You can improve but all the trolls in Your team will never do and You stuck unless You can 1v9 which You propably can't so Iron forever is all that is left for Ya. Sad but true.
@@DeadByThousandCuts If you are better than iron you will climb if you play enough games. Acting like teammates hold you back is braindead because if you are better than everyone else in your rank you will climb.
@@DeadByThousandCuts This mindset is so toxic. There's 9 random people. 4 of them on your team, 5 of them in the enemy team. Literally more trolls on enemy team on average (if you yourself never troll.. but guess what.. with this mindset: YOU DO!)
@@DeadByThousandCuts it‘s all about the mindset just focus, don‘t autopilot, have a gameplan, think about your and your enemies strenghts weakness (in lane and as a team) I got from silver 1 / 2 hardstuck to plat 2 in less than 4 weeks (about 70-80 games) mechanics aren‘t everything
I just have to say…WOW. The way AJ breaks down content is so insightful. Makes me want to play mid lane!! Thanks for sharing such a great player with us coach Curtis. WE WANT MORE AJ!!!
as a high school esports coach this was so helpful as I get students who are everything from iron to diamond. Cant wait to see a video on the other roles
Hi Curtis, I have a question to ask. For Iron/Bronze you suggest to play 1 (2 at most) champions in 60 match blocks. Are we supposed to pick the champion no matter what opponent picks? So we ought to blindpick them, am I wrong?
this is a great video guys. Im a mid silver climbing with morgana mid surprisingly. Its an underrated and unexpected pick so I think it definitely helps me to climb.
I would describe the fundamentals as the most basic building blocks of how the game is played that cannot be stripped down any further. Having a baseline understanding of what every single champion in the game does is part of the fundamental called "game knowledge". But your point that there are fundamentals which don't need to be focussed on by a complete beginner still holds true. It doesn't make sense to talk about wave management and trading if you don't even know what the two champions in your lane do, let alone how they interact.
Also, as kids we play games and sports first, before training seriously. So, we kinda do spend that time just playing and feeling out the speed of the game.
You can still break down what beginners need to focus on as fundamentals. The difference is they are not mentioned because most people who have already started playing do it so automatically they may not even notice to mention it. Clicking speed and accuracy, awareness of your character without direct attention, damage output/input awareness, pressing abilities(+ correct order and timing), and as you mentioned as a part of the bigger "game knowledge" fundamental knowing what champs do. These and probably others I haven't considered, would be a "base" of the pyramid type skills. Where some of the other fundamentals we know and possibly love don't matter until these are reached to the point where it's not something you have to actively think about. That's how I see it.
I am a support main (usually play Milio), and has been since I started playing a bit more than a year ago. I have heard many players say that you cannot learn to play the game as a support (you included), so I decided to try to play a lane. I tried ADC, it helped me understand better my role as a support, especially how frustrating it can be... So, I decided to play mid lane, to be alone and because I have always liked mages (did not play them much as support because I preferred to bring more utility in general). I play Orianna, thus it is quite funny to see this video (I am low elo, obviously). Yes, it is hard, but I really like her, she gives me the same feeling as Milio (I clicked with him). I do struggle, but, to my surprise, way less than I thought! And I mean not only the champ (which I tried several times as a support, full enchanter, full damage, or focusing on control - but it was never accepted by the team, even if it worked well... oupsie), but also playing mid (me, an unskilled support actually winning a lane by myself and being recognized by my teammates?!). Well, I am still playing normals, so I don't know if it is relevant, and I have still MUCH to learn. Anyway, it has been a couple of weeks, I am persevering! And I thank you for your content; I am so happy to be able to use it more now, you are so good at explaining!
thank you for mentality and decision making! ^) your guide help me understand many things. i try syndra and It seems I have found a universal tool for my peace of mind and control of my mind!
Love the video. Only point of critique I'd have is that it does not feel like fundamentals aren't really necessary in iron (from personal experience). I feel like iron now consists of a lot of people who used to be bronze, silver or gold at some point, who are coming back after not playing for a long time but their muscle memory and game knowledge has lowered a bit. I got 150 games on Orianna right now but I'll give brand a fair try.
I was able to get to almost 60 wr by changing the line from top to middle from day to day, maybe this time I can get d4+ Really nice tier list and good explanations! The wave management video probably helped the most though
Anivia is the first champ that I’ve been able to climb out of Iron and bronze into silver on. I couldn’t get a hang of malzahar and had like a 15% winrate. Same with annie. It doesn’t matter how “easy” people say a champ is - if it doesn’t click it just doesn’t click
Same, AP Malphite support carried me into silverish elo as well. Nothing makes me more happier than ruining a poke support or ADCs game. I'm still a bronze player in every other measurable way though haha.
i refuse to play malzahar entirely, but i tried annie multiple times and just couldn't understand how to play her or how to make her feel strong. she's too easy to the point where i just didn't know what i even could do other than flash ult. she was also quite boring which of course didn't help.
Love the vid! I think it would have been helpful to include on the screen somewhere what rank you are currently talking about so we can still have context if required.
Hi Curtis big fan! I enjoyed the video and really liked the way you spoke on all the champions in the various ranks, this is definitely something I want to show to my community too. I do however disagree with your low elo representation of Seraphine mid. While yes she "does" have a supportive element into her kit with W, Seraphine Mid players should NEVER be putting More than 1 point into W, especially in low elo. This may be a community problem with low elo Seraphine mid players watching pro games and seeing her rush moonstone 3rd. I personally would never suggest Seraphine mid players to go enchanter builds in low elo as they are too team reliant. I strongly believe in this rank bracket, sticking to catching waves E+QQ and setting up kill combos to be the most efficient in my experience. Seraphine does really great damage if you incorporate haste and burn items and play around your kill combo of R>E>QQ! Now if you included her into the higher elo tier lists, I agree with your statements, players can have a bit more fun playing around with the champ "once you are plat+ game is your oyster" as you mentioned giving more meaningful build diversity and teammates. In the end, ever since she got that W nerf, raising cooldowns it significantly hurt "supportive" enchaterphine playstyle mid and I strongly would suggest players buying damage or haste burn playstyles :) Thank you for the video, keep up the great content! -odi
Great video as always. What do you (Coach, AJ, or fellow viewers) think of Heimerdinger for Silver? I’m usually a Jungle player, and Heimer’s kit seems very forgiving for playing my 2nd role with last hits, adding to the mental stack of the enemy laner, and solid team fighting. I feel like he also can provide an anchor for my team to play around when setting up for a big objective.
