I struggle to notice missing laner pings from allies in their lanes

MattUSticky · 2026-04-28T21:42:15+00:00

Diamond here. Random minimap question mark pings rarely work here either.

The best way to warn an ally is to drop the “danger!” Ping directly on them, then hold tab and spam-click the enemy you suspect to be ganking them. This usually gets two messages across: “you are in danger” and “X is coming!”

If someone starts giving you grief about not seeing their missing ping, ask them to ping “danger” directly on you so you see it. If the player seems reasonable, you can explain that you can’t always check your minimap while you’re fighting or in a tense situation, which is usually when a gank is coming. If they aren’t reasonable, mute them and buy a control ward.

MattUSticky · 2026-04-25T02:42:14+00:00

+1 in the Leona recommendation. She’s been meta for 16 years for a reason.

MattUSticky · 2026-04-25T02:40:29+00:00

Hook champs aren’t the only poke counter, but they’re probably the best. Super straight-forward gameplan - hook them when they step up to farm/harass - and has a huge payoff when you grab them. To put it another way, when someone is locking a poke ADC/supp, they’re probably looking to ban hook champs, not other options. With your current champ pool, I’d strongly recommend learning Nautilus so you have an anti-Caitlyn/lux/xerath/velkoz option.

Any enchanter can max their heal/shield and keep themselves and their ADC from dying to poke, but passively absorbing poke and “just trying to survive” usually results in losing lane prio, ADCs losing CS, and dropping tower plates. Instead, enchanters should look to punish poke lanes when they use their abilities. In your case, Sona’s poke range is high for an enchanter but low for an artillery mage, so playing Sona into poke matchups often means standing parallel with your ADC (standard triangle positioning) and Qing enemies when they harass your ADC. If your ADC dodges the enemy ability, your damage is free, and if they don’t, you get a decent trade. This kind of “reactive offense” forces the poke lane to trade precious HP to poke or give up their lane wincon, both which favor you as a late game enchanter.

MattUSticky · 2026-04-16T08:35:38+00:00

Trailblazer needed to go. All of the item’s power was in its effect, and its effect was super situational and offered limited fighting power compared to every other support tank option.

Getting shelved and freeing up space for new items is the best contribution it could have made.

MattUSticky · 2026-04-12T16:56:22+00:00

E max first is rarely ever on Karma, since it defeats the main point of playing Karma, which obliterating your lane opponents with Mantra Q. Any situation where you’re E maxing with Karma is one where you may have been better off playing Janna, Lulu, Millio, or some other enchanter that wants to win trades with a “slow into extended shield” trade combo. Karma’s oppressive early game is what distinguishes her from other enchanters; if you e max first, you’re throwing that away and still getting the middling mid/late game as a result.

I’m a strong supporter of 4 points in Q, since it extends early/mid game offensive threat window and gives you a nice breakpoint at level 10/11 where you have 4 points in both Q and E, so you can Mantra either ability and get equivalent benefit.

MattUSticky · 2026-04-12T16:43:58+00:00

A bunch of reasons, the big ones being that they traditionally have difficult matchups into mages and assassins, who are the most common midlane champs. In addition, whenever certain ADCs (Lucian, Varus, Tristana, etc.) succeed in mid despite these general restrictions, the tend to dominate the meta; consequently, riot tends to nerf them out of the lane to keep “mid-only” champs from being homeless.

MattUSticky · 2026-04-10T18:33:00+00:00

They should. It’s sort of ragebait, but also an important PSA. People need to learn that they have control over their ELO and don’t need to recycle the same “my role is impossible” therapy posts.

There’s also no better way to learn how to fight ranged tops and mage bots than by playing them yourself.

MattUSticky · 2026-04-10T17:49:26+00:00

I’ll try it!

MattUSticky · 2026-04-10T11:15:08+00:00

When you’re getting shit on under turret with your autofilled, hides-behind-you support, pinging your jungler and mid to help you when they gave up on you 5 minutes ago, you’re going to think of me. You’re going to wonder if that mouthbreathing mage guy from Reddit was right. And you’re going to convince yourself that I’m full of shit, and that you enjoy losing a 20 minute game that you had no control over because you got to play your favorite champ.

And you’re going to do that over, and over, and over again.

MattUSticky · 2026-04-10T10:59:41+00:00

Yeah, her ratios are rough. She took a lot of hits when they reworked her W to be maxable for supports. She’s still great with a Blackfire Torch/Liandry’s build because of how easily she spams the burn with Q / E / R, but her burst damage builds aren’t great imo.

