5 Preseason Tips

With new items and several changes across the Rift, here are 5 tips to help ease you

Keep Tryharding

It's easy to care a little less during Preseason when a new round of placements are on the horizon next year. But your MMR is still affected by the games you play during Preseason, which can make a huge difference when you start your climb at the start of the season.

It can be a good time to improve your MMR, when the game is a little more unstable and unpredictable. Additionally, you can take advantage of players who aren't trying as hard in Preseason to climb quickly.

Ping Wards

There were several updates to vision during the Preseason, including the ability to ping enemy wards. If you ping an enemy ward you have vision on, an indicator will pop up on the ward's location conveying its remaining duration. This is huge for knowing whether you can pull off a gank and to help clear wards effectively.

It's imperative you start developing this habit quickly, given how much information this quick ping provides. Players who didn't use the enemy ping ward much before Preseason may find it a little jarring at first, so take Preseason as an opportunity to get used to it.

The first player on your team also gets 5g for pinging out an enemy ward or damaging it for the first time. This is deducted from the total gold given when you destroy the ward, but it's a satisfying reward for utilising this new ping.

Experiment

Even though your MMR is still affected, Preseason can be a good time to step outside your comfort zone and experiment with your picks. The stakes aren't as high, so you can get some ranked practice on champions you've been wanting to learn for a while. You're also less likely to run into people who will flame you for trying something new.

Flex Picks

The Smite changes have made a lot of new champions viable in the jungle. This makes flex picks in draft even more powerful, as you can hide what position your champions are being played in. Consequently, it's more difficult for your enemies to counter-pick effectively.

Play Tanks

Tanks have benefitted the most from the Preseason changes. Heartsteel is dominating the Rift with its infinite scaling, allowing tanks to pack a punch while absorbing a ton of damage.

Given most tanks are played in the top lane, they're also benefitting from the increased experience granted to solo laners. This helps with their scaling, and makes split pushing in the later stages of a game even more viable.