Reign of Gaming

A bit of theorycrafting here for this post, but a bit of background information first.

Currently a Silver IV player, can do all roles, but I normally prefer mid. Lately, I've taken to playing Zed quite heavily as I enjoy his playstyle and his skillset. Zed, as you may know, is one of those champions that all-ins when the other team has blown most of their load in order to destroy a high priority target.

A common trend I've noticed for many players is a team's inability to teamfight properly. There are a few key points here as a solo (mid) laner:

• Winning your lane
• Pushing it/roaming to help your lane snowball
• Know your champion's role in a teamfight

The last one is particularly problematic in my mind as an assassin like Zed. In the unfortunate event that your team lacks the capability to teamfight properly (Examples include someone going man-moding and 1v4ing them, people continuously getting caught or your ADC forgets how to kite/auto attack.), do you think this severely limits an assassin's impact in a game?

Let's take for example a few other assassins:

• Akali - Punishes poor positioning/random people who get caught. In the end, she has diving capabilities, and a disengage/escape mechanism.
• Diana - A hybrid perhaps between an assassin and a traditional bursty caster. Split pushing potential increases with Nashor's Tooth build.
• Kha'Zix - Great poking, reset on Evolved E is great following up/disengaging. Single target burst is excellent.

The problem with this is that in order to effectively eliminate a target in a teamfight, you need...well, a team with you. My question is this:

What can you do as an assassin if you're never given an opportunity to assassinate?

There's other options.

Split pushing. But let's look at that -- Some champs can't split push well. (Think LeBlanc) Also, if you're the carry on the team and the main source of damage, how will you contribute to a teamfight if you're not there? (Never mind that your team may bitch at you for not "being with the group") The idea is to separate the enemy team and make them waste time to try and stop you. And if they catch you? What will your team be doing while you split push?

This game is highly dependent on teamwork and communication, but we can't get that every single game. We hear it all the time. "Do your best", "Dominate your lane", "Snowball off of early kills and go roam". Teamfights are such a crucial part of it in the end, and I feel that if you can't contribute, you can't win. Are assassins a good idea in solo queue?

I'm not bitching about my team. I don't think I'm a great player. I make mistakes just like everyone else. The point of this is how to capitalize on certain advantages and minimize disadvantages for your team as an assassin midlaner.

What do you think?

TL;DR -- Solo queue time. Is it better to play a more traditional mid-laner with a ton of utility/burst or an assassin if your teammates are unable to secure fights together? (Lux/Orianna vs. Kha'Zix/Zed for example.)

Been playing Zed heavily in mid lane for a while now. My 2 cents below.

I think he's subpar top due to the inherent tanky nature of top lane. I could be wrong, but I think he's better at bursting down a lot of midlaners. Jungle, he has incredible clear speed, but I like a snowball-y kind of Zed and I believe that he has more potential in mid lane. 

These days, I've been preferring to max REWQ, due to the AD bonus and reduced cooldown on his Living Shadow which is a huge part of his kit. I used to go REQW for heavier poke, especially since they redid his Q to be a bit more powerful, but I think the consistent damage that comes out from his W -> E harass is much more beneficial. Never mind that on a lower CD with W, you can use it more frequently to make some plays. 

I traditionally run red pot/4 pots/ward to start. If I feel safe, you can get more pots, it doesn't matter. Q or E at level one (usually Q), W next, and then E at level 3. I rush Brutalizer as soon as possible for ArPen and CDR. After that, I usually go BT and Boots of Mobility for pressuring other lanes. If I'm losing heavily, I may get Hexdrinker if I need it. To be honest though, you should totally be scaring off your opponent laner. You put out a TON of damage with W -> E, and you should usually get two Es off before W disappears. Keep in mind that sometimes, people totally forget that you can swap positions with your Shadow, so if you feel that it's in your advantage to swap, do so to throw off some auto attacks.

PRIME EXAMPLE: Zed vs. Lux. You throw out W -> E. Hit E again. You predict her Q or her E. Instantly swap with your Living Shadow and you've just dodged it. Congratulations, you will now punch her in the uterus a few times. Maybe chug your red pot before hand for some damage, and Ignite her. GG, you've performed an abortion with Zed. 

Do remember that W is on a long cooldown and can be utilized as an escape if necessary. A smart enemy jungler may wait for you to blow your W in lane before moving in, forcing you to flash if it's up.

