Everyone in the SMITE community can rally around hatred of the Loki main, but there are worse things about mains then just that they play Loki. A main is a god that you play more than the others, but it goes beyond simply being a comfort pick or signature god. A main god is one that you play more than you should, even when it is problematic for your team. Having a main is generally more problematic than people realize, but it can also have some benefits. Let's closer look at the idea of having a main and what it really means.

The Drawbacks of Having a Main

These may seem to be fairly obvious at first. The fact that maining a god means having a higher potential of playing it off-role, which is generally not a beneficial thing. When in the case of having a main, it generally pigeonholes you into playing a certain role in most games, which is not generally bad. It takes a lot of practice and patience to get a role up to a high level of play. The issue with this is that you are picking a role based around the single god you want to play rather than giving thought to your individual playstyle or to the state of the meta. For example, if you decide to play Ne Zha jungle, because you like to deal large amounts of damage with his ultimate, Wind Fire Wheels, then several problems are presented.

While Ne Zha is capable of dealing those large amounts of burst damage, the meta is one that relies on the jungler being largely set-up based rather than burst damage based. This is why junglers like Hun Batz and Athena are being picked, they have the ability to influence teamfights in the late game while still being able to set-up other players for ganks in the early to mid-game. While Ne Zha is a perfectly valid jungle pick, you may be forced to play him in a way that is not what you want to do, limiting your ability to have fun or be competitive in that role. With a jungle meta relying largely on setting up for your carries to deal the big amounts of damage, you will need to make the decision of playing a god you enjoy in a way that may not be as fun to you, or translating your preferred playstyle into a new role on a god or class that you may feel less comfortable in.

In the case described above, for a player looking to deal large amounts of burst damage, the gods currently seeing play in the mid lane, such as Scylla and Raijin, fit the bill much better. If you want to consider playing ranked, be sure to have exceptional knowledge of the role and a relatively large god pool.

When is it Beneficial to have a Main?

The biggest point where it may be useful to have a main is when you are learning a new role, especially when switching roles. Picking a god that is in the meta and sticking with them while learning how to play a new role is one of the fastest ways to learn a new role. While it takes a while to develop a significant god pool when playing this way, it is far more important to learn how to play the role than it is learning how to play the god. After a while, most players gain at least a basic idea of how to play every role and god just through seeing them played so frequently. This makes playing a new role much harder, especially in Conquest.

Generally, the only time one role travels to see another is for a gank, which would basically be a miniature teamfight and not give you a great idea as to how to play the laning phase. In the teamfight phase, you are generally more focused on fulfilling your role than noticing the intricacies of the others. For example, the solo laner generally serves as a frontline presence, zoning the opponents away from big objectives, like the Fire Giant. Even in the average teamfight, not centered around the objective, they generally dive the backline of the enemy team. While they are doing this, even higher level players will not notice the subtleties of the other roles, such as who the support is focusing or where the hunter or mid laner are positioned. These are things that can only be learned through trial and error in those roles, keeping an open mind about what mistakes you have made and noting how to improve. When first making a role switch, you will not be the best in that role.

This game is always about learning and evolving as you can and growing your own personal ability to understand roles. Picking a single god to focus on while learning a role gives you a certain degree of comfort on that god, allowing you to focus more on the intricacies that you would not otherwise notice. These are the little things like positioning and target focusing, things that are generally helped by having comms up with your team, or better yet playing in a premade. When learning any role, the hardest part is, obviously, learning how to play the role. By picking one god to grind out, and learning how to play the role prior to expanding your god pool, you have a great base for bringing your game to the next level. After becoming comfortable in your role, learning new gods becomes easier.

Conclusion

In general, it is very problematic to have a main. It tends to restrict your playstyle and limit your ability to adapt to the flow of the game, as well as being highly reliant on your gods making it through picks and bans. By using a main only in the first steps of learning a role, assuming it is a meta god, then you can accelerate the rate at which you gain comfort in your role, allowing you to accelerate your own rate of improvement.

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