Cause in higher elos players know how to play around him, and he will be bullied all laning phase. Hes only really worth as a anti carry pick in high elo even then his ult gets countered by QSS
Im glad to see Ekko in the C tier next to Ahri for iron bronze. I think thats exactly about where he belongs. He's often sold as being far more simple than I think he actually is. Out of all the typically recommended champs I've tried I think he's one of the most tricky. His W alone is really mental stack taxing.
I could learn some of Velkoz from azzap playing, but only when playing "usual" styles. Dude makes Velkoz a roaming champion (???????????????) But he teaches you so much about skillshot usage, its insane value to try out those 60 games on velkoz.
Reached E4 last season, climbed with Lux/Veigar at 62/65% WR. thinking Hwei and Syndra which largely replaces lux usecases IMO and then the odd Veigar vs slow immobile comps. Might replace Syndra with Ahri, I feel like I don't click as well
@@michaelmagwood9211 As i was climbing i definitely started to feel the weaknesses of lux, it was in a corki-tristana meta tbf where the root doesnt actually stop them killing you. I enjoy Hwei much more, I thought of it as "If i cant get to emerald with lux, I dont deserve to play Hwei". I mostly play normals with friends, just wanted to try a ranked season to see what level i'm at, but will try to go for diamond the season after
@@dumpsterplayer2700 Alright, so it's for preference. If you prefer to play Hwei, don't trick yourself with the "if I can't ... then I don't deserve" mentality. Remember it's a game, and for your fun and benefit MORE THAN ANYTHING ELSE, unless you're a pro-player (or advertising as a SoloQ coach). So if you want to play Hwei, and you identify with the champion, take the time to learn him and play him, man. Even this tierlist video is an opinion and not the end-all, be-all. That being said, the champs you were playing could be "hard to make work" because the players in the elo you climbed to quickly and with ease are more around your skill level than those below were. Focus on improving your gameplay, no matter which champions you play, but definitely choose champions you enjoy playing and appreciate rather than "to climb I'm forced to play this champion." That's my opinion on the matter.
@@dumpsterplayer2700 Final thing, on your "the weaknesses of lux" comment. It's actually your weaknesses, not the champions (unless the champion is dead based on numbers, meaning nerfed to oblivion). Understand that the champion is not the limiting factor, you are the champions limiting factor (unless you are playing the game 100% perfectly).
The importance of each fundamental are all champ specific. The guides in the MLA order them by importance for each champion so its hard to just do a generic tier list I think.
I hit Grandmaster for the first time in NA last split, and I've been casually teaching my buddies league so they can improve and I actually grabbed alot of great advice from this video, and have a better idea what to recommend (for mains) and the why, cuz my ass is like REEE PLAY SYNDRA SHES EASY AND DOES 1 BILLION DMG but im bias due to my game experience i guess so awesome even i learned alot from this. My friends are( iron to plat) im a jungle/support main
Hello Curtis, I have a question, I'm a diamond player that has been OTP-ing Kayle ever since starting the game, Kayle is basically the only champ I play in ranked games and I got to diamond with her. I took a 4 month break from the game and am just returning back to the game. Do I just give up on Kayle and learn some other champ and try to climb with them? I need your opinion. Thanks in advance
When I was new to LoL I almost quit the game had it not been for Xerath. I almost quit because I got tired of dying over and over again. I think long ranged champions like Xerath and Velkoz are good for new players because of the safety the range gives you. The range allows you to see what the other champions do without dying over and over again. Just like sniper in Dota 2 its great for beginners. Long range champions Ftw! Splus tier.
I want to work on an evergreen autofilled pick for master+ having already played a lot of mid in lower brackets. Sounds like Syndra (Or Ahri) would be a good investment.
I started playing in s2 and I remember thinking why would I last hit the minions I just get gold over time and the faster I clear them out the easier it is to try and kill the other laner. I also remember like lvl 6 diving 3 turrets deep chasing a kill and dieing to turret and saying in chat how they should remove the turrets cause they just get in the way. Or the lanes being 2-1-2 and no jungler since no one at the noob lvls knowing how to do it. I bought ezreal then refunded him cause I landed all my abilities on the opponent and being like his damage is so bad not knowing he’s not like a mage and autos and q spam is how he deals dmg. I know lol players are a lot more informed now but if someone back then told me to get lane prio or shove the wave I would literally have no idea wtf they were talking about.
Where is my boy Cho'Gath? He is really good right now as a tank midlaner, especially into melees/weak earlygame champs. As long as you can get 2 items (Swiftness boots, Hollow radiance and Dead man's plate usually) and a couple ult stacks you can match/1v1 almost any champ on sidelane while bringing a lot to teamfights
Remember , these lists are for LEARNING the game, not efficiency, Cho isnt really the best "mid laner" to teach you the game. While he may be good mid, he doesn't teach your translatable skills
Hi Coach, I was wondering that if Naafiri is listed as extremely hard to make work in high elo, what makes it possible for players like RaveyDemon to consistently hit GM/Challenger with it on the NA server? It's hard to understand when I'm watching him how he can consistently outperform other players. With a more binary champ, is there more room to think about how to set up situations that are already won than to always find a way to be useful in every situation?
hey its Ahj! I acutlaly played vs him a few times! The key is that he plays VERY patient and poised. Naafari acutally has very great scaling for an assassin, so if you can RELIABLY get to mid game, she can REALLY SHINE. So he typically plays very conserative, says no to many plays, and really waits until very core spikes. Much easier said than done on a champion like naafari. From what I know is that he also plays her a lot top, in which you can have access to melee mu's which are usually easier than getting poked out from a mage. but he is the NICHE, and the exception, no one else plays her, and the playstyle he has is unintuitive for a champion like naafari, so you have to relearn / reshape your view of the champion to climb past d4 with her
In LS video coach curtis recommends for low elo players to play malz and brand for their wave clear rather than annie who may be more "complicated" and lacks wave clear but teaches you the core concepts of the laning phase (gaining prio through outlaning your opponent). I agree that malz and brand will be quicker and easier to climb out of iron,bronze, silver with but once you reach plat these perma wave clear champs arent even viable (coach curtis tier list indicates as well). So whats the point in abusing this perma wave clear and avoid lane playstyle rather than taking your time and actually developing your laning skillset/fundamentals on annie? I believe if ur only goal is too simply reach plat and nothing afterwards than malz and brand are great, but if your hoping to consistently and steadily improve at LOL and learn skills that transfer to all midlane champs than annie is a great option.
