don't forget that most of the players play normal games and not ranked. hence what you see on high ranked EU doesn't apply.
I don't play solo ranked that often, most of the time I do premades, either in ranked or normal. Not everyone I play with is super high ranked either, the range is usually from 1500-2000 either way. That level of ranking I would label as moderate to very good, although elo isn't really a good indicator of skill at all in this game.
mcknight said:
Your right I'm awful and clearly have no idea what I'm doing.
And Q does nothing that Exhaust does bar the slow, which is the most negligible part of the spell.
Never said you were awful, I only responded to you saying my advice was suspect when it was actually a good representation of how to play Malphite properly.
Malphite doesn't really need to use Exhaust to shut down enemy carries, his ult + E tend to do enough of that in a fight. He needs two of teleport/ignite/flash more than he needs Exhaust. I'm not saying Exhaust is useless on him, it's always a useful spell, it's just less necessary on him.
@apeZ
As you spend time playing the game you will become accustomed to what the different items do from memory, rather than having to look them up or mouse over everything. The same is true of champions, over time you'll learn their strengths and weaknesses and it will make you into a much better player.
Item builds are a great way to start out, but they are very subjective depending on who you are fighting against.
The best thing you can do is try out different items based on different situations and even more importantly, play lots of different champions. Most of my early LoL career I was playing Nasus every single game and nothing else. I became a great Nasus player as a result of that (and he is my favourite champion), but I did lack knowledge about all of the champions I was facing up against.
Broadening my horizons by playing different champions introduced me to their skills, how they are used and how they are countered (or what worked against me). This can then be applied when you are playing against the specific champion.
Kennen is a good example of this, as when you play against him in a solo lane he can seem incredibly powerful and hard to deal with (and well, he is!). But once you've played him yourself you learn how his passive works (every five auto attacks it adds a mark of the storm), how his main skills work and the cool downs they have. It allows you to time your harassment and avoid his much better, as well as preparing yourself for when he inevitably tries to kill you at level 6.
Watching good players stream is also helpful, it gives you a good idea into what they pay attention to when playing, just how important last hitting is and how they go about controlling the map. It's also a nice way of seeing what the different champions can do, without actually having to put the effort into playing them.
In time you will learn what items you are going for based on your opponents champion choices and who you are laning against, you'll know what the ingredients cost and when the best time to recall and buy them is.
The game is mostly about playing smartly and conservatively, making minimal mistakes and capitalising on the mistakes of others. You can't force a win in this game through sheer skill or ability, you have to treat it like poker and be patient. Not every hand you get dealt is one you should go all in with, but you should absolutely do so when the opportunity arises.
