A Full Mug of Mead, Tip #10: How to Win Friends and Influence Victory

Sometimes doing the same thing over and over again just isn't the best way to spend those precious moments of freedom you earn from the demands of parents, significant others, and police officers. Or maybe you are one of those people who genuinely enjoys helping someone else do better and feel a tremendous sense of satisfaction whenever you leave an extra dollar in a tip jar or reach the top shelf for a little old lady. It could be you just really love gold-generating items. Whatever the reason, trying out support is an entertaining way to put yourself on the line for someone else, without having to actually, you know, do anything in real life.

A Full Mug of Mead, Tip #9: Tibbers in the Tallgrass -- A Beginning Guide to AP Mid

If you find yourself enjoying farming away in top lane, but yearn for just a little bit more action and maybe even the ability to do quite a chunk of damage once the game shifts later, your next best bet is going to be slinging spells in the mid lane as your team's AP carry.

AP Mid -- 

No list of the Champions I feel play this role better than any other they can be forced into, means it's past time that I do that. I've divided the AP Mid Champs into A, B, and C groups, based on three factors. First, can they sustain themselves in lane without help from the Jungler? Second, how easy are they to play? And third, how likely, in blind pick, are you to get hard countered by the enemy teams' composition?

A Champion in Group A is always a safe pick, and I strongly recommend becoming good with at least one of them to start. As you begin to play draft games and ranked matches, you will need to add a few more Champions to your repertoire, and at that point, I recommend picking up a few of the hard counters to make your options as flexible as possible. Namely, you'll have your main Champion, if the opposing team doesn't pick a Champion which counters you, you can just go with that, and you'll have a stable of counterpicks to work with if they do find someone randomly that hoses your strategy or playstyle.

AP Mid Group A -- Ahri, Annie, Anivia, Brand, Cassiopeia, Gragas, Karthus, Morgana, Mordekaiser, Orianna, Twisted Fate, Veigar.

AP Mid Group B -- Fiddlesticks, Fizz, Kassadin, Katarina, Kennen, Lux, Malzahar, Pantheon, Sion, Talon, Xerath, Vladimir

AP Mid Group C -- Akali, Cho'gath, Galio, Heimerdinger, Janna, Karma, Kog'maw, Leblanc, Syndra, Zilean.

Also, with this list, keep in mind that some of the Champions appear in a lower tier than you might expect, and your mileage may vary. In general, Galio, Heimerdinger, and Leblanc are better as counterpicks, and Zilean, Janna, and Karma typically play better as support champions. Both Kog'maw and Akali will perform better outside of mid lane.

AP Mid Objectives -- 

1) Farm (Early Game) -- As with any solo lane, farming is your most important objective. You should be aiming to complete your bigger items faster than any other lane period. From Level 1 to 10, shoot to have 60 CS by 10:00. If you are level 11-20, you need to be closer to 70 or 75, and from 21-30 you need to perfect earning at least 85 by 10:00 consistently.

Farming mid lane is all about harassment and knowing where you are on the map. Crossing the river is extraordinarily dangerous, as most guides to jungling involve the words "after you finish your jungle, gank mid." Giving them a free roll to smash your face in is going to make it impossible to hit your farm targets. Having said that, your opponent is just as scared of crossing the river as you are, so the early game as an AP Mid will not usually involve a ton of aggression from your opponent, unless they have a clear advantage over you in damage trades. This is why it is so critical to harass your enemy whenever he or she gets within the range of your widest ability. Staying ahead of them, whether that means having more health, not using all of your pots, or simply overpowering them with damage, will allow you to easily win your lane.

2) Push and Roam (Mid Game) -- Many AP Mid Champions lack a ton of mobility, so their farming phase lasts a bit longer, and will involve your jungler giving you blue buff to keep up in CS and stay on top of your item build. However, you are free to roam if your lane is pushed too far to be farmed safely and you have the opportunity to secure a kill or counterjungle the opposing jungler. Although the mid turrets are probably the most important turrets to bring down, unlike top or bot lanes, you do not usually want to destroy the mid turret early, because doing so will allow the opposing mid to freeze their lane by the Inner Turret, and have plenty of gank support if you attempt to continue to farm. Weakening the turret is fine, so that you can bring it down at your leisure when you need to, but actually taking it down should wait until your team is ready or you've finished your item build.

