Riot Games

For many players in League of Legends the primary barometer for skill is the post-game scoreboard.  Many players will point to their ratio of kills to deaths and express their confusion as to how they could have possibly lost, coming to the conclusion that the rest of their team is to blame.  Especially frustrating for these players is the fact that the victorious team often has less impressive scores. 

It should come as no surprise to anyone who has played a team game like LoL that teamwork will quite frequently overcome pure skill.  However, teamwork with focus – that is, players working well together with the goal of the game in mind – is an unstoppable force.  This begs the question: what, then, is the goal of League of Legends?

Summoner spells are an integral part of League of Legends that set it apart from similar games such as Heroes of Newerth.  In other games players have only their chosen hero’s abilities at their disposal, but LoL’s summoner spells add an additional element of strategy and timing to the game.  As a result, the proper application of these abilities can have a huge influence on the outcome of battles, and more often than not can get you a kill that would have otherwise been out of reach or prevent a gank that might have cost your team control of the lane.

The wide variety of summoner spells allows players to choose a set that will most effectively support the weaknesses or enhance the strengths of the champions they pick.  This can also make it confusing for newer players who may not know which work best for their champions or worse, when to use the skills they pick.  With most summoner spells being on a long cooldown, using your skills prematurely means they will not be available when you actually need them.

The word “tank” in the context of video games (that aren’t RTSes, at least) has a fairly specific meaning –a tough character who can both attract and withstand enemy attacks in order to prevent other more vulnerable targets from being damaged.  RPGs have always had a repertoire of warriors, paladins, and the like to serve as archetypal examples of “tanks.”

Many League of Legends players look at characters such as Alistar or Malphite (who Riot has helpfully labeled as “tanks”) and assume that these heroes are meant mainly to absorb enemy fire.  Unfortunately, this is a less than stellar interpretation of roles these heroes play.  In LoL, players  must shed the definition of tank that other games have taught them (and indeed, the word altogether) for a more apt description of the role this type of champion plays: “initiator”.

Like the title implies, this week’s article focuses on seven simple steps that may not be immediately obvious to all players, but can greatly improve your game when taken to heart.  As last week’s article hinted, there is much more to League of Legends than simply knowing what items to buy and what skills to use.  By learning the difference between last-hitting and auto-attacking, the importance of wards, how to avoid getting ganked, and a few other tips, you can increase your effectiveness by a surprising amount.  These are tips that may seem simple, but are incredibly important for any player who wants to be more successful at the game.

Many players feel that despite possessing a strong understanding of the mechanics, playstyles, and item builds of their favorite champions they cannot seem to improve their win rate – or perhaps they feel as if they are simply not getting any better.

An easy explanation for this is a lack of appreciation for the metagame of League of Legends – that is, how they and their champion fit into the “big picture” of a match.  There are a variety of factors that go beyond simply knowing when to use your champion’s skills or what items to buy, and this article focuses on a very important principle that many players have trouble understanding: you must play aggressively in order to succeed.  Learn more after the jump.

Today is a great day, because today is the day that League of Legends introduces the first of what looks to be a very long list of seasons for it's semi-competitive MOBA.  If you have no idea what League of Legends is, I suggest you follow the link and take a look around.  Much like it's predecesor, DOTA, League of Legends has been offering an action-RPG style game that pits summoners against each other to win the League of Legends.  Well, today they start the first season which will end in a $100,000 prize.  Hit the jump for all the gritty details, including patch notes and the Season One cinematic.

Word is spreading quickly that Riot Games has at last announced a launch date for the much-anticipated first season of their breakaway hit League of Legends. Season One promises to be the largest update to LoL since its launch late last year with a redesigned website, ranked matches with draft mode and bans, and a slew of tournaments already planned. The launch is only one week away on July 13, so get your team ready.

Don't have a team planned out already? Why not try asking around in the CA forums? Just look at it this way: you can either win with us, or you can lose against us. 

2 new skins are out for League of Legends today, 'Red Card' Katarina and 'All-star' Akali.  This is the second batch of new World Cup related skins to be released.  They're pretty good looking skins and the best part is they're 30% off.  Each skin is 682RP and you can buy them right now on the  pvp.net store in League of Legends.  If you've never played League of Legends or don't have an account, you can sign up for one using this link.

In an effort to drum up excitement for Alienware Arena, League of Legends creators Riot Games and Alienware are giving away some 25,000 free Nightmare Cho'gath skins to players willing to register at both sites. To claim your free skin key, head to the Alienware Arena website while supplies (and Alienware's progressively more mangled servers) last. Keys are going fast, so make it snappy!

Today the Urf memorial contest winners are in and there are quite a few winners memorializing our fallen manatee brother.  League of Legends creator Riot games ran an April Fools joke that they were implementing a manatee character into the game on the first, and when the first rolled around revealed that he had been eaten by one of the other champions, Warwick.  Warwick was then shown wearing a manatee costume near the water.  For that day only they released a Urf Warwick special skin that you could purchase for 50 riot points, and all proceeds would go to save the manatees.  Hit the jump to find out more.