Should You One Trick to Climb? | League of Legends 

One trick players enjoying their fav character >> meta slaves

As long as im not facing a 10 million mastery point grandmaster vayne toplane I feel no animosity towards onetricks

Vars :"One tricks tends to lack knowledge of other champions/roles due to their slim champions roster" Viegos OTP :"No, I don't think I will"

Take it from a sol main, we are chill because riot has bullied us more then anyone ever could in game

Shout out to Vars using the old Aatrox picture for talking about his old main! I felt that as an old Aatrox main myself :'(

One tricks are key to any learning curve at any level IMO. When you’re great and have that feel for a champ, it really helps you get a grasp of macro and the flow of a game. Wave control, team fights, and such are much easier to learn and improve on when playing a champ who’s power is very natural for any individual. My main was Shyv and Nauty boi jungle in late season 3 and I learned the importance of every role through OTP with those two. Tank, bruiser, what horrid things adc’s can do to you lol. Then I learn jungle timers and importance of objectives and overall flow of a game. OTP are healthy except for those ranged anti top laners lol. Those got a special place

Me: you meet Asol one tricks? Where? Riot: People are playing Asol? Better nerf him

One tricks on really niche champs are always great to see on your team and scary on the opponents.

Having a one trick champion with a small group of champions that you are good at (even if you are not the best at them) is the most ideal. This ensures that you are not doomed in case your one trick gets banned or counter picked.

I feel like one tricking Fiddlesticks for 9 months straight taught me more macro than anything I've ever done in League. Because Fiddles has a pretty basic kit, your number one priority is getting good ults, and you need to have good vision denial and map awareness to know where to be and when.

being a 1-3 trick helped me pin down more detailed things about the game, like wave management, decision making, rotations, invading, map awareness, etc. having the champions mechanics down to muscle memory pretty much halves the amount of brain power required to lane with a champion.

I'm a D4 one-trick Anivia. Then I created a smurf account to practice top lane. And bois, I get wrecked the few first games on Silver :D To be fair I can perform fairly on other mid-lane champs, but not other roles. I think onetrick is good, especially when you know how to learn macro and stuff. But after that, you should learn other roles as well if you wanna climb higher than D4. In the contrast, one tricking can't take you to where ever you wanted if you are always on auto pilot. Learn macro, theory,... I see plenty of silver, gold one-trick Yasou with millions of mastery points. They stomp the lane really fast then manage to throw the game just as fast as they come in.

As certain Karen once said: "Strong Pokémon. Weak Pokémon. That is only the selfish perception of people. Truly skilled trainers should try to win with their favorites."

One tricking can often be very useful. Personally i prefer having a larger pool of simpler champs as a support but i did one trick thresh for all of season 8 and it really showed how much growth there is by focusing. I think a pool of 2 champs should be there though since otherwise a target ban will occur .

Im master tier from one tricking heimerdinger. It really helps being otp for climbing but once you are In the top and your otp is not an op champion, be ready to climb very slowly

One tricking can be fun unless your champion is endlessly needed, reworked, and stomped to the ground. Source - Ryze one trick

Overall... I think it's good. Shows that someone truly loves their champ rather than following a meta. Like meeeeee, I only Ivern

My advice is to play the game the way you enjoy it the most. I ve became a defacto one trick not to climb but because I found a champ I enjoy more that everyone else. If that isn't you play whatever. Your enjoyment is more important than internet points.

"League is a game that forces you to adapt." *shows Kha'Zix gameplay* Ah, I see what you did there

"There's only 2 Yorick mains in existence" THAT'S ME!

I noticed that I like the _idea_ of one tricking; mastering a champ, learning the game in depth, pushing mechanics to their limits.. but so far every time I tried to one trick I just got burnt out and didn't want to play the game anymore. Fizz, Anivia, TF, one tricking them was some of the more dull experiences I had in league. Maybe I just didn't find the champ for me yet but... So far I am sticking with a pool of three champs + nami in case I get support, and its a good balance of variety and mastery.

9:35 Jesus would like to have a word with you! All jokes aside, that Iroh quote was so amazing and I love having that little flashback to my childhood. So thanks for that ^^ 11:30 Hey wait a minute that is not very Uncle Iroh of you to say!