3) Dominate the Team Fight (Late Game) -- As the ranged mage, you will be responsible for inflicting heavy amounts of damage and keeping the opposing team controlled with your deadly Area of Effect CC. What is that? How about a definition?

Area of Effect Crowd Control -- In order to win a team fight, it is necessary to impede the enemy Champions ability to use their spells and skills effectively. An AoE CC is exponentially more powerful than individual CC because it can hit multiple targets. The CC effects in League of Legends include Displacement Effects such as Walls, Knock-ups, Knock-backs, Fear, Slow, Stun, Silence, Snare, Charm, and Taunt. Fear makes your targets lose focus and become bewildered. Charm and Taunt cause the target to pursue or attack the caster without regard for what is happening around them. Slow inflicts a movement speed debuff and can affect attack speed or damage. Stun freezes your opponents in place and renders them incapable of fighting. Some Champions with AoE CC include: Fiddlesticks, Veigar, Anivia, Galio, or Morgana.

Once your crowd control is on, start pouring in the damage. Using items that increase Ability Power or Magic Penetration will make your spells more effective, and some Champions can come close to one-hitting an enemy if they have a full build and a powered up damage source.

AP Mid is a challenging and engaging role to play on a League of Legends team, and this guide should help solidify your understanding of how to get started. If you have any further questions or would like to see this topic revisited in an Advanced Guide sooner rather than later, e-mail wherethemeatcomesfrom@gmail.com, and tell me why or just head to the comments. Odds are, you can even be first!

Until next time, may all your ultimates end in kills and all your games with "Victory."

A Full Mug of Mead, Tip #8: Playing by Yourself -- A Beginning Guide to Top Lane

Now that I've gotten a lot of the basics of League of Legends explained and neatly filed away in the Introduction and Glossary (don't forget, you can always check the "Full Mug of Mead" tab for any articles you may have missed), it's time to turn our attention towards how to actually play different roles in lane. There isn't any particular order to these, save for  the fact that they are written in the order that I personally learned the roles, and feel most comfortable explaining them. Which is a particular order, I suppose. Eh, blame my editor.

Solo Top -- 

I have not yet made a list of the Champions I feel play this role better than any other they can be forced into, so it's about time that I go ahead and do that. I've divided the Top Lane Champs into A, B, and C groups, based on three factors. First, can they sustain themselves in lane without help from the Jungler? Second, how easy are they to play? And third, how likely, in blind pick, are you to get hard countered by the enemy teams' composition?

Counter -- In Champion selection, a counter is any Champion whose playstyle, abilities, or base statistics work in such a way as to make playing your Champion against them very difficult. Skill is still important. However,a player with less skill than you might still be able to defeat you if they select a counter to your Champion. This is especially true of a hard counter, which identifies a counterpick that is completely unbeatable without support from other lanes or items.

A Champion in Group A is always a safe pick, and I strongly recommend becoming good with at least one of them to start. As you begin to play draft games and ranked matches, you will need to add a few more Champions to your repertoire, and at that point, I recommend picking up a few of the hard counters to make your options as flexible as possible. Namely, you'll have your main Champion, if the opposing team doesn't pick a Champion which counters you, you can just go with that, and you'll have a stable of counterpicks to work with if they do find someone randomly that hoses your strategy or playstyle.

Solo Top Group A -- Akali, Irelia, Jarvan IV, Jax, Kayle, Malphite, Nasus, Olaf, Rumble, Singed, Yorick.

Solo Top Group B -- Cho'Gath, Fiora, Dr. Mundo, Gangplank, Garen, Lee Sin, Pantheon, Riven, Renekton, Sion.

Solo Top Group C -- Cassiopeia, Galio, Katarina, Kennen, Mordekaiser, Nidalee, Poppy, Rengar.

Also, with this list, keep in mind that some of the Champions appear in a lower tier than you might expect, and your mileage may vary. Still, of the Group C options, only Poppy plays primarily in Top Lane, the others are all in Group C because, honestly, you should be playing them somewhere other than Solo Top, but they are options, and they do occasionally work as counterpicks.

