If you’ve ever loaded into your first League of Legends match and felt completely overwhelmed by the 5v5 chaos, minion waves, and 160+ unique champions, you’re not alone. I still remember my first game back in 2017, where I picked Garen, ran straight into the enemy turret at level 1, and wondered why I died in 2 seconds flat. This how to play league of legends tutorial is built for people who want to learn the game without getting flamed by toxic teammates or sifting through 100 confusing advanced guides. We’ll stick to the basics that matter most for your first 20 matches, so you can have fun while you learn instead of feeling frustrated before you even get the hang of controls.
How to Play League of Legends Tutorial: First Match Setup & Core Controls
This part of the how to play league of legends tutorial focuses on setup because most new players skip this step and jump straight into matches, leading to unnecessary frustration. First, before you even queue for a match, spend 10 to 15 minutes in the practice tool. You can access it from the play menu under the “training” tab, and it lets you test abilities, practice last hitting minions, and get used to movement without any pressure from enemies or teammates. Never jump straight into PvP matches for your first 3 games, even if the client prompts you to.
Next, adjust your settings to fit your playstyle. The default control scheme works, but turn on "quick cast" in settings as soon as you can. Quick cast removes the extra step of clicking to confirm an ability after you press the Q/W/E/R key, cutting down your reaction time by half a second or more. If it feels weird at first, you can toggle quick cast on for individual abilities until you get used to it. You should also turn on “show ability ranges” in the interface settings, so you know exactly how far you can cast spells without guessing.
Spend a few minutes memorizing the core controls before you play: right click to move or attack, Q/W/E/R are your four champion abilities, D and F are your summoner spells (like flash or heal), and keys 1 through 6 activate items you buy from the shop. You don’t need to memorize every item right away, but knowing how to use health potions from slot 1 will save you from a lot of early deaths.
Picking Your First Champions (No, You Don’t Need to Play Meta Picks)
A common myth you’ll see online when looking for how to play league of legends tutorial content is that you have to pick meta champions to win, which is completely untrue for new players. Meta picks are optimized for high-rank play where teams coordinate perfectly, but for your first 20 matches, you should prioritize champions that are forgiving of mistakes. Champions with 1-2 skill shots and high base health are ideal for new players, because they give you room to mess up positioning without dying instantly.
If you’re not sure where to start, here are three of the most beginner-friendly champions for the three easiest roles to learn first:
- Top Lane: Garen. He has no mana, all abilities are point-and-click, and his passive heals him when he’s out of combat, so you don’t have to recall as often if you make small mistakes trading with enemy laners.
- Mid Lane: Annie. Her abilities are simple to aim, she has a stun that builds up automatically as you cast spells, and her ultimate summons a giant bear that fights for you even if you misposition for a second during team fights.
- ADC (Bottom Carry): Ashe. She’s the default tutorial champion for a reason: her basic attack slows enemies, her ultimate is a long-range stun that’s easy to use for escapes or team fights, and she teaches you basic positioning without overwhelming you with complex mechanics.
You don’t have to stick to these, of course. If you see a champion with a cool design that you want to try, go for it. Just avoid high-skill ceiling champions like Zed, Yasuo, or Aphelios for your first 10 matches, they have extremely complex ability kits that require dozens of games to master. Stick to one role for your first 10 matches too, so you can learn the responsibilities of that position instead of switching every game and getting confused about what you’re supposed to do.
Core Match Mechanics You Need to Remember to Stay Alive
Most new player deaths happen because they don’t understand a few basic match rules, not because they’re bad at the game. First, learn how minion waves work. You only get gold if you land the killing blow on a minion, called “last hitting”, so don’t waste time auto-attacking every minion constantly. Pushing the wave too fast early on will leave you overextended far from your turret, making you an easy target for the enemy jungler to gank.
Next, learn turret aggro rules. Turrets deal massive damage early in the game, and they will target you first if you attack an enemy champion while you’re in turret range, even if your minions are still there. That’s the number one mistake I see new players make in their first matches: they run at an enemy under their turret to get a kill, and die instantly to turret shots for no reason.
Map awareness is another non-negotiable skill you can start building from your first match. Check the minimap every 5 seconds, even if you’re focused on last hitting minions. 70% of new player deaths happen because they don’t see the enemy jungler coming to gank their lane. Pay attention to pings too: if your team pings “danger” on your lane, back up immediately, even if you don’t see the enemy yet. Your teammates are usually watching the map when you’re focused on what’s happening in front of you.
Also remember that you can only buy items when you’re back at your base, via the recall ability (default key B). Don’t stay in lane with 200 health and 3000 gold saved up, you’re just a free kill for the enemy team. Recall when you have enough gold for a big item, or when you’re low on health and have no way to heal.
Common New Player Mistakes to Avoid in Your First 20 Matches
Even if you follow all the basic rules, you’ll probably make a lot of mistakes in your first few matches, and that’s totally normal. There are a few mistakes though that you can avoid easily to make your learning curve way smoother. First, don’t chase enemies across the map. So many new players see an enemy at 100 health and run past 3 turrets to kill them, only to die to the turret or a rotating enemy teammate. The kill is almost never worth giving the enemy 300 gold for your death.
Second, don’t flame your teammates. Even if they make a huge mistake that costs you the game, being toxic won’t make them play better, and you can get permanently banned for verbal abuse. If you’re frustrated, just mute the chat and focus on your own play. Most of the time, your teammates are new too, and they’re not making mistakes on purpose to ruin your game.
Third, don’t ignore objectives. Killing champions is fun, but the only way to win the game is to destroy the enemy Nexus. That means taking turrets, dragons, and Baron Nashor when your team has the advantage, not running around the map looking for fights. Objectives always come before kills if you want to win more matches than you lose. If your team is grouping to take a turret, join them instead of farming minions on the other side of the map.
Fourth, don’t worry about your win rate in your first 50 matches. Everyone loses a lot when they start, even pro players. The goal is to learn one new thing every match, not to have a 70% win rate right out of gate. Maybe one match you learn how to use flash to escape a gank, the next you learn how to last hit 80% of minions in a wave. Small wins add up fast, and you’ll be surprised how much better you get after just a few weeks of regular play.
Learning League of Legends doesn’t have to be a stressful experience, even if the community has a reputation for being harsh to new players. Take it one match at a time, stick to the basics we covered, and don’t be afraid to experiment with different champions and roles once you feel comfortable. This how to play league of legends tutorial is designed to give you a solid foundation to build on, so you can start having fun with the game instead of feeling lost every time you load into a match. Before you know it, you’ll be making clutch plays and carrying your team to wins without even thinking about the basics you learned when you first started.