Pros

+ Great poke range + Traps used to check a bush + Nice AA animation + Nice ultimate to secure kills + Passive damage steroid

Let's say you want to play some solo-queue. Let's say that your main lane is ADC. Caitlyn is a great pick, even if you are the first pick. If you know some mechanics then there really isn't a hard counter to you. This also depends on your support, whether you are a kill/poke/support lane. Caitlyn can poke easily at early levels because of her Headshot and Piltover Peacemaker. Also try to fill the bushes with Yordle Snap Traps to prevent possible jungle ganks. Her ultimate, Ace in the Hole (if you know what I mean) has great range and can help you "secure" kills.

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Cons

- Automatically pushes - Pretty slow - 325 MS - Almost no escape tools - Gets focused down, if not careful - Ult can be blocked

Caitlyn is an ADC and she has her own strengths and weaknesses. Unlike other ADCs she hasn't really got a reliable escape tool, because her E is insufficient. The only way to survive a teamfight against their bruisers & assassins is knowing when to enter the fight (wait 2-5 seconds so the enemy CC is burnt) and kiting at your best. Her ultimate, Ace in the Hole can be blocked by tanks like Singed to save their carries. As I mentioned before, Caitlyn is really slow compared to other champions, probably because of her big rifle. She is very squishy as well, so be careful !

Flash is essential on any ADC. As an ADC you are really squishy and Flash can basically help you survive CC engages and early jungle ganks. Also you can dodge skillshots and flash after an enemy to secure the kill. Always take Flash on ADC.

Barrier allows you to survive longer in fights. If you start a duel against the enemy ADC, popping Barrier when you are almost dead can be a true help for you and a shocking surprise for your enemy. Barrier is especially useful when you get tower-dived

You can sometimes take Cleanse instead of Barrier. Cleanse is very useful against CC-heavy team compositions. It is important to remember that Cleanse doesn't only remove CC, it also removes Spells like Ignite and Exhaust.

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Runes, your chance to have an advantage before the game even starts.
2 x Greater Quintessence of Life Steal - they give you the all the sustain you need combined with Doran's Blade. They are essential on an ADC, because you are based on autoattacks. They are also very helpful for the late game because they basically scale with your attack damage.

1 x Greater Quintessence of Attack Damage - some extra AD for your early poke. This is a nice bonus to your early damage and can help you last-hit better. I recommend not playing ADC if you don't own attack damage runes. Lifesteal is also good, but you can play ADC if you don't have lifesteal runes, because they start to matter from level 30.

9 x Greater Glyph of Magic Resist - These glyphs give you some early magic resist. As an ADC, the source of magic resist will come late into the game when you buy something like Guardian Angel. Until then you need some magic resist to survive to an angry Kassadin.

9 x Greater Seal of Armor - Really nice because they reduce the enemy's poke basically. Also it is your first source of armor. Again, you will buy armor late into the game and it is crucial to have some in early levels.

9 x Greater Mark of Attack Damage - They give you a lot of attack damage. You need attack damage to poke, farm and to maximize your DPS. Don't take armor penetration marks on an ADC, because you just have to do sustained damage in fights, not to assassinate their carries (well, if you can, go for it).

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Everybody knows that an ADC has 21/9/0 or 21/0/9 masteries. In this section I will try to explain the pros and cons of the two masteries sets. 21/9/0 brings some more health and some regen and thus they can help you stay longer in lane to farm. So they basically increase your gold per minute. If you go for 21/0/9, you will benefit from movement speed and 1% lifesteal that adds to your Doran's Blade and Greater Quintessence of Life Steal.

THE 21/9/0 MASTERIES

PROS + Bonus health + Good sustain

CONS - No movement speed. Caitlyn is slow - No mana regen so no spam with skills

These are the PROS and CONS of my most used Masteries. If you go for 21/0/9 you benefit from a little movement speed and LIFESTEAL. Although lifesteal is good, I recommend going for 21/9/0, just because you get more GPM that way.

Bloodthirster is an essential item for any ADC. It gives you bonus lifesteal, AD and also if you kill a unit you gain +1 AD until a cap of +30 AD. A full stacked Bloodthirster gives you an extra 100 AD. This is a CORE item.

