How To Train Like a LoL Pro in Esports

Every single player that has played League of Legends or any other online multiplayer game has dreamt of one day becoming a top competitor in their game’s esports. While there are people who simply don’t have the time, resource, or dedication to push through with this dream, there are some who want to persevere even if the chances of doing so are slim. To do that, they’ll need to learn how to Train like a LoL Professional starting this very moment so that they’ll have what it takes to enter the world of esports.

How To Train Like a LoL Pro

If you aspire to be the next player competing at the Worlds Stage, you need to start out somewhere. Pro players don’t just pop out of the internet and suddenly get signed, they put a lot of time and effort into building themselves up before they’re noticed by an organization that’s willing to take them in. If you’re not willing to sacrifice a portion of your life to grind the game, don’t expect to be a LoL professional just because you simply want to be in the future.

Aside from learning how to train like a LoL pro, there’s also the process of becoming one. Simply being good at the game doesn’t guarantee that you’ll get scouted by an esports organization, especially if you live in a country/region that doesn’t have Scouting Grounds or Tryouts. We’ll include some tips on how you can both train like a LoL pro and start building your career so that you know how to get noticed by an esports organization for a chance at becoming a professional LoL player.

1. Mastering the Fundamentals

One thing that players constantly try to master are the fundamentals of the game. The fundamentals involve maintaining a good creep score, wave management, learning proper macro skills, and mastery over all the champions. Even some advanced things like learning where you can flash, learning the limits of the fog of war, and memorizing camp and spell timers are important skills that you need to learn. It might seem like a hassle but it’s important to never stop mastering this skill.

In LoL esports, especially in the East, players constantly train their fundamentals because they all know that mastery over the fundamentals is the key to becoming the best player in the world. Once you’ve experienced Flame Horizoning an opponent in a high ELO match, you’ll realize that all of your efforts have paid off. Never overestimate yourself by trying to convince yourself that there’s nothing left for you to learn in this aspect because you’ll soon learn a lesson in humility once you face off against someone who does this.

2. Listening to Esports Analysts

Having a reliable coaching staff is the backbone of every functional esports team. But unless you have the resources to hire a LoL coach or enroll in a masterclass with a LoL professional, you might just want to settle with watching videos on YouTube or streamers on Twitch discussing the state of the game and some effective strategies that you might want to know about. There are tons of esports analysts on the internet that can help you learn how to train like a LoL pro.

The most important thing about listening to esports analysts is to keep an open mind. It’s okay to disagree with an analyst’s opinion as long as you try to make a case on why you think you’re right and try to prove it by doing your own research or testing. You should keep in mind that not all esports analysts on the internet are helpful, some just like to rant about the game. Listening to personalities like LS, Caedrel, IWillDominate, and others that like to discuss the game might help you out.

3. Reviewing Esports Games

Once you’ve begun listening to an esports analyst, it’s time to make your own assessments on the state of League of Legends by reviewing the most recent esports games. By studying how professional teams function during an esports game gives you insight on what strategies will work in a tournament setting. Keep in mind that Solo Queue and even Flex Queue are completely different from a real esports game so the strategy that you have developed might not work.

When watching LoL esports games, you need to watch every single thing that the pros do. Watching some LoL Esports Replays that try to discuss what each team and player did right and wrong will really help deepen your understanding of professional League of Legends. Once you’ve begun to train like a LoL pro, you’ll need to allot an hour or so in your day to watch a professional game and self-study every single decision that the players make on stage and try to replicate it on your matches.

4. Scrimming Against Real Teams

Developing your skills in Solo Queue is one thing, but learning how to function in an organized team setting is another. Try to assemble a team online, either by searching for teammates in social media or other LoL forums to replicate the scenario of competitive play. Once you’ve found a team that works for you and your schedule, it’s time to go online and schedule scrims against other teams so that you can start experiencing what it’s like to be a professional player.

Scrimming against other teams is better than Flex Queue because it allows you to replicate the same scenarios that most pros experience. If you can’t find someone to scrim against, Flex Queue would work but always prioritize scrims. Finding some teams near you that you can regularly scrim against is good because you’ll learn more about the fundamentals of teamplay compared to playing with a bunch of random teams every time where you have to constantly adjust your playstyle. Sticking with your premade team will also help you develop a good playstyle that you can carry over in tournaments.

