What do One-Trick Ponies in League of Legends do to get solokills more often than other players? In this article, we’ll explain the concept of Kill Windows, and how one-tricks consistently find them more than other players.
One-tricks, also known as One-Trick Ponies or OTPs, are the most dedicated players of a single champion. They play most of their games on the champion, they’ve mastered the ins and outs of the champion’s abilities, and they are notoriously much worse without their main pick. However, many players have come to respect the name of prominent one-trick players for their ability to play their champions to their maximum potential. There are many varying factors as to what makes one-trick players special with their champion, but this article narrows it down to three singular ideas.
We’ve all been in a position where you believe that you’re just about to kill someone. It’s a dangerous game as you close in on the target with your abilities, hit every skillshot, and your Ignite narrowly finishes off your opponent or leaves them with single digit health. You may notice that on some of your best champions, it is almost second nature to know how certain you can kill your target. It is a window where you can kill your opponent, and exactly where one-tricks excel.
As players get better at League of Legends, games become a matter of recognizing patterns in gameplay and knowing whether you can succeed in the riskiest plays. Consider these points during the first five minutes of a Teemo versus Darius lane, from the perspective of both Darius and Teemo.
Level 1 before minions – At the very start of the game, a good Darius player knows that their best chance of winning the laning phase versus Teemo is primarily based on finding mistakes in Teemo’s positioning. A very common tactic for Darius at this stage is to secure control of bushes early on the off chance that Teemo over-extends Level 1. This is because Darius’ passive Hemorrhage gives him a solid spike in DPS and bonus attack that makes it extremely difficult to trade early with him, so long as he can reach his target.
Kill Window 1 – Catch Teemo entering lane early and potentially going into melee range of Darius in the bush.
Level 1 with minions arriving in lane – Darius ideally wants the wave to push closer to his tower, but not too deep in that he cannot utilize bushes in the lane. A melee champion’s greatest strength against ranged top laners like Teemo is being able to go in and out of the bush as a means of safety. Teemo will not be able to commit wards in bushes unless he dares to risk getting ganked.
One important factor for Darius is both his ability to reach Level 2 before Teemo, and if he has enough space to catch Teemo right before he can level with his hook Apprehend. This is because Darius players often take Ghost as a means for mobility, and Teemo is relatively pitiful in his ability to space away from champions before he levels Move Quick and has access to shrooms.
Kill Window 2 – Level 2 Apprehend/Ghost is a classic Darius tactic that often leads to forcing the opponent’s summoner abilities, or even an outright solo kill.
Level 3-6 – Depending on available tools, Darius may decide to continually threaten a potential Apprehend if Teemo gets too close or wait for a jungler to assist. Teemo’s weakest point is his vulnerability to ganks especially if Teemo pushes in as many ranged top laners like to do. Kill Window 2 remains as long as Darius can Apprehend and use Ghost.
Level 6 – It can often be said that the first player to level 6 is in complete control of the lane until the other player reaches level 6. Darius is no exception, accessing his signature Noxian Guillotine for a potential huge true damage nuke. This is arguably the same variation of Kill Window 2, with a much easier window for killing because Darius can kill most champions from slightly below half health with Noxian Guillotine.
Level 1 before minions – In many matchups, Teemo often tries to secure bush priority or stand in the middle of the lane early with his passive Guerrilla Warfare. Being able to poke opponents and catch them off guard is key for applying pressure to eventually put them into an ignite kill range. However, OTP Teemos will see the matchup and know immediately that they do not win versus Darius level 1 barring a miracle.
Level 1 with minions arriving to lane – Both Teemo and Darius are under constant threat with Darius’ Ghost and Teemo’s lane harassment and Ignite. Teemo wants to get as much early harassment in as possible before Darius is able to threaten his opponent. Teemo can choose to push in Darius if he has an idea where the jungler’s positioning is, but this keeps him at risk of being too far in the lane to allow Darius to chase him. The ideal play is often keeping the lane in the centre or even closer to Teemo’s tower while zoning Darius off with autos.
Kill Window 1 – Harass Darius until he is low while he farms before Apprehend and Ignite at low health.
