User:Bachoru/Guide: Team Jobs

Roles and Jobs

There is a distinct difference between "Job" and "Role." In order to have a well functioning team throughout a game it is important for players to know their role and their job, as well as the differences between the two.

A Job is the category that your character will play throughout the match, from beginning to end. Examples include AP Caster, Tank, Melee DPS, etc. If your selected character can fill one of multiple positions depending on your build it is important to let your team know which one you plan on filling. If your team expects you to be the tank/offtank/Basic Meat shield, and you choose to build AP caster instead, your team is left with a gaping hole in their composition which they may not be aware of until too late.

A Role is a category that your character will play at this moment. It is usually temporary or evolving throughout the match. Jungler is a role that is filled at the beginning and usually during champion select, but by mid game it no longer serves a purpose, so that character transitions to something else. Heavy AP characters tend to fill the role of "Carry" early to late-mid game. But the earlier they start dominating the more likely the other team will build a lot of Magic Resist and completely neutralize them, at which point another character must step up and be the carry (usually giving the opportunity for the AD caster to shine and take over "carry" duties.)

There are more roles and jobs than there are players on a 5 man team, so no team can have them all. What is important for a successful team is to fill as many as possible, be willing to quickly adjust roles on the fly, and be aware of what was not brought this match and adjust game-style or item builds for it.

Your job in a team

Every champion in League of Legends is unique, has a different set of abilities, and overall has different ways to help win the game. There are several champion categories, into which all champions have been placed, and although you can play any champion the way you like, these categories show what the champions’ abilities and natural stats help him do best. There are several different roles, and only a few major ones will be mentioned here; check the Champion Statistics page for more info.

The Physical DPS, The Mage and Carrying

The Physical DPS is a champion whose primary damage comes from auto-attacks, and these champions usually have an ability scaling off Attack Damage. The Physical DPS champions are usually rather weak compared to other champions, before they get more items. Because their abilities scale off Attack Damage, and they usually have ranged attacks, they can just stay behind their team and unload an extreme amount of damage upon the enemy team. The Physical DPS needs to be carried by the team during the early game, and then with the right items can carry their team to victory. Thus most people call them AD Carries, although with right builds any champion can carry. On this page, the terms "Physical DPS" and "AD Carry" can be swapped, there is no difference.

The Mage, also known as the AP Carry, is an exclusively ranged champion with several abilities scaling off Ability Power, and these usually have a high range and low cooldown, thus being spammable. The Mage tends to have a slightly weaker early game phase, but grows extremely strong with higher ranked abilities. Mages are usually the main damage dealers during the first teamfights and carry the team through the mid-game phase. Later on, when the enemy team starts buying Magic Resistance, they lose efficiency, but still have potential to unload a lot of damage, usually to cripple the enemy main damage dealer. In this page, the terms "AP Carry", "Mage" and "caster" can be swapped, there is no difference.

To sum it up: AD Carry champions are champions with usually a weaker start, a decent mid-game and a very strong late game. AP Carry champions have a weaker start, a powerful mid-game and a decent late-game.

Early in the game, both the AD and AP Carry's primary focus is last-hitting minions, while avoiding pushing the turret. The reason for this is: You only gain gold for landing the killing blow on an enemy minion. Each minion can give from ~15 gold in the very beginning to ~30 gold later in the game. Since every minion wave contains 6 minions (cannon minion waves spawn every 3rd wave and contain one additional minion), if it is possible to get the last hit on every single minion in a wave, the killer would get about 100 gold. Minion waves spawn every 30 seconds, which means that every minute, you can get up to 260 gold (2x100 for the minions + the regular 1 every second). With no last-hits, your minutely income would be only 60 gold, which is less than 25% of your potential. As a result, a champion which takes every opportunity to last-hit in lane could get their BF Sword (1550 gold, +45 attack damage) before a champion that takes none could get a Long Sword (360 gold, +10 attack damage). In the next few minutes of the game, the first champion could be a dominant force, while the second's damage would be insignificant. The amount of last hits is commonly called the "cs," or "creep score." An important note: Mana, or any other resource to fuel abilities is better used for last-hitting than harassing, when playing a mage or physical DPS. Ezreal's Mystic Shot, Veigar's Baleful Strike, or even Ashe's Volley are better used to get a minion kill then to try to drop your enemy's health bar. Unless you feel like you could get a kill (if laning with a strong partner, for example), mana is better used to "farm" minions well. Another important thing to note is that you do not want to do unnecessary damage to the enemy minions. Pushing the enemy too far gives them an advantage in last-hitting, makes it harder to harass, and puts you in danger of ganks from their jungler or other lanes.

