Staying Conscious : Winning the lane

Staying Conscious: Winning the lane

A problem that persists in a lot of League of Legend players is that they do not actually think about the game while playing. Instead they button mash and try to win lane by spamming skills. This behavior might be acceptable for other games, but in League of Legends you must actually understand the game and consciously think about it or you will not improve.

Knowing your matchups

There are over one hundred champions in League of Legends and you will eventually be matched up against every single one of them. Every single game is going to be a different experience, with different champions, different play styles and different strategies. That is why you must constantly be thinking about the game rather than just mindlessly attacking your opponent. After picking a champion you must consider your matchup.

When is your champion strongest? Early game, mid game or late game? Also acknowledge whether your opponent is an early game bully or a late game beast. An early game bully should always try to duel and zone out the opponent especially if the opponent is playing a late game champion. You have to make sure your opponent does not reach late game "hyper-carry" mode where they become stronger than you are.  If you are playing a late game champion versus an early game aggressor, you should play passively early on, avoid engagement and try to farm until you hit your power spike.

Play the champion to its strengths: a late game hyper-carry should farm up until their power spike instead of fighting early on and losing at a disadvantage. A lane bully should be harassing its opponent, shut him down and zone as much as possible. Acknowledge how much damage you can do to them and how much damage they are doing to you.

Map Awareness

Imagine playing League of Legends as driving a car. Now think of the mini-map as a rearview mirror that you have to check every few seconds. Before engaging your opponent, check the map to locate the enemy laners, or the enemy jungler. If the enemy team is missing, you should not be trying to fight your opponent in case of a duel quickly turning into a 1v2 or 1v3. If you locate the enemy jungler somewhere else and you aren’t at risk of a gank, you can try to put pressure onto your opponent and fight them knowing it will be a 1v1. Be smart with your engagements and remember that League of Legends is a team game.

Observing the enemy behavior

Study your opponent and watch their behavior, whether they are a passive laner or extremely aggressive. Look for sudden changes in your opponents behavior. If they were extremely passive for most of the laning phase, then suddenly extremely aggressive and chasing you, they are likely planning a gank and you will have to fight two or multiple enemies instead of just one. Maybe your opponent is extremely aggressive turning passive, they might want you to push up in order create a gank opportunity for their jungler. Also if you are playing a champion with skillshots that the enemy can dodge, observe your opponents pattern. They might only be comfortable dodging right, or only try to sidestep left. If you see a pattern, you can try to predict your opponent's movements.

Toying with your opponent

Now that you understand player behavior, you can try and toy with your opponent. Change your playstyle frequently in lane so that you are unreadable.  If you are extremely passive then randomly aggressive, your opponent will think your jungler will gank them and most likely back off. Don't be predictable with your actions. Understand the limits of your champion and what their champion is capable of. If you are unreadable, it puts more pressure on your opponent because they are constantly in fear of when an actual gank will come.

Common Sense

This is extremely important. Be smart with your actions, stay conscious and think about what you are doing. If your opponent is a level or few levels above you, you should not be fighting them. If the enemy team is missing, don't get caught out in awkward positions, don't start fights if you don't know where the enemy team is. Understand what you can do to your opponent and what they can do to you. If your opponent is fed and you are underfarmed and underleveled, you should probably not be fighting him. Develop a sense for the game, predict the enemy movements, enemy roam, enemy jungle paths. Don't force anything if you are uncomfortable with it (even if your jungler tries to force something, ping them off!). Don't chase for kills, objectives and creep score matters a lot in League of Legends, remember that champion kills aren't the only way gold is obtained in League of Legends.

Maintain a positive attitude. You play solo queue to improve yourself and get better at the game, be critical of yourself. If you are 12-0 and you lose, you are still partially at fault for being unable to carry. If you are 0-10, understand where you went wrong and continue to try improving your own play.  Always remember that while winning is fun, you won't always win! Learn from your losses and improve!