Your choice of build path is a major factor in your success in any match of League of Legends. But just as important is recognizing when your items' power output spikes and how to use them. Just like a builder building a wall, we need/should try to do certain things at certain points and, in this piece, I hope to go over some of the key things that we should be doing at key item break points in a game of LoL.

Level 9 on Carry Roles (Bot Lane Carry and Mid Lane)

Vision score is not something that the traditional carry roles place a lot of priority on, something we know is not good thing as we saw when TSM went through a slump in spring 2018 to which they pulled out of via Bjergsen upping his wards placed (his low count was part of the problem as the LCS casters highlighted). However, upping your vision score as a carry is risky as it involves face checking, but, there is a way around this and it's as simple as adapting your build at the power spike of level 9. Simply change your Warding Totem to a blue trinket and use it basically on cooldown or save it for baron checks. This is a simple change, but it can have a huge impact.

Support Item Quest Completion (Support)

This one is very simple but many players forget about it (especially in the lower elo ranks). It is quite simple to change your yellow trinket to a red trinket once you complete the Sightstone quest. Why do this? Well, once you complete the quest, you now have a method to place wards outside your trinket, but there is no point in having two ward sources due to the fact you can only have three (normal, not control) wards out at any time. Therefore, it is just common sense to switch your trinket into the next more vision-oriented trinket, the Oracles Lens. Again, this is simple but has a big impact.

Red Smite on Skirmishers (Jungle)

Early game skirmishers such as Xin Xiao and Pantheon love to get in the face of their opposing jungler in their jungle, kill them, and then take their camps, too. However, what many people don’t realize is that junglers have exclusive access to one the best 1v1 active items in the game, Skirmishers Sabre (the red Smite). With the active on this being that you take reduced damage from an enemy champ that you Smite, your 1v1 power goes up a lot! With access to the Red Smite when you purchase this item, you can get in the face of your foes a lot easier and win a lot more duels as a result. The point? When you get this item, you're all set to utilize the early game power of the aforementioned early game junglers.

Ardent Censer Completion (Support)

I’m sure some of you still have nightmares over the Ardent Censer meta of Season 7, but the item still exists in the game for utility supports such as Nami, Soraka, and Sona and its completion is definitively a power spike for you and any marksmen on your team (even though the meta has put them at the very back of the back burners for the current time being). Now, as much as an increase in power is great, it’s useless unless it is used properly. So, what is properly? Well since your power revolves around the marksman on your team (in the past, typically the bot carry/ADC player), your play needs to start revolving around them. Now, of course, you still do all your other support duties (such as warding and engaging [if necessary]) but once that censer is up and running, to use it properly you have got to be amping that marksman.

The IE + Zeal Item + 2nd Zeal (Bot Lane Carry [Crit Marksmen Only])

Now I know crit ADCs such as Jinx, Tristana, and Twitch are probably in the worst state in terms of the meta since, well, ever. However, solo queue is a place where nearly everything can work (within reason) and this does include going for scaling. However, if you are going to use a crit ADC with the ideal crit build (IE, double zeal item, boots, and 2 other AD items), you need to understand when you want to fight and the basic rule now is that you need at least 4 of 5 auto attacks critting (80% crit strike chance) to have enough damage to be impactful (this alongside an AD item that provides AD).

So, we can’t fight till we have these stats, so how do we get them? Well, the most efficient route is an Infinity Edge with a completed Zeal item (like Rapidfire Cannon or Runann’s Hurricane) and a second Zeal. The 2 crit items only give 45% chance but remember IE doubles that to 90% (90>80). So, the point? Well its simple that if you want to use a crit AD right you got to wait, scale to that item breakpoint, and then use the power spike appropriately to get the W.

Conclusion

To conclude, the items we use in LoL are like the tools we see in modern day industries in real life such as hammers, chainsaws, and drills. All very useful but no good if you don’t use them properly. Stop to think about your items and play to their win condition. With that, I leave you with the thoughts of GL, HF, and GG.

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