If you've been playing League for a while, you've probably seen those strange players. The one player in your game that is playing something that makes absolutely no sense to you. Those guys who've played nothing but one champion for all their matches, regardless of what position they are. Even if that champion has nothing to offer in the role, this person took that champion there and you're sure they should have lost horribly. Yet somehow, they take something that should (for all reasons) be a troll pick and shows good numbers with it no matter who he's playing against. Did he just luck out and get bigger trolls on the enemy team? Did he somehow cheat or abuse an OP item? Nope! Chances are what you just saw was a one-trick player doing what they do best. What does it mean and take to be a "one-trick" player? This article will give you an understanding on the most loyal of champion users.

What's a One-Trick?

A one-trick (coined from the old phrase "one-trick pony") is a player who highly specializes in one specific champion, sometimes to the extreme of never playing any other champion ever regardless of what happens. These players are players who play a champion so much, they could easily be considered masters of them, and would almost instantly lock in said champion, even in the face of a counter. Think of them as a champion main to almost the highest degree possible. To clarify, this does not mean they necessarily have to never play another champion, just play their main to the point that it's a rarity to ever see them deviate from it, outside of absolutely having to (the champion is disabled, banned, etc.). If they tried that, there would be a very real chance of their accounts being banned due to leaving games where their mains were stolen by another player or banned.

Normally the status of an exceptional one trick is being able to climb all the way up to the highest ranks in League while playing almost nothing but their main champion. Some examples would be Yassuo (a Yasuo main), Boxbox (Riven) and Anniebot (Annie). All three are at the rank of Grandmaster or their main accounts and considered some of the best at their champions. Give them a watch some time, they're amazing to watch!

The term "one trick pony" can be used in other games, of course. It can also be applied in real life, referring to someone with one specific talent or area of expertise, like a gardener who's only good at growing potatoes. Like said farmer, ScrubNoob is a one trick who plays almost exclusively Rengar and is very good at what he does; consistently high Challenger no matter the season or changes.

What's Different Playing as a One-Trick?

Being a one-trick player has its own perks and flaws like any other playstyle does, most surrounding the reason they're unique: the character they main so loyally. For now, let's assume you were a one-trick player. Great! What does that entail? Well for pros, playing one champion so much would lead to you becoming pretty experienced with them. Most one-tricks can build ideally for any situation, show mechanical mastery, and even make off-meta strategies work right off the cuff, because they're so familiar with that champion. The information is as natural as how to ride a bicycle or even walk! This would result in you taking full advantage of any changes in the game that could affect your main, better than almost any other kind of player. Along with being able to adjust well, when you main gets buffed (be it directly or not), you'd definitely be on top of it.

On the other hand, focusing so much on one specific champion in a game with well over 100 means you'd get a few hang-ups. For instance, focusing so much on a main leaves you open to having a lack of understanding of other champions that you should have, leading to possible misplays or mistakes because you aren't familiar with certain strategies or abilities. This is more likely to happen in roles you wouldn't normally play because you wouldn't see champions half as much as you would normally (similar to how support mains usually don't know in depth about a lot of top lane champions, because they don't see the champions outside of mid/late game, not just late). On that topic, not being familiar with other champions can easily lead to you performing considerably worse when you aren't on your main. This means having your champion banned or taken from you is always a real possible issue if not compensated. This could be eased by at least learning a bit of a champion that's mechanically similar to your main, but it would still be present due to the immense amount of time you've committed to your main.

These are the Primary role overviews for famous one-trick players Yassuo (above) and Adrian Riven (AKA: 1adrianaries1 ; below). Notice not only how many games their mains have compared to either of the follow champions combined, but also that the secondaries are champions with noticeably similar gameplay or roles to their mains. This allows them to perform at least decently well when they can't play their main, a great practice to have even if you aren't a one-trick.

Can You Be a One-Trick Player?

The first and most important thing you must understand about becoming a one-trick main is that there is no choosing to the question. In all honesty, you are either naturally a one-trick or not, because one can't simply play the same character for hundreds of games on end without a deep passion or enjoyment in using the character. A normal main favors one character over others, sure, but can find good enjoyment in a few other champions comparatively. With a one-trick, there's no denying that they love one specific champion over all the rest. Even if they are almost as good on another champion or even if they are in terms of win rate for them better at the moment, they almost always go back to the champion they mained.

Just like how you can't keep playing a game for a long time after completion without having some kind of spark you have with it, a one-trick wouldn't be a real one-trick if they didn't love playing that one champion game after game for seasons on end. And just like a hobby you picked up, you probably sucked at it at first. This is the same with maining a champion and more so with one-tricking, they probably all sucked at the champion when they first started playing them, maybe even for a long time. However, through perseverance and a real liking to their main, they got better and climbed in rank to prove their worth to any situation, even ones where logically they'd have big disadvantages.

No matter how flawed the champion is or becomes, no matter what changes take place with the champion, a real one trick always stands by playing with that champion. Even in the face of a complete rework, one-tricks tend to stay on their champion and just learn the new mechanics all over again. This is what makes one-trick players respectable all on its own: Regardless of how "strong" or "weak" their champion is, and even when they were at their worst, a real one-trick still learned their champion to the point of mastery and perform well no matter. When mastery seems apparent, they keep playing and trying new things with their favorite.

One-trick players can be seen as trolls in some people's eyes in ranked, but there is a very deep passion to having such a dedication to a specific champion. At the core, they are the same players as you or I. They still have great and horrible matches, frustrations and achievements. Most importantly, just like us the only way people like Yassuo or ScrubNoob got so great at this game is by facing people as good and better at the general game than they are, pushing their limits and showing what tactics or builds can be done. Whether you are one yourself or not isn't really important, but the next time you see someone with an absurdly high play rate on a specific champion, give a little respect before flaming them when they auto-lock Ryze into Akali; you could end up ending eating your words when they end up stomping the lane and carrying you.

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