Solo Top Objectives -- 

1) Farm (Early Game) -- As with any solo lane, farming is your most important objective. You should be aiming to complete your bigger items faster than any other lane aside from the AP Mid. From Level 1 to 10, shoot to have 55 CS (meaning, 55 last-hits on creep minions, earning you gold) by 10:00. 11-20, you need to be closer to 60 or 65, and from 21-30 you need to perfect earning 70-85 by 10:00 consistently.

Farming top lane is all about positioning. If you have vision on your opponent, staying above the creep, towards the top of the map, will make it much more difficult for the opposing jungler to gank you and chase you out of lane. Equally so, if you control the top side of the creep, then your jungler can come in for ganks much more effectively. If you can trade damage effectively with your enemy, zoning him out by standing between him and your allied minions will make it hard for him to hit his farm targets.

2) Push and Roam (Mid Game) -- Many top lane Champions will use the Summoner Spell Teleport to help out other lanes. The best way to do this is through lane ganks. To execute this strategy, if you can push your lane up (after chasing away or killing the enemy top lane champion) and return to the Fountain then you can purchase your items and head into mid or bot lanes along the same path your allies travel. Once there, you can hide in the brush and gank quickly, scoring a kill or a chase, and retreat to the brush to teleport back to the top lane. Done effectively, you will lose almost no gold, and barely any experience, and greatly contribute to your team's overall success.

I recommend attempting this every time you return to base and have Teleport off cooldown and available to get you back into lane.

3) Dominate the Team Fight (Late Game) -- Once you have broken a turret or even two in your lane, it's time to start grouping up. Most Solo Top Champions are either tanks (Singed, Cho'Gath, Garen, Malphite) or assassins (Akali, Fiora, Jarvan IV, Poppy) or both (Irelia, Jax, Olaf, Lee Sin). In Team Fights, then, your goal is to either keep the opposition away from your carries using your Crowd Control and bulky body, or keep your carries alive by slaying the enemy Champions that can threaten them. Each Solo Top Champion plays slightly differently, especially compared to the similarities between, say, Graves, Caitlyn, Ashe, and Vayne, so it is important to learn your Champions strengths.

For example, unless she is focused, Irelia can more or less wade into a team fight, using her Hiten Style ability to gain minor health back, and stun her target with Equilibrium Strike, and chase them down with Bladesurge if they try and retreat behind their tanks. Singed, instead, is going to prefer to circle and poison, attempting to chase and flip the enemy carry right into the thick of his team and poison stream while slowing the others with his super glue.

Solo Top is one of the most entertaining and rewarding roles to play on a League of Legends team, and this guide should help solidify your understanding of how to get into the role. If you have any further questions or would like to see this topic revisited in an Advanced Guide sooner rather than later, e-mail wherethemeatcomesfrom@gmail.com, and tell me why or just head to the comments. Odds are, you can even be first!

Until next time, may all your ultimates end in kills and all your games with "Victory."

A Full Mug of Mead: League of Legends and the New WTMCF

A Full Mug of Mead: The League of Legends Content You've All Been Expecting

In these posts, I will be exploring various aspects of League of Legends, starting with a new player's guide to the game, escalating to a weekly round-up of information presented in the unique WTMCF style, and eventually profiles of LoL players and advanced strategies.

With the release of Syndra, the Dark Sovereign, the Internet's favorite acronym will have 105 playable champions, and A Full Mug of Mead will celebrate with 105 Tips and Tricks for new players looking to get into the game.  If you are one of the millions who already have a Level 30 account, don't despair, there will be plenty of content for you as well. (If you are one of the few with multiple 30s and a 2000+ ELO, well, more than likely, you won't be reading this blog anyway, but if you are, I can assure you that I will do my best to make you laugh, and hopefully it won't come as a reaction to any of my advice.)

If you are wondering where the Magic: The Gathering content has gone, don't fret, I'm not giving up the card-slinging anytime soon, and I do have a few spicy RtR-inspired decklists for you to add to your arsenal. But the last month and a half of my free time has been spent hurtling head first into the world of MOBAs and specifically League, which I've determined scientifically to be nearly the most fun you can have in your pajamas staring at a computer screen while frantically clicking your mouse and having teenage boys scream at you for not knowing what you are doing.

