User blog comment:XelNecra/Top 10 "small things that made me play better"/@comment-4996845-20130122225555

A very good piece of advice for some players, if I could argue about a few things, namely:

a) Accepting non-meta picks. I'm all for it (supportplank and dual jungle for the win) - that being said, I positively hate people who pick those mold-breakers without testing them first. For example: I saw Froggen rocking mid with Lee, so imma try it myself in rankeds. Aaaaand lose the game for my team as a result due to misbuilding or mispicking skills. What I'm getting at is: mold-breaking is fun and might prove effective but only if you try it beforehand (bots or customs? I'm not much of a ranked player either and I don't like first-timers even in blind pick). As it is, that point encourages experimenting on your teammates.

b) Playing niche picks. I'll be kind of repeating myself for the things above, but the so-called "niche picks" are usually champions who, one way or another, end up less effective in the current meta than some of their counterparts, meaning that, while in certain circumstances they are viable, most of the time they are less functional performing their role against the enemy champion, therefore weakening his team and costing them the win. In order for those champions to work, specific conditions are required - therefore only then should they be picked. Don't think Xerath or Poppy, think Heimerdinger or Trundle. Consider the prior: in order to deal meaningful damage, he needs the enemy positioned exactly right (unable to target him while under turret fire) or a team focused explicitly on split-pushing and avoiding teamfights altogether. He's not a bad pick, but more so if the team refuses to pick exactly that you need. Therefore my outlook on niche-picks is this - unless you are certain your team will go along with your plan (like when you're premade), refrain from it.