Because as they said on the video, they consider Malz and Brand good for iron and bronze based off the premise those ppl don't know what champs, items and interactions are or do. They're a straightforward crutch to have more mind space to think and learn about the very beginner steps of the game. They're not as good in the silver gold list already, not even advisable as picks to get to plat
lol I played malz apc 70+% winrate up to diamond 3, and Tyler1 plays brand adc in challenger, just adapt your build path or change the role you play them in.
As someone who mained Kayle when I started (2010) before ranked was even a thing really... I want to reiterate what they are saying when they warn you to stay away from certain champs. I'm so heavily tied to Kayle that it's become a miserable experience for me trying to climb. I want her to be good so bad but the truth of the matter is her core design runs completely opposite to the main win conditions the game has been designed around over the years. This is a friendly warning to please stay away from OTPing Kayle. I think she's functional as a last pick counter to some champs but that's about it. Feels so bad 😢
id argue vlad is an S tier champ fpr this. He is one of the most fundamentals focused champs. He is rather unique but if you learn vlad you learn hoq to lane as only good laners will do well on vlad consistently
What if you’re a gold/plat player wanting to improve but your most experience is on lux and Akali. Would it be better to just stick with these 2 champs or would branching out to sylas or adding corki to my pool help me with climbing more?
It depends on what your goal with the game is. Branching to new champions is harder than sticking with champions you’re somewhat familiar with (you may main them, but I’m saying if you’re stuck in gold/plat there’s some understanding gap in your champion identity / how to maximize them). If your goal is to climb, don’t add new champs that are complex, there’s a large learning curve. If your goal is to learn the game and improve in general, adding Corki and Sylas might not be advised, but would be fine. The thing is, you have to be honest with yourself, in every single way. I’ve looked at so many comments from so many individuals, and the largest missing factor is being genuine. Naturally you want to assume someone is being genuine, but the only way to tell is their behavior (meaning how they act in relation to their words). Is it obvious that they modified their behavior according to their self-criticism, or are they trying to “please” the person they’re addressing using buzz words. Look inside yourself, figure out what your main goal is, then apply the best strategy according to that goal. If it’s to climb, maintaining your champion pool is the best strategy, most likely, BUT if you’re missing key ideas with those champions and cannot identify what they are, maybe you just need to branch out for a new perspective. Maybe you just need to watch how higher elo players use their champion in fights, specific spell usage, or how they play waves, to break the spell (the idiom break the spell). It may be that easy. But YOU have to do it.
@@michaelmagwood9211 thank you I appreciate the quick response. I’ve been playing this game for 10 years and as a family doctor now with 4 kids I have limited time to play the game maybe 10 ranked games at best a week. I guess I’ll just stick to a lower pool and hopefully climb easier this way. Thanks!
I agree with bronze tierlist but Annie should be B tier in my opinion. I don't see why is Annie more difficult than Orianna or Syndra. Annie just requires to be more patient and to have a punishing mindset like Darius on top. It's just a different playstile than regular mage but she is not that complex in my opinion. You are playing more like assassin/mage and I think if a player manages to learn her he will become unstoppable until emerald. It's a big challange/big reward champion.
Hi Curtis, I play a lot of Anivia and have hovered in Bronze/some silver. You mentioned you would not recommend the champ later in our League journey and I’m wondering if you can elaborate on that a bit. There is a Chinese super server player who is known as “Mint” who plays one hell of an Anivia and I just figured, “ok, climbing ultra high with Anivia is possible.” Not to make a comparison of myself to this player since we’re not playing the same game at all. But it’s a little discouraging that you say this about Anivia but not a champ like Veigar (who you didn’t even describe as a training wheels champ either!?). I’ve watched a bunch of your videos over the last year or so and I’ve noticed you never really talk about Anivia so I’d like to know why you feel the way you do. (No hard feelings)Thanks for any time you can take on this
Id argue Zilean can be a counterpick champion. Easy to play and has some really good matchups. He's not at all bad in high elo either. He's just not fun lol
It means you'll be more successful if you 1/2 tricks those champions. Without a hard dedication you can't play them in the same way you can with 'evergreen' and 'situational' picks. So you need to focus 1/2 champion at most while Evergreens can pick a 3rd situational/counterpick.
I want more AJ content, super informative stuff, i'm surprised i've never heard of him before, does he stream!? Listening to this podcast at my factory job helps me get through the day, can't wait to queue when i'm home!
as a neeko otp she is too cheesy. she's like the shaco of midlane, u have to rely very much on mind games and game strategy in order to pull ahead and stay ahead. she effectively has 3 damage spells like Lux except with wayyyyyyyyyyyyy lower dmg + range, so if u don't utilize passive + W active to its fullest you're putting yourself at such a disadvantage. this skill isn't transferable to other champs either lol it's a neeko-specific gimmick that said she is sooooo fun and i'll never get tired of her lol. i got 1mil+ on her for a reason B)
As someone who used to play a lot of morgana mid, she gets a lot of prio, and isn't easy to kill, the problem is that she doesn't do many good things with her prio and she doesnt scale as well other mid laners.. she's also quite inconsistent to get kills with
Hi Curtis, what advice would you give to an Emerald/Diamond player who has attempted to pick up several of the "evergreen" champions, but has found them all to be too mechanical? (I climbed with champions like Swain, Galio, and Asol)
I think you should then stick with the champs you find enjoyable/doable for you. Swain/Galio/Asol are all champs that can be used to climb to master :)
As someone who climbed to mid-lowmaster after switching from champs like in your pool what I did was just play more of that champ that I liked. I mained asol pre-rework and post to diamond and seitched because I mechanically felt limited. Started to two trick syndra-kassadin and got to low-mid master in like a month. If you really like some of those champs just continue playing them.
