Kinch

I like to approach my sessions in a friendly manner; I prioritize humor before and during a game analysis, to make sure the person I’m working with has a pleasant learning experience. I’m not there to point out the negatives and shame someone, I’m there to see how things are going, suggest improvements, engage in arguments where I want the person on the other end to actively think and understand why something is good or something is bad.

Throughout my years of coaching people I’ve worked with different skill levels, so adapting to each one was a key level. While I’d have to point out better game settings and ways to do basic things better for a beginner, I can just jump right into the action with someone more advanced, and we can have a proper analysis together over their performance,

I am part of multiple Discord communities that focus on League: my server of friends, where you can pretty much always find someone playing league and anyone can jump in and watch a game live thanks to the share screen function, as well as my own coaching server where I keep track of all my past and currents students, post useful materials and hold my coaching session.

Apart from that, I read patch notes as soon as they come out (people usually post them on Twitter and a Discord bot notifies the entire server) so I can see what’s going to be new and impactful before it even hits the live servers.

I also watch a few community created guides and follow winrates/ tiers on sites like u.gg.

Currently I don’t offer and kind of directly boosting the rank of people by playing on their accounts or playing together with them. The improvement that I strive for is individual: once we have a couple of sessions, the coached person should definitely see the game in a different light, understand ways in which to profit from common mistakes made by the enemy, and minimize their own.

A disclaimer that I give to players is that I can’t help you mechanically, the same way a football coach can’t make your leg hit the ball better; this comes with exercise. So while I can’t hold your hand and make your skillshots always land, or make you able to always dodge, I can recommend ways in which you can minimize the effort of trying to hit a skillshot, by playing it smart.

For example, I wouldn’t suggest someone to go for a very risky play where they might be able to do something great; I will just mention that there’s a window that is open: if you play it very well you are able to achieve X, but I won’t force you into it. Instead, I’ll explain why that window is open, and give you an alternative that can be just as efficient, and is easier to execute.

My preferred method is the VOD review/ watching a replay of a game recently played. This way we can both have a look over that game, the coached person can explain to me what went to their heads in that moment, and see my analysis in the present, while I take timestamped notes that I further send to the coached person after we’re done.

The secondary method is live game coaching: this allows me to see how they watch the map, how they think about trades, how they approach fights, and actively have a dialogue with them before they commit to a decision, so they can have a little helper that sets them on the right path.

I have experience with all the roles in the game and all champions, so it's not difficult for me to offer advice on any role or with any problem someone would come to me with.

League is a different game every single time you queue up to play, so there aren't rules set in stone that will always be available. Even ones like 'don't gank a losing lane' can be changed when that laner is full of crowd-controlling abilities and I can actually work something out with him.

So for a particular player, I have to see their playstyle first of all. This way I can see their strengths and weaknesses, so I know on what to focus and what to advise that they focus to improve as well.

In this manner, I coached someone that wanted to play a champion that purely relied on skill shots, while their playstyle was that of going ham. It purely didn't match, so, on my advice, we chose something more fitting.

My coaching session format is generally split into three different ways:

1. A replay review where we go together over an already played game- this allows me to take more notes since I can pause and rewind.

2. A live game coaching where I copilot one throughout the game- I guide him where to go, what to do, in which way to approach a scenario- this is the option which seems a bit overwhelming to some people, while others only prefer it this way.

3. A live game where I don’t copilot you so much as the previous option, I take more notes and am only there to answer question and advise you- this is the option that is chosen by people that I’ve worked with multiple times before, since they consider it an exam of sorts.

As for group/team sessions, I have done those too, it mainly depends on what your needs are but those are easy to fix once we talk them over.

When I coach multiple people/ an entire team I really prefer seeing the team roles first: who is the loud one, the silent one, the shot caller and the one who likes to fight/ engage. By assigning roles and officializing a specific person as their team’s shot caller there is a sense of order created, since people know to listen to that person first and foremost.

Of course, the shot caller is usually the most advanced player in that team, but that doesn’t mean he can’t listen the advice of team members who specialize in a specific domain.

If anyone has a problem that arises during the game, I make sure to let them know a very important rule: "we can talk about it later". This way they can apply the same method I use: if anyone thinks they're in the right or wrong, watch that problematic portion of the game again and analyze it, argue on it, and see perspectives and solutions.

I use Discord to communicate with the players I coach. Either through DMs or my coaching server where everyone gets their role assigned in an organized manner.

During my coaching sessions, we use Discord as well. For the live game, the coached person will be streaming the game to me so I can watch it, while for the replay review, I will be the one streaming my screen as we watch-along the chosen game.

For feedback, I send them the Notepad in which I took notes for that particular game, while also having a dedicated text channel for feedback, questions, tips, even personalized messaged by a bot whenever someone ranks up, so everyone can see the progress.

It's common for me to hear back from people after a few weeks/months that are thankful for my advice, mentioning they’ve gained a few ranks in the meanwhile, but most importantly they have a different approach towards the game, they don’t mindlessly play like before.

I've coached people on multiple servers: NA, EUW, EUNE, OCE, asian servers, even had a few people from the Korean server, around 8/10 players that actually put in the effort and are willing to make a change in their playstyle make a noticeable improvement rank wise.

One notable story is one person from NA that peaked d2 and wanted to reach Masters before quitting the game for good at the end of that season.

Needless to say, we managed to hit that goal with a month to spare.

I like to think that my coaching philosophy promotes a (as much as possible) risk/gamble free gameplay: look for certain plays and you’ll be more consistent, readying yourself for more risky moments while you’ve mastered the basics.

First of all I think you should look to fix the matter of the language: if you're not a native English speaker (I am not one either), look for a coach that can talk your own language, as well as English. You might find a great coach but if you can't understand each other, the experience will be rough.

Second, look for someone that specializes in what you're looking for: whether it might be a specific role, champion, you name it. Asking about it is a simple yet efficient way, just reach out with a simple "are you able to help me with X". This way you won't have any surprises when your mid lane maining coach hasn't heard about dragons.

Finally, make sure your styles match. In my experience I've had the best experience and seen most improvement with people that matched my approach to the game, my way of talking, my perspective on different things. If you simply can't meet eye to eye on things with your coach, you won't be able to learn much from them.