A quick guide to playing Marksman, or ADC, in League of Legends. Use these tips to win big in Repeat League of Legends tournaments.
The Marksman, also known as the attack damage carry, is typically a ranged character who plays with the support in the bot lane. The best teams in the world value the carry potential of their botlane, as giving them enough space will allow them to finish the game with their amazing damage.
It’s a lot of responsibility to play the role, but there’s no better feeling in the game than carrying the whole team through dark times. There are many advanced concepts to learn about the role, but here’s a beginner’s guide on how to play ADC.
Finding the Nuance of ADC
The community divided Marksmen into categories based on their expected contribution to the team. Hypercarries like Vayne and Kog’Maw dish out a ridiculous amount of damage at the expense of their own survivability. Lane Bullies such as Draven and Lucian abuse their early game power to shut down the enemy carry and snowball into a fast win. Aggressive carries like Tristana, Samira, and Kai’sa are aptly called All ins because they commit with their abilities to burst down a key target.
Contrasting that is Marksmen who use their long-range to Poke down enemies, like Ezreal and Caitlyn. Finally, Utility Marksmen add another layer of valuable Crowd Control to the team, as in the case of Varus and Jhin’s catch potential. Each of which corresponds to a different pacing and aggressiveness of gameplay. Choosing the right champ from these roles can make or break the game.
Trading Shots
The laning phase will heavily determine the pace of the game. Getting bullied out of the early game can lose you the first dragon and set the enemy team up to snowball further. While trading resources is mostly initiated by the support, the Marksmen should also spend their abilities to try to knock out their opponent out of the lane.
The Marksmen is primarily in charge of controlling the wave. In general, you want to keep it as close as you can to your turret while simultaneously out of its range. If you have the advantage, you should push up and zone the enemies away from the move. But if you’re getting bullied out, it’s acceptable to rapidly use your abilities to push the wave, keeping them busy last hitting underneath their turret.
Supporting the Support
If you’re not instalocking the overpowered ADC of the patch, it’s crucial to synergize with your support partner. It’s a smart idea to match archetypes with the support to double down on the role. For example, Hypercarries love a competent enchanter who can keep them alive and provide valuable buffs. Meanwhile, aggressive supports like Leona can double the kill potential of an All in Marksmen with their kit.
While the marksman is often regarded as the special weapon of the team. The same regard shall be extended to the support champ who either keeps the marksman alive or ensures an easy kill for the marksman. A synergy between these two roles begin at understanding how important each is in the game not only during the laning phase but in teamfights as well.
Mid-to-Late; Killing most and Staying Alive
What separates average Marksmen from the great ones is what they do when the laning phase ends. The carry needs to continue earning gold and experience to get their item timings faster than their opponent. During the mid game, it’s usually around the carries second item where they gain enough impact to start joining fights. Communicate with your team often and look to take over top lane after destroying the bottom turret.
As the primary source of damage, the marksman ironically always carries a target at its back. Surviving teamfights is a vital concern and the threat of getting one-shot from the bushes is a real issue. Don’t just rely on your support to protect you, invest in a Control ward for additional vision, especially if you plan on overextending for another wave.
