Many people have been playing Legion for a few months and got into a competitive online scene because of it. Have you started at the bottom, with no previous miniature gaming experience? Here are some observations on how to get better at Legion.
1. Mastering Your Mechanics And Rules
The first step to getting better is knowing how all the units in Legion work. You need to know their standard abilities, powers, synergies, etc. If you master every unit's rules, it will be easier to make decisions during games; knowing your units inside-out also gives you a deeper understanding of the game itself. One thing that helped me learn about the game was buying and reading the rule books. The Legion Core Rule Book, Legion Rising Heroes, and Legion Traitor's Hate are good resources for learning how to play the game. YouTube is also full of helpful tutorials, and they give a run-down of pretty much every unit in the game. Playing with people who have more experience than you is also one of the fastest ways to improve your game. It's also very helpful because different players will give you different opinions and ideas during games (such as new synergies or unit compositions).
2. Figure Out Unit Loops
After mastering your units, it's time to learn your army. Of course, this means you need to play many games (which we'll get into later), but it also involves learning good unit compositions and good synergies. For example, every Rebel player knows that Vanguard Vets and Sabine Wren work well together. But what about adding in the Shoretrooper for an extra layer of melee defense? This adds another layer of synergy – although you might think this combo sucks because one has 3 attacks and the other only has 2; however, for every attack that misses or fails to do damage, there is another one that will pick up the slack!
Another thing related to your army composition is unit loops. This basically means knowing what your units can do and how to take advantage of their abilities. The best way to find these loops is to play a lot then keep track of everything that happens in-game. After playing several games, you'll notice many themes emerge.
3. Thinking Ahead
Now that you've mastered your units, it's time to move on to mastering yourself! This will involve learning how to plan out your turn in advance. There are four phases for each round of play: Initiative Phase, Command Phase, Action Phase, and Rally Phase. Being able to think far enough ahead to use the perfect timing for certain abilities or maneuvers is pivotal. It can catch other players off-guard (which causes them to make mistakes), especially if they aren't thinking about their turns either!
4. Plugging Leaks In Deployment
Now we get into the "advanced" thinking. The idea of plugging leaks in deployment is fairly self-explanatory: Every list has a weakness, and this strategy works toward minimizing that weakness (kind of like patching up holes in a dam before it breaks). Knowing your opponent's list will help you develop strategies to counter it or place it down during deployment.