Heavily disagree on the zilean placement. He’s extremely simple to pilot and easy to make work, just a situational pick. I’ve played maybe 100 games of this champ in all the past 2 yrs with over an 80% wr on him
I don't agree with the remarks on Seraphine regarding her utilty. Mid lane Seraphine (and also botlane Seraphine) maxes W last, and you want to echo q or e not w. She is a burst mage with a small shield like Lux.
@@CrystalArrow-r2z I’ll elaborate because I don’t want to come across as disingenuous. As Seraphine, if I have a WW or Xin jg, I’m playing W second. I know, 1) I’m going to be reliable in the 2v2 but not the main threat, 2) I want to support the champion that is the main threat. As you understand the game more by learning champion designs and core fundamental themes, it expands what’s possible for you. Example, I played a game of Annie last night. I had an Eve Jg. Enemy composition is Garen, Talon, Zoe, Samira, Leona. How to play this game? They have loads of burst options, I can overload on damage. Incorrect. VEGAN build is necessary. They will go Edge on Talon, Samira will build QSS if intelligent. Overload on Ability Haste + Utility. My build, Malignance > Stormsurge for early game power, transition is Liandry’s > Rylai’s. Very vegan, but my goal becomes 2x - 1) Burst down Samira / get her QSS. 2) CC as much as possible, in this case unique interaction, enraged tibbers after death. This allows my team to chase / kite after I die since Rylai’s Liandry’s and Malignance are all proc’ing after death. I’m not going to claim that this is ultimately the correct build / path for the game, but it did work exactly as I intended it to work. Garen couldn’t shutdown Eve because of Tibbers, Samira had to burn Hexdrinker and QSS on my burst allowing Eve to carry the match. I would not go this build often. It was impromptu a lot based on what I was seeing in enemy player behavior.
Shouldn't Syndra be in the meta dependent/seasonal tier? Looking at her history and the challenger acc you showed you can definitely see her pop in and out, and that's generally how she has been for the past few years imo. When she's strong either through meta or buffs she is really dominant but when that's not the case she usually ends up being super weak
She is around too frequently imo to be labeled as a meta dependent champ. But yes objectively that is true (as it is for all champs actually), but for the MOST part she is around nearly every year
Yeah not sure Kayle is as bad as this. When I solo que it's hard but when I duo with an assasin (tbh I usually play top Kayle with assasin mid) and my win rate goes up way more. Try contesting grubs with an Akali with kayle ult on it at lvl 6 - 8 yeah its pretty good and I find it kind of has a synergistic feel.
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Ahj streams on Twitch for those of you who are interested : www.twitch.tv/ahjax
I'll be sure to do more vids with him :)
Cheers!
Thank you!
Iron/Bronze: 00:40
Silver/Gold: 26:39
Plat/Emerald+: 1:04:54
thanks brother
You can improve but all the trolls in Your team will never do and You stuck unless You can 1v9 which You propably can't so Iron forever is all that is left for Ya. Sad but true.
@@DeadByThousandCuts If you are better than iron you will climb if you play enough games. Acting like teammates hold you back is braindead because if you are better than everyone else in your rank you will climb.
@@DeadByThousandCuts This mindset is so toxic. There's 9 random people. 4 of them on your team, 5 of them in the enemy team. Literally more trolls on enemy team on average (if you yourself never troll.. but guess what.. with this mindset: YOU DO!)
@@DeadByThousandCuts it‘s all about the mindset
just focus, don‘t autopilot, have a gameplan, think about your and your enemies strenghts weakness (in lane and as a team)
I got from silver 1 / 2 hardstuck to plat 2 in less than 4 weeks (about 70-80 games) mechanics aren‘t everything
I just have to say…WOW. The way AJ breaks down content is so insightful. Makes me want to play mid lane!! Thanks for sharing such a great player with us coach Curtis. WE WANT MORE AJ!!!
Ahj is an absolute beast. I'll be sure to do plenty of more vids with him!
I’m not even a midlaner but the information you both have about the game and your points of view are awesome to listen to! Great job 👏
as a high school esports coach this was so helpful as I get students who are everything from iron to diamond. Cant wait to see a video on the other roles
Since the ADC Acadeny (hopefully) is around the corner, as an ADC main, I would love one of these for the role!
But great watch anyway!
classic curtis W. Thanks for the constant quality content
Banger releases on the TH-cam lately Coach! Loving the effort!
Hope Nathan does something like this for Jungle
100%!!! Would love to see this for jungle!
Hi Curtis, I have a question to ask. For Iron/Bronze you suggest to play 1 (2 at most) champions in 60 match blocks. Are we supposed to pick the champion no matter what opponent picks? So we ought to blindpick them, am I wrong?
this is a great video guys. Im a mid silver climbing with morgana mid surprisingly. Its an underrated and unexpected pick so I think it definitely helps me to climb.
Alois should do something like this
I would describe the fundamentals as the most basic building blocks of how the game is played that cannot be stripped down any further. Having a baseline understanding of what every single champion in the game does is part of the fundamental called "game knowledge". But your point that there are fundamentals which don't need to be focussed on by a complete beginner still holds true. It doesn't make sense to talk about wave management and trading if you don't even know what the two champions in your lane do, let alone how they interact.
Also, as kids we play games and sports first, before training seriously. So, we kinda do spend that time just playing and feeling out the speed of the game.
You can still break down what beginners need to focus on as fundamentals. The difference is they are not mentioned because most people who have already started playing do it so automatically they may not even notice to mention it. Clicking speed and accuracy, awareness of your character without direct attention, damage output/input awareness, pressing abilities(+ correct order and timing), and as you mentioned as a part of the bigger "game knowledge" fundamental knowing what champs do. These and probably others I haven't considered, would be a "base" of the pyramid type skills. Where some of the other fundamentals we know and possibly love don't matter until these are reached to the point where it's not something you have to actively think about. That's how I see it.
@@goldythefish36 I feel like your comment is set up to disagree with me, but we're saying almost the exact same thing, aren't we?
