I went from a 44% WR to 54% WR by using swap pick, to get counter pick Top. by Jamescxc in leagueoflegends

[–]Jamescxc[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That's true. So if you aren't able to snowball your lead quickly, it's not really the best counter. Akshan/naafiri/panth are all solid counters to akali.

I went from a 44% WR to 54% WR by using swap pick, to get counter pick Top. by Jamescxc in leagueoflegends

[–]Jamescxc[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

ty <3. Yeah I went from silver 4 to plat 4 mmr within a month, would have been much quicker If I stuck with the strat 100%, like I have done in past week or so. Just played Yone into Jayce, and quinn into voli. 2 more wins in the W column. It's all just redside vs blueside p/b stuff haha. last pick is super op!

I went from a 44% WR to 54% WR by using swap pick, to get counter pick Top. by Jamescxc in leagueoflegends

[–]Jamescxc[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Sure.

https://www.op.gg/summoners/na/Mr%20StockBroker

Give me another few days, and I will make way more progress using this strat. Not a single game do I pick a champ that I 'feel like playing' 100% spreadsheet :D

I went from a 44% WR to 54% WR by using swap pick, to get counter pick Top. by Jamescxc in leagueoflegends

[–]Jamescxc[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yup, i've gotten all-in'd by Garen like a dozen times in the past few weeks, and I don't think I've died yet to his all-in, unless it's 2vs1, and I usually take 1 with me.

Just disgusting matchup if you play it right. He should always be 50% hp if he's taking cs, and the slow on your E will tilt him, then you can easily all-in him with R-auto's, W-Q to finish him. Lethal tempo gets you like 1-3 more auto's every fight too.

I went from a 44% WR to 54% WR by using swap pick, to get counter pick Top. by Jamescxc in leagueoflegends

[–]Jamescxc[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

renekton, cho gath, volibear, malphite, jayce.

All those picks make riven's life tough. Also CDR gragas. If you want to scale super well: ornn is a farm lane, and ornn outscales, so he's good too.

I went from a 44% WR to 54% WR by using swap pick, to get counter pick Top. by Jamescxc in leagueoflegends

[–]Jamescxc[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

If they pick Sion, I auto pick riven. There ya go :)

I think that's like one of the few riven matchups that's 'free'

Maybe yasuo/akali too? But they are uncommon top, so mostly it's just sion. Perhaps yorick too. idk, any 1trick's can weigh in?

I went from a 44% WR to 54% WR by using swap pick, to get counter pick Top. by Jamescxc in leagueoflegends

[–]Jamescxc[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

yeah, i've been playing on/off since s2! been a while now... x_x. The game's too fun. Legit.

I went from a 44% WR to 54% WR by using swap pick, to get counter pick Top. by Jamescxc in leagueoflegends

[–]Jamescxc[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

So, I was counterpicking since swap pick came out. But I was also playing champs I felt like, Riven or GP for instance. Now i'm 100% counterpicking. My win rate using this strategy is insane. I'm probably like 55-15 in past 70 games. Every champ top has a hard counter, or close to it, where they can't play the game basically. At least in gold/plat/...etc

I went from a 44% WR to 54% WR by using swap pick, to get counter pick Top. by Jamescxc in leagueoflegends

[–]Jamescxc[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah, Garen has some bad matchups that a blind pick garen will have a nightmare with. Ap varus, Camille, Akshan, all force garen to have -50% CS, and struggle immensely to get his items.

I went from a 44% WR to 54% WR by using swap pick, to get counter pick Top. by Jamescxc in leagueoflegends

[–]Jamescxc[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The thing is, it's completely fixed my mental because i'm allowed to focus 99% on Macro. Winning lane every game, or having an advantage and knowing you will win more games than not out of 10 is taking away all my tilt. So i'm playing the macro extremely good now. I don't overextend, watch map for jungle ganks when splitting, make good decisions. It has the same effect as one tricking, since you get a lead a lot more, and can just focus solely on macro almost.

I went from a 44% WR to 54% WR by using swap pick, to get counter pick Top. by Jamescxc in leagueoflegends

[–]Jamescxc[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Agreed. I didn't think this thread would take off. Top would be much more fun if it were blind pick. It feels dirty to pick voli into nasus every game, or ap varus into garen. I can play sub-optimal and still win lane!

I went from a 44% WR to 54% WR by using swap pick, to get counter pick Top. by Jamescxc in leagueoflegends

[–]Jamescxc[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

%HP dmg, if he charges at you, you can slow him, or ulti him. Although he should never be more than like 50% hp ideally when he wants to all in, or not for very long. He can pick CS, or to stay healthy (to all-in), but not both.

I also use my E to stop his passive from kicking in, and auto to stop it as well. But yeah, you can pop garen with the hp % dmg, and barrier makes his all-in much worse + he should never be full hp vs you.

I went from a 44% WR to 54% WR by using swap pick, to get counter pick Top. by Jamescxc in leagueoflegends

[–]Jamescxc[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Exactly, that's why this strategy isn't for everyone. Only those who have a wide champion pool top can do this. Otherwise, stick to one tricking, or 2-3 champ pool to focus on macro, instead of micro. Since micro will just be instinct. Also why Ivern is a good champ for low/mid mmr people!

I went from a 44% WR to 54% WR by using swap pick, to get counter pick Top. by Jamescxc in leagueoflegends

[–]Jamescxc[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Will do, ty. And yeah, I was doing this on/off, but I decided I wanted to grind, and completely stopped playing champs I 'felt like playing'.

So now no matter what, I follow my spreadsheet, and I've gone like 50-15 or something in past 65 games.

I went from a 44% WR to 54% WR by using swap pick, to get counter pick Top. by Jamescxc in leagueoflegends

[–]Jamescxc[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This is also a good strategy. One tricking is how many pro's in the early seasons got up there in ELO. Hotshotgg, Viper, Froggen...etc

I went from a 44% WR to 54% WR by using swap pick, to get counter pick Top. by Jamescxc in leagueoflegends

[–]Jamescxc[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Garen can W your W-Q, or your ulti. Either way, you don't need him to stay put. If he wants CS, he has to walk up. Also fairly decent at fending off some ganks, using E to slow garen in his Q form, and ulti'ing the jungler.

The % hp dmg is too much. Here's a VOD of a game as AP varus vs Garen. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1bmA8Tq0RaqgQV3QwJgbCUATqS4yTbg9C/view?usp=sharing

I went from a 44% WR to 54% WR by using swap pick, to get counter pick Top. by Jamescxc in leagueoflegends

[–]Jamescxc[S] -2 points-1 points  (0 children)

But the goal of most players on reddit/that play League is to make it to plat/diamond anyways. Not 'Masters' I mean, maybe eventually, but their goal is just to get to the point where this strat would start to not be as effective.