How to Juke Like Faker

“After coming back from Allstars, one of the biggest things I ended up noticing about Koreans is how close to their character they point their mouse to move. This allows players on SKT to change directions much more quickly than I can on reaction, and forces them to play at 30%+ higher APM. I have already begun to incorporate this into my own play.” - Doublelift

Those of us who watched the All Stars Invitational Final would have seen SKT T1 Faker’s mechanical skill on display. In particular I would like to focus on Faker's juking skills in game one of the finals. His ability to dodge skillshots managed to turn a teamfight simply by dodging eight skillshots in around 20 seconds whilst still outputting significant damage of his own. SKT T1 went on to win the series 3-0.

 In League dodging skillshots is a vital skill to master. Every ability you dodge is a cooldown blown for the enemy, giving you the initiative and the ability to dictate the following interactions before they come off cooldown. In League the most impactful abilities have the longest cooldowns (e.g Blitzcrank's Q and Thresh’s Q), if you manage to dodge one of these your enemy is left without his core move for up to twenty seconds, providing you with the advantage in the next skirmish, not to mention avoiding the damage and cc.

To dodge a skillshot you need to consider a variety of factors:

Particle speed/movement
- Skillshots like Anivia’s Flash Frost have a slow travel speed, meaning you can stand closer than you would otherwise do for a fast moving skill like Ezreal's Mystic Shot. Most players will already subliminally know which skills move the fastest, but actively thinking about it during the game makes a big difference.

- Some abilities like Ziggs' Bouncing Bomb and Diana's Crescent Strike have some erratic movements. This means it's not always desirable to run away from these but sometimes in order to dodge them you will need to move towards them.

Particle width
- It's important to be wary of some abilities like Morgana’s Dark Binding and Blitz’s Rocket Grab, they often catch people off guard who think they have juked it. This is because the hitbox is slightly different than the animation size so be extra cautious when playing against these champions and remember to keep running even if you think it will miss you by a small margin.

Precursor movements
- Many champions have tells that let you know they are about to attack. For example Thresh’s Death Sentence has a half second wind up animation which you need to be on the lookout for. Other tells are when champions like Leona and Fizz activate their self buff abilities, like Leona's Eclipse (W). These buffs are signs that the opponent is planning on engaging upon you. Other champions with precursor movements include Orianna, Katarina, Annie, Heimerdinger.

Cooldowns
- During the loading screen it is often a good idea to check the cooldowns of your lane opponent and then compare them to your own. This not only helps you plan your own engages (using a low cooldown to force a long cooldown) but helps you to predict how your enemy will act.

 

How to correctly dodge projectiles

Dodge perpendicular to the skillshot (90°) if possible, don't dodge it at other angles. Running away from the line of the projectile not only increases your likelihood of getting caught, but in the case of Nidalee increases the damage you take. If you attempt to run at a 45° you actually reduce your movement away from the skillshot by 50%. To be able to dodge perpendicularly you may need to adjust your positioning to allow horizontal movement.

How can you Improve

Aram
There is no easy way to magically improve but “practice makes perfect.". Luckily League Of Legends has a Hyperbolic Time Chamber for learning how to juke, ARAM allows you to essentially be a firing target for 5 enemy players and to a certain extent simulates what can occur to you in real teamfights. By learning how to react in a less stressful environment you can improve your overall level of play.

Reaction time Training
The quicker you can react, the better chance of survival you have. In order to give yourself more time to react it is possible to train yourself to reduce reaction times through training in other games. A popular method is by playing OSU! (with a mouse). This encourages you to make so called 'twitch movements' and over time you will notice a marked increase. Another useful tool if you don't like rhythm games is aimbooster.com which has a variety of different modes and provides statistics about your accuracy over time.

By undertaking these steps you should see a marked increase in your confidence to dodge skillshots and anticipate the enemy's moves before he even makes them.