To sum it up: It is important for the AD and AP carries to land killing blows to enemy minions (last hits) while not pushing their minion wave close to the enemy turret.

The role in a team

The AD carry is generally the highest damage dealer late game, putting out sustained damage mostly with its autoattacks. As carries are squishy, these will usually stay at the far back of the team, safe from most damage and having a good chance to retreat if the fight goes bad or they get focused by the enemy team.

The AP carries are generally the highest damage-dealers early-mid game. Their job is to deal lots of damage and incapacitate the enemy team. Later on, the AP carry/mage stays behind the melee champions, its job is to deal extreme amounts of burst damage to a single target (nuking), usually the enemy AD or AP carry, disabling them from the fight (eliminating most of their Health pool will result in them not being able to participate, because they could be killed too easily) or even killing them. They will usually come up front to cast all their spells and then retreat back till they can repeat this combo.

Examples of carries include, but are not limited to:

• AD Carry:
  • Ashe
  • Caitlyn
• AP Carry:
  • Annie
  • Brand

The Tank

Tanks are the most durable members of the team. They are usually melee champions with some ranged abilities and are supposed to be hardest to kill since they will usually have a lot of Health, Armor, and Magic Resistance that reduce incoming damage. While this is very desirable this also means that a tank usually won’t be dealing lots of damage. Since they are hard to kill and deal minimal damage, they should never be focused by the opposing team, especially if there is a carry nearby, dealing lots of damage. The job of the tank is to protect the carry, disabling the enemy champions from focusing fire on it. A tank champion is essentially the opposite of the carry. While carries specialize in dealing lots of damage (be it sustained or burst) and are generally squishy (low HP and resistances), tanks focus on keeping themselves and the team alive by having a much lower damage output in trade for enormous survivability and crowd control tools. Most tank champions have an early-game almost indistinguishable from other champions, as they are usually pretty reliant on items (although much less than carries). Tank champions will typically have these assets:

1. Naturally bulky, higher natural HP, MRes and Armor
2. Some form of Crowd Control (CC), usually a stun, slow, or taunt.
3. Great synergy (due to abilities) with certain defensive items, making it very desirable to get them.
4. Most tanks have some sort of initiation; an ability to open up the fight giving their team an advantage.

To sum it up: Tank champions are durable champions and their damage output is rather low because of this. Their primary goal in the team is to take damage and shift focus from the carries thanks to their abilities. They usually have a good initiation ability so that they may be the first to soak up the damage.

The role in a team

Tanks typically have no problem surviving even the focus of multiple enemies, so if an enemy attacks the tank instead of the carry, that’s a desirable situation. The tanks will usually use their skillset to disable enemies from attacking allied carries. Tanks should generally be the last ones to retreat and be at the front lines of the team. Also, when tower-diving, the tank should attack the enemy champion first so that the turret targets him and not other members of the team.

Examples:

• Rammus
• Shen

The Support

Support Champions are typically ranged champions that have very low damage output and low durability in general. These champions usually have abilities that help their teammates, such as shields, heals, various buffs to attack damage, movement speed, etc; they also commonly have some kind of disable, and generally want to stack Cooldown Reduction and/or Aura items, as well as some AP to boost the power of their spells. The goal of the Support Champion is to have a high Assist/Death ratio. To compensate for not getting minion/champion kills, gold generating items should be built. The support champion should NOT:

