How to play adc

In this article, with our ADC Coach, we are going to talk about gameplay on botlane and more specifically about gameplay as an AD carry. It is different from other roles because we depend on our support — a stranger whose mistakes are reflected directly on us – for the most of the game. We are going to present you 10 tips, which can help you to extend your knowledge about the game and as a result win more soloQ games.

1 – PICK THE RIGHT ADC CHAMPION

What does it even mean to pick the right champion? The point here is that you choose the champion who will perform the best in the game.

In champion select you should remember to:

Counter pick enemy ADC (for example: pick a champion with the greater range or better push)
Counter pick enemy support (for example: pick a champion with an ability which can help you to avoid an engage from the enemy support)
Counter pick enemy team comp (for example: pick a champion with percent damage for enemy tanks)
Adapt to your support (for example: pick a champion which is as aggressive as your support)

However, remember to pick your comfort pick. This is a priority!

2 – Set your goal on the laning phase

Since you have chosen a hero, now you must know what you want to do with it. Before starting the game, think about how your laning phase should look like.

Examples of goals in laning phase:

Defensive gameplay (freezing the lane) — for example, when we play a late game champion (e.g. Vayne) vs. aggressive one (e.g. Caitlyn).
Offensive gameplay (pushing the lane) — the opposite situation when we take advantage of our pick in early game by pushing or poking the enemy under the tower.

However, remember that the game is dynamic and your goals should change on a regular basis because of the lack of information about the opposite jungler.

3 – Early game vision

If you want to win a lane, you must follow the rule “Think first about how not to die, then think about how to kill”.

At the current meta the crab respawns at 3:15, so it is not profitable for junglers to gank on lvl 2. This means that the jungler wants to knock lvl 3 first, and then looks around for a gank or crab.

Considering that the average jungler is 3lvl at 2:50 minute, we should ward the river at 2:30.

Why a little earlier? — Because we have to take into account that a certain percentage of players who do not have much idea about the jungle, can try their luck by ganking on lvl 2.

4 – Positioning on the lane as ADC

Position on the lane is a very important skill and often decides about our deaths by grab of an enemy support, or a jungler gank.

Here are some tips how to position yourself on the lane:

Remember to keep moving (it will make it difficult for the opponent to hit you with shill shots)
Try to always keep on opposite side the enemy support (champions like Thresh or Karma want to be on the same line as you)
When playing champions with skill shots, remember to hide behind minions
Pay attention to the minions so that you do not fight in them (if the opponent made that mistake, use it)
If you do not have wards, stay as far as possible from the river!
Pay attention to the position of your support (for example when it goes to ward/roam, you should play very carefully)

5 – Poke on the lane as ADC

Poking on the lane is the first step to working out an advantage. If you have skills that you can poke out of range, why are not you doing this?!

Get acquainted with the range of your skills in the Practice Tool mode and start using these skills on the lane.

80% of AD carry has some skill that can systematically poke an opponent, so start using them!

Remember, however, not to overdo it. Always keep about 30% of mana to have enough mana at the moment of gank or all-in for the necessary skills to escape or fight.

6 – Should I push or freeze?

Push or freeze? The answer is very simple — There is no rule here, everything depends on the situation and our goal. It is known, however, that the duo of players who pushes the lane wins, taking profits such as:

The advantage of minions
Priority and pressure on the map
Additional gold obtained from the plates
Possibility to take the first tower
Poke under the tower and possible kills

Examples of situations in which we should push or freeze:

When to push?

When we play a champion, who is dedicated to it (for example Cailtyn, Tristana)
When we have matchup in which we are able to push the enemy (for example Jinx vs Ezreal)
When we have a support, which will also be able to push the tower and enemies underneath it

When to freeze?

During a weak matchup (defensive game)
At the moment when you need to farm up the missing gold for the item
At the moment when we are afraid of a gank from the enemy jungler

7 – Communicate with your support

League of Legends is a team game, so communication is one of the most important things. Without it, the game becomes very difficult, because our teammates do not read our minds.

This is especially important when it comes to a botlane. In spare time, keep your game plan up to date with your support. Remember that it can be an autofill and does not really know what to do, where you at the same time expect him obvious moves for you.

Do not be afraid to write — “Hey Nautilus let’s push and fight them lvl 2” or “Sona let’s play defense now, wait for 6lvl” or just the “Push”.

Also use pings — Do not be afraid to spam “Back” when you know that there is a jungler, etc.

8 – Positioning in the fights as ADC

Position in teamfight is one of those things that most adcs struggle with.

What should your position in battle be? — First of all, safe!

You certainly know that you have a lot of damage, but do not forget that you are very squishy. This means that in order to deal continuous damage in the fight, you must be on the back of your team.

The key to success is also the assessment of the situation! You will not always have to stand in the back. Evaluate the situation and decide if you can go a step further, or even jump into the enemy ADC.

Remember, however, that a good ADC is an alive ADC!

9 – Improve your CS score

Farming in low elo is something that makes us have a headache. But the farm is one of the most important things in this game!

Okay, first things first. To dominate the enemy, we have to have better items. To have better items we need gold. We get gold from minions so why are you missing so much CS?

It’s nice to get kills but remember that there’s not always an opportunity to get some. Note that about 16 minions gives as much gold as a kill.

Mistakes you are making that make you miss minions:

You let enemies push hard your lane to your tower
You chose to poke over farming
You don’t feel damage you are taking
You don’t push the lane that’s frozen before back
You push only to push and you don’t pay attention to farm

Top/Mid/Adc should have at least 80 minions in 10 min (100 CS in 10 min is a perfect score).

10 – Learn from the best

Knowledge is the key to success. To improve gameplay as ADC you have to improve your knowledge!

It’s the most important thing in League of Legends. You can master mechanics of the champion in one weekend but without the knowledge of what to do after the laning phase, how to win the games fast, how to play while you’re behind etc. you’re not going to reach higher divisions.

Read the guides, watch videos and streams or start doing things you wouldn’t normally do like one-on-one Coaching with a professional Coach. Here you can book it 👉 League of Legends Coaching 👈

Here are examples of my Coaching: