So ARAM is finally something you can queue for, Howling Abyss!

I've been playing ARAM's whenever I was sick of normal matches for at least a year now. After my short break from LoL I'm happy to come back and see that All Random All Middle is an actual game mode. Riot even gave it a little backstory and a name; Howling Abyss. It's a great way to blow off some steam, and can still be incredibly fun even if you lose.

Ooh doesn't it look pretty.

Having fun whilst losing is something that is hard to achieve in the MOBA genre, which is why Riot decided to cut out some of the harsher penalties that initially came from DotA. That's why ARAM is so refreshing. You don't have to obsess over team composition, which can frequently tear apart people in champion select. You can get a team that is too good to lose, or you can get crushed so hard you can't leave the tower for the entire game. Most of the time it's somewhere in the middle. Regardless, it's out of your hands so you don't have to rage or worry about it.

Despite this, all random can become frustrating if you spam it too much. When you get an awful team multiple times in a row, it's not fun at all. Riot were on the ball making ARAM a match that you can queue for. The Matchmaking takes mere seconds to pop, you never have to wait long.

I got Orianna today, which was lucky. She's lethal on ARAM.

ARAM has become so popular, some individuals have even started to create accounts purely to get the best champion pool to win matches. If you fill your selection with champions like Mundo, Nidalee, and Ziggs; you will always be able to pick up a bunch of kills before you die. I think making an entirely new account just to win ARAM is a little pathetic, but if you spend most of your time playing them then it's probably a good idea.

Now we have Dominion and Howling Abyss to play! So Where's Magma Chamber?

What happens when you bring ARAM to a normal game.

A lot of players never even venture into the custom matches feature on League of Legends. Which is a shame, because there are a few games in there with very entertaining rules.

All Random All Middle (ARAM) is one of these crazy methods of mixing up a League match and having some fun. For those of you who aren't familiar with the obvious nature of the title, ARAM forces you all to choose random, and then all five players on both teams fight the match out entirely in middle. Most of the time another general rule placed on the game dictates nobody may return to base unless they die. As you can imagine, fighting in mid with your entire team at low level is very hectic- and largely dictated on which champions you and your team get. It's unbelievably fun to play when you're sick of ranked or normal- and if you play with friends someone on your team is bound to rage down the microphone.

Recently, a few of my friends and I decided to force an ARAM in a normal blind pick match. Kudos to those of you who recognize any of them from youtube.

HEAL/TELEPORT LIKE TRUE MEN.

We never expected to win, and for those of you who love the underdog victories- you will be disappointed. As we brought our very tanky setup to the fields, someone had the brilliant idea to convert it into a surprise ARAM battle (brilliant idea because it was mine, yes).

Lying in wait for stupid Brand and his stupid face.

We all chose tanky builds, threw Darius into middle as bait, despite the fact anyone who'd chase Darius is stupid since he'll eat your face. As the creep wave landed, a wild Brand appeared. After a few tenuous moments of furtively testing the lane, Brand overextended.

SURPRISE ARAM MOTHERFUCKER!

After rushing the first blood and all spamming ARAM in the chat, the enemy team actually joined in. Within a minute everyone was in middle lane, and we were having a battle of the ages. Which is strange because this is League of Legends. They are usually all complete wankbags on the enemy team, amrite?

Hurr durr zerg the tower.

Ultimately, we got beaten down- maybe because the enemy team had ranged champions. League of Legends is a casual game, and anyone genuinely attempting to take it seriously should probably go play DotA2, which has a higher skill cap. However, we regret nothing and hopefully this will inspire some new people to give ARAM a go. Just go to custom games, and you shall probably encounter one in seconds.

Remember it can be unbelievably imbalanced due to the random factor, but oftentimes you can turn that around later on in the match. Good luck.