Why do i feel that aside from balance, Riot wants people to test out different champs so they'll constantly nerf and buff some so that people are forced to play more than 1 champion

I've been obsessed with playing Sett for about a month now, and your tip of being too used to the champion is so true. I've been trying out various new top champions because of this, i realized I was thinking my champion was a lot tankier than it is because of Sett. I still love Sett and will probably play him a lot more, but i need to learn multiple champions especially if i want to start ranked

One tricking is the best you have no bad match up after a while.

Vars: "OTPs are coinflips" Me: "I've beaten diamond+ players and now I will proceed to run it down against Silvers"

Taric OTP here with Blitz, Braum and Thresh as secondary picks. Can confirm that otp'ing will get you very far and its alot of fun to be very good at your job!

I've been a Twisted Fate one-trick for a long time (I'm a few games away from 1 million!) And people always ask me "How do you play such a boring champion?". The thing is, TF is actually one of the most versatile champions in the game because of his kit, auto attack stun, waveclear, mana sustain, attack speed, and a global teleport. You can play him like a utility mage like Dopa does, you can play him as a burst mage like GrossGore, you can play him like an AD/hybrid hyper carry, you can play him like a roaming support, and even though it's pretty troll, some have had success building full tank, and full lethality and carried. not to mention TF can use almost every single rune (except conqueror and guardian) in the game efficiently. Every build feels like a different champion, so I never get tired of him.

"X champion main is toxic" "Do you have the slightest idea of how little that narrows it down?"

Vars quoting Uncle Iroh has to be the best part about this video

One overlooked aspect to onetricking is the identity. When you make friends in League, having this one champion you know like the back of your hand gives you tons of social credit, especially if it's something obscure. (I used to main the hell out of Sejuani, played her jungle, top, support, even mid). This makes you a fun person to play League with, because you can offer valuable insight into how the game works from your champion's perspective.

“When you eventually and hopefully transition to other champions” (referring to Garen) “MY HEART AND SWORD ALWAYS FOR DEMACIA”

Man you really make these premieres so good i want to watch them rn only to see its out in 17 hrs, oh well will have to wait

They should nerf the enemy yasuo for real man. Dude is literally unbeatable.

Was a great video to watch. Even as a support Thresh main, I took a break and picked up Garen to learn some basic wave management and macro thats helped me a lot in other places. keep up the awesome vids

Im surprised you didnt touch more on the specialist sub class, those champs may have low play rates but 90% of the time when you see them you KNOW its a otp or a main at the very least, like nobody casually picks bard, singed, or old mordekaiser for a great example, especially because most specialist champions play styles are so different its like they arent even playing the same game of league everybody else is playing. Which also means when you see one on your team, helping them out usually brings favourable results as they are well experienced at carrying leads when they get ahead on their mains, and at the same time many enemy teams dont know how to handle a fed specialist champion, they are so used to countering popular champions like yasuos or lee sin say. Like we all know lee sin falls off, but do we all know how to counter an ivern or aurelian if they are getting ahead? Exactly, you might supposedly counter teemo, but if you rarely ever play against teemo, how do you know how to counter him? You might be so used to countering meta picks that when a otp on a specialist champion shows up your not going to know what you should be doing.

Oh no you mentioned Asol quick hide him before he gets nerfed

When it comes to macro proficiency I've always noted that the one tricks that gravitated towards flashy champs often have abysmal macro because all they care about is montage worthy plays instead of objectives, I think most of us have seen 14/2 Katarinas and12/0 Yasuos that lose the game due to doing nothing with their leads with regards to objective securing. Meanwhile, players that one trick simple champs like Garen, Nasus or Volibear are often very macro oriented.

The amount of times my main got "Countered" is crazy, but Vars is right! I know ways to bait enemies based off of exposing my weaknesses or what to look for in the enemies plays that can allow me to turn the fight around based off of be "Countered" countless times. Glad he brought this up!

i think maining 3 champions on one role is the best way to climb harder even to challenger

About the "pick the counter" thing . My usual aproach is to check if A) my main is rly bad against them(most time i know that already) and B) check if under the 7 best counter champ is someone i play or can play

Me, being on a loose-streak: "Yup. It's sun-praising time."

That Iroh scene... Earned my like for sure.

The Fiora and Aatrox example was really good, I’m a support main and I always check counters against other supps to try to make lane easier but sometimes I would choose counterpicks I had no idea how to play instead of just picking something easier

I find I tilt less when I play Mordrkaiser. I win more when I tilt less so that’s why.