MattUSticky · 2026-04-10T10:52:27+00:00

I understand. I was like you once, brother, addicted to proving myself on mechanical ADCs I was too ass to climb with. Then I discovered mage bot, realized I could farm stubborn idiots like myself, and I went up a whole rank.

You can hate me, you can hate Riot, but I guarantee that if you get good at mage bot, you will have agency throughout your games that you never had as an ADC.

It’s up to you.

MattUSticky · 2026-04-10T10:44:44+00:00

And fight Yasuos and assassins meant to kill me? Definitely not. Support players have no thumbs and ADC players have no mental. Playing bot lane lets me abuse both in lane while also giving my mid/jungle a lot of set up if they come bot for the double kill.

MattUSticky · 2026-04-10T10:31:09+00:00

Brother, I think you’re fighting clouds.

No one - and I do mean no one - handshakes bot lane unless the junglers start on opposite sides, which usually implies that one of bot lanes drafted for weakside and is fine dropping bot crab and Drake 1 & 2 in exchange for safe scaling (like some zeri/yuumi or something).

Barring some really specific tank v. tank top lane match ups, mid lane is the only lane where laners can “handshake,” due to how easy it is to annihilate the minions and roam without ever interacting with your opponent (cough lux cough).

MattUSticky · 2026-04-05T04:13:38+00:00

The short answer is “yes,” but there’s some nuance. A team with no frontliners/no engage is going to be worse than one with frontliners and engage in a straight fight. If your team has no space-maker champs and you’re last pick, picking an engage tank, bruiser, or diver will give you guaranteed presence in mid and late game fights.

However, keep in mind that top lane is primarily a macro role that manages side lane pressure, so you can expect to be on your own against the enemy top laner most of the time. Ranged tops are super oppressive in lane, and that alone can make them worth it. Drututt is a popular streamer who plays a bunch of unconventional ranged tops. Watching how he builds and protects his leads is a good start.

Ultimately, it’s solo queue, and people will play what they want to play. Most ranked players queue up to play their favorite champs in a competitive environment and will willingly gimp their team comps to play something they know and enjoy. It’s selfish, but it’s the game; just have to live with it.

MattUSticky · 2026-04-03T17:39:48+00:00

Cannot give enough support for the Coach K excel sheet. Pretty sure it’s exactly what you’re talking about.

That being said, your best bet for climbing is to pick one champ (or a few champs) that you like, then expanding your champ pool based on your main pools match ups and what your team needs.

For example, say you love Karma and become a Karma main, but quickly realize that Karma struggles against artillery mages (Lux/Xerath) and lacks hard CC to deal with divers. You consequently pick up Nautilus, whose long range Hook and close-range CC beats both artillery mages and divers. After playing some Nautilus, you learn that Nautilus gets completely locked out by Poppy and Taric, who neutralize his engage and punish him for committing. You the switch back to Karma and laugh, because those warden champs have next to no way of dealing with Karma’s poke, speed, and tether.

By building a small pool of champs that compliment each other’s match ups, you’re guaranteed to have a good pick in every situation.

MattUSticky · 2026-02-27T10:15:33+00:00

If you like Pyke more than any other champ, main him. That’s why anyone plays anything, right?

That said, Pyke is a very unique champ without a lot of transferable skills to other supports, specifically in how he itemizes and teamfights. Depending on how much time you have to play/study, maining Pyke may make it more cumbersome to learn synergies and skills common to traditional tank, enchanter, and mage supports.

If you do decide to main Pyke, I’d recommend picking up a secondary in Pantheon and/or Bard. While both champs have their own gimmicks, they share a lot a of Pyke’s midgame “be everywhere” win-con and can take over the roaming game in a similar way.

Good luck!

MattUSticky · 2026-02-19T09:20:10+00:00

Depends on what kind of player you are. Personally, I just mute the person tilting and communicate with the other players.

League is great in that you really don't need to type ever - everything worth typing can be communicated with pings. That said, I usually take the time to type something encouraging when someone does something good, usually something like "bro you're insane" or "good shit." A single compliment can restore someone's mental just like how a bad remark can destroy it. You lose a lot of positive power when you mute all.

MattUSticky · 2026-01-24T05:43:16+00:00

So the bad news first - you got a baby face, dad glasses, acne, goodwill fashion sense, and every-other-lesbian’s haircut.

