u/WonderfulYam4690

Little background: I used to be a really good basketball player back in high school. I came from more of a streetball background because that’s pretty much all I watched growing up on YouTube, aside from some NBA here and there. Most of my technical skills came from simply recreating what I saw online and on TV. Handles, footwork, shot creation , all of it was self-taught through repetition.

I was also a really good shooter with solid form, and being taller than most people my age definitely gave me an advantage. Most of the time, I was beating friends who actually played organized basketball.

The funny thing is, I never officially played much organized ball. The only real team experience I had was one summer with Espoir du Québec (and we got destroyed), and that was around 15 years ago. I also did a basketball camp once where they moved me up with the older players because I was too good for my age group. At that time, I barely even understood the rules of basketball. I didn’t even know you couldn’t stay in the key forever.

But playing at the park and playing structured basketball are two completely different worlds. That transition wasn’t easy for me, and because of that, I never really pursued competitive basketball afterward.

Now I’m 31. I still stay in shape, but reality hits different now. My back hurts sometimes, I feel slower, my legs don’t move the way they used to. My shot is still there, and some of the skill is too, but it’s weird realizing your body remembers things your athleticism no longer fully supports.

These days, I mostly hoop alone during the summer at the park. Nothing competitive, just me, the ball, and the memories of young me and who I used to be on the court.

For the people who used to really hoop: how do you deal with the feeling of lost time and lost skills? How do you accept that you’re not quite the same player anymore while still trying to reconnect with the game you loved?

Everytime i eat big meals my face becomes more red, anyone else?

Been spamming Xin Zhao lately and I feel like his build path changes way more depending on team comps than people talk about. With the new AP builds i often have difficulty prioritizing.

Like sometimes I’ll go full bruiser with stuff like Sundered Sky / Hydra / Sterak’s because fights are extended and I need to survive after engage. But other games, especially into squishier comps or double ADC setups, Hybrid feels way stronger to snowball early tempo.

What I’m struggling with is identifying the “correct” build during champ select.

For example:

• Into heavy frontline/tank comps, do you guys prioritize sustained DPS/bruiser builds?
• Into poke or disengage comps, is it better to go more assassin-ish and force picks?
• When the enemy has a fed hypercarry, do you build more peel-oriented/frontline or just commit to deleting them?
• How much does your own team comp affect Xin builds? Like if your team already has engage, do you avoid tankier setups?
• Do you guys ever change your build depending on your team’s AP/AD balance? I feel like full AD comps make Xin way harder to pilot later into the game.

I also feel like Xin has this weird balance where if you go too tanky, you become ignorable, but if you go too damage-heavy you just explode after E’ing in.

Curious what higher elo Xin players think because I swear this champ feels insanely comp-dependent.

Sometimes it will proc the ''challenged'' and i can see the camp, and sometimes it won't. Why is that?

Xin was the first jungler i learned when i started in season 5. I am having alot of fun playing him right now and he's busted. Printing LP has never been easier.