Advantages: A Primer

First and foremost in the concept of advantages is the fact that there are two types of advantage, and each type can be applied to a single player's champion or to a team. The first is a short-term or 'tactical' advantage. The second is a long-term or 'strategic' advantage.

A tactical advantage refers to an advantage that is transient or short-lived. For example, if a jungle gank leaves a laner at low health, the high-health laner is now at a tactical advantage. Another tactical advantage could include a team catching another trying to take baron, which means the caught team would be affected by baron's debuffs and lower in health. A strategic advantage, however, refers to an advantage that is larger in scale, is harder to change, and generally more impactful on the game. Having more gold or experience is the most common strategic advantage, but others include a superior team composition or the baron buff.

“How do I gain an advantage?” is a very complex question. In short, advantages are gained by outplaying the opponent. The best I can do is give you some general tips for gaining advantages that are often missed.

Tactical
- Win trades in lane. If you have more range than the enemy (Teemo versus Tryndamere top, Ryze versus Evelynn mid, Caitlyn/Sona versus Sivir/Taric bot), damage the enemy laner while taking minimal retaliation.
- Outsustain the opponent. Whether in lane or roaming the map, use your flask. If you have health pots, use those too. If your champion has healing abilities (such as Irelia top, Vladimir mid, or Alistar bot), do not neglect them! Being at full health can win fights before they've started.
- Make good ganks happen. By having good ward coverage, and denying the enemy ward coverage (with pink wards or oracles), your team can effectively gank out-of-position opponents while preventing the enemy from doing the same.
- Pick up early advantages. If you can get some experience before minions meet in lane, such as by taking dual golems as a bot lane, or by taking wraiths as a top laner, do so! The early level 2 can give you a massive advantage for a short period of time.

Strategic
- Farm well. If you miss a last hit that the enemy isn't forcing you away from, then that is a health pot you don't get, or a critical item you get a little bit later. FOCUS. The importance of accurate last-hitting cannot be overstated.
- Position for the fight you want to have. If you want to have big 5v5 teamfights, then stick with your team whenever possible and try to take objectives like towers or dragon. That will force the enemy to contest you, letting you fight them 5v5. If you want to split push, avoid clumping together or you'll get caught in a team fight.
- Don't miss opportunities to take objectives. If the enemy mid laner goes back, try to do some damage to their tower. If the enemy jungler dies in a gank, counterjungle him a little bit before he comes back. If you win a team fight, don't go back immediately unless they have reinforcements on the way. Take a tower or a dragon. You would be surprised how easy it is to kill baron, even early in the game, if you know that no enemies can contest it.
- Buy the right items. I can't cover what 'the right items' entails in one guide, but I can say simply that you should build defenses for the enemy's main threats, offenses appropriate to your champion, and knowing when to not build selfishly.
- Counterpick champions and team compositions. Using a resource with a list of champion counterpicks can help, but matchup knowledge is very important to learn. Furthermore, knowing team compositions well is vital for high-level play.
- Stay positive! Trust me, there is nothing that can replace positivity. It makes your team work together better, play smarter, and honestly makes the game more fun for everyone involved. There's no reason not to, and the more positive you are the more you'll enjoy the game.

Keeping an Advantage
We've all been there. You're doing great, your team is way ahead in kills and farm. You go to get baron so you can cement your win... and then the enemy Amumu flashes in, smites it, and ults your whole team. When the dust clears, the enemy's taken two inhibs and you're on the way to a loss. How did that happen? Well, in short, you've thrown your advantage. A “throw” is, in theory, easy to avoid. In practice, however, it is not so simple. Here are some short tips on how to avoid making that sort of mistake.

- Ward! It's easy to forget, but the better you're doing, the more important it is that you buy wards with your extra money. The best way to lose an advantage is to get lazy and forget to ward or clear enemy wards, so focus on these fundamentals.
- Avoid big risks. If you are ahead, do NOT get cocky and towerdive, rush baron when the enemy is still alive, or roam into the fog of war. It sounds basic, but thousands upon thousands of games have been thrown by people who weren't playing safe.
- Buy defenses. If you are ahead, you do plenty of damage. Unless you are an AD carry, you should focus on buying defenses to make sure that you don't get caught and killed. If you build too much damage, you will be focused and killed, negating your advantage. I know it's exciting to build a lot of damage, but it's a good way to throw.
- Deny farm. Preventing the opponent from killing creeps while taking all of the creeps yourself is an excellent way to stay ahead. Of course, you can't kill your allied creeps in League of Legends, but zoning the enemy away from the creeps will do the same thing.

That's all I have for today. I hope these help! Let me know what you think about this article. Do you like its presentation? Dislike it? Your feedback is greatly appreciated.