Riot Games’ popular multiplayer online battle arena, League of Legends (LoL), has taken the world by storm. With more than a decade of rising popularity, the Rift continually welcomes new players into the game. However, the journey to full immersion does feature a steep learning curve.
At the heart of this learning process are the five distinct League of Legends roles. Specifically, a common question among many beginners is: What role should I play in LoL? This guide will dive into each position—top, bot, jungle, mid, and support—available to play in Runeterra.
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What Are The Roles In League Of Legends?
LoL boasts different roles that have steadfastly weathered evolving meta and gameplay changes over time. Grasping the distinct League of Legends roles and their strategic positioning within Summoner’s Rift is vital for any novice player.
Mid Lane
The mid lane acts as the team’s anchor, fostering stability amidst uncertainty. Its strategic location affords the mid laner fast response times, easy access to each lane, and thus a superior ability to rotate to skirmishes or secure objectives whenever required.
LoL mid laners typically belong to the Mage and Slayer classes, which can employ unique strategies to command lane priority.
Mages are renowned for their long-range and wave-clearing abilities, offering high damage and control, especially during the mid to late game. Conversely, Slayers adopt a more aggressive stance to initiate rotations, maintain pressure, and exploit the enemy team’s weaknesses.
Champions like Ahri, Annie, Fizz, and Neeko excel in the mid lane. This role’s flexibility, which can accommodate various champion classes and strategies in LoL, is one of its defining traits. A successful mid laner adeptly balances farming, lane pressure, and team support.
At the same time, falling behind can have team-wide implications, emphasizing this position’s significance. However, with their roaming capabilities and game pace influence, mid laners have the means to recover and turn the tides of battle when things go south.
Bottom Lane (ADC)
The bot lane (formerly the Attack Damage Carry lane) in LoL is synonymous with damage output. Its champions scale over time to become a major source of damage for the team as the game progresses.
While the rather straightforward task of dealing damage may seem appealing, the success of this role hinges heavily on accruing gold and experience. If a bot laner lags behind, the path to recovery can be quite challenging, stressing the importance of strong early game play.
The AD carry’s main role is farming lane minions and securing kills. However, their extremely squishy, fragile nature makes them susceptible to danger in certain matchups. As a result, ADCs require assistance from support players, who provide them with protection and utility to snowball later.
Bot-lane roles are typically filled by Marksman champions like Jinx or Jhin, dealing damage over range. Nevertheless, recent LoL seasons have seen an influx of Mage and Melee champions in this role. High-pick-rate ADCs include Miss Fortune, Tristana, and Ezreal.
Top Lane
In the isolated battlefield of the top lane, self-sufficiency is paramount. Known for tough champions with strong sustain, this role involves resilient fighters and tanky bruisers. Among the most-picked champions are Dr. Mundo, Darius, Ornn, Garen, and Malphite.
Harnessing their ability to exert pressure on the adversary, top laners adeptly split-push lanes and wield immense late-game impact. Yet, the role’s isolated nature can prove challenging.
Top laners may occasionally feel detached from the remainder of the team’s endeavors, potentially hindering their contribution to team fights. Therefore, excellent map awareness and communication are critical for top laners to truly shine and assert their influence on the game’s outcome.
Jungler
The jungle role heavily focuses on macro play, with a few distinct playstyles: farming, ganking, dueling, and control. While these playstyles differ in nature, ganking is an important common function. It involves disrupting the enemy team’s laning phase and enabling the ADC and mid-lane players to fulfill their roles.
The jungler is a roaming support role that revolves around neutral minion farming and the strategic utilization of “buffs” by slaying epic monsters like Baron Nashor, Rift Herald, and Dragon. Other key responsibilities include securing objectives and assisting lanes, requiring a solid map understanding.
However, the role’s success heavily depends on the team’s coordination, which can be a potential drawback, especially in solo queue matches. Examples of popular jungle picks include Kha’Zix, Master Yi, Lee Sin, Nocturne, Amumu, and Graves.
Support Role
Supports are the unsung heroes in LoL, often underappreciated yet pivotal for their team’s success. Their primary role is to provide protection, utility, and map control. This role attracts champs from tank and control classes, chosen for their functionality with limited resources.
An essential part of a support’s job is safeguarding the ADC in the bot lane during the early game to set up opportunities for kills and aid in their ADC’s farming. They peel enemies away, provide healing and shields, and sometimes even contribute significant damage.
Supports are tasked with securing vision control, too. This element is often overlooked but crucial for making informed decisions and avoiding enemy team ganks. They place wards in strategic locations, ensuring safe passage for their team and providing information on enemy movements.
However, this role is less tangible. Supports primarily amplify their ally’s capabilities in team fights over securing kills themselves. Instead, they thrive in crowd control, using stuns, slows, roots, and silences to disable the enemy. Some support champions include Yuumi, Thresh, Braum, and Milio.
How Do I Choose One Of The League Of Legends roles?
The question of which role you should play in League of Legends is incredibly personal. The answer largely depends on your playstyle and the particular aspects of the game you find most enjoyable. Read on and find out which of the following statements best resonates with you.
Are you a lone wolf who relishes solo skirmishes? The top lane may be your territory. However, if you’re a strategic macro-level player craving the thrill that comes with roaming the map and disrupting enemy junglers, consider venturing into the jungle role.
The mid lane beckons those who seek a dynamic role in the team, valuing the versatility of assisting various lanes and outshining opponents with superior solo skills. The bot lane, on the other hand, is a haven for those who crave ramping up their power and dishing out damage as the game evolves.
Finally, there’s the support role, which offers fulfillment for those who prefer enabling teammates to secure kills and objectives. Remember, each position carries unique significance. The best choice aligns with your personal playstyle and proficiency level in LoL. This is why it’s important to choose a role that makes you happy!
Can I Use My LoL Role Knowledge To My Advantage In Betting?
Absolutely! There’s no question about it. Understanding the League of Legends roles and gameplay mechanics will give you a powerful strategic edge in live LoL betting. Having a firm grasp on each role’s tempo and power spikes is key to predicting match outcomes and foreseeing game developments.
For example, knowing that junglers have a massive early game impact may encourage you to pick a team with a highly skilled jungler player. On the other hand, recognizing that a particular team’s ADC is having a tough time farming items and securing minion kills could mean a drawn-out match. It could also signal the enemy team to take advantage to escalate their level of aggression on the map, redirecting your LoL bet in real time.
In essence, insights into champion roles, team drafts, and ability combinations can reveal a team’s strategic intentions, giving you much better predictive accuracy when betting on LoL matches.
Conclusion
Understanding League of Legends’ roles can truly revolutionize your gaming and betting strategies. Grasping each role’s significance, strengths, and weaknesses, as well as the pace at which they impact the game can empower you to make informed decisions in gameplay and in betting.
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Disclaimer: Please note that the strategies and role descriptions detailed in this guide are subject to change over time due to the evolving nature of the game. Riot Games frequently updates and balances League of Legends, which often leads to shifts in the “meta” or most effective tactics available.