Psychological Warfare in League of Legends

Good morning, Summoners! It is I, Matthew "KyuubiCalvary" Weatherholt, back again to talk to you guys about psychological warfare.

What do I mean by that? Well, a player's state of mind can affect the game in a number of ways. Let's take a look at a recent game that I played in League of Legends. Unfortunately, I can't post the actual screenshot (Picture size restrictions and such).

In this match, I had faced possibly the most aggressive bot lane I'd ever met in my entire time of playing League of Legends. I was playing against a Lucian and Nami with a ... I think Lee Sin support on my side. While I was trying to CS, Nami and Lucian would both try to hit me at the same time to deny me really hard in lane. This caused me to panic pretty badly during the match, and I was unable to beat them in the end. I couldn't focus on last hitting, I missed crucial skillshots, and I just wasn't focused on the game itself overall.

This kind of matchup actually gets worse in higher elo games, as you're more likely to match up with the same people in the future. Think about players like Scarra. He plays against the same people pretty often, so if he were to be beaten by a person then see them in the next match, Scarra would adjust his playstyle to fight theirs.

In the preseason for Season 4 of League of Legends, players are experimenting with a new meta. Some of the higher level players (like Saintvicious) encourage forgetting about the jungle in some games and playing in 2-1-2 lanes. The new items in the shop allow these lanes to happen because the players are sharing the gold a lot easier than in previous seasons. How you're prepared for this kind of matchup can help improve your state of mind.

Targon's Brace allows Summoners to share gold effectively, allowing for a better distribution of it.

Another way of psychological warfare can be as simple as ward control. If a team's wards are destroyed nearly everywhere they put them, it can weigh heavily on the team's mindset, causing them to be more cautious about going anywhere. This leads to objectives being taken more easily by the enemy team.

That's all for this one, guys. I hope to be able to pull out something better in quality in the future. Until then, I am yours truly, Matthew 'KyuubiCalvary' Weatherholt.