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(If the embedded Twitch stream above is not appearing, just click and you'll be linked to RivernLoL's Twitch.

Make sure to watch the first video as it provides the basics to Rivern. This guide only mentions more intricate stuff (that I learned from RivernLoL) which is not in the video.

The twitch link is to RivernLoL, the Challenger River Ivern OTP who the first video is based on and who inspired me to make this guide. The builds featured in this guide are his. His games are really entertaining and useful to watch.

More educational resources include playing River Ivern for yourself and critiquing your replays.

AP build is for carrying, supportive build is safer

One thing Rivern now does differently to that guide video is, instead of invading as a team level 1, he'll guard his topside jungle entrance for the first minute. At around 1 minute, he'll walk up, facechecking bushes with Q, and ward the enemy topside buff over the wall. If a nearby enemy prevents you from warding, quickly run botside to ward the opposite enemy buff. If his team decides to invade level 1, he'll just use that opportunity to ward an enemy buff.

Copy paste each numbered section separately, as there's a character limit per chat message.

1.
Take these picks so we win, but if you're otp on something go for it!
Mid picks: Ahri / Sylas / Vlad / Liss / Cassio / Talon - Panth - Irelia - Yasuo(with knockup combo) + ap jg

2.
Jg picks: Kha'zix (bruiser) / Jarvan IV / Viego / Nocturne / Hecarim / Wukong / Bel'veth / Rengar (must be otp) / Rek'sai / Lillia / Ekko / Maokai
Jg: Start on your topside buff and path towards bot

3.
Supp picks: Karma / Lulu / Janna / Senna (w sth special) / Naut / Ali / Rakan
Adc picks: Kai'sa / Samira (w tank supp) / Vayne / Zeri
No one top, them taking inhib early is ok
All focus obj/camp bot

4.
Mid laner: You'll need to catch waves on top so the enemy doesn't push that much (need teleport)
Please ban Syndra / Briar / Renekton / Ezreal / Kayn
gl to all 🌳
I'll roam a lot / trust me we win

Pick one of these if Ivern gets picked/banned but you still want to play a river playstyle, or if you simply prefer one of these champions.

Additionally, there are many other picks that work, usually those that don't need levels or gold to be strong and have strong ganks and teamfights.

Bard, Janna, Annie, Morgana, Shaco, Zac, Rakan, Twitch, Lulu, Rammus, Zilean, Karma

With these picks, take a support item instead of a jungle item. Regular builds work for these champions.

Think about invading with or leashing for your jungler at any point in the game.

Go top lane whenever there is nothing for you to do, try to push the wave constantly.

Try to avoid solo laning when you get diminished gold due to support item.

You can gank or help push bot or mid to set up invades or take objectives or take plates.

Vision and distracting the enemy jungler are other goals.

For vision, focus on warding around active lanes according to lane state (aggressive ward if minions are near enemy tower, defensive ward if minions are near ally tower) and ward the enemy's entry ways to objectives, preferably before the objective spawn.

It's also good to hold a wave to prevent it from crashing into an ally tower if it's safe

The best player I know that plays with this playstyle is Bardinette

Some of these tips involve manipulating the system, however, the system unfairly punishes off-meta picks, and therefore manipulating it is justified for the sake of rectifying a broken system.

1.
Swap from Teleport to Smite when there is 2 seconds left to Champion Select to avoid any dodges due to what your teammates consider a troll pick.

2.
If you feel that people will unjustly report you after the game, report everyone from both teams in the post-game lobby. RivernLoL believes that reporting someone counteracts their report against you. He does this after most losing games as he has been banned in the past due to the faults of the automatic ban system. When reporting someone, he checks the 'Negative Attitude' and 'Verbal Abuse' boxes, and pastes the following in the text box as additional context for the report:
Bad behavior in chat ( toxicity ) / Griefing ( ff without reason )/ Trolling

3.
I find that the vast majority of chat in game, especially when you're playing River Ivern, will not be constructive or useful. While RivernLoL doesn't do this himself, disabling Team and All chat and communicating only with pings will likely help you focus on the game. There's nothing wrong with River Ivern as a strategy, but people will flame you because of their false belief that you're trolling.

RivernLoL's Discord server
His new Diamond account
His new Master account
His Challenger account