The Phantom Dancer lets you pass through units. It also gives you attack speed, critical chance and movement speed. As I said before, Caitlyn is quite slow. Take it and you will be able to chase a lot easier, because you're not going to be stopped by minions.

Every Caitlyn player has to make a decision: whether to buy Phantom Dancer or Statikk Shiv. Statikk Shiv has almost the same bonuses as the Phantom Dancer, except the fact that it doesn't give you the ability to pass through units. If you buy this item, you are going to deal a deadly autoattack with Headshot instead of sustained damage.

Caitlyn is the mother of crit. You have to get this item. Having Infinity Edge allows you to one-shot kill their squishies. It gives you increased Crit Damage and Crit Chance. YOU HAVE TO BUY IT !

Last Whisper is a very good item. Do you know what is the difference between a killable Malphite and an un-killable Malphite ? Well, Last Whisper is that difference. It is an essential item for any ADC. Make sure you buy it in mid-game.

Some people like to buy Blade of the Ruined King on Caitlyn. I personally do NOT recommend that. Why ? Because imagine this: Blade of the Ruined King has a small range and it is usually bought by low-range champions like Vayne and Graves. They buy it because they need to SURVIVE & CHASE. With Caitlyn you aren't going to need it, because you have a long range and this means you can autoattack from a safe distance. There is no need for Blade of the Ruined King, though some people buy it. It is your decision.

- Every few basic attacks, Caitlyn will fire a headshot dealing 150% damage to a champion and 250% damage to minions. When you have your Headshot ready, try to use it to not miss a creep or to poke the enemy. If the wave is in your lane half, I suggest farming from the bush, because you will get two stacks instead of one. Having Headshot is a great advantage because you can chunk an enemy if you got some critical chance.

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- Caitlyn waits a second and then fires a projectile dealing a huge amount of damage to the first hit target and to the following targets a little less damage. Use this to poke your enemies under tower and deny them from farming. Also, when you poke them, try to get some autoattacks on them and if they run away, try to hit them with Piltover Peacemaker. You get really sad when a Caitlyn pokes you.

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- Caitlyn sets a trap. She can have multiple traps on the map. They last for about 10 minutes.

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- Caitlyn fires a net slowing and dealing damage go a target. She is knocked back. Remember the E-Q combo. Put your spells on smartcast and press E then Q quickly. Effect: the slowed target can't juke the Q. E

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- Caitlyn prepares for about one second to deliver a HIGH DAMAGE bullet. This is your chance to be a sniper. Remember that it can be blocked. If you are lucky enough you might get two Flashes burnt with your ultimate.

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When playing Caitlyn it is really important to master the 90 Caliber Net+ Piltover Peacemaker combo. You press E and Q in quick succesion. The enemy will be slowed by your net, Piltover Peacemaker will deal a **** ton of damage and you will be at a safe distance. Especially useful against bruisers. When you want to take a kill use E-Q. If the enemy didn't die, finish off with Ace in the Hole

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Difficulty: Easy-Normal Explanation: Caitlyn vs Vayne is a very popular match-up. Usually Caitlyn wins easily against Vayne but that's not always the case. A skilled Vayne with an agressive support like Leona or Thresh can beat an unskilled Caitlyn with a sustain support like Sona. This is also related to Poke Lane>Kill Lane>Sustain Lane>Poke Lane. Also don't give Vayne kills. It is very bad to trade kill for kill, when you are ahead, because the enemy will benefit more from that kill than you, it helps him get back into the game. If you give Vayne a finger, she will take your whole hand. Just abuse your superior range, don't do stupid mistakes and the match-up should be quite easy. Also, be wary of Vayne's true damage.

Difficulty: Easy Explanation: For the sake of this argument, let's say that you, as Caitlyn are the same skill level as Ezreal. Your AA range (650) exceeds Ezreal's 550 AA range, which makes it easy for you to safely poke Ezreal down without retaliation. Caitlyn will make Ezreal hate his life. Also Caitlyn pushes the wave pretty fast in comparison to Ezreal which is one of the slowest pushers, along with Vayne. Ezreal will be forced to farm under tower while Caitlyn pokes him hard from far away.

