Tips for ADC Players, especially low elo
Yo, what's up. Just wanted to share some of the knowledge I have on how to play ADC right about now. I'm not perfect, but these are just a few tips that I know work well, especially in low elo.
Level 2 All Ins
I'm sure you're familiar with the idea of a level 2 all in - you try to fight the enemy bot lane if you're level 2 and they aren't. It's especially potent in bot lane where there's 2x the advantage, meaning that almost all level 2 all-ins give you some kind of guaranteed advantage, whether that be health, a summ, or even a kill if you can do it in time. That being said, be careful when you're doing this - it's not always a guaranteed advantage. Know that Draven Nautilus at level 1 can possibly beat Ezreal Sona at level 2 with a decent hook onto the Sona and an ignite, if Ezreal can't focus Draven safely.
Another important for Level 2 All Ins is to start walking up before you get level 2 when you know you'll get it first. This almost always works in low elo when people aren't thinking about it until they see you actually get it. Because level 2 in bot lane is first wave + 3 melees, you should start walking up (tell your supp to do this if you're on vc) when you're killing the 2nd or 3rd melee, so that when you get level 2, you're already cutting them off and you'll definitely get some sort of advantage from the level 2 play.
I love doing this especially on champs like Kaisa/Jhin that can kill/chunk you to 1/3 hp with level 2 advantage.
Know What Champions Do What
I kinda hate seeing these types of tips on this sub so I won't bore you, but this is important when it comes to how to play against certain champs.
Supports
Against hook champs, when there are only a couple casters left, just back up - it's worth missing the CS than 50-50ing the hook, which will usually force you to burn a summ if it hits. Similarly, just respect the Leona engage if she's on you.
Don't try to trade with really good trading champs like Nami - you'll get fucked over really fast. Just wait for your support to do something before you try to trade or fight.
Against poke champs, it's very very very worth rushing Tier 1 boots. Trust me. The difference is huge.
ADCs
Caitlyn is a bitch to deal with, but here's how I like to deal with her:
Your health is a resource. Besides pushing for level 2, where you can take maybe one or two autos, just try to only last hit minions and try to get CS when Caitlyn goes for CS. Caitlyn can't 1v1 trade that well cause most of her quick trades are just with a single auto, so if you're in auto range of her and your support is in position to respond to a 2v2, hit that bitch back, like with a MF, Jhin, Kaisa Auto Q. When this happens, try not to run unless Caitlyn herself backs up or if your support won't help you in time, or if the enemy jungler is coming bot.
Know that MF wants to get a Q crit on you, so don't stand behind low HP minions.
Jinx and Tristana want to poke you by autoing/last hitting minions.
Tristana has really good burst - careful when she's level 2/3, and know that non-duelist champs like Jhin and Cait will usually just die to her in a 1v1, even if she's a little behind. This holds even truer when she brings hail of blades.
Twitch loves to go into fog of war or a bush and then Q, and then surprise you with his W slow. Don't walk up past the beginning line of the bot river if he is missing and didn't just back, and try not to play side lane when he's not on the map.
Stand away from a wave that can get Jhin Q'd and do extra damage.
Don't be afraid to poke and trade
A lot of lower elo players don't really understand this concept too well, which is why you can really abuse it. The key concept of it is that when someone is CSing, the fact that they're stuck in the animation gives you a window to land an auto or an auto Q on some champs. Caitlyn's laning playstyle revolves around this: she can hit you when you CS, and you cannot respond because she was already so far away and is now backing up. This also applies to people autoing wards or Draven going to pick up an axe, though I would be careful with the second. He can gap close really fast with W and E.
Trading is something you should only really do if it's applicable. Here are a few instances -
You're shielded or buffed - Especially with Lulu, Janna, or Nami, being shielded or buffed can do some serious damage if you apply your trading pattern, like Lucian/Kaisa/MF/Jhin Auto Q.
Enemy just used key cooldowns - Mostly applies to the support, unless its someone like Trist who has no E. If a hook or a shield is down, try to trade with the adc.
Enemy can't hit their hook - If a Blitz/Thresh/Naut can't hit the hook and your support can help you 2v1 trade with the adc, you can try and trade.
Focus the ADC in a 2v2
Say your support gets hooked, but you're both still full HP. You shouldn't try to run away immediately. Now that they have no real catch on you, you should look to fight back, because if your support can get something like a good Nami bubble, you can turn the engage pretty easily. However, when anything like this happens, you need to focus on the ADC. The support will deal less damage and can probably tank more if they have something like Leona W or Aftershock, so look to use your abilities on the ADC. If you can't get to the ADC safely, just auto the support and pray that you can discourage them from attacking more. However, focusing the ADC can often win you all ins, because you are getting free damage on them while they're focusing your support.
That being said, make sure not to overstep, making it the enemy ADC and support 2v1ing you while your support can't do much. I made a similar mistake in a game as Kaisa/Sona vs Varus/Pyke. I had a sizeable health advantage and Sona got a nice ult on Varus while Pyke missed the hook, and I immediately E'd forward past the Pyke and began to auto the Varus. Sona didn't have her E and couldn't catch up with me, and was too far away to attack them, while Pyke was in melee range and could auto me freely while Varus could auto me as well. This actually ended up forcing me to burn heal in the end, while Varus just ran away. What I should have done then was just auto the Pyke in front of me and W for the true sight, and with the added damge from Sona and her buffs, we could probably just kill him. Pyke is just as squishy as Varus, if not squishier because of lower levels.
Rotations and Back Timings
Congratulations! Hopefully with these tips, you've killed the enemy bot lane. What do you do now?
In general, what you always want to do is push the wave and make sure that it crashes into tower, and then back. This makes sure that the enemy loses as many minions as possible when they're coming back to lane, makes sure you lose as little minions as possible when you're coming back to lane, and usually sets up a slow push towards you.
My general rule for getting plates are kind of vague, as it's more of a feeling, but - if you can push a wave, get plates, and back before the enemy comes back to lane, do so. But usually, it's better to get a better base timing than an extra 80 gold from a plate.
As for rotations, you should rotate to help your jungler at a skirmish unless the wave is pushing towards you, because losing a ton of cs to get 75 gold really isn't worth it.
Teamfighting
In general, you should just hit what's in front of you and what's closest to you. I know it's tempting to go for the back line, but this season especially, tanks do a SHIT ton of damage, and having a bunch of people turn to kill you can lose your team fights. Just hit the most valuable target in front of you.
MOVE MORE. This is such an underrated thing. It's better to move more in between autos than to barely move and try to do max dps. Do like 2-3 autos and take a moment to look at the fight, then MOVE. You should always be kiting in a direction.
Don't look at the person you're autoing. It should take 1% of your brainpower to auto someone. You should always be looking at everyone else when you're autoing someone. Low elo ADCs always make the mistake of tunneling on something, and then because you're not looking, Morgana hits a free Q on you and the fight is lost.
ADC is especially hard to teamfight with now, where stepping the wrong way once is just death. Be careful and move more.
Mental (Yes, I know you hate these tips, but please read this)
I hate reading these long winded posts about mental on this sub, but this is important. You need to understand that ADC in low elo is, well, hard, and probably the hardest role to play at low elo. It can be challenging sometimes, especially in those games where you get the braindead support or the inting solo laners. Just remember that there will be some games that you just can't carry on, but think about everything that you could have done better. I've noticed that even in the games where I get frustrated at having an inting team when I'm fed, I make a lot of positioning mistakes that could have won the game or turned fight.
I wish you the best of luck.