@@Zevrael I think when I initially read your comment I misunderstood it. oops
I am a support main (usually play Milio), and has been since I started playing a bit more than a year ago. I have heard many players say that you cannot learn to play the game as a support (you included), so I decided to try to play a lane. I tried ADC, it helped me understand better my role as a support, especially how frustrating it can be... So, I decided to play mid lane, to be alone and because I have always liked mages (did not play them much as support because I preferred to bring more utility in general).
I play Orianna, thus it is quite funny to see this video (I am low elo, obviously). Yes, it is hard, but I really like her, she gives me the same feeling as Milio (I clicked with him). I do struggle, but, to my surprise, way less than I thought! And I mean not only the champ (which I tried several times as a support, full enchanter, full damage, or focusing on control - but it was never accepted by the team, even if it worked well... oupsie), but also playing mid (me, an unskilled support actually winning a lane by myself and being recognized by my teammates?!). Well, I am still playing normals, so I don't know if it is relevant, and I have still MUCH to learn.
Anyway, it has been a couple of weeks, I am persevering! And I thank you for your content; I am so happy to be able to use it more now, you are so good at explaining!
thank you for mentality and decision making! ^)
your guide help me understand many things.
i try syndra and It seems I have found a universal tool for my peace of mind and control of my mind!
Love the video. Only point of critique I'd have is that it does not feel like fundamentals aren't really necessary in iron (from personal experience). I feel like iron now consists of a lot of people who used to be bronze, silver or gold at some point, who are coming back after not playing for a long time but their muscle memory and game knowledge has lowered a bit. I got 150 games on Orianna right now but I'll give brand a fair try.
I was able to get to almost 60 wr by changing the line from top to middle from day to day, maybe this time I can get d4+
Really nice tier list and good explanations!
The wave management video probably helped the most though
I've been playing for like 10 years and I wish your content had been around when I started man
Anivia is the first champ that I’ve been able to climb out of Iron and bronze into silver on. I couldn’t get a hang of malzahar and had like a 15% winrate. Same with annie. It doesn’t matter how “easy” people say a champ is - if it doesn’t click it just doesn’t click
Same, AP Malphite support carried me into silverish elo as well. Nothing makes me more happier than ruining a poke support or ADCs game. I'm still a bronze player in every other measurable way though haha.
i refuse to play malzahar entirely, but i tried annie multiple times and just couldn't understand how to play her or how to make her feel strong. she's too easy to the point where i just didn't know what i even could do other than flash ult. she was also quite boring which of course didn't help.
Love the vid! I think it would have been helpful to include on the screen somewhere what rank you are currently talking about so we can still have context if required.
Would like a support tier list soon too.
man this is amazing content, I would kill to have something similar for top lane
Hi Curtis big fan! I enjoyed the video and really liked the way you spoke on all the champions in the various ranks, this is definitely something I want to show to my community too. I do however disagree with your low elo representation of Seraphine mid. While yes she "does" have a supportive element into her kit with W, Seraphine Mid players should NEVER be putting More than 1 point into W, especially in low elo. This may be a community problem with low elo Seraphine mid players watching pro games and seeing her rush moonstone 3rd. I personally would never suggest Seraphine mid players to go enchanter builds in low elo as they are too team reliant. I strongly believe in this rank bracket, sticking to catching waves E+QQ and setting up kill combos to be the most efficient in my experience. Seraphine does really great damage if you incorporate haste and burn items and play around your kill combo of R>E>QQ!
Now if you included her into the higher elo tier lists, I agree with your statements, players can have a bit more fun playing around with the champ "once you are plat+ game is your oyster" as you mentioned giving more meaningful build diversity and teammates.
In the end, ever since she got that W nerf, raising cooldowns it significantly hurt "supportive" enchaterphine playstyle mid and I strongly would suggest players buying damage or haste burn playstyles :)
Thank you for the video, keep up the great content!
-odi
Sup odi!
So interesting to see how view of champs, esp in low elo and who is good there has changed even over last 4 years..
Great video as always. What do you (Coach, AJ, or fellow viewers) think of Heimerdinger for Silver? I’m usually a Jungle player, and Heimer’s kit seems very forgiving for playing my 2nd role with last hits, adding to the mental stack of the enemy laner, and solid team fighting. I feel like he also can provide an anchor for my team to play around when setting up for a big objective.
What are some "good" Galio and Lissandra games? What would enemies need to pick in order for me to go "Oh, this is a Galio/Lissandra game"?
Can't wait for the VGU for Viktor after Arcane, I love the champ
I wonder if Riot gonna make him more "Evergreen" :D
i hope so. i've always wanted to try him but i'm waiting for the VGU to start playing him.
Love the Information, I feel like this will help many new Players!
I have one Question: Why didn't you inlcude Corki in the Tierlist?
He is in the last tier list. I didn’t watch his section but maybe the message is don’t until higher ranks?
Hey! Its ahj :) , We didnt include corki or trist as they undergo a lot of change and Corki has too much voltatlity to be consistent , esp in mid
You need to touch on why Malz goes from S+ to E.
That's quite a big swing and no mention of why...
Otherwise awesome vid, I learnt alot.
Cause in higher elos players know how to play around him, and he will be bullied all laning phase. Hes only really worth as a anti carry pick in high elo even then his ult gets countered by QSS
If u blind malzahar u just lose the game against smth like smolder/veigar that stacks through the roof thanks to your voidlings.
Im glad to see Ekko in the C tier next to Ahri for iron bronze. I think thats exactly about where he belongs. He's often sold as being far more simple than I think he actually is. Out of all the typically recommended champs I've tried I think he's one of the most tricky. His W alone is really mental stack taxing.
Hes also kind of a weird pick that oscillates between being mid and jungle do hes is also kinda off meta some patches
He's a lot harder than Ahri given that he's purely melee and has a tell or delay on everything he does as an assassin
Hey Curtis, where would you place Kennen mid on this tier list if you had to? Thanks for all the content dude, much appreciated.
I could learn some of Velkoz from azzap playing, but only when playing "usual" styles. Dude makes Velkoz a roaming champion (???????????????)
But he teaches you so much about skillshot usage, its insane value to try out those 60 games on velkoz.
