly reduces the amount of knowledge we need to absorb and master.
Lane Fundamentals
Once you have chosen your role, you can begin chipping away at all the small skills that make a player great in the designated role. The list of these skills is quite extensive, and it comprises things such as trading patterns, wave management, recall timing and roam timing.
To make the journey of mastering these skills easier, it’s a good idea to absorb knowledge from all possible sources. Some of the greatest places for upskilling in League of Legends are our website, but also Twitch and YouTube. These platforms host plenty of content creators with amazing educational livestreams and guides.
Objectives
Objectives are the primary keys to securing a victory in League of Legends. Therefore, they deserve a special place in our League of Legends study plan. There are several things to focus on when considering whether to take an objective or not. Here is a good list of questions to ponder about when taking a dragon for example.
- Do we have enough damage to kill the dragon?
- Does the enemy have enough force to contest the dragon?
- If the enemy is strong enough, what is the cost we will have to pay for the dragon?
All of these questions can be slightly modified and pointed towards any other objective in the game. Additionally, as you gain more experience in the game, your thought process will clarify and the decisions you make will be much faster and much higher quality.
Team fighting
Finally, the last gameplay element we have to consider is teamfighting. When honing this skill, we always think about several things. Here are some good examples. What is my role in the fight? When should I engage? Who should I focus on? Is there anyone on my team that requires peeling and protection. These kinds of questions will put us in the right frame of mind for learning, and allow us to achieve the most growth possible over time.
Final Thoughts
Congrats, you have taken your first steps towards obtaining the challenger rank in League of Legends. The guide presented was really short, however, there is hardly a resource that could cover the entire process of ascending through the League other than some 500-page book.
Anyhow, the outlined information is enough to start your challenger climb journey. With enough practice and refinement of the mentioned concepts, you are bound to see incredible results!