Difficulty: Easy-Normal Explanation: Graves against Caitlyn may be a tough lane for Caitlyn. But this mainly depends on the support type. As Caitlyn what you want to do is to keep Graves at low HP, without getting close. Graves is also tanky because of True Grit. If he has something like Leona he will beat you. Ten minutes ago, I just finished a match in which I was playing Graves with Thresh against Caitlyn and Taric. THEY WERE ANIHILATED. So, as I said before: it depends on the support. If Graves hasn't got a CC heave support, you will beat him easily.

Difficulty: Easy-Normal Explanation: WELCOME TO THE LEAGUE OF Draven ! Alright it's time to talk about Draven. Draven is famous because of his early game damage boosted by the Spinning Axe. Make sure you don't get stunned or he is going to kill you. You have to realize that as Caitlyn you deal less damage with your Headshot that Draven with his Spinning Axe. But let's not forget that he has quite a small range. If you stay at a safe distance and have a support that can keep you alive like Nami or Taric you will be able to beat Draven. Draven has one chance to engage when he uses his Blood Rush and Stand Aside. If your support disengages then he is pretty f***ed. He will start running and Caitlyn can just attack-move and chunk him. Be careful though. His new passive, League of Draven makes it easier for him to comeback if you are ahead.

Difficulty: Normal Explanation: Being against Tristana can be rough because of her Explosive Shot that reduces healing and also deals damage over time. If you want to win against Tristana you want to get as fed as you can before she reaches level 11, because then you won't be able to zone her in the same way. Her range will be eventually bigger than yours after level 11 so take care. Also Tristana has huge burst damage with Rocket Jump and Buster Shot. Learn to read her mistakes and punish her to beat her.

Difficulty: Normal-Hard Explanation: Varus is an annoying ADC, only because he gets fed fast. He has a disengage, Chain of Corruption, he has magical damage and he also has a slow and healing reduction with his Hail of Arrows. The concept on bot-lane is: YOU MUST NOT, AT ANY COST EXCEPT DYING, GET FREE DAMAGE, which means that you get poked and you don't poke back or something like that. Varus doesn't take free damage, I tell you. If he gets one autoattack on you with Blighted Quiver and then hits his Piercing Arrow, then congratulations, you just lost half of your HP. Having a healing support or a ranged CC support like Nami or Sona or even Zyra in this situation is essential. If you get traded against then your only chance is to engage on Varus when he is standing near your creeps, so they can damage him as well. If they initiate on your support, go all-in on Varus. If they focus Nami then you are in no danger at all, so just hurt Varus.

Difficulty: Hard Explanation: When you are Caitlyn, playing against Sivir is like playing Minesweeper on insane. It is almost unfair. If you get to poke her, consider yourself lucky. The best idea would be to buy tons of Mana Potions and just spam the E-Q combo and put yordle snap traps in bushes. She pushes the wave faster than you so she will force you to farm under tower while she uses Boomerang Blade and Ricochet to bring your HP bar down. She can avoid stuns with her Spell Shield. When she reaches 6, you better run your *** back at the tower because On The Hunt is very dangerous, especially if she has a Thresh or Leona. Just try to focus and get as many CS as possible and punish her if she make mistakes like stepping on traps. Wait for jungle ganks and don't give her any kills, at any cost.

Difficulty: Hard Explanation: Jinx is very popular right now for some reason. I consider myself an "old-school" ADC, because I play champions like Caitlyn, Varus, Graves. Jinx has huge poke with her Zap! if she manages to hit you. You should avoid being hit and stepping in her Flame Chompers!. She can attack-move very easily with her rocket stance, mainly because its fast auto-attack animation. So she can easily chase and kill you. Also, take care when you use your Ace in the Hole because it can be stopper by Flame Chompers!. Her ultimate Super Mega Death Rocket! is very strong, so don't recall in obvious places, because there are more chances that you get hit.

WORKS GOOD WHY? Combined with Caitlyn's far superior range, Blitzcrank can use his Rocket Grab to secure a kill. Also he can use his ultimate Static Field to silence junglers that come to gank.

POKE MATE WHY? Nunu & Willump has great synergy with Caitlyn. Blood Boil gives you extra movement speed and attack speed. Ice Blast has a nice range, slows the enemy and also deals damage. If you get ganked, Nunu & Willump will use Absolute Zero to chunk the enemies. His Consume will sustain him so he can stay on the lane for as long as needed.