Reached E4 last season, climbed with Lux/Veigar at 62/65% WR.
thinking Hwei and Syndra which largely replaces lux usecases IMO and then the odd Veigar vs slow immobile comps.
Might replace Syndra with Ahri, I feel like I don't click as well
Why are you dropping your champion pool? That seems like the wrong idea.
@@michaelmagwood9211 As i was climbing i definitely started to feel the weaknesses of lux, it was in a corki-tristana meta tbf where the root doesnt actually stop them killing you.
I enjoy Hwei much more, I thought of it as "If i cant get to emerald with lux, I dont deserve to play Hwei".
I mostly play normals with friends, just wanted to try a ranked season to see what level i'm at, but will try to go for diamond the season after
@@dumpsterplayer2700 Alright, so it's for preference. If you prefer to play Hwei, don't trick yourself with the "if I can't ... then I don't deserve" mentality. Remember it's a game, and for your fun and benefit MORE THAN ANYTHING ELSE, unless you're a pro-player (or advertising as a SoloQ coach). So if you want to play Hwei, and you identify with the champion, take the time to learn him and play him, man. Even this tierlist video is an opinion and not the end-all, be-all.
That being said, the champs you were playing could be "hard to make work" because the players in the elo you climbed to quickly and with ease are more around your skill level than those below were. Focus on improving your gameplay, no matter which champions you play, but definitely choose champions you enjoy playing and appreciate rather than "to climb I'm forced to play this champion."
That's my opinion on the matter.
@@dumpsterplayer2700 Final thing, on your "the weaknesses of lux" comment. It's actually your weaknesses, not the champions (unless the champion is dead based on numbers, meaning nerfed to oblivion). Understand that the champion is not the limiting factor, you are the champions limiting factor (unless you are playing the game 100% perfectly).
Could you do a tier list of fundamental skills for mid lane? (Ex: jungle tracking, level up timers, etc)
assume you've seen the shok tier list?
The importance of each fundamental are all champ specific. The guides in the MLA order them by importance for each champion so its hard to just do a generic tier list I think.
I don't believe in this. It's useless since the fundamentals that you should focus on depend on the champ you main
Are you gonna do this for the rest of the lanes as well? It would be great!
Doubt it - it is MID LANE academy
Definitely will eventually :)
I hit Grandmaster for the first time in NA last split, and I've been casually teaching my buddies league so they can improve and I actually grabbed alot of great advice from this video, and have a better idea what to recommend (for mains) and the why, cuz my ass is like REEE PLAY SYNDRA SHES EASY AND DOES 1 BILLION DMG but im bias due to my game experience i guess so awesome even i learned alot from this. My friends are( iron to plat) im a jungle/support main
It's quite hard to teach newer players isn't it? I remember the first time I got into coaching the lower elo brackets, I struggled big time
Awesome video! I'm not all the way through so not sure if this is mentioned, but is there a reason Aurora isn't on this?
She is, Check out the "emerald +" section, we have an entire section for her
Hello Curtis, I have a question, I'm a diamond player that has been OTP-ing Kayle ever since starting the game, Kayle is basically the only champ I play in ranked games and I got to diamond with her. I took a 4 month break from the game and am just returning back to the game. Do I just give up on Kayle and learn some other champ and try to climb with them? I need your opinion. Thanks in advance
I think C or even D tier for Vlad + Fizz in Iron makes sense
In iron, Fizz is a god. He always finds a way to get comically fed and oneshot everyone.
When I was new to LoL I almost quit the game had it not been for Xerath. I almost quit because I got tired of dying over and over again. I think long ranged champions like Xerath and Velkoz are good for new players because of the safety the range gives you. The range allows you to see what the other champions do without dying over and over again. Just like sniper in Dota 2 its great for beginners. Long range champions Ftw! Splus tier.
For me Malzahar feels decent into Yasuo or Leblanc in Diamond+, doesn't feel that bad as people say
I haven't watched the video but Zyra isn't on the list and that makes me sad. I know why, but I'm still gonna be sad.
I always pick her against Malzahar! You can make laning phase hell for him!
I want to work on an evergreen autofilled pick for master+ having already played a lot of mid in lower brackets.
Sounds like Syndra (Or Ahri) would be a good investment.
You can't go wrong with either of them
Im wearing the same Eric Bugenhagen shirt while watching this lmao.
BOOOOOOGS
Ordering the bottom tier would be interesting
The cassio coalition will not soon forget this
I started playing in s2 and I remember thinking why would I last hit the minions I just get gold over time and the faster I clear them out the easier it is to try and kill the other laner. I also remember like lvl 6 diving 3 turrets deep chasing a kill and dieing to turret and saying in chat how they should remove the turrets cause they just get in the way. Or the lanes being 2-1-2 and no jungler since no one at the noob lvls knowing how to do it. I bought ezreal then refunded him cause I landed all my abilities on the opponent and being like his damage is so bad not knowing he’s not like a mage and autos and q spam is how he deals dmg. I know lol players are a lot more informed now but if someone back then told me to get lane prio or shove the wave I would literally have no idea wtf they were talking about.
Where is my boy Cho'Gath? He is really good right now as a tank midlaner, especially into melees/weak earlygame champs. As long as you can get 2 items (Swiftness boots, Hollow radiance and Dead man's plate usually) and a couple ult stacks you can match/1v1 almost any champ on sidelane while bringing a lot to teamfights
I don’t think they are representing any tank mids or any off meta mids. Even galio I am pretty sure coach prefers the students to go ap.
Remember , these lists are for LEARNING the game, not efficiency, Cho isnt really the best "mid laner" to teach you the game. While he may be good mid, he doesn't teach your translatable skills
Where does champs like Viego, Zac, and Ksante stand in the emerald + tier list?
Hi Coach, I was wondering that if Naafiri is listed as extremely hard to make work in high elo, what makes it possible for players like RaveyDemon to consistently hit GM/Challenger with it on the NA server? It's hard to understand when I'm watching him how he can consistently outperform other players. With a more binary champ, is there more room to think about how to set up situations that are already won than to always find a way to be useful in every situation?
