Like chess, League of Legends is a competitive game in which strategy plays a major role. But it’s not just strategy. It’s teamwork, psychology, individual decision-making, and much more.
If chess can improve your mental skills, and studies clearly prove that it does, then LoL will do it as well because it’s far more sophisticated and challenging. To be good at this MOBA game you need to be a skilled strategist, a good teammate, and a very resilient person in general.
Many LoL players discover that they can deal with the stress caused by the game more easily if they practice their champions and strategies on a LoL smurf account before utilizing them on their main. When you are well prepared to deal with a new situation, the chance of success is much higher.
Mental Skills Required for LoL
To excel at League of Legends, you must be able to correctly assess and reassess the current in-game situation in order to make the right decision. You must always ask yourself: what is the best continuation or course of action?
Critical Thinking
Sometimes, you need to make a risky move. Other times, you just need to farm and let time pass in your favor. Whether it’s a defensive or an offensive strategy that you are implementing, you can’t be successful without a deep understanding of the key factors that will determine your chances of winning the big fights and taking the major objectives.
All of this requires critical thinking because, at the fundamental level, you are trying to figure out the truth in a given position. If you delude yourself and make a wrong assessment, the other team will punish you in most cases.
Imagination
Apart from thinking critically and strategically about the game, you must also have imagination. Some situations are very difficult to resolve without it because they require a highly creative move to be executed with precision. If you just play a standard game, you will lose in those positions.
Memory
Memory is required in spades when playing LoL because the game is very complex. There are more than 1000 notions that you need to be aware of at all times and operate with, ranging from items to champion abilities.
Another reason why memory is important is that without the ability to remember what worked in a previous game in which you were in a similar position, you need to figure to best continuation on the spot. This is harder than it seems, especially when you also need to think about lots of other things in parallel.
Focus
During the laning phase, LoL can be very challenging, especially in the mid and bottom lanes. One move could result in death, which in turn will often ruin your chances of winning.
You need to pay close attention to what is happening and react to your opponent’s moves. Without the ability to focus intensely, you have no chance of increasing your LoL MMR and ranking up.