KILL MATE WHY? There are two types of Leonas. The ones that hit Zenith Blade and the ones that don't. If you have an agressive Leona, you will have a great time. The enemies won't approach you so they will get outfarmed. She will stun them so you get free kills. Also the jungle will be afraid to gank because of her Solar Flare.

GOD LEVEL WHY? Taric works really well with Caitlyn. He might be the best support for her. And that is because he can engage with Dazzle, disengage with Shatter. You can go to poke them with no worries, because even if you take damage, Taric will keep you with full health with his Imbue. If they have something like Thresh and Jinx and they engage, Taric can pop his ultimate, Radiance, cast Shatter, Dazzle Jinx and they are dead, because the attack damage bonus from his ultimate is huge !

TOO MUCH POKE WHY? Nidalee and Caitlyn work really great. They both have long range poke with Piltover Peacemaker and Javelin Toss. If she buys Tear of the Goddess she can spam continuously and the enemies won't approach the farm. It is very demoralising to be against this composition. It makes you really sad and you feel vulnerable, because a spear can kill you. Yordle Snap Trap and Bushwhack are too dangerous. They basically can't enter the bush and you have TOTAL bush control, river control, drake control, jungle control and roam ability. If Nidalee enters her "wild form" she can even secure kills when you can't. If they step into Bushwhack you get vision and you can use Ace in the Hole.

DEATH'S GRIP WHY? Thresh works well with any ADC. He hasn't got any special synergy with Caitlyn, but still you can secure kills easily, because he can catch them, disrupt them and save you with his Dark Passage. Flay helps him deal very strong autoattacks. Also The Box is too strong.

Frequently Asked

Answers

Q: Why is Caitlyn better than other ADCs ?

A: Well. If you master Caitlyn you are going to find every matchup quite easy. And that is because of her range. If you learn to profit from her range to effectively poke them, it is going to be a certain win, unless they have a Soraka. That sucks against Caitlyn. If you can kite, you will have no trouble defending yourself against their anti-carry. As long as their anti-carry is not Rengar. In that case you are pretty f*cked.

Q: Dude, you keep telling us about her range. What is exactly her range ?

A: 650. Simple as that !

COMMUNICATION !In a ranked play, communication is essential. Not only with your trustworthy Taric but with the rest of your team as well. In a ranked match, calls & plays win matches along with various team compositions. You have to always watch the minimap and think twice before doing something. Did you push bot and forced the enemies to back ? Call your jungler and either push and get a tower or go for the Drake. Some people think that in a match, kills are the most important thing. Well, I am sorry to tell you, but GLOBAL GOLD wins a match. Global gold comes from towers, drakes, Baron(s), etc. Make sure you secure objectives !

STAYING SAFE! As an ADC, your main priority is to stay alive and deal constant DPS. If you are getting focused down or get initiated on, you have to know how to use your spells and abilities to escape. Ask your support to keep his Exhaust for assassins. Although assassins are played poorly in lower elo, a Yasuo, Rengar or Zed are real threats and a nice Exhaust can stop them.

FARMING! As an ADC, you don't really need to take kills. You need to maximize your GPM (gold per minute) by constanly farming lane/jungle creeps. Never get lazy when you play ADC. You may not have the highest score, but at the end of the match you will notice that you had more gold then that fed Darius.

NEVER RAGE! If you feel tired, angry, anxious or simply bored, do NOT enter a ranked game. When you play ranked, you have to reduce the bad plays and maximize your so called "A Game", which is the optimal form in which you can perform. Don't curse your teammates for bad calls/plays ! They know as well as you do that they could have done better and destroying them morally can make the situation even worse ! Think how you would feel

DON'T GIVE UP ! That's right. Never. Even if you lose 2 matches. You are a good player and you had a bad day. I suggest TAKING A BREAK IF YOU LOST MORE THAN 2 CONSECUTIVE MATCHES ! There is something called "tilt". I will try to explain the phenomenon to you. Let's say you are Gold III, 80 LP. You lose 2 matches and now you have 40 LP. You might think: "I still have 40 LP left, plus the season end is near. I should try my luck again." IT'S A TRAP! You shouldn't go on "tilt" and if you do, stop playing for a few hours.