1. DO NOT steal minion kills from the carry. Support champions are generally least dependent on items, and their builds are usually pretty cheap. Any other member of the team will make better use of the gold. Of course, support champions should attempt to get last hits if their lane partner is unable to for some reason, but not steal them.
2. DO NOT steal champion kills. Support champions generally deal low damage and can’t chase alone; if chasing with a partner, make sure you disable your opponent, but if possible let your partner get the kill. The gold gain difference is not huge, and if your partner can’t get the kill, you by all means should, but it is always better if the carry gets the kills. This is because the killer receives 100% gold, and 70% additional is split between each assisting champion.
3. DO NOT attempt to take damage for the team, or deal damage. The main priority is to keep all positive buffs up at all times (e.g. shield whenever possible) and to hit enemies with disabling skills.
4. DO NOT be the one leading the chase, solo-pushing, etc. At all times, the support needs to be with the tank and Carry (can be with offtank too, check section below).

Supports will often include abilities like these:

1. A stun, usually a skill shot but can come in other forms. It is often used as engage.
2. A shield that can be cast on carry or ally.
3. An escape of some sort (speed buffs, dashes, ect.)
4. A slow that can be cast on an enemy.
5. An area of effect stun, slow, or disable.

To sum it up: Support champions are extremely important and valuable during teamfights, but they are usually very poor at doing anything without the team. They have a low damage output and durability, but they provide utility in their disables and buffs to allies that are a huge asset when fighting the enemy team.

The Role in a team

Support champions should assist the champion in the duo lane in laning phase, then always be with the team, healing them or otherwise increasing their chances to win. Support champions should usually buy Aura items, as they benefit the team rather than the individual, and they will usually be the ones warding.

Examples:

• Janna
• Sona

The offtank/tanky DPS

The offtank, or tanky DPS (also known as bruiser) champions are probably the most common champion type. They are typically melee champions who have more durability than carries, while still potentially dealing significant damage. The two terms essentially represent the same champions, offtank referring to those who built tank items, and tanky DPS to those who built more Damage items. The offtank is supposed to take some burden off the main tank, tanking damage while still doing a significant amount of damage. The tanky DPS has a role similar to carries, although tanky DPS is usually melee. Their job is to deal as much damage as possible, their close range balanced out by increased durability.

To sum it up: Offtanks and tanky DPS champions are generally melee champions, with a high damage output yet still pretty high survivability to complement their low range. Offtanks support the main tanks while tanky DPS dive in the heart of battle, damaging the enemies' squishies and taking advantage of their durability.

Examples:

• Jarvan IV
• Xin Zhao

Assassins

Assassin champions (also known as anti-carries) are champions who specialize in eliminating the most threatening opponent in seconds, mostly with their extreme burst damage. Assassins typically possess a dash or stealth ability to quickly reach their target without getting focused and disabled, and usually enter the fight after it has begun, so that they survive. These champions also commonly have a good amount of survivability, as assassins are typically melee champions with shorter-ranged abilities, forcing them to be in the heat of the battle until their target is eliminated, making them a good target if the assassin's team isn't fully committed to the battle yet.

Examples:

• Akali
• Irelia
• LeBlanc

Jungler

The Jungler is a champion role that doesn’t level up by fighting minion waves on a lane, but instead gains money and levels by killing the monsters found in their “camps”. The area out of lane is called “the jungle”, thus the name. Junglers have to possess high natural stats and a good skillset in order to be able to jungle efficiently. They commonly have some sort of CC effect, as well as a way to enter the fight quickly, to be able to successfully execute a gank. Junglers will typically be the tank or offtank/tanky DPS, as carries seldom possess the important assets a jungler needs to be successful. The advantages of having a jungler are obvious:

1. You get 2 solo lanes and 1 jungler, who can often keep up with solo lanes in terms of experience. This means that 3 players on a team with a junglers will have an advantage over the other players, while only 1 player will have this advantage on a team with no jungler. Usually the AD Carry and Mage will go to the solo lanes, as they need the level and gold advantage most. However, if the opposing team has no jungler, an offtank is advised to man the solo 1v2 lane, as they can survive better.
2. The Jungler is extremely unpredictable, and it is rarely known where he is. If team A has a jungler, team B has to play extremely cautiously, as a jungler will often gank an overpushed lane. Junglers typically have a good way to get inside the fight quickly, and also have a good CC move to disable opponents. If coordinated properly with the team, a jungle gank will often result in a kill.

