In 2017, Riot Games has given you all the tools. Gone are the days of ‘lolreplay bug splat’ errors. If you somehow missed the forty million memos: we have in-client replays. Joe wrote an article a few weeks ago about how to analyze your League of Legends replays, and I wanted to chime in with a couple tips that have served me well in my gaming career. League’s replay viewing tool, like Sandbox mode, has much more to offer than most people will take advantage of. It’s extremely easy to get caught up watching your own highlights–multikills and the sort–from a bird’s eye view, sporting a small grin of anticipation. If you’re looking for a little more than just entertainment, resist that temptation and take these tips for reviewing League of Legends replays to heart.
1. Use every perspective
Hindsight (or true sight) is 20/20. Instead of always watching your replays with an omnipotent view of the map, watch every play three times:
- From your PoV.
- From the enemy PoV.
- Fog of War disabled PoV.
You’d be surprised at the things you catch when you take these perspectives. More than anything, it’ll help you understand the decision-making logic of each player in said situation.
2. Attention to detail
Easy to say, hard to do. A good starting point for this is to watch how people (including yourself) are last hitting. What is the pre-last hit movement? How much can you anticipate skill use to get minion kills? To what extent is their harassment woven in with last hitting?
3. Pre-fight review
Breaking down huge teamfights can be an important step towards improvement. But if you’re looking to shore up your macro deficiencies, watch the 30-180 seconds preceding a fight. Things to consider here are:
- Vision control, and the placement of fight enabling wards
- Wave management and minion pressure
- Buff timers
- Untimely recalls
4. You are the enemy
When newer analysts watch replays, there is a natural tendency to view yourself as the protagonist.
Don’t do that.
Think of yourself as the scrub that you want to take a fatty dump on. It’s the best way to identify all your weaknesses in the most candid manner.