Can You One Trick in League of Legends?

One tricking – the act of focusing on and mastering a single champion – is a divisive topic in League of Legends. For some, spamming hundreds of games on their main champion is the surest path to climbing the ranked ladder. For others, being a one trick pony has too many downsides to be viable long term. In this extensive guide, I‘ll cover everything you need to know about one tricking in League – the pros, cons, how to do it effectively, and more.

What Does It Mean to One Trick a Champion?

A "one trick" or "OTP" is a League of Legends player who plays the same champion the vast majority of the time, often exclusively. Their goal is to truly master that champion by spamming hundreds or even thousands of games on them over multiple seasons. One trick ponies know their chosen champion inside and out – their damage potential at every stage of the game, power spike timings, mechanics and combos, optimal builds, counter matchups, and more.

Take Yasuo for example. A dedicated Yasuo one trick will have expert-level knowledge of his unique dashing mechanic, how to maximize DPS with his Q tornadoes, the best situations to use his wind wall, and advanced keyblade combos. They‘ll know Yasuo‘s powerspikes like the back of their hand, allowing them to aggressively pressure the enemy when he hits item breakpoints.

In short, one tricking lets you take your mastery of a champion‘s kit to its absolute peak. There‘s always room for refinement no matter how much you play a champ, but one tricks come far closer to reaching their champion‘s skill ceiling than the casual player ever could.

The Pros of One Tricking

So why do so many League players strictly one trick a champion? There are some notable benefits:

• You can maximize your mechanical skill with a champion since you‘re constantly practicing them. The hundreds of games worth of muscle memory you build up gives you far tighter control over your champ.

• Your matchup knowledge becomes unparalleled. By facing every possible lane opponent hundreds of times, you‘ll learn how to perfectly adapt your playstyle to counter the enemy.

• It‘s proven to help climbing. Studies show one tricks gain more LP and have higher winrates on average. According to MetaSrc, one tricks had a 53% winrate on their main compared to 51% on other champs.

• Fewer champs to learn. Focusing on just one champion makes learning the game‘s macro-elements like map awareness, objective control and wave manipulation much easier since you don‘t need to sink mental bandwidth into re-learning mechanics.

• Specializing can be more fun. You get to intimately know a champion‘s ins and outs instead of just scratching the surface with multiple picks. Popping off on your main feels incredibly rewarding.

Potential Downsides to One Tricking

Of course, locking yourself into a single champion does have some notable downsides:

• Your champion can be banned. This forces you to play a backup pick you have less experience on. Target bans are common once enemies catch on that you main a champ.

• Bad matchups become unavoidable. Even counter matchups become challenging if your enemy also one tricks a champion that directly counters yours.

• Team comps suffer if your champ doesn‘t fit. For example, one tricking Katarina mid might get countered by tank-heavy comps where you lack DPS.

• The meta can shift. If your main drops significantly in viability due to patches, your winrate will likely suffer until they receive buffs.

• Playing only one champ gets repetitive. One tricking for multiple seasons can simply get boring compared to learning completely new champions.

As you can see, there are persuasive points on both sides of the one trick debate. In general, one tricking seems optimal for climbing to your peak ELO quickly in the short term, but becomes less viable for improving flexibility long term.

How Long Does It Take to Master a Champion?

Just how much grind does it take to truly master a champion? Most League experts agree it takes at least 200-300 games to feel completely comfortable on a champ, but the threshold for true mastery is more like 500+ games. Once you hit 500-1,000+ games with a 60%+ winrate, you‘ve reached a level of one trick prowess that few can compete with.

Keep in mind that simpler champions like Garen naturally take less time to master than complex picks like Azir. But regardless of mechanical difficulty, be prepared to grind hundreds of games to become a world class one trick.

Tips for Effective One Tricking

If you do decide to fully commit to mastering a single champion, here are some tips to maximize your success:

• Watch high ELO one tricks for your champion on YouTube and Twitch. Study their decision making and mechanics closely. Take notes on their runes/itemization.

• Focus on macro gameplay – wave manipulation, map awareness, objective control. Don‘t get too obsessed with flashy outplays.

• Know matchups inside out and when you hit key power spikes to dominate lane.

• Have a reliable backup pick for when your main gets banned. Make sure to put in reps on your secondary too.

• Dodge bad matchups in champ select instead of forcing yourself to play at a disadvantage.

• Take breaks after multiple losses andUntiltable yourself to stay mentally sharp. Tilt makes you autopilot and develop bad habits.

Final Thoughts

One tricking certainly isn‘t for everyone. It takes an immense amount of dedication to spam a single champion for hundreds of games through losses, bans and meta shifts. For those with such devotion and focus, one tricking can be the quickest path to success – just make sure to pick a flexible champion that fits many comps.

Yet there are also benefits to having a diverse champion pool so you can adapt your picks to different team needs. At the end of the day there is no universally superior choice between being a one trick pony and a jack of all trades. Take an honest look at your mentality and goals, then choose the playstyle that best suits your enjoyment and climb. Both approaches have value in the right hands.