The disadvantages to having a jungler are

1. Junglers often stay at low health later when jungling, as they rely only on their natural stats, abilities and starting health potions (if bought) to keep alive. Junglers can often be ganked and disrupted in the jungle so they have to always have an escape route prepared.
2. Monsters found in the jungle are very powerful and cannot be fought by just any champion: only certain champions can effectively jungle without modifying their builds, pre-game setup and ability order.
3. The solo lane is much easier to out-harass, and with a strong enemy duo, the lane will often be pushed to the tower, leading to a possible tower-loss early in the game. A jungler should always help the solo lane if asked to.

To sum it up: The jungler is a champion like any other, and this role is usually only assigned to him early game. The jungler needs to be able to clear out the monster camps efficiently, while also having a skillset allowing him to successfully execute a gank.

Role in a team

The jungler role is to clear the minions from the jungle camps (his team's camps, aswell as the enemy team's camps if the situation allows it) in the beginning of the game, allowing an additional teammate to gain solo lane experience and level up faster. He can also help his team, by helping members get the blue/red buffs from the Golem and Lizard, for a stronger early-mid game. The jungler should always be on the look-out for ganks, and gank any lane overpushed, to get a kill. It's usefull for the jungler's team if he places wards in the jungle (usually on the river) to prevent enemy ganks and help control the Dragon. Later on the jungler will fulfill his regular role, usually the main tank or offtank/tanky DPS.

Examples:

• Udyr
• Warwick

Note: a similar role to jungler is that of a Roamer. A roamer doesn't spend time in lane to level up, and doesn't clear neutral minion camps either; roamers simply travel from lane to lane, ganking and pressuring all lanes. Most roamers have high base stats and can gank from low levels efficiently; however, the roamer will often be under-leveled due to not being able to stay in lane and get experience, and to compensate for last-hitting they commonly buy Gold-generating items, such as Philosopher's Stone.

A Regular Game

This section contains a summary of early, mid, late game, different champions and the roles they fulfill, teamfight and gank examples etc.

Preface

This is the phase in the champion selection screen (and before). Each member chooses his Masteries, Runes, Summoner spells and, of course, Champion. In game they also choose a lane and starting items.

Before the game it is important to coordinate with your allies. If someone has already picked Sivir and Miss Fortune, then it is advised no other member picks a ranged DPS carry. If someone picked a 3^rd carry like this, the team would be too easily countered by buying armor, or the team would be too squishy due to lack of a tank.

You want to have 2-3 ranged carries/supports, and 2-3 melee tanks and/or offtanks (assassins, bruisers, tanky DPS etc. will be labeled just offtanks in this guide). It is advisable each player can play at least one champion from each role, to best suit the team’s needs.

An example of an ideal team would be:

• Sivir (ranged AD carry)
• Anivia (ranged AP carry)
• Amumu (tank and a jungler in this case)
• Janna (support)
• A flexible 5^th member (melee). For this example I will use Jarvan IV (can be built full tank, offtank or full DPS, in this game he will be offtank). The team must coordinate before the battle starts so that everyone fulfills the job they're assigned.

Just to make the example more realistic, the enemy team contains:

• Ashe
• LeBlanc
• Jungling Shen
• Irelia (built as offtank)
• Taric

Early Game

The basic concept of early game, also called the laning phase, is that everyone stays in their respective lane (the jungler stays in the jungle). Each lane has a specific goal to attempt:

The solo mid lane’s job is to get as many last hits as possible. Secondary objectives include harassing the enemy, zoning them to prevent them from getting experience, and with champions with global abilities than can help the side-lanes. Some champions are better than others. The mid lane should be:

• A carry champion, as the mid lane has the most experience and minions, this therefore helps the carry to get strong sooner in the game.
• A ranged champion, as melee champions can’t harass that well and are more susceptible to being harassed.
• A champion who is less durable than most, as mid lane has only one opponent and therefore champions can survive better here.
• Sometimes the mid lane should have a champion exclusively suited for fighting the enemy mid lane.