I hover around D4 for additional context
hey its Ahj! I acutlaly played vs him a few times! The key is that he plays VERY patient and poised. Naafari acutally has very great scaling for an assassin, so if you can RELIABLY get to mid game, she can REALLY SHINE. So he typically plays very conserative, says no to many plays, and really waits until very core spikes. Much easier said than done on a champion like naafari. From what I know is that he also plays her a lot top, in which you can have access to melee mu's which are usually easier than getting poked out from a mage.
but he is the NICHE, and the exception, no one else plays her, and the playstyle he has is unintuitive for a champion like naafari, so you have to relearn / reshape your view of the champion to climb past d4 with her
I’m low diamond elo figuring out my pool and I want to 2trick Yas/Yone. Do I need an Ap Pick if my team goes full AD?
how do we know which evergreen or counterpick champ to play depending on the game?
In LS video coach curtis recommends for low elo players to play malz and brand for their wave clear rather than annie who may be more "complicated" and lacks wave clear but teaches you the core concepts of the laning phase (gaining prio through outlaning your opponent). I agree that malz and brand will be quicker and easier to climb out of iron,bronze, silver with but once you reach plat these perma wave clear champs arent even viable (coach curtis tier list indicates as well). So whats the point in abusing this perma wave clear and avoid lane playstyle rather than taking your time and actually developing your laning skillset/fundamentals on annie? I believe if ur only goal is too simply reach plat and nothing afterwards than malz and brand are great, but if your hoping to consistently and steadily improve at LOL and learn skills that transfer to all midlane champs than annie is a great option.
Because as they said on the video, they consider Malz and Brand good for iron and bronze based off the premise those ppl don't know what champs, items and interactions are or do. They're a straightforward crutch to have more mind space to think and learn about the very beginner steps of the game. They're not as good in the silver gold list already, not even advisable as picks to get to plat
lol I played malz apc 70+% winrate up to diamond 3, and Tyler1 plays brand adc in challenger, just adapt your build path or change the role you play them in.
As someone who mained Kayle when I started (2010) before ranked was even a thing really... I want to reiterate what they are saying when they warn you to stay away from certain champs. I'm so heavily tied to Kayle that it's become a miserable experience for me trying to climb. I want her to be good so bad but the truth of the matter is her core design runs completely opposite to the main win conditions the game has been designed around over the years. This is a friendly warning to please stay away from OTPing Kayle. I think she's functional as a last pick counter to some champs but that's about it. Feels so bad 😢
How do i know when it's a good veigar/annie/twisted fate game?
Do you have a tier list for jungle?
id argue vlad is an S tier champ fpr this. He is one of the most fundamentals focused champs. He is rather unique but if you learn vlad you learn hoq to lane as only good laners will do well on vlad consistently
Great video, thanks
What if you’re a gold/plat player wanting to improve but your most experience is on lux and Akali. Would it be better to just stick with these 2 champs or would branching out to sylas or adding corki to my pool help me with climbing more?
It depends on what your goal with the game is. Branching to new champions is harder than sticking with champions you’re somewhat familiar with (you may main them, but I’m saying if you’re stuck in gold/plat there’s some understanding gap in your champion identity / how to maximize them).
If your goal is to climb, don’t add new champs that are complex, there’s a large learning curve. If your goal is to learn the game and improve in general, adding Corki and Sylas might not be advised, but would be fine.
The thing is, you have to be honest with yourself, in every single way. I’ve looked at so many comments from so many individuals, and the largest missing factor is being genuine. Naturally you want to assume someone is being genuine, but the only way to tell is their behavior (meaning how they act in relation to their words). Is it obvious that they modified their behavior according to their self-criticism, or are they trying to “please” the person they’re addressing using buzz words.
Look inside yourself, figure out what your main goal is, then apply the best strategy according to that goal. If it’s to climb, maintaining your champion pool is the best strategy, most likely, BUT if you’re missing key ideas with those champions and cannot identify what they are, maybe you just need to branch out for a new perspective. Maybe you just need to watch how higher elo players use their champion in fights, specific spell usage, or how they play waves, to break the spell (the idiom break the spell). It may be that easy. But YOU have to do it.
@@michaelmagwood9211 thank you I appreciate the quick response. I’ve been playing this game for 10 years and as a family doctor now with 4 kids I have limited time to play the game maybe 10 ranked games at best a week. I guess I’ll just stick to a lower pool and hopefully climb easier this way. Thanks!
@@michaeldigiovanni5051 makes sense. Quite the IRL resume you have. What server do you play on?
@@michaelmagwood9211 I play on NA, in game tag is RoccoMD
I agree with bronze tierlist but Annie should be B tier in my opinion. I don't see why is Annie more difficult than Orianna or Syndra. Annie just requires to be more patient and to have a punishing mindset like Darius on top. It's just a different playstile than regular mage but she is not that complex in my opinion. You are playing more like assassin/mage and I think if a player manages to learn her he will become unstoppable until emerald. It's a big challange/big reward champion.
can you do this kind of videos also for other roles?
Ori and Taliyah is F for sure in Iron Bronze, lads are wildin
Hi Curtis, I play a lot of Anivia and have hovered in Bronze/some silver. You mentioned you would not recommend the champ later in our League journey and I’m wondering if you can elaborate on that a bit. There is a Chinese super server player who is known as “Mint” who plays one hell of an Anivia and I just figured, “ok, climbing ultra high with Anivia is possible.” Not to make a comparison of myself to this player since we’re not playing the same game at all. But it’s a little discouraging that you say this about Anivia but not a champ like Veigar (who you didn’t even describe as a training wheels champ either!?). I’ve watched a bunch of your videos over the last year or so and I’ve noticed you never really talk about Anivia so I’d like to know why you feel the way you do. (No hard feelings)Thanks for any time you can take on this
Great Video!
Please do one of these for all roles.
Id argue Zilean can be a counterpick champion. Easy to play and has some really good matchups. He's not at all bad in high elo either. He's just not fun lol
So I’m hearing that I should play Victor, Asol and Galio
how about smolder?
can someone explain why ekko is a onetrick champion in high elo?
It means you'll be more successful if you 1/2 tricks those champions. Without a hard dedication you can't play them in the same way you can with 'evergreen' and 'situational' picks. So you need to focus 1/2 champion at most while Evergreens can pick a 3rd situational/counterpick.
