Ah, classic Summoner’s Rift. The stable game mode of League of Legends. As it is the main map of the game, most of the balance and other parts of the game are based in it. Ranked Solo Queue, Ranked 5v5 teams, and competitive platforms, such as the LCS, LCK, and the LPL hold their games in the rift. However (this might come as a surprise to some of you), there are other games modes and different maps in the game. I believe playing and trying some of these other games mode can teach us different things and ways how to play League. I also think that trying some of these modes can improve your game as well.

DOMINION

The five capture point game mode, Dominion, teaches the importance of objective control. The goal of the game is to control the most capture points and make your enemy team lost their nexus points. This mode encourages players to play as a team to take objectives and keep or control them, rather than to team fight and push waves to destroy a nexus. This can translate into Summoner’s Rift because each control point is similar to a tower and can help to practice defensive play as well as offensive.

ALL RANDOM ALL MID (ARAM)

Everyone loves ARAM! ARAM teaches the importance and strength of team fighting, the different kinds of team compositions are played, and it lets you experiment with champions you may not have otherwise tried before. ARAM shows that running in 1v5 style doesn’t work and that it takes teamwork to win fights and games.

Even some of the featured games mode can help us see the game in a new light!

ONE FOR ALL

One for all was a featured game mode where all ten players played the same champion and play classic 5v5. Something important that One for all taught was tips and tricks about a champion that you may not have known about. It was an opportunity for players to talk to each other about a champ and learn how to use a champ more indepth and maybe even learn a good trick or two. For example, when I played one for all, I learned a trick for Diana (using your ultimate dash and then using your q mid dash to get the reset) because there were 9 other Dianas on the map doing the same trick.

LEGEND OF THE PORO KING

Legend of the Poro King was more of a learning experience for Riot than the players. With the summoner spell, Poro Toss, which launches your champion to an enemy champ, gave the solo lane Howling Abyss map a new way to initiate fights and gave melee champs a chance against more poke compositions. On the PBE currently, testers are experimenting with a new summoner spell for ARAM which does the same thing as the Poro Toss. It shows that it is never bad to try new things and strategies.

ULTRA RAPID FIRE

What the URF game mode teaches us is quite different from the others. URF mode teaches why there is game balance. It teaches us the importance of why certain champions have the cooldowns and the mana/energy cost that they do, it is in order to keep the game healthy. URF 2014 had to have some champions outright banned from the mode because they were too strong in URF, this year there was an URF balancing patch, which further shows why there has to be balance in the game.

No matter what the game mode you play, you can learn many different things about the game by playing them. So get out there and try a game mode that you haven’t played before. I’m sure you’ll have a good time!