Whether you are climbing the ladder or just trying to unwind and play a few ranked games, it can be depressing when your favorite champion is banned away or you are auto-filled into an off-role. Here are some tips to turn this situation into a less stressful one, and hopefully allow you to enjoy the game more!

Autofilled/Banned Out? No Problem!

The key to success is finding out what champions/roles you want to main. It is a good rule of thumb to at least have two primary roles due to having to select a primary and secondary role for the queue. If you are dead set on playing one role, it is a good idea to make your secondary role something that is really popular, like jungle or mid lane.

Once you have selected your role, you should pick at least three champions that you want to play. Use the normal queue to your advantage! Play normal games until you feel comfortable playing those three champions into any match up. After you have selected at least three champions that you enjoy playing in your main lane, then you will not have to worry about getting banned out!

One of the best things you can do when selecting your champions for your main role is to try to balance it out. For example, when I play Mid lane, I have three champions that are my go to with Ekko, Zed, and Corki. I have Ekko if I want to play an AP assassin, Zed fits if my team has heavy AP and we need some AD. Corki is if my team has built a poke comp or my team needs magic damage and Ekko would be too risky of a pick. The goal is to have such a variety that you can not be banned out and that you can fit your team to increase your chances of success!

Now, I know that this strategy works well when you always get your role. However, what are you supposed to do if you get auto filled and stuck in a lane you do not play? If you do not have any champions in the role that you are assigned, it is always best to ask your party beforehand! You will be surprised about how many people will actually role swap with you if you ask nicely.

One thing you can do to prepare for autofill is to learn at least one champion that is not mechanically challenging in each role. One of my favorites is Malphite top. He is a rock solid pick for almost any team composition and he scales really well! Just remember that you are stuck in an off-role. It is always best to play an off-role lane extra safe because you do not have as much experience in the role. That means more wards and less risky trades! Odds are that your lane opponent is not also auto-filled so they will have a better understanding of the lane that they main. Here is a list of some easy to learn, hard to master champions in each role.

Top:

Malphite - Malphite has a hard laning phase, so do not try to trade with your opponent constantly. The goal of a Malphite top is to get as much gold/XP as you can without dying and wait for the late game. In the late game, his ultimate can instantly turn around most fights!

Renekton - Renekton is a major lane bully early on. He has built-in sustain with his Q and can make some surprising outplays with his ultimate and dash on his E.

Shen - Shen has a free flash on his E and a slow with Q. Try not to overextend and use his ultimate to help make plays around the map.

Cho'Gath - The goal with Cho is to farm as much as possible and become a super tank. The crazy thing about Cho now is that you can build full tank and still one-shot people with Feast. Abuse it!

Jungle:

Warwick - Warwick is a safe jungler because he does not get too low during his clear. He has built-in sustain and damage reduction, so you do not have to worry about not having the right runes! You can build him as a tank or as a bruiser, depending on what your team needs. The hardest thing about his kit is his ultimate so you have to practice it a little bit to get the hang of it.

Master Yi - Yi has a super strong clear and can heal himself when he gets low. Yi is a good choice because if you are not comfortable ganking, you can always scale from just farming the jungle.

Zac - Zac has insane sustain when you pick up his blobs. His engage tool can be used from super long distances and has a large AoE radius. He is a solid jungle pick just for the sheer amount of tankiness he can provide on top of all the CC.

Kha’Zix - Kha’Zix has a strong clear once you get a few items. He has a lot of upfront damage and can easily snowball games.

Mid Lane:

Corki - Corki does an insane amount of damage if he can scale. The best thing to do is play the early game super safe and farm. Use “The Package” to roam around the map and make plays, or just lane safely. The goal is to get to the late game on Corki!

Annie - Annie is devastating in low elos. Use her Q for to free farm with no loss of your mana. A good flash ultimate can instantly win a teamfight!

Syndra - Syndra has a lot of damage on her ultimate and can farm safely. She is a solid pick that has CC and damage. Play her over Annie if you do not like having to close the gap to engage.

Bottom:

Ashe - Ashe has great wave clear and can easily manipulate waves. It is hard to use her ultimate cross map, but easy to use in lane in conjunction with a support that has CC.

Varus - Varus provides safe wave clear by maxing his E. He also has the ability to peel for himself with his ultimate!

Sivir - Is all about the wave clear. After a B.F. Sword, you can rush Statikk Shiv and instantly clear waves. Her ultimate gives you a free Ghost for you and your team.

Tristana - Late game she has one of the longest ranges in the game. She has a free delayed Flash on her W and her ultimate provides self-peel. Her only shortcoming is that she needs to scale, so play for farm and wait out for late game.

Support:

Janna - Janna has CC, a shield, high base movement speed, and healing. She is the ultimate “I am going to buff someone up” support. Play to protect your ADC and ward as much as you can.

Soraka - Provides insane sustain for your ADC so they can farm as long as they want. She can turn around a lot of fights with her AoE silence and global heal. Use her heal to get easy assists and help snowball the game!

Thresh - Thresh is like a tanky version of Janna. He can CC and peel for days. You can use his Q to hook onto minions and pull yourself to safety! He is solid when you need a frontline.

Blitzcrank - Blitzcrank can turn around any game with a surprise pull on a carry. His major drawback is if his pull is down he is really limited in what he can do for the team.

If all hope is lost and you have no champions to pick, always remember that you can dodge. Using your dodges correctly is one of the easiest ways to climb the ladder.

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