I don't want to keep you from the action, so download League of Legends now and get started, but first, here is the first tip to put you ahead of your Level 1 competition.

1) Know Your Terms: 

If you venture out into the wilds of the Interwebs, you will be assaulted by dozens if not hundreds of sites dedicated to improving your LoL play.  Most, if not all of them, assume you already know more about the game than I know about drinking bottled water.

Needless to say, I've forgotten more than you'll ever know.

In case you don't, here is a brief rundown of terms you should be familiar with. This list, as you can well imagine, is not exhaustive, but should help you out when you start in queue. Also, this is not in any particular order, unless you want to imagine that there is a nefarious plot behind my list-making that involves the Illuminati and the Freemasons working in concert to overthrow the power structure behind American politics. In which case there is still no order, but your life certainly sounds more exciting than mine.

Pots-- Items you can purchase from the wagon next to the Fountain where you begin each game.  Pots are Health Potions, Mana Potions, and generally useful items that help you survive in Lane. Health and Mana pots cost 35 gold, which make them valuable and cheap during the early stages of the battle.

Lane/Laning-- There are four Lanes in traditional, five on five League of Legends gameplay.  Top lane passes North of the Fountain for the Blue Team and West of the Fountain for the Purple Team.  Mid lane connects the two Fountains, bisecting the middle of the map. Bottom lane (or bot lane) is East for the Blue Team or South for the Purple Team.  Each of these three Lanes is dotted with towers/turrets: An Outer Turret, an Inner Turret, and an Inhibitor Turret that protects that lane's entrance to the base. The Jungle is the fourth Lane and comprises the forested area formed between each of the other lanes, cut in half by the river that runs across the map from Northwest to Southeast.  Laning refers to the earliest stage of the game, where the players attempt to harvest gold and experience from the waves of minions that spawn at each base.  In both low and high level play, Laning begins around the 2:00 mark, although it can start later if either team is attempting an Invade/Invasion strategy.

Jungle-- The Jungle is the fourth Lane and comprises the forested area formed between each of the other lanes, cut in half by the river that runs across the map from Northwest to Southeast.  In the Jungle you will find five Neutral Minion camps: Wolves, Wraiths, Mini-Golems, Ancient Golem, and Lizard Elder.  Certain Champions (the avatars assumed by the players, who are known in game as Summoners) play best in the Jungle lane, and use the Neutral Minions as the primary source of their gold and experience.

Push/Pushing-- When Pushing a lane, players kill opposing minions at a faster rate than normal, enabling their own minions to move up along the lane, making it so that enemy Champions must fight under their turret. While engaged in a Push, you will usually attempt to take down the enemy turret in order to improve map awareness for your team, by making it harder for your opponents to maintain vision in the turretless space.

Buff/Debuff-- A Buff is a positive enhancement on your Champion. Most Buffs come from the Jungle. The Lizard Elder bestows a Red Buff which adds a slow to your attacks and the Ancient Golem gives you a Blue Buff that lowers your cooldowns (how fast you use your abilities) and increases mana regeneration.

Dragon/Baron-- Two epic monsters that dwell in the Jungle.  The Dragon earns 190 gold for each team member, plus a 25 gold bonus for the Champion that slays him. Baron Nashor generates a Purple Buff, plus awards gold to the team.

Solo Top-- Refers to the role played by a single Champion who spends the Laning phase in the Top Lane.  Typical Solo Top Champions will be bruisers, melee fighters that can dish it out and take it. Champions like Garen or Master Yi are great for starting out and practicing Solo Top. Later, Tanks such as Cho'gath, Singed, or Irelia all make excellent Solo Top Champions. For more information, look for a later tip that goes into detail about playing Solo Top.

AP Mid-- Refers to the role played by a single Champion who spends the Laning phase in the Middle Lane. This is almost always a mage-style Champion, who can be Squishy, but who will do massive amounts of magic damage later on. Annie is a great Champion to start with if you want to be smashing foes with a giant stuffed magic teddy bear, and she scales well even into higher leveled game play. Other AP Mids include new characters like Syndra or Zyra, or everyone's favorite black mage, Veigar. For more information, look for a later tip that goes into detail about playing AP Mid.