I'm in here to say: nice video, and it's crazy how long you can go without detecting Fire Emblem music in the background, that stuff slaps so fittingly

Love your content, Vars! You've taught me more verbage for League than anyone I've played with. Super useful! Also, you should do ASMR recordings. You've got a great voice.

I cant one trick. No matter what champion I find interesting or fun, I dont feel like playing them after 20+ games. Whether Im bad at the champion, or I feel like they dont do enough, or if they are only good in certain matchups or situations, or I simply get bored. I cant get myself to play one champion for long. This is one of the main things that discouraged me from playing anything outside of Draft Pick. With almost 2k hours clocked in, I dont have a rank. For example, I used to "one-trick" gangplank mid (with no relation to Tobias Fate, I genuinely like gp mid>top) and after inting one too many games I just felt like I hit a fat wall. Another thing that keeps me from one-tricking, is these sudden urges I get to play random champions. The only thing I have going for me is that I like to play midlane, and adc/sup(shaco) as a second role.

I think it says something about diversity in character design when you one trick someone and that experience doesn't transfer neatly to any other champ. I one trick Pyke and the other hook supports don't feel at all the same.

Great work as always ! (special thanks to the fire emblem ost xD)

Say what you want about League but one of the good things about having such a large and diverse roster is that there's something for everyone. Every player has that one champion they love to death, love playing them, love their lore, love their design. Yeah a lot of people love the new and popular champs, but have you seen the passion and care someone has when they talk about their mains like Aurelion Sol, Ivern, or Bard? This includes popular otps like the ones you mentioned too. Everyone has at least 1 champion they really connect to, and you've got to admire the game for achieving that.

Porofesser says im "OTP Sona" and i was wondering what that meant. I guess sense my playrate of Sona is around 80% that makes me a Sona One-Trick-Pony?

Obviously there is only so far that any particular thing will take you up the ranks. This is self evident. But considering that you simply need to get to gold for all the rewards? OTP is easily the easiest way to reach that level.

It was actually a fun video to wach, especially when I am myself, kinda onetrick, but at the same time main of like different 7 champs, while also trying to play some new champions

As someone who was a meta slave last year no avail I’ve been one tricking Talon this season and have roughly a 70% WR on the champ and have already reached Silver I which I couldn’t even reach last year. This is now my second season of ranked and I have already been learning so much about the game through Talon’s eyes. Say what you want about me for playing Talon but he’s just a champ I really enjoy playing because of assassins creed and you can’t take it away from me

I used to be a riven one trick but I've been expanding out, right now I also like Camille and renekton. One tricking is annoying af at a higher elo and it seriously creates some bad habits, glad I'm expanding

depending on your champ, you will tilt your team off the face of the earth when you lock it it, and if you get banned your worthless. so. ultimately, i chose to be bad at every character. been playing since volibear was the newest champion like 9 years ago or something, and just played my 1500th game. lol

I used to OTP Mordekaiser before the rework. I was both happy too see his new direction and kind of sad that I'll never be able to play as him again. Realizing that after the rework I would be pretty much useless I started expanding my champion pool and it was a great decision

GREAT VID BRO

BRAND MID TILL I DIE. I WOULD RATHER ONE TRICK MY FAVORITE CHAMPION THAN BE A META SLAVE

I decided to one trick Riven and I don't regret it at all. It's so much more fun for me to learn a specific match-up with her and pilot around weakness well.

I used to play top / jungle / support I mained Sion, Rumble, Jayce mainly, and i freaking loved it

Very good video, happy early 100k

I started the game back on season 10 and I was a Kayle OTP. When I eventually got the courage to play anyone else, I failed HARD. I just had no balls to fight anyone before buying a couple items, since I was so used to scaling late game and playing safe, so I missed a lot of opportunities This tale, unfortunately, has a bad ending I'm a Yuumi main now

Vars: "If you play one champion and only that for years and years that starts to hold you back" Me, a Kayn OTP: i basically main 3 champions in one, i'm fine.

I found you raising an interesting question on drawing wisdom from different places - in order for your wisdom not get stale and rigid. I find that concept can be applied to many things, apart from league.

7:06 I never expected a ONS comparison for this 😂

You managed to cram one months worth of League of Legends Toxicity into a SINGLE THUMBNAIL! Well Done.

