How to Efficiently All-In at Level Two

How to Efficiently “All-in” in Lane at Level 2

Getting to level 2 (for laners) is one of the most crucial parts of the game. If you get level 2 before your opponent, you can use your extra base stats, and second skill to bully your opponent out of the lane. If executed properly, you can get a kill or at least force your lane opponent to miss CS by zoning him/her out. Getting a lead early can help you snowball (get stronger faster) and take over the game.

 

Hitting Level 2

When you’re Mid/Top, you will earn solo experience if you’re by yourself. This means that you won’t be sharing experience like the bot lane does traditionally. This is important, because having solo experience means you will hit level 2 with less minions killed than bot lane would need. To hit level 2 in Mid/Top, you have to kill 7 minions. After you clear the first wave of minions, the next melee creep you kill will get you to level 2.

If you’re in the bot lane, it will take more minions to kill before both you and your support get enough experience to hit level 2. Instead of 7 minions, it will take 9. That means you will have to clear the first wave, and then clear the next 3 melee minions. The reason why you kill the melee minions is because they grant more experience than the casters.

 

Preparation for the All-In

Before the match even starts, you want to make sure you are on the right track. That means you’ve got to consider which Summoner Spells you are taking! Flash is almost always necessary, but in addition to Flash, you need to take Ignite. Getting a kill without Ignite is completely possible, but it’s not as easy. The damage-over-time from Ignite can help you secure a kill even if your enemy flashes away. While Exhaust may seem like a good choice because you can slow down the enemy, it is simply outclassed by Ignite because of the damage Ignite applies. If you feel like living on the edge, try taking Exhaust and Ignite; if your opponent doesn’t flash instantly, it’s almost a guaranteed kill!

Minion management is incredibly important. When you’re a lower level, minions can deal a ton of damage. You want to always have more minions in the lane than your opponent, because if you or your opponent goes for a trade, you will most likely come out on top because of the minion advantage. That means you need to push, but push properly. If you push too fast, and clear too many minions, the enemy laner will most likely back off and ruin your chances of going all-in at level 2. The trick is staying one or two minions ahead of your opponent to lure them into a false sense of security; you will inevitably hit level 2 first at that rate, and then have the chance to capitalize.

Although minion management is important, it won’t mean anything if you’re too low on health. Yes, hitting level 2 does give you more health, but you shouldn’t always count on that to keep you alive in a fight. It’s important to have equal or more health than your opponent so you can outlast them in the all-in. When you go for the kill, your opponent will usually run to their tower, meaning you’d have to chase them through their own minions. While you’re chasing, their minions can get you low enough for your opponent to turn the fight around. Having all the health you can is important, so buy some health pots! Odds are, if you’re a melee champion you’re going to be taking a lot of harass while trying to kill minions. So counter harass with some potions or a Crystalline Flask.

Positioning yourself properly can help with both minion management and health management. If you’re a solo laner, you usually want to sit in-between your melee and caster minions, until you can CS. If you’re in the bottom lane, it’s usually best for the Support and Marksman to stay next to each other, with the support just a tad ahead.

Since going for an all-in needs to be extremely fast and precise, it’s important to know that you should level up your second skill immediately after hitting level two. This may seem like an insignificant part of all-inning, but it’s just as important as every other step. A quick level up of your skill will let you use it sooner, and the faster you are, the less time your opponent will have to react.

 

Executing Your All-In

Execute the previously mentioned steps, that means take the correct Summoner Spells, make sure you have correctly managed the minions, have a good amount of HP, position yourself correctly, and level up your skill once you hit level two. Then pounce on your enemy! Remember, the swifter the better, you don’t want to give them a second to react. If you’ve done everything correctly, you will at least force your lane opponent(s) to burn a Summoner Spell, if not kill them. It might take a few tries for you to get better at it, but the art of the all-in is not that difficult.

Good luck on the Fields of Justice!