Example: We suspect LeBlanc is going mid (our support used Clairvoyance on their base to find out). Normally, in our example, we would choose Anivia to go mid (she’s effective at killing and harassment, and needs many last hits to build her items quickly), but LeBlanc is extremely good against Anivia (Anivia’s Flash Frost and Crystallize can be dodged by LeBlanc’s Distortion and LeBlanc has a Silence and a Snare, possibly killing Anivia with two rotations of her combo, and the egg too). We should therefore send the other carry into mid, in our detailed example Sivir, as she has a spell-shield to counter LeBlanc’s combo, and is much less ability-reliant so being silenced doesn't lower her damage output significantly, possibly dealing more damage to LeBlanc than LeBlanc’s combo will do to her.

The jungler’s objectives are to efficiently clear out the neutral monster camps, doing so as fast as possible and skipping camps as little as possible, while still staying at high health and being prepared to escape from any ganks. His other main objective is to gank an overextended lane (a lane pushed close to your turret is called overextended), surprising the enemies and killing them with the help of the lane. Coordination is extremely important for this, as a jungler will sometimes gank a lane without notifying the team, often dying himself. His secondary objective is to defend any turrets that need defense, and to “babysit” lanes (if a lane has to recall, the jungler should get into that lane to gain experience and defend the turret). An important thing to stress is that although Smite might be considered less useful later in the game, a jungler should always carry it, as it speeds up jungling significantly; without Smite the jungler might die, or fall back significantly in terms of experience. It also prevents the buff monsters from being stolen at low health.

The 1v2 lane, typically the top lane, (called solo lane by most, if both teams have junglers it’s actually 1v1) should be occupied by a ranged carry champion with some durability. The goal of the solo lane is to defend the turret. If the solo lane is having trouble defending the turret, the jungler should help out and gank or take over the lane. Side goals of the 1v2 lanes include getting last hits, semi-harassing enemies in lane (keeping them at lower health for the jungler to have an easier gank), assisting the jungler in a gank, and champions with stun abilities can lure enemies into tower-diving them, possibly even getting kills. The advantage of the solo lane is that it gets experience equal to that of the mid lane. However it is harder to get last hits, because out of turret range the solo lane will often get harassed, and in turret range the turret can “steal” last hits. Soft Carries (AP carries that don't need too much gear and are dependent mostly on their skill ranks) are logically the best suited for this lane. However, due to usually low durability or soft carries, if the enemy team has no jungler a more durable champion should man the solo lane. In our example, we could send Jarvan IV or Anivia solo top, and as the enemy team also has ( Shen) as a jungler, Anivia is the better choice as she can get her gear sooner. Another thing to note is that Janna works extremely well with Jarvan, shielding him and increasing his attack damage.

The duo lane is the lane where the support champion will usually be, as they help their team and don’t need last hits that much, allowing their laning partner to get most of them. Also, support champions do worse solo, since their damage is usually not that high, and they tend to be squishy too. The other champion in the dual lane is usually the least suited for any of the above-mentioned lanes, and is usually the tank or offtank (although carry champions are also good, any champion can go dual lane with the support). In our example, Jarvan and Janna would take the dual bot lane. Dual lanes are almost always the bottom ones, as they can reach the dragon quicker if necessary. Another factor when determining the dual lane is champion combos. If a champion has a high damage output, the team will want a champion who can counter his weaknesses, allowing for an extremely powerful lane. In our example: Jarvan and Janna. Jarvan is naturally pretty durable, and combined with Janna’s shield it’s almost impossible to harass him. Also, Janna has a Slow effect and a knockup ability, allowing Jarvan to move in and deal some damage. This is not the greatest possible combo, but almost every support can combine his skills with those of a different champion for extremely devastating effects. The goal of the dual lane is to not die. The dual lane has to face two opponents, yet since there are two champions there too, it is often pretty balanced. The dual lane is supposed to harass enemies, also has the greatest chance to get the first few kills or deaths. The dual lane is prone to ganks if overextended, yet this is often an undesirable side-effect of harassing (if an enemy is low, they will let you push to their turret, still gaining experience yet staying safe). A right balance must be found, and dual lanes are advised to be most cautious, as it is possible, with the right timing, to have 4 enemies there at once (the enemy duo, the jungler and even the turret, with a right-timed stun). Also note that without a jungler both side lanes are dual lanes. The secondary goal of the dual lane is to get last-hits (in this order: AD Carry, AP carry, tank/offtank, depending on item dependancy, and the support not getting too much of them).