@ i understand that but why is that? what is it about ekko that makes him that much harder to play?
Everyone is always saying to use Annie as an “easy” champ in low elo, yet you guys have her here down low, that’s interesting
I want more AJ content, super informative stuff, i'm surprised i've never heard of him before, does he stream!? Listening to this podcast at my factory job helps me get through the day, can't wait to queue when i'm home!
Yeah his streams, this is his twitch. www.twitch.tv/ahjax
I actually do stream, everyday! www.twitch.tv/ahjax
@@TheAhjax thank you!!!
hope you don’t have to play against a 10 game a day 1 mil mastery yas main
Shoutout Ahj! I'll be doing more content with him
need this for top lane
Not my boy heimer wheres he at?
as a neeko otp she is too cheesy. she's like the shaco of midlane, u have to rely very much on mind games and game strategy in order to pull ahead and stay ahead. she effectively has 3 damage spells like Lux except with wayyyyyyyyyyyyy lower dmg + range, so if u don't utilize passive + W active to its fullest you're putting yourself at such a disadvantage. this skill isn't transferable to other champs either lol it's a neeko-specific gimmick
that said she is sooooo fun and i'll never get tired of her lol. i got 1mil+ on her for a reason B)
Why is pantheon so low? I think he is busted and if you learn the most basic trade patterns he can stomp any lane and impact other lanes.
Please brain retain this info I’m losing my mind :(
Very good advice I'm going to ignore it and play yasuo and yone because fun and cool anime guy go brrrr
Can u make similar for supp?
First
Edit : banger tier list, thanks 💪
WHERE IS THE DONGER?!
Il a oublié de mettre Zac mid dans les tierlists 👀
Is Morgana viable? She is not on high elo list. Why?
As someone who used to play a lot of morgana mid, she gets a lot of prio, and isn't easy to kill, the problem is that she doesn't do many good things with her prio and she doesnt scale as well other mid laners..
she's also quite inconsistent to get kills with
Where is corki?
Hi Curtis, what advice would you give to an Emerald/Diamond player who has attempted to pick up several of the "evergreen" champions, but has found them all to be too mechanical? (I climbed with champions like Swain, Galio, and Asol)
I think you should then stick with the champs you find enjoyable/doable for you. Swain/Galio/Asol are all champs that can be used to climb to master :)
As someone who climbed to mid-lowmaster after switching from champs like in your pool what I did was just play more of that champ that I liked. I mained asol pre-rework and post to diamond and seitched because I mechanically felt limited. Started to two trick syndra-kassadin and got to low-mid master in like a month. If you really like some of those champs just continue playing them.
Where would you place Quinn Mid in the high elo tierlist?
my Championpool starts at C Tier
Heavily disagree on the zilean placement. He’s extremely simple to pilot and easy to make work, just a situational pick. I’ve played maybe 100 games of this champ in all the past 2 yrs with over an 80% wr on him
Sad malz goes from s to e... I love malz but it feels so hard to carry a lot of games cause your mainly an anti carry
1) it’s just an opinion
2) the drop from S to E could be a 2% difference. They never explain the curve they’re ranking on.
I don't agree with the remarks on Seraphine regarding her utilty. Mid lane Seraphine (and also botlane Seraphine) maxes W last, and you want to echo q or e not w. She is a burst mage with a small shield like Lux.
That depends on what your specific goal in the game is. If you’re playing the same build every game, you’re playing some games wrong.
Burst mage 😂😂😂
@@CrystalArrow-r2z I’ll elaborate because I don’t want to come across as disingenuous. As Seraphine, if I have a WW or Xin jg, I’m playing W second. I know, 1) I’m going to be reliable in the 2v2 but not the main threat, 2) I want to support the champion that is the main threat. As you understand the game more by learning champion designs and core fundamental themes, it expands what’s possible for you.
Example, I played a game of Annie last night. I had an Eve Jg. Enemy composition is Garen, Talon, Zoe, Samira, Leona. How to play this game? They have loads of burst options, I can overload on damage. Incorrect. VEGAN build is necessary. They will go Edge on Talon, Samira will build QSS if intelligent. Overload on Ability Haste + Utility. My build, Malignance > Stormsurge for early game power, transition is Liandry’s > Rylai’s. Very vegan, but my goal becomes 2x - 1) Burst down Samira / get her QSS. 2) CC as much as possible, in this case unique interaction, enraged tibbers after death. This allows my team to chase / kite after I die since Rylai’s Liandry’s and Malignance are all proc’ing after death.
I’m not going to claim that this is ultimately the correct build / path for the game, but it did work exactly as I intended it to work. Garen couldn’t shutdown Eve because of Tibbers, Samira had to burn Hexdrinker and QSS on my burst allowing Eve to carry the match. I would not go this build often. It was impromptu a lot based on what I was seeing in enemy player behavior.
No one in iron can land a veigar cage 🤣
We will have to take your word for it
Shouldn't Syndra be in the meta dependent/seasonal tier? Looking at her history and the challenger acc you showed you can definitely see her pop in and out, and that's generally how she has been for the past few years imo. When she's strong either through meta or buffs she is really dominant but when that's not the case she usually ends up being super weak
She is around too frequently imo to be labeled as a meta dependent champ. But yes objectively that is true (as it is for all champs actually), but for the MOST part she is around nearly every year
Yeah not sure Kayle is as bad as this. When I solo que it's hard but when I duo with an assasin (tbh I usually play top Kayle with assasin mid) and my win rate goes up way more. Try contesting grubs with an Akali with kayle ult on it at lvl 6 - 8 yeah its pretty good and I find it kind of has a synergistic feel.
I play Zac mid
ahj!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
me playing kled😅
Curtis, where is Olaf?
🤣
Where is Milio tho?
I am Kayle otp in gold and cant climb any higher. Why is she so bad rated in the video? I have 1.7 mln points with her.
THANKS FOR MAKING IT AS HARD AS POSSIBLE TO TELL WHICH TIER LIST GOES WITH WHICH ELO. DISLIKED UNSUBBED
Couldn’t help but notice it seems Heimerdinger was omitted 🥸