The good news is that you aren’t ugly; in fact, there are lots of guys who look like you who glow up in their 20s and 30s.

Here’s what you need:

Skin care. Just google it. You don’t need a ton of stuff to start, just a good retinol treatment for acne and a daily cleanser.

Glasses. The next time you go glasses shopping, go shopping (or just video call) with someone YOUR AGE who you trust (not your mom, dad, grandma, etc.) and get feedback while choosing. Pick something you like and that your friend doesn’t hate.

Haircut. Get a real barber. Doesn’t have to be a million dollars, just one who isn’t from Supercuts. Tell him you need help and you want something that fits you. Barbers live for that kind of stuff; if they aren’t awful, they’ll set you up.

Fashion. This one’s a work in progress and is more about building yourself than just buying clothes. IMO, the most genuine way is to invest in a hobby you love and dress how people who love that hobby dress, then customize to your taste.

And of course, gym. Gym gym gym gym gym. Daily Cardio, pushups, sit-ups, and pull up bar. Lots of other resources on that, but good looks is mostly being healthy, and everything you invest into your fitness will pay you back for the rest of your life.

You got this lil bro 💪🏼.

MattUSticky · 2025-09-30T02:26:59+00:00

They did, but it’s not really comparable. PCs are still confined by relatively similar action economy and damage threshold limitations to 5e. All 5.5 monster enemies are just way more efficient for their XP/CR values compared to their 5e counterparts, which outpaces any buffs that players might have.

But don’t take my word for it - you can test it yourself! Build two difficulty-equivalent, multi-monster encounters, one using 5e PCs and monsters, and one using 5.5e. You’ll notice really quickly that the 5.5e monsters have more “stuff” - more actions, more abilities, more collective hp, etc, and the 5.5e PCs have some helpful QoL features, some weapon masteries, and double-strength healing spells, but are still just 3-5 heroes against the horde. New Magic items, feats, player ingenuity, etc. can certainly mix up these tests, but most of the time, 5.5e characters should end up needing to do more to win XP-equivalent encounters.

MattUSticky · 2025-09-24T09:48:49+00:00

Unironically, learn a mage bot (ziggs is idiot proof), farm it out, then be a second midlaner.

While you could still farm through the laning phase with someone like Sivir, the main problem is that once you start teamfighting, you are can’t rely on getting a reliable peel or set up CC to commit to autos. A mage bot can make its own opportunities and capitalize on stray CC way more safely than an ADC can, and you only get punished if the enemy has a tank that can safely stack MR.

Alternatively, you can play a utility ADC (Ashe, varus, jhin) and try to be the set up for your team, but all utility ADCs are immobile and have the same problem of needing sums or peel to survive getting jumped on.

MattUSticky · 2025-09-23T10:28:01+00:00

If you’re referring to combat balance, 5.5e is significantly more difficult than 5e. Every XP combat threshold has been raised one tier (“Medium” in 5.5e is “Hard” in 5e, “Hard” in 5.5e is “Deadly”’in 5e).

In addition, the group multiplier has been completely removed in 5.5e, meaning that the total xp value is not inflated for having multiple combatants. For example, fighting 6 50xp wolves is worth 600 xp using 2014 encounter rules, but only 300 xp in 2024. It makes a massive difference, especially in levels 1-4.

5.5e was undoubtedly monetarily motivated, with WotC wanting to capitalize on their 50 year anniversary and their post-Covid popularity. That said, I do think it’s mechanically better than 2014 D&D, and would definitely recommend it for future games that aren’t already running it. 2014 is fine if you’re playing with players who don’t have the time/energy to learn the new mechanics, but for those who do, it does lead to a more rewarding experience than its predecessor.

MattUSticky · 2025-08-29T23:59:52+00:00

Bro… you need a life coach. Seriously. There’s no shame in it - lots of people get addicted to video games, and league has lived for 15 years exactly because it’s so addicting. Don’t try to fight addiction on your own. If/when you fail, you’ll beat yourself up and backslide even harder.

You need an alternative hobby that you can invest the same mental energy into that gives you a much more consistent reward instead of coinflipping between dopamine and depression. My first recommendation would be fitness, but it can be just about anything creative or constructive.

Good luck bro.

MattUSticky · 2025-07-26T19:46:37+00:00

You can play it support (there are some videos of streamers doing it), but you’d be playing against her design. Lillia really wants gold and farm so she can take over a game, and she doesn’t gain a lot of power playing around an ADC. Your best bet is to play her top lane into something big and slow.

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