Global Positioning Guide

First things first, this guide is an effort-made guide targeting the smaller, less experienced and less induced League of Legends group of players. Although this is mostly a starter / newbie guide, I'm sure a lot of 30-lvls will find this guide rather useful and might grab a tip or two from it.

This guide was "inspired" by general lack of positioning knowledge - by people below lvl 30 - as well as the people below 1400 elo (aka elo hell). Different aspects and varieties of positioning will be explained and shown throughout the guide, so - read on.

(The most common places an enemy junglers gank from - therefore the most common ward spots)

I decided to create this guide in order to help all the fellow summoners stuck in constant win-lose streaks and unable to climb the elo ladder. Yes, this is another one of those guides intended to help you raise your elo and prove you're a better player than the ranked ladder indicates it.

The guide contains several aspects/categories as well as sub-categories. All the most common roles in the current metagame (07.5.2012) are covered and explained in-depth.

1  Support
1.1  Support laning phase
1.2 Support team fights

2  AD Carry
2.1  AD Carry laning phase
2.2  AD Carry team-fight

3  AP Carry
3.1  AP  Carry laning phase
3.2  AP Carry team fights

4  Bruiser / Jungler
4.1  Bruiser laning phase
4.2  Bruiser / Jungler team fights

 

1   SUPPORT

Talking about Support champs and their positioning, always the first thing you should be paying attention to is the champion itself. You should stroll over each and every one of his abilities. They all tell a story, and when combined together, they tell a tale called Positioning.

As an example, start off by taking one of the most common Support champions - Alistar, in consideration.
His Q ability is a melee range knock-up crowd control ability - which means you should be inbetween the enemies in order to correctly execute it.
His W ability is a knock-back. It says 2 different things: protection & disruption.
His E is a short-range heal. It says you should always be in the epicenter of the battle itself in order to achieve maximum utility.
His R utilizes in rendering you more tanky, durable. It once again says you should be in the epicenter of the battle itself, in order to tank incoming damage.

This, combined all together, says Alistar is mostly a disrupt champion, who should always position himself as closer as possible to the battle, in order to utilize his skill-set the most. Also, you should occasionally protect your most valuable target in the team using the W skill.

1.1 Support laning phase

General idea behind the positioning of Support champions is mostly dependant on the AD Carry himself. Also, depending on the champion, Supports should position themselves differently, although, the main duty of the Support (almost always) is looking after an allied champion - most precisely, an AD Carry - unless neccessary otherwise.

You should look for the position in which you'll be able to both put pressure / harrass on the opposing duo-lane, as well as be protective towards your AD Carry and only that is how you will maximize your utility and potential during the laning phase.

(One of the most standard positions of a Support during the laning phase - "bushthreat")

1.2 Support team fights

Probably one of the most wrongfully understood conceptions of a Support is that of a Support being a babysitter for the AD Carry. Wrong. Support - means it's supporting your entire team. During the teamfight, you should seek the position in which your auras and buffs are acquirable by all - unless that position is lethal for you.

Important note: Never walk in front of your entire team as a Support.

One specific mistake many "smaller" players tend to make over and over again, is thinking that during the teamfights, they should always look after an AD Carry - also potentially wrong. Should your AD Carry have a bad start off, should he slightly fall behind and not be as useful as supposed to, while on the other hand your jungler/AP Carry is doing really good and could potentially carry your team to the victory, then you should think about looking after that specific champion rather than your less-than-normal useful AD Carry.

2 AD Carry

AD Carry's entire positioning concept is based on a single fact - constant auto attacking. You should always seek position in which you will be able to constantly land auto attacks. This, at times, get rough because you might think it gets really easy while in fact it's not easy at all. You need to look out for an opposing bruisers/AP Carries, as well as AD Carries who - if you are positioned wrongfully - can melt you down in the matter of seconds.

Basic tips for positioning an AD Carry:

1. Look for a position to keep landing auto attacks - that way breaking the front line of the enemy team - unless you can land them on a more important targets, although not at the cost of your own life;
2. Stay behind your tanks / bruisers, unless you can land a lethal combo on an opposing AD Carry / AP Carry;
3. Always stay close to your support or your bruiser, so they can potentially be your savior in case you misposition yourself ;
4. Once you begin a game, picture all of the champions in the current game and their positions, then think where you fit inbetween all of them.