Jungler-- Refers to the role played by a single Champion who spends the Laning phase in the Jungle. Almost every Champion can Jungle, but the role is very difficult at low levels, and should probably be avoided until you are equipped with Runes and Masteries.  Master Yi makes for a solid Jungle, if you just can't wait to try it out. Better still is Warwick, who is one of the strongest Junglers in higher leveled play and who makes practicing the role much easier than it might be otherwise. For more information, look for a later tip that goes into detail about playing as the Jungler.

ADC-- ADC stands for Attack Damage Carry, and the role is self-explanatory.  As the ADC, it's your job to build damage boosting items and pierce the hearts of the enemy team. Ashe is one of the best Champions to learn the game with, and ADC is the role she plays. The ADC spends the Laning phase in the Bottom Lane, earning experience and gold with the support of a second Champion, whose job is to keep the Carry alive. There are many ADC Champions in League of Legends, and finding the one that fits your style of play best can seem daunting, but Sivir is an inexpensive option who can teach you new tricks if you don't enjoy playing Ashe. For more information, look for a later tip that goes into detail about playing as the Attack Damage Carry.

Support-- The Support is the fifth Champion. Like the Jungler, Support is difficult to play at low levels, because you will not have the Runes or Masteries that boost your gold production. As a Support, you heal and Buff the ADC, while letting them Farm the minions that crawl through the Bot Lane. Most Support Champions, later in the game, will be the biggest, baddest Tank on the battlefield, soaking up damage for your team, and keeping them mowing down the opposition. If you want to start off playing Support, try a Champion like Soraka or Nunu, who come equipped with abilities the naturally Buff or heal the ADC, and can assist in kills to earn gold. Later, Champions like Blitzcrank, Alistar, or Taric are available to help dominate the Bot Lane. For more information, look for a later tip that goes into detail about playing Support.

Summoner/Champion-- In League of Legends, you are a Summoner, and the avatar that represents you on the battlefield is a Champion. There are 105 Champions to choose from, and that number continues to grow.

Leash-- To begin the Laning phase, the Jungler needs a little bit of help to get past his first few Neutral Monster camps. When someone asks for a Leash, they are requesting that the Champions in the Lane closest to where they are starting engage the Neutral camp and begin attacking the monsters that dwell there. It is very important that a Leash does not kill the monster, because the Jungler needs the gold and experience in order to level up and build their items quick enough to be effective when Ganking.

Gank/Ganking-- A gank occurs whenever a Champion leaves their lane to assist in attacking the enemy team in another lane. This will usually be the Jungler, although midlanes like Katarina or Twisted Fate, and top lanes like Shen can also aid in successful ganks. If an opposing Champion leaves the lane you are responsible for, you should report mia and ping the lane that they appeared to be heading for to let your ally know about the possible impending gank.

Mia-- During the Laning phase, occasionally Champions will leave the Lane. This can happen because they've taken too much damage and have to return to their base to heal, or because they have a ton of gold and want to start buying items, but more often than not, it will signal a gank. In order to prevent your allies from overextending and getting caught by the enemy team, you need to signal their departure by typing "mia" in the chat box. It should be preceded by the lane you are in, so if the other Solo Top goes missing, write "top mia" as soon as it happens. When they come back, tell your team by typing "re".

Ping/Pinging-- League of Legends action comes fast and furious, like Jason Statham beating up a room full of shirtless goons. Sometimes you can't type "I need help right here by the Dragon pit but a little closer to their Ancient Golem camp" fast enough. Whenever urgent communication is needed, you can Ping your minimap with two different colors of signals. Yellow is great for telling your teammates that they need to retreat because a whole bunch of bad guys are heading their way, and red can tell everyone you've been forced out of lane and someone needs to protect your turret.

Farm/Farming-- Farming refers to the action of killing minion waves to generate gold and experience. This normally happens during the first 15 minutes or so of the game, but it's important to remember to keep farming as the game progresses, or you risk being underleveled and as broke as a Kardashian sister as soon as our world gets its priorities straight.

In all fairness, one of these girls will never be poor. She has her own, erhm, assets.

