Starting in 2016, Riot introduced the autofill system in order to decrease queue times and allow lane specialist players to have a better chance at getting the roles they wanted. In the beginning of this implementation, Support and Jungle roles were observed to be the largest percentage of roles people were autofilled to due to their low income and low popularity. Starting in the middle of last season and being very present in this season, ADC has quickly become the most autofilled role in the game.

This can be attributed to a few things. ADC, even though it is usually allocated the most gold, has some of the more delicate champions in the game. No matter which one you choose, you’re usually pretty squishy. In a solo queue meta where so many players prioritize assassin Mids or heavy crowd control Junglers, you feel a big target grow on your back. Without a good team to peel and establish battle lines, you can end up dying pretty quickly, especially if you’ve been autofilled to the position and don’t know how to position properly. That being said, the following guide and build is a basic introduction on how to build and play most ADC champions when autofilled to the role.

Disclaimer: This is a build for conventional ADC champions not including attack speed-based ADC champions such as Kog’Maw or Varus

The First Four Items - The Core

First things first, you just loaded in and you’re ready to go to lane. As an ADC you have two choices: Doran’s Shield or Doran’s Blade. It’s a pretty simple choice, it all just depends on who you’re up against and how confident you feel. If you’re going into a lane against a poke or engage support, go Doran’s Shield in order to survive the burst and damage. If you’re going into a lane where your characters are better in the early game or the enemy team lacks damage early, go Doran’s Blade for the extra damage and the lifesteal. Although low, the lifesteal scales really well into the mid-game for some extra survivability.

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That first decision upon entering game may be the hardest decision you have to make as far as items for the entire game. After the Doran’s choice, the build is pretty standard. Proceed to buy a Stormrazor next, sprinkling in boots specifically Berserker’s Greaves when you’re picking up components. The Stormrazor allows you to have a guaranteed crit every 3 seconds you don’t attack something. This ability greatly affects your ability to walk up and trade effectively with your lane opponents.

After that, look to pick up a Charged Zeal item in order to increase your critical chance. Usually people prefer the Rapid Firecannon for the range increase, but if your champion has a difficult time clearing waves, Statikk Shiv is a good alternative. The reason you pick up a charged Zeal item is to empower that trade potential provided by your Stormrazor passive even more. The last item in your core build is also your most meaningful. Pick up an Infinity Edge in order to really become an AD Carry not just an AD Champion. Not only will the Infinity Edge double your critical strike chance, but it will make your crits do 10 percent true damage. All of those armor items the enemy team had purchased in order to survive your poke just became much less cost effective as the Infinity Edge allows you to start shredding through.

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The Last Two Items - Situational

Usually the game is pretty close to ending after you finish the core, but sometimes the games go all the way to six items. Following is a list of items and the situations they excel in to consider for the rest of your build.

A Second Zeal Item - Damage

If your team is establishing lines well and you feel you’re getting a good amount of time to free fire, a Second Zeal item will help you shell out even more damage and shred the enemy frontline. Whether it’s a Statikk Shiv, Runaan's Hurricane, or even a Phantom Dancer, in combination with your core, it takes you to 100 percent crit as well as giving you more attack speed.

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Mercurial Scimitar - They brought single-target CC

Buy this if the enemy team has a champion that has single target lockdown, such as Lissandra, Malzahar, or Skarner. These champions are designed to shut down a single carry champion and will force you to be unable to do anything as the enemy team charges forward. This item gives you the ability to cleanse any one of those death sentences and keep firing away. A little trick with this item is that you can use the Quicksilver Sash cleanse and buy the Mercurial Scimitar during that cooldown period in order to refresh the cooldown altogether.

Guardian Angel - They’re going after you, but not with CC

This is an item that kind of serves the same purpose as the Mercurial Scimitar in that it will try to prevent an enemy champion from doing their job. Unlike the Scimitar, the Guardian Angel should be used to counter champions that come to kill you that don’t necessarily have strong crowd control, just damage. This includes champions such as Zed, LeBlanc, or Urgot. During the Guardian Angel’s ability cooldown, as long as gold is sufficient, feel free to sell into a different item and rebuy once the timer on that cooldown has expired.

The Bloodthirster - The poke counter

When the enemy team has a ton of poke-based champions, the only solution is to heal it up. Arguably one of the best lifesteal items in the game, The Bloodthirster will allow you to take that poke and heal it right back up with a few auto-attacks on a nearby jungle camp or creep wave. Often forgotten, The Bloodthirster also allows you to overheal into a shield further increasing your durability.

A Last Whisper Item - So much armor

Rammus, Malphite, Ornn, Sion, you’ve never seen so many items built out of Chain Vest. Even though Infinity Edge does 10 percent true damage, sometimes it still feels like you’re not doing real damage. In these situations, a Last Whisper item with the increased armor shred will help you deal tons of damage again. If they have tanks that heal or just champions in general that heal a ton, go Mortal Reminder in order to prevent that healing. If it’s just big massive bodies, go Lord Dominik’s Regards for that much more armor penetration.

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Gameplay Tips and Tricks

- When you’re playing ADC, position is king. Even though you want to get your damage onto the enemy carries, sometimes hitting the enemy frontline is the better choice. This is especially prevalent if the enemy team has a true kill threat on you if you’re caught out.

- Trust your support. As an ADC, your priority in lane is to farm so you can get your items. Don’t try to solo carry the burden to harass, farm, and ward. You’re playing in the only lane that has two members in it. Do what you can, but the support champion usually determines how well you will farm and do in lane. Work together.

- Farming is your main priority, but after your team manages to claim some sort of advantage in a lane, group in order to take objectives. Farm is good, but Dragons, Barons, and towers also give you the advantages needed to push on for the win. Also. if you’re not with your team for the teamfights, all the resources put into you are effectively worthless.

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