Our detailed example (our team against theirs):

• Top: Anivia against Ashe
• Mid: Sivir against LeBlanc
• Bot: Janna & Jarvan against Taric & Irelia
• Jungle: Amumu against Shen (not exactly against each other, but they compete in speed, ganks and counter-jungling)

Mid-game

Mid-game is the part of the game where most of the people have already bought a few items, and often leave their lanes to help kill one lane (e.g. all 5 attempt to kill the enemy 2 on top). In mid-game, the first towers are pushed and smaller teamfights, known as skirmishes, are common during this part of the game.

Ganks

Please note that ganking is a part of both early game and mid-game, but only junglers gank early-game, although in this example we'll show only the junglers ganking, to make it simpler. It's already 5 minutes into the game, both junglers have cleared their jungles (imagine we're observer mode, therefore have absolute vision over the entire map) and recalled, and are back with boots, and some more health potions. Our Janna and Jarvan are being counter-harassed well by Taric and Irelia, seeing as Jarvan is a melee champion and Taric's stun with Irelia's help result in a lot of damage taken by our Jarvan. Any attempts by Janna to damage their enemies with Howling Gale is out-healed by Taric. Our dual lane is therefore pushed to the turret, but they're still relatively high on health and the turret (shielded by Janna) looks like it's OK.

Our top (Anivia) is at half health, their Ashe also at half. It's a very passive game, as Anivia can't spam her abilities much to damage Ashe (and Ashe dodges lots of Anivia's attempts thanks to her long range anyway) and Ashe is afraid to overcommit, as Anivia's passive (Rebirth) is ready and a failed attempt could force Ashe to recall, or even get her killed. Thus, a very balanced lane, fighting in the middle, both sides having the summoner spell Flash ready. Ashe just hit level 6, and she has wisely been conserving mana for a strong ultimate+volley combo. Anivia's mana levels are low, but she managed to keep up in cs to Ashe thanks to last-hitting with mana.

Finally, our mid Sivir managed to force LeBlanc to tower hug, and is pushing the turret, shielding against LeBlanc's abilities.

After observing the facts, our jungler Amumu decides to gank bot lane, and their jungler Shen attempts a gank at middle lane. Both these junglers have a strong "ganking skill"- the skill they use to enter the lane, which also usually disables the enemy champion for a while, giving the laning partner time to react. Amumu's ganking skill is Bandage Toss, stunning the opponent and dealing minor damage, which also has the potential of travelling from the Fog of War or brushes, surprising the enemy. Shen's ganking skill, Shadow Dash, is an AoE taunt which also functions as a dash; however, in the mid brushes the range is not sufficient to reach Sivir, giving her time to react.

Before level 6, a successful gank could be carried out like this: Shen tells LeBlanc to force Sivir to use her spellshield, disabling her from using it against Shen's Taunt. After the shield is popped, Shen appears, taunts Sivir while LeBlanc uses her combo (W-Q-E, for example), snaring her for a while and further disabling the use of Flash, or running away thanks to ghost, etc. Just auto-attacks should be sufficient to kill Sivir at this point. This gank could fail if Sivir retreated after using her spellshield, had warded the brushes, if LeBlanc was too low to be comfortable to commit (leading to either not killing Sivir or even resulting in LeBlanc's death), or if Shen had acted too late and Sivir's shield was up again.