2.1 AD Carry laning phase

 Laning phase position is pretty "basic" for an AD Carry alone. You should look to stay behind your minions and/or possibly dodge all incoming skillshots, as well as taking a perfect position for farming. Your play style also greatly dictates your position during the lanephase. If you tend to play more agressive, and are laning with an agressive support, then you should always ward the river entrances up before moving closer to your opponents. On the other hand, if you are more of a farm-off defensive player, you should take no risks at all and attempt to farm up as much as possible, with the help of your support. If an enemy duo is a kill-lane, then you should hug your turret, wait for the lane to push to the turret, and then do your best to farm up. Remember, that 1 minion is not worth dying for.

The picture shown above (Support laning phase) can relate to this paragraph as well.

2.2 AD Carry team fights

As already stated above, AD Carries position during the team fight should always be carefully studied and "executed". People think that's probably the easiest thing to do - position an AD Carry during a teamfight, while it really isn't. Your position needs to guarantee you several neccessary factors which make you useful and utilize your power during a team fight, which is, first of all safety, utility, mobility and finally damage. Combining these 3 factors grants you (almost) a perfect position for an AD Carry to be in, during the team fight.

3 AP Carry

Surely one of the specific things of an AP Carry is that their positioning is not as important as it is to other roles. Some AP Carries don't fully rely on their positioning as a key factor during a certain situation - rather, they rely on their utility. This means, AP Carries tend to misposition or disrupt a certain target rather than seeking a perfect position to be in.

(A mispositioned Cassiopeia gets swapped and trapped by Urgot)

3.1 AP Carry laning phase

Specifically the laning phase is the phase during which the positioning is significantly important. Why? Because of the utility itself. All AP Carries are utility-based champions with all those skillshots, crowd control effects which require effort to be avoided in order to be victiorious during the laning phase. The most basic "rule" is standing behind your own wall of minions. But not all skillshots collide with minions, so, that's when your reflexes and your speed come in play - it requires dodging the skillshots.

Another important trick to note down and watch out for, is post-mortus skillshooting. People tend to watch out for your minion health bars, and once the minions die - they immediately fire a skillshot, which 95% of the people are not prepared for, and that way fall for it. Lack of attention in such a situation is a key to succesful dodge.

3.2 AP Carry team fights

During the teamfights, as stated already above in the paragraph, AP Carries positions actually depend directly on the opponents positioning. They want to disrupt and flood an opposing target with their abilities, in order to achieve "succesful positioning".

This, specifically is significant for few champions, such as: Cassiopeia, Brand, Ahri, etc.

Cassiopeia seeks her position in order to land a perfect ulti - which is her position-seeking's sole purpose. Succesful positioning means landing an ult and stunning an important target - that way disrupting (and potentially mispositioning) an enemy.

Brand, as well, seeks his perfect range at which he could deliver a perfect combo of his spells - that way maximizing his utility.

Ahri, actually, does not have a fixed position during a teamfight, because of her ult which gives her 3 damage-dealing dashes. She tends to stroll around an important target, attempting to land her skillshots and that way disrupting him.

4 Bruiser / Jungler

Basic tips:
1. You are meant to take damage instead of your AD / AP Carry - position yourself protective before them;
2. When in position to launch a clear, unchallenged attack on an opposing key target, do so;
3. If in a position to do so, prevent an enemy bruisers/carries from harming your own carries.

4.1 Bruiser laning phase

Probably one of the most "sensitive" things in the entire game of League of Legends is the Solo Top laning phase. One death can, and oftenly does, lead to an entirely lost lane - you get zoned, you fall behind, you get thrown out of the game, and ultimately you lose a game. I personally know of a lot of cases where a single death (mostly to Irelia, better nerf) has led to a loss during the laning phase - and from that point, that certain champion carrying his team to the victory.

Therefore, when chosing a position to be in during the laning phase, you first need to analyze yourself, your capablities, opponent and his capabilities, and try to measure the outcome of a potential 1v1 fight. All in all, this is the most important lane to play safe at. You don't want to take a lot of risks here.

4.2 Bruiser / Jungler team fights

One thing specific for a bruiser and / or a jungler is that they are mostly those front-line wall tank champions that are used for tanking incoming damage and/or disrupting enemy key targets. Bruisers positions are simple - front line. Most of the bruisers are fight initiators as well, so that's another reason for them to walk up front and be the first champions to appear in a fight. 

(Cho Gath, standing in front of his entire team in an effort to take as much damage as possible for the good of his own team)