There are a lot of aspects to the professional Esport athlete that many just don’t understand, or are exposed to. One of which is the insane amount of practice and types of training League of Legends professionals put themselves through.
“So, smart guy, how do we normies train like the pros?!” we hear you ask from your Bronze IV mountain. Well lovely reader, we’re not going to get into some sort of crazy breakdown of a day in the life, but we will go over the types of training, and what they accomplish.
Buckle up trainees, because we’re diving into that part of playing competitive games that many forget, you have to practice to get better.
Scrims
This is a term that is used all the time in so many different competitive environments. Scrims is a shorter form of the word scrimmage, which is the engagement in a “simulated game”. What does this mean in the context of Esports? Well, scrims are used by teams to simulate real match scenarios.
Different leagues handle things in various ways, but most have scheduled scrim times. Teams that want to participate in scrims can sign-up, and they are matched with requested teams (if they are available) or other squads.
The whole point of the scrim is to rehearse what playing as a cohesive five-person unit is like. Playing against another 5-person team is a simulation of actual league games. Most of the time, teams within a league will scrim with each other. As a helpful reserve, teams often scrim with their Academy or Premier teams. This gives both teams practice, and the lower-tier team gets experience playing higher-tier players.
Scrims in Esports are kind of like when a sports team splits into two squads and they practice against one another. Unfortunately, most Esports teams are only made up of enough players to fill a whole roster plus one or two substitutes. Which is why the assistance of another team is needed.
Another added benefit of using Academy teams is that the pro teams can request certain builds. Certain pieces of adversity to test and practice against. Because, well, you’re kind of their boss.
Solo Queue
Yes, it’s true, a lot of pros spend a large amount of time in solo queue. This is an especially potent practice tool at high ranks, because you’re playing against other high ranked players.
“What if we’re not at high ranks?” you might ask. What an astute question from my favorite pupil. Well, padawan, there is a lot to learn from playing solo queues at low ranks. Much like my parents, and how they taught me how to be a good parent by being terrible examples and affording me the knowledge to pretty much just do the opposite of what they did, you can learn from low-tier ranked matches.
The first thing you need to remember when playing low ranked solo queues is that you have to pay attention. Try to catch every little detail and bank those away in the “what not to do” folder of your brain. Sure, high-tier players make mistakes, but the majority of them are high-tier because of their understanding and awareness within the game.
Remember that story about Michael Jordan, and how everyone wondered how he got so good at making shots? Well, it turns out that MJ -- yes, his royal Airness -- would keep himself from rewards like dinner or dessert until he hit X number of free throws in the driveway. This of solo queue as MJ in the driveway. There are nice things about winning as a whole, but the idea of using solo queue as practice is purely a mechanical repetition training regimen.
Ensure that you are playing your role, your champion, and your part in the game and your able to get all you need out of solo queue.
VODS VODS VODS
*sung to the tune of SHOTS by LMFAO*
A few weeks ago, we talked about the importance of losing. In that edition of OmegaLoL, we spoke into the trials and lessons one can take from taking an “L” in or out of League of Legends. For this, VODs are your best friend.
Video on demand (or VODs) are automatically recorded videos from your matches. These are available after nearly every single type of League of Legends game. Simply go to your Profile, then Match History, and there’s a little download button on the far right of your match stats. Once it’s downloaded, you’re free to pause, fast-forward, and catch any angle to your matches that you please.
You would be surprised at the number of hours of VODs professional (the good ones anyways) League of Legends players watch.
“After a really hard day, I just wanted to stream or watch TV. On those days, I always looked over to his station and he’s watching replays or taking notes,” said Team Liquid’s Doublelift on his former teammate Bjergsen.
Replays are amazing tools. Especially for dissecting those moments from a game that just happen so fast that you don’t know which end is your Jinx, and which end is your Heimerdinger.
With the League of Legends client, you can use slow motion, mark for highlights, and catch any or all of the action from whichever angle you need to.
Physical Training
No, we’re not going to sit here and try to convince you to go to a five-star gym and start trying to bulk up. Nor are we going to go into a crazy amount of detail on physical training routines.
Rather, we will simply suggest that you partake in a workout. Of any kind.
Not only does the practice of extended periods of time sitting at a computer desk do damage to your body, it’s also kind of hard to do without being sore, or getting physically antsy. Having a regularly scheduled physical workout routine helps on all of these counts.
In an interview with NIB Holdings back in 2017, Nathan “Rippii” Mott, founder and CEO of OPL’s Dire Wolves, shared the standard daily schedule and routine of their players.
- 8:00am – Wake up
- 8:30am-10:30am – Gym, shower, breakfast
- 10:30am-11:30am – Video review
- 12pm-3pm – First team practice block (aka scrims)
- 3pm-4pm – Break
- 4pm-7pm – Second team practice block (scrims)
- 7pm-8pm – Dinner
- 8pm - 12am – Solo practice
You’ll notice that the first thing on said list in terms of tasks is a workout to energize the body, and a meal to fuel it. This is often considered the best way to start a day for those with professions that involve rigorous training.
Train Like a Pro
Chances are, most of you will never play League of Legends in any professional manner, but for those of you who wish to improve like them and train like them, these are your first steps.
The best players (regardless of sport) are those that dedicate themselves to improving their game, and themselves. And remember, before you judge a pro for making a bad call, or with there and say “I could do that”, consider how hard they are working to be as good as they are.