5. Dedicating Yourself To a Specific Role

Now that we’ve begun the talk about dedicating to a specific team and specific schedule, you might as well start dedicating yourself to a specific role. Every League of Legends professional is known for playing a single role with only a handful of them roleswapping due to extreme circumstances. The hardest part about starting out to be a pro is probably choosing the right role to play that you can carry over once you become a full-fledged LoL Pro.

The importance of choosing a specific role early is so that you can become the best at that specific role. Perfecting everything there is to know about a single role is what makes someone a great player. Being able to outlane your opponent in the tournament can spell success and even the game. Be careful when choosing which role you want to play because that might be very oversaturated by people in your area so you’ll have a smaller chance to get noticed.

6. Building a Reputation

Now that you know how to train like a LoL pro, it’s time to start learning the things that you need to know if you aspire to be one. The best way to attract the attention of scouts and esports organizations is to build an outstanding reputation that proves you are worthy of becoming a pro. To do this, you need to play well in the League of Legends ranked ladder, win a lot of local tournaments, and join tryouts. All of this will be explained further later on in this guide.

The best way to build a reputation is to join tournaments and win them. By joining every tournament that you possibly can, you increase the chances that a scout my notice your gameplay. Of course, just joining tournaments isn’t enough because you need to win them or at least reach the top cut so that people will actually notice you. Joining tournaments, in general, is still good because you’ll get a lot of experience playing on-stage which can be carried on in your pro career.

7. The Solo Queue Grind

In the east, players claim that they practice 12 hours a day. After strategy meetings and scrimming against other teams, the players stay up until 3am to play League of Legends Solo Queue as part of their personal training time. While we’re not promoting such an unhealthy gaming habit, allotting a few hours of your day to play solo queue and climb the ranked ladder until you reach Challenger can really help you improve in playing the game and master some of the things on this list.

We’ve mentioned before that you’ll need to sacrifice a portion of your life into taking the game seriously. Once you stop treating it like a game and start thinking about your goal, you’ll be more motivated to do everything you possibly can to improve. While we’re teaching you how to train like a LoL pro, it should also remind you that following this career isn’t simple because there’s a lot of things that you’ll need to cast aside or sacrifice in the process of doing so.

8. Physical Exercises

One of the things that you shouldn’t avoid when learning how to train like a LoL pro is your physical health. A lot of professional players are so vulnerable to health issues because of habits such as the lack of sleep or the lack of physical exercise in their weekly routine. Going to the gym twice or thrice a week should be part of your training schedule or at least doing some physical activities like walking, doing sports, or anything that gets you off your chair at home.

Remember that training too much can also be harmful to your plans of becoming a professional player. Once you develop any complications regarding your health because of overtraining, you might be forced to retire way before you even begin playing on stage. No organization is willing to take in someone who shows signs of complications before they even play their first season professionally. So take this into consideration once you start to train like a LoL professional.

9. Join Tryouts

In some countries, the major leagues or academy leagues have year tryouts where aspiring professional players can compete against each other while the bigger organizations watch. If this applies to you, make sure that you join tryouts every year so that you will have the chance to get scouted by a team. Of course, once you get scouted, there will be a probationary period where you’ll have to prove your worth if they’ll continue to sign you after a while or completely drop you due to underwhelming performance.

An example of tryouts is the LCS Scouting Grounds where aspiring players from all over the world compete against each other for a chance to be a pro-player. The LPL also has its own proving grounds where some minor teams compete against each other similar to the Academy League of the LCS. Once a scout takes notice of a player that performs way beyond their competitors, that player will most likely be receiving an offer at the beginning of the season.

10. Know Your Worth

Now that you have everything you need to know about how to train like a LoL pro and how to get noticed by esports organizations, never forget one of the most important tips that pro players want you to keep in mind – know your worth. Once a team has taken notice of you, remember that your contract is always negotiable. Being a pro player is a profession where you can be compensated so don’t lowball yourself just for the sake of getting signed.

It doesn’t matter if a top organization or a minor team recruits you, remember that you should always get paid. Depending on your value you to the team, you should always have a figure in mind on how much you should be compensated for contributing to your team. Never look down on yourself but you also shouldn’t overvalue yourself, otherwise no team might be interested in signing you.