At bot lane, Amumu comes out of the "ganking brush", where the river enters the lane. Since Irelia is not level 6 yet, and we have no minions behind her, Amumu using his Bandage Toss, followed up by a knockup by Janna and Jarvan should be enough to kill Irelia; even if Taric stuns Jarvan and Irelia stuns Amumu, Janna can use Zephyr to slow down Irelia and finish her with autoattacks, and Jarvan with Amumu already slowed her before. This gank could fail if our bot duo wasn't prepared, and Irelia with Taric could focus Amumu down and kill him before the team could react, or just retreat.

Once at level 6, very different ganks can happen: In our first example, Sivir could use her ultimate and run back safer, while LeBlanc can stun her for a longer time, copying her chains, and LeBlanc can also start the fight with Sivir, stunning Sivir as Shen "Stand's United" with her, opening with a Taunt and more LeBlanc's abilities. This is pretty much a guaranteed kill; however, Sivir will be usually more cautious of possibilities like this, and on a side note, at level 6 (we assume the jungler keeps up in experience with the solo lanes), Ashe has her global ultimate arrow, additional damage and a 3.5 second stun if coordinated well.

In our bot lane, if only Amumu was level 6, and the bot lane is only at 4 or 5, Amumu's ult is just an additional stun (for our purposes we call it a stun, although it doesn't interrupt channels nor disable abilities), getting the kill more likely; If the bot lane is also level 6, then Jarvan can use his ultimate on Irelia, and Janna can use Monsoon, if positioned correct, to knock both enemies closer to her tower; Irelia can heal up with her ultimate, but Taric's Aura isn't that good in terms of defense. In conclusion, ganking at level 6 is usually more sure to get a kill then before; however applies to just this situation: If Shen ganked our duo at level 5 (duo lanes even lower), he'd be more sure to get the kill than with Janna's ultimate ready, pushing the gankers and their duo lane back.

Skirmishes

A Skirmish the act of several champions leaving their lanes (and/or jungle) to pressure a single different lane. It can be pictured as a large-scale gank, and the goal of a skirmish is usually to get at least one kill, and damage the turret. In our detailed example, Sivir has forced LeBlanc to recall but she isn't at full health and doesn't feel she has the power to push the middle turret alone, especially since she suspects Shen to come defend soon. She decides to gank bottom lane; so does our jungler Amumu. If the enemy bottom lane has already been ganked (by Amumu, earlier in the game), they're usually going to be more cautious and there's a higher chance of them warding a passage or playing more defensively; if Sivir fears the gank would fail she could also go pressure top lane. Also, an important thing to note is that Shen hasn't used his ultimate yet, therefore any enemy can be shielded by a fair amount, usually enough to save him. All in all, our team decides to gank. Amumu uses his Bandage Toss-Ultimate combo, while Janna and Jarvan come in to battle. Sivir activates her ultimate for a movement and attack speed boost. When Amumu's ultimate is finished, Janna uses her Howling Gale to knock them in the air and during this time, she had enough time to get between the enemies and their turret. She now activates her ultimate and pushes both enemies (Taric and Irelia) closer to our turret, lowering their chances to escape. Jarvan also uses his Dragon Strike to knock-up the two enemies (He already dropped his flag), and after all the stuns have been used uses his ultimate to isolate Taric (Irelia could Bladesurge out anyway). Shen uses his ultimate against Taric, and Taric manages to interrupt Janna's Monsoon with his Dazzle, opening the escape path. Irelia lands a stun against Janna (who could use Howling gale again) and Taric tries to escape to his turret, healing himself and Irelia. Shen taunts the enemies, also escaping to the turret or jungle, depending on the situation. Depending on the performance of both teams, our team could get from none to 3 kills, 1 or 2 being most realistic. If the enemies had been prepared (warded the brushes, for example), they could even intercept the gank and run before it all started.

Pushing

Note: We will use the term tower instead of turret to avoid confusion between lane turrets and Heimerdinger's Evolution Turrets.