Level 2 – A large part of Teemo versus Darius is understanding the range of abilities. Teemo’s auto attacks only have a range of 500, completely in range of Darius’ hook Apprehend. Under normal circumstances, this basically means Teemo can never harass Darius unless his Apprehend is down. However, Teemo’s Blinding Dart reaches 680 range, exceeding that of Darius’ Apprehend. This means Teemo can use it to harass his opponent.
However, another factor is dependent on Teemo’s ability to keep the fight closer to his tower. Teemo can intentionally get hooked by Apprehend while buffering his Blinding Dart. This prevents Darius from his most common and powerful trade with an auto attack into Crippling Strike. If Teemo is close enough to his tower, he can scamper away to safety before Darius has enough time to commit to an all-in.
A standard Teemo combo, autoing and immediately pressing Q for the animation cancel to slowly whittle down the opponent.
Level 3-6 – While Teemo does get access to Move Quick typically at level 3 (although sometimes they take it at Level 2 or even 1 for spacing), Teemo mostly sticks to his current gameplan of harassing to create an opening for Kill Window 1.
Level 6 – This is where the matchup becomes extremely Teemo favoured. Noxious Trap, or more commonly known as Teemo’s Shrooms, creates zones that let Teemo have vision of the area, and where opponents cannot step without being damaged and slowed. Teemo will often drop shrooms in the wave to harass, drop shrooms where they intend to run away, and also have a shroom handy for keeping vision. While Darius is a massive threat in range, a Teemo OTP will never let Darius reach a point where Darius can threaten a kill.
You may be thinking that all that I’ve described is a laning phase and what the players are looking to do. In a sense, that really is it, and at first it seems almost obvious.
However, now apply the same logic to the current number of champions in the game, which well exceeds over 160+ champions and every potential lane opponent.
One-tricks know how they intend to play the matchup, whether it is trying to get solo kills, or simply neutralize the lane and scale. They create windows of opportunity by knowing these lane nuances, and in turn create a window where they can kill their opponents.
Some of the most famous players in the world, whether one-tricks or pro players, are known limit testers especially in solo queue. What may look as too risky of a play to one person, is a potential test to see if they can outplay their opponent and kill them. These opportunities come from players who create the kill windows and can act upon them where many players may not. They understand how much their damage rotation is going to do, what their options are for escaping and avoiding abilities, and simply whether it is possible.
To branch onto the idea of limit testing, players can only play so many games, especially if they are playing multiple champions or spending time outside of the game. One-tricks, however, near exclusively play with only their champion, and often are dedicated players of the game who spend long hours climbing the ladder. They experience matchups with their champions much more frequently and recognize the capabilities of their champion more.
Consider situations like where you see a champion at full health, and you are playing a carry-oriented burst class like assassins or a burst-mage. Many players might attempt to poke out their opponent more and gauge their damage to see if it is possible. For one-tricks, they may already know exactly how much damage they’ll deal, what their opponent can do, and how likely it’ll succeed or not.
For example, a common champion that frequently opens kill windows is Talon, who most importantly has much of his damage tied to his passive Noxian Diplomacy. The damage is loaded into a 2 second damage over time, which is often difficult to calculate how much it’ll deal and if it can finish off the opponent. However, you may notice that Talon players seemingly engage immediately at points where you feel safe, narrowly killing you from the bleed. OTPs recognize exactly how much damage they can push out, and typically can do the combos to maximize the damage of their champion
Talon Zhami is a master at his champion, in the video above showing a window where he knows exactly if he can kill a notorious lane bully champion at Level 1. (Credit: LoLDobby)
Anyone can limit test. But the best players of specific champions have already tested the limits of what normal players are still trying to break, and find kill windows in narrow openings. We can simplify this as one-tricks have more knowledge of creating kill windows, and of the limits of their champions.
If you are playing to get better at your champion, you want to be able to recognize familiar patterns that lead to kills. Consider how much your basic trading pattern deals in comparison to your opponent, and how you can safely deal damage to win trades. Oftentimes, this is as simple as knowing nuances to your champions, simple tricks that are learned simply by playing or learning from those who play the champion a lot, like one-tricks.
To become like a one-trick is to see windows where you can kill your opponent, but also have it be near second nature. League of Legends is a game of close reactions and quick decision making where you cannot always ponder the situation before your opponent decides to engage. In that sense, by committing to risky plays, you can learn whether or not you can optimize these plays for the future, as well as immediately recognize the patterns and kill windows before your opponent can react.
