1 | Learn the League

Where You Belong – The Meta Where people go in Summoner’s Rift, as well as what roles they fill, are all part of what many in the community refer to as 'the meta,' or metagame. Understanding these concepts will help you determine which lane to enter at the beginning of a match.

Before going further, let me throw in a caveat. The meta is accepted strategy among many players in League of Legends, but it’s not always the best way to play, and it’s not always what you see from organized teams at tournaments. My sincere hope is that, once you’ve soaked in everything this e-book has to offer, you will be able to break out of the meta in smart ways, both by yourself and as part of a team.

These particular recommendations have remained fairly consistent since the end of Season 1. You’ll likely want to spend about 15-20 minutes in these lanes unless your team has started grouping up before then.

If you already are familiar with the terms League of Legends players use for champions, skip this section. Otherwise, read on:

Fighters These are stronger and often more defensive champions. They tend to be melee-range champions who deal most of their damage when they are standing next to a target.

Good examples of fighter champions are Irelia, Garen, Riven, and Darius.

Mages (Formerly AP Casters) If you've played Mages, Wizards, or Sorceror archetypes from other games, this is what I'm referring to. AP Mages are champions who generally rely on spells to deal damage, and will become stronger throughout the game through a combination of Ability Power and levels (for higher ranks of spells). Their primary damage type in fights tends to be magical.

Good examples of mages are Veigar, Brand, Cassiopeia, and Ahri.

Marksmen (Formerly Ranged AD Carry) These are ranged champions who deal a significant portion of their damage through normal ranged attacks and deal primarily physical damage. Marksmen tend to become strongest by bringing in a lot of gold, usually from consistent minion farming in the lane, and tend to be less dependent on their level to be effective than mages. By the late game, a well-geared marksman may be the highest damage output champions in the match.

Good examples of marksmen are Miss Fortune, Sivir, Ezreal, and Ashe.

2 | Learn the League

Support/Tank These are champions who primarily contribute to their team by supporting the actions of their teammates, either with healing, shielding, vision, or crowd controls. These champions tend to be less gold and gear dependent, so they work well with marksmen as it allows the marksman champion to generate gold safely without competition.

Good examples of support are Soraka, Janna, Sona, and Lulu.

Good examples of tanks or initiators are Alistar, Leona, Nautilus, and Blitzcrank.

More information on these roles can be found in the Champion Roles & Recommendations section of the guide.

Fighter - Solo Top At least one player in a team should be playing a fighter. One fighter should usually go alone to top lane, and may also carry Teleport to get down to the bottom half of the map quickly, particularly when taking Dragon in the early and mid game. This player normally focuses on maximizing their gold by last hitting minions in the lane. Since they'll be solo, their ability to more reliably survive gank attempts makes them better suited to this lane.

A mage with strong escape mechanisms can also fill this role.

Mages - Solo Mid At least one player in a team should be playing a mage in the role of a carry. This player should usually go to mid lane. Mages tend to gain more from levels and higher ranks in abilities than other champions. By going solo mid, they can maintain a level advantage while they're in a relatively safe lane.

Alternatively, some assassins (such as Talon or Zed) and some anti-carries or long-range poke champions (such as Urgot) can be good to send to this lane, as they can counter the enemy mage.

Marksman & Support/Tank - Duo Bot A team should have one marksman in the role of a carry. This player should usually go bot lane with a partner. Marksmen tend to benefit more from gold income and items than other champions. For this reason, they are well suited to playing in a lane with another player who is protecting them and allowing them to farm more effectively.

3 | Learn the League

The second player in this lane is usually a support, though a team may choose to put an initiator/disruptor such as Leona into the lane instead. This player is usually responsible for keeping the marksman safe and opening up opportunities to harass opponents.

Alternatively, some teams use a 'kill lane' setup that is designed to prevent an enemy marksman from being able to effectively farm. This is usually a pairing of champions that can quickly burst down an enemy, even if they have a support player. This is higher risk.

When playing with a partner at bottom lane (or any lane), keep in mind that your personal play is usually not as important as how well you two work together.

Jungler One jungler on a team is usually ideal. This player should be playing a role that is complementary to the team, such as a fighter or tank. The importance of having a jungler is that it allows another lane to run solo (usually top lane), allowing more overall experience and gold potential for the team. It also prevents the opposing jungler from gaining additional gold, experience, and buffs for their team by invading frequently.

Why Not Send Two Top? The most common question is why there are always two bot. After all, why not send two top instead? In terms of the meta, the answer is Dragon. By having the majority of your players near Dragon, you can more readily move to take the kill early in the game. If your opponents are taking Dragon, you have more people ready to react. This is also why having a ward at Dragon (covered in the Map Dominance section) and having a player in top lane carry Teleport (to get them to that ward) is important.

While Baron Nashor (on the top half of the map) is important, he doesn't become available until later in the match when your team may already be moving as a group. Getting ahead in the early game is important in your lane, but huge gains are made by securing early Dragon kills.

Can You Switch This Up? Absolutely, and people do it all the time. The above lane designations work better than others, on average, but are not always the best. They're stronger if you're in draft mode and picking counters to enemy champions; however, in blind pick, there are advantages to being more flexible.

After all, if you send a mage to mid lane and they are guaranteed to lose the lane to an opponent that can destroy them, how does that benefit your team?

4 | Learn the League

Experimenting as a team is fine. Switching lanes (even during the match) to a more favorable match-up is always a good idea if it can recover a bad situation. And sending hard counters to lanes specifically to lock your enemies down early is smart play.

Anecdotally, my second most played champion in Season 3 ranked matches was Cassiopeia, a mage. But I rarely ever played her at mid lane – I mostly countered the meta by using her at bottom lane and occasionally at top lane. I consistently remained at a higher-than-50% winrate with her, despite a lot of failed experiments with champion pairs (my results: Cassiopeia/Teemo sounds a lot better than it is; Cassiopeia/Soraka is a lot better than it sounds).

As I said, the purpose of this book is not to tell you how your team must play in every circumstance. I want to arm you with the knowledge to make smart decisions. I felt it was important to include this section so you know what other players often expect, not because it is always necessarily the right way to play.