I'm a yorick one trick because he's the only character I could play without getting bored of

Riot recently has come up with so many new interesting and fun champions that I have resorted to "one trick" whatever the newest champion is, until a new one gets released

My one trick used to be classic aatrox which is why I took a long break. I played him since release and even during his worse but I was so in love with his personality

5.1 million mastery points no lifer in Sona here. :D *[dark and bitter laugh that's clearly full of pain]* x'D Well, it has its ups and downs. Currently, with Sona, we're on the downs part. The ups part was during season five. That was a good slaughterfest and snuff film. Very fun. Now? "Adrian, I did it." *[takes away the plastic chair he stored at the graveyard forever and waves goodbye to Sona's grave since he's not coming back again due to closure and moving on]* :')

Kayn onetricks can't play the game when their onetrick is banned because they never get punished for making stupid decisions. They either dash out run away through a wall or use R so they dont get focused in fights. That champ is so Elo boosted.

the comparison to one night stands was so damn accurate

I used to one trick Ivern and there are some things that are situationally useful but can be game changing since some camps you can mark and grab camps over a wall such as gromp

I used to be a Skarner main back when I started playing in 2014. I also played Udyr and Volibear at the time. Upon Kalista's release, I have became so traumatized at that amobination for existing that I droped my champion pool forever and became a Shaco onetrick.

me: hey that video is nice, makes a lot of sense Vars: brings in Fire Emblem me remembering every unit i lost in the 1 playthrough: pain

"Asol mains are the most chill dudes you'll ever see". I'll take your word for it as i haven't seen a single Asol being played this season. As for one tricking, whenever i could i picked Veigar, but only in ranked. In normal games i avoided picking my mains. If Veigar is banned (very rare) or picked (incredibly rare) i knew exactly what i'm struggling the most against and just picked it. I know his matchups, which runes to take against different opponents, i could lane swap when i noticed my top laner gets hard countered and aside from Yone, Xerath and Vel'koz i usually got through laning without any hiccups. That is assuming my jungler wouldn't pick up a random fight in the river and die (which happened more often than it should). One tricking is overall fine as long as you don't develop tunnel vision.

As an ASol one-trick, ty for the love!

9:35 hol' up what did he just sneak in there

As a new League player the animosity towards one tricks feels very funny. I come from fighting games where playing the same character for years and between games is seen as an admirable thing. There's a reason to why "I've been an x main since Third Strike" is a popular joke

i like being otp but i can tell it’s very useful to find good opponents and allies which will give you more room to improve

9:36 Vars that really caught me off guard and I love you for it

2:25 this is a very thorough roast that was savage but nessisary

great video!

Funny you mention an Iroh quote. Illaoi quote: "They need wisdom; they don't need tea."

You won me with the reference to MapleStory 😍 good old times

I'm glad you exist to point out basic things that most league players either don't realize or inherently ignore so they can flame you in game lol. It feels good to know that at least one person out there thinks about the game in a manner close to how I do.

Note at the time of this videos release, the #1 spot on the EUW ranked ladder was just occupied by Lathyrys, a Bard OTP. So much for claiming OTPs cant climb.

as a darius one trick i also picked up rammus and maokai

I was not expecting that much routine

Comment for the algorithm. I'm glad you specified "for climbing," important aspect.

This video: exists Viego onetricks: excuse me?

I'm an Ashe main. Love her CC, multiple ways to approach a fight and ESPECIALLY that she's still relevant from behind.

9:32 I did not expect that sentence

Another benefit of one tricking is over time when you eventually move onto different champions you can play your old one tricks as pocket picks, this is especially useful in clash. If your new main is banned you can fall back on that one champ you played for 2-4 seasons because unless they've been fully reworked you should still be able to play them to a good level. For me, I'm currently OTPing Pyke but had a season as zyra and 3 seasons as Sona and if I don't need to comp hard for my team and my Pyke is banned, I can fall back on one of those two no matter the meta and still play them well.

2 yorick players in existence. As a fellow yorick main that hurt because it's painfully true.

My mind blew up when I saw aphrow as and editor of this video, lol

What even are these comparisons in this video XD Great video

Another advantage of one tricking is you know all the strenghts and weaknesses of that champ so when they get picke by the enemy you kinda have a mental guide on how to counter them