At the beginning of July, Clid – the jungler for Gen.G Esports surprised many when he didn’t know the basic combo of Lee Sin, where Q+E+Q deals more damage than Q+Q+E, and even considered reporting it to the LCK organizers thinking it was a game bug. Notably, this wasn’t the first time Clid used Lee Sin, and afterward, his teammate Rascal teased him, calling him a “clown” for not even grasping basic knowledge, especially since Lee Sin is considered Clid’s signature champion.
Recently, it was Letme – the former top laner of Royal Never Give Up who faced a similar “oh my goodness” moment, also with his signature champion: Ornn. Specifically, in a ranked match, Letme was completely unaware that Ornn’s W – Bellows Breath could resist all crowd control effects, including Nocturne’s Fear. Immediately, he was scolded by his teammates:
“- Hey, why didn’t you activate W to block Fear? That’s really feeding!
– Huh? Ornn’s W can block Fear? I just found out!”
Many players might have forgotten that Ornn’s W can resist crowd control effects, and Fear is one of those. In matchups between Ornn and Nocturne, Nocturne often finds it difficult to lane against a champion that is both tanky and capable of resisting his crowd control abilities.
Clearly, reading patch notes, understanding, and frequently testing champions has not been taken seriously by many professional players. This issue could be even more serious when a player frequently uses that champion in matches, where winning or losing results in long-term consequences.
Reading patch notes, champion information, and knowing what your champion can and cannot do not only helps players, especially professionals, achieve higher effectiveness but also allows them to understand how to counter opponents who pick away their champions. ShowMaker has also emphasized the importance of reading patch notes, especially for today’s professional players.