Former pro and LEC caster Marc “Caedrel” Lamont recently got hands-on time with Riot Games’ new experimental WASD control scheme for League of Legends—and he thinks it could be a game-changer, at least for certain roles. On a recent Twitch stream, Caedrel explained he was invited to test the new control scheme in Canada alongside pro players competing at MSI.

His verdict is unequivocal: “Kiting on any AD carry feels almost automatic.” By holding two directional keys and right-clicking the enemy, he said, players can maintain perfect auto-attack spacing regardless of attack speed. The setup even made skillshots feel easier to land, which he compared to having a subtle form of aim assist.

A feature not yet fit for high-elo play

However, the benefits aren’t universal. Caedrel pointed out that movement is locked to eight directions, which can make moving around the map — and jungle pathing — feel clunky and inefficient. “If you’re clearing Gromp and want to move to Wolves, you can’t just click around the wall — you have to step in jagged lines,” he explained. Camera control was another sticking point: without a locked camera, he found it “almost impossible” to track the game properly, severely impacting map awareness.

The new controls could have a disproportionate impact across skill tiers. In Caedrel’s view, low-elo marksman players — from Iron up to Platinum — stand to gain the most, instantly improving their kiting mechanics to far higher baseline. High-elo players, on the other hand, might look “bot-like” until they adapt or until Riot makes some refinements. Roles that rely on precise clicking, like jungle, toplane, and certain midlaners, may struggle under the current design.

Caedrel also noted that mouse keybindings — or even unconventional setups like foot pedals — would likely be necessary to make WASD viable at a high level. “Your directional movement is so important during fights. If you’re not used to binding abilities to your mouse, you’ll take longer to get good at this,” he said. While he believes Riot will fine-tune the scheme to make it more competitive, Caedrel’s early warning is clear: “If this goes live in its current form, every gold-tier Caitlyn is going to have Gumayusi (Lee Min-hyung) movement.”