ALSO REMEMBER that the E on Living Shadow also slows. You don't need to use W to get away, but you can throw it behind you and slow the enemy as well. Usually helpful when everyone on your team is running for their lives. 

TEAMFIGHTS. Just treat him like you would an assassin. Poke if you can, wait for your all-in moment. Be very careful because Zed lacks the mobility that a Kha'Zix with evolved E has. (Damned resets.) You usually want to save your W to follow up OR disengage. That's my biggest problem with Zed, really. 

Items: Brutalizer -> BT -> Boots 2 (Usually Mobility for me) ->  Last Whisper/BotRK -> Whatever. 

I see a lot of discussion for rushing BotRK. The idea is to use the active for the lifesteal/movement speed steal/nuke to stack on top of your R. This is a good idea in theory, however, I think the raw damage that a BT can give you is much better. BotRK IMHO is better for mid/late game when people start building up health. The idea is to nuke a carry anyways, so BotRK isn't high on my priority list. 

Edit: You can nullify a lot of Zed's damage with shields/Zhonya's if you time it just before Death Mark procs. Zed hates that. He really hates that. 

Specifically:

• Lux
• Ahri
• Orianna
• TF

If a player AAs a lot with these champions (maybe Ahri not so much), is it a good idea to use HyPen runes or just stick with straight up MPen marks? What're your thoughts? 

I haven't heard much about Orianna. What do you guys think about her? 

Quote from Pelikins »

Honestly though, if no one is peeling the carries, then the support, jungler, and top aren't doing their job and they deserve to lose.

Unfortunately, that means you die and lose too. You can't go using all your time and effort fending off the tanks because that means the enemy carries are just going to town on your team if you aren't pressuring them.

You are forced into relying on your team... just the way it is.

I won't claim to be good, but we did have Lee Sin and Jayce. Did request they peel for me if necessary. :X 

Quote from kingofthesofas »

Lux is all about timing and position. When I first started playing her I would frequently blow my snare early or not use it properly in team fights. Also I would get into a bad position trying to auto-attack in team fights for more damage. I cannot say it enough that in team fights you should sit at max range and poke with E and get your teammates with shields. If a good opportunity to snare E R combo a carry comes take it but other than that save your snare to peel. If you are still having problems get a Zhoynas Hourglass and use it to mitigate the combo from a bruiser and by the time the ZH is done your snare and or e might be ready so you can get away.

If that's the case, Q is  used to keep people from diving me, or to pursue fleeing targets, yeah? 

A different kind of experience for me (relatively inexperienced with Lux). In a recent match where I was Lux, I was fairly fed. Laned against Fizz, denied him a lot, attempted to roam a bit, we were ahead. Enemy composition was:

• Cho'gath
• Volibear
• Fizz
• Pantheon
• Quinn

Only source of peels was Lee Sin and Jayce on my team. Pantheon was fed up top, kept jumping at me during team fights and I blew up very quickly. I suspect that champs like Jax, Akali, Kha'zix, Zed, etc. operate similarly in which they'll dive in and get me to blow up. Any advice on how to play her a bit more...safely? (Ironic since she farms safely anyways, just worried about teamfights.)

Thanks for taking a look!

Sorry, like I said, it's a very generic thread. I thought it appropriate to submit here, so apologies if not. Basically looking for ways to minimize the chances of a loss, especially if I'm being put up against higher ranked opponents and I'm just afraid of the trolls. ^^ Thanks. 

Hey all, I'm currently on my promotion series at Silver 3 at the moment. I do believe that if you're on a hot streak, your MMR places you higher and you ace your matches, you're eligible to skip a division. I'm pretty nervous about it due to a number of reasons, mostly trolls, poor communication with team, etc. Anything special I should keep in mind? I'll definitely play when I'm mentally sharp and in a good mood, but I'm trying to minimize any sort of negative external factors as much as possible as well. Thoughts? (Sorry if this thread is really broad and generic.) 

Quote from jimpalm007 »

Agreed; I'm not calling Lux bad, i'm just calling her out on all the weaknesses people are ignoring. She's just not tier 1 material as she is at the moment; she was considered underpowered until Rapidstar took her out in a tournament and she's been FOTM since. It'll pass, with or without a nerf from Riot

 

Curious, but who would you place above Lux then?