Tank-- A Tank is a Champion with tons of natural or item built HP and a lot of armor/magic resistance. Typical tanks include Blitzcrank, Alistar, Singed, Rammus, Amumu, or late-game Nunu. The Tank is an extremely important role in the late game because they will be able to wade into the enemy formations and turrets and absorb damage while the rest of the team crushes dreams and breaks down defenses.

Tanking-- You don't have to be a Tank to be asked to tank something as a verb. In some cases, your allied minions will be far behind the group of teammates who are ready to take down a turret or map objective like Dragon or Baron Nashor. One team member will be tasked with initiating and absorbing the brunt of the assault from the Baron or the turret while everyone else stands around looking pretty and taking it out.

Squishy-- A Squishy Champion is one that doesn't have a lot of built-in sustain or health. The more squishy a Champion is, the less damage they can take and the more damage they are dealt by opposing attacks. Squishy Champions tend to be ranged, and they need to hang back a bit behind a tank or at least a stronger ally in order to avoid being targeted and killed too fast to get their own damage in. Most mages are squishy, along with several of the assassin type Champions like Nocturne or Evelynn. Similarly, ranged ADC's like Ashe, Vayne, Varus, or Graves do not have a lot of armor or magic resist and can go down quickly in a fight if their support isn't on top of the situation. For this reason, when team fighting, you want to be targeting the squishy/high damage enemy team members first, before turning your attention to the bulky/low damage output tanks.

Invade/Invasion-- Invading is a strategy that occurs in the beginning of the game, wherein a group of Champions will attempt to seize control of and slay opposing forces near one of the Neutral Monster camps in the Jungle on the other side of the river. A successful invasion that kills or disables the enemy Jungler, as well as anyone providing a leash, will put the opposing team at a massive disadvantage, and a huge 5 on 4 victory can even end the game before it really starts. Invasions rarely happen at the lower levels of play, but it's worth being aware that it can, and protecting your Jungler and teammates from it happening is extremely important as you level up to 30. For more information, look for a later tip that goes into detail about invading/counter invading.

Runes/Masteries-- These are enhancements that you build before the game even starts that give your Champion better starting stats and base abilities. Both the Jungle and Support roles all but require competent Rune/Mastery set ups in order to most successfully play their positions. You can purchase Runes from the League of Legends store, and you earn points to use in your Mastery pages by leveling up (you get one point per level). This aspect of character building is part of what makes the Champions so versatile, and is one of the main reasons why two players using the same Champion could have drastically different skill sets and roles. For more information, look for a later tip that goes into detail about setting up your Runes and Masteries.

Last-Hitting -- The last attack against an enemy minion, Neutral Monster, or opposing Champion is credited with the kill, and assigned bonus gold and experience. When your attack is the one that kills the enemy, you are the one who benefits. Therefore, it is in your best interest to strike the killing blow against every minion in a wave, an action that results in extra money going in your pocket, and a fatter wallet means more gold to spend when you head back to the Fountain.

Area of Effect Crowd Control -- In order to win a team fight, it is necessary to impede the enemy Champions ability to use their spells and skills effectively. An AoE CC is exponentially more powerful than individual CC because it can hit multiple targets. The CC effects in League of Legends include Fear, Slow, Stun, Charm, and Taunt. Fear makes your targets lose focus and become bewildered. Charm and Taunt cause the target to pursue or attack the caster without regard for what is happening around them. Slow inflicts a movement speed debuff and can affect attack speed or damage. Stun freezes your opponents in place and renders them incapable of fighting. Some Champions with AoE CC include: Fiddlesticks, Veigar, Anivia, Galio, or Morgana.

I said before, this list of terms is not exhaustive, and if you feel as though I missed something that threw you off when you started, or if there is a term you want defined and added to the list, please e-mail me and I will make sure it is updated and included for the future.

As always, comments and questions are welcome, and because LoL is such an awesome game, I'm opening up the site to submissions again. Do you have a build guide? A unique strategy? A Champion combination that breaks open your favorite lane? Maybe you just have some fan fiction you'd love to see published somewhere other than your Facebook page. 

My goal is to build a strong content base for League of Legends, and make it so that when it comes to the fantastic sandwich that is LoL, this is Where the Meat Comes From.

Send Submissions to wherethemeatcomesfrom@gmail.com. Always include either your Summoner tag, Twitter handle, or actual, honest-to-Mitt, name.