In early game laning phase, pushing a lane is a mostly undesirable act, as it gives an opening for the enemy jungler to gank, and reducing your jungler's ganking ability. Also, the damage to the turret is minimal at these levels, this not being a good trade for the increased vulnerability of the pushing team. However, pushing is a necessary part of the game, and taking down a tower is extremely beneficial to your team:

• Towers give global gold when destroyed
• Better map control
• Hinders enemy minion farming
• Strengthens your own farming and jungling
• Several other bonuses that are a part of one of the aforementioned

Pushing can actually be divided into two separate parts: pushing the minion wave, and pushing the actual tower. For a minion wave to be pushed only a slight advantage in power is necessary; usually all that is needed is one more member then the enemy lane has, or even just a health, level, or pushing advantage. When pushing a tower, it needs to be accounted for, and a much larger advantage is needed to successfully push; either you attempt to damage the tower, and take the damage from your enemy without retaliation, or you attempt to kill your opponent, and take tower damage for a short time.

The question is: "When to push?" To push, it is essential that your team in the lane you are pushing is much more powerful than the enemy. Usually an advantage in numbers, health or presence of the higher leveled champions are the most useful in determining the power of a lane. A good time to push the tower is after a successful gank or skirmish, when the enemy champions protecting the lane are weak or dead, and all the pushing champions are there already. Things to take into account:

• How quick the minion wave can be pushed to the tower
• How quick the tower can be taken down (usually physical champions take towers down faster, as most spells don't affect them
• Whether it is possible to tower-dive and kill one of the enemy champions in lane (it is important to note that enemies with disables are able to take a small amount of damage and then disable their attacker, causing the turret to start attacking him)
• How many enemy/ally champions can reach the lane in what time and weaken/strengthen the push
• Which champions could die if the enemy defenders focused them (these champions shouldn't push and should NOT be accounted for when determining the pushing power)

In our example, let's say we killed Taric, forced Irelia back and Shen is at half health. Our Sivir, Janna, Jarvan and Amumu are all relatively high. The pushers now attempt to clear the minion waves as quick as possible, while the enemy Shen's goal is to buy his team some time to get there and help him defend. Also important to note is that Shen has a taunt, therefore even if the pushing team avoids damaging Shen, his taunt will cause the turret to attack one of our champions, and combined with the summoner spells Fortify and Exhaust (both common choices for Shen), even getting a kill. Also, fortify can be used when our team has fully committed to the turret, to give Shen another 8 seconds, as well as help kill the minion wave quicker.

Sivir and Jarvan are both physical attackers, who are usually faster at pushing lanes. Sivir hasn't used her ultimate yet, and Jarvan's Demacian Standard is also a team aura, and combined with Janna's Eye of the Storm (which gives Attack Damage) the tower is likely to fall. The enemy LeBlanc has already started returning mid when the skirmish started, and is now trying to reach bottom lane fast, and save the tower. However, even with the combined enemy efforts, the bottom turret is destroyed (for the purpose of advancing this page quickly and covering the main aspects in as little words possible).

Dragon

The Dragon is a Neutral camp located by the river near the bottom turrets; it located on the left side of the river (closer to the blue team), but the entrance is facing the purple side. The Dragon gives 190 global Gold when killed, meaning that every member of the killing team receives gold. The gold reward is roughly equal to 2 minion waves for every member of the team, and is slightly higher than destroying a tower. That being said, it is obvious that the Dragon should be killed as soon as possible as much as possible, to get an extreme early advantage. With different champions and teams, it is possible to kill the dragon at very low levels. However, usually the goal is to gather the whole team, or at least be sure that the whole enemy team can't reach dragon in time, if they had warded it. In our example, we know two enemies are in the bottom lane (LeBlanc and Shen, Shen has to recall). They have Ashe on top, visible, and 2 of them missing (Taric and Irelia, both went to base, one by death and the other recalled). Shen has used his ultimate not too long ago, and it is still on cooldown; and they also don't have many summoner teleports available. Our 4 pushers are all still relatively high on health, and as they are already gathered after the push, it is an ideal occasion (if the enemy team had been smarter, they would have moved most of their forces to bottom lane, and this couldn't happen). With dragon, usually each attacker just uses all his spells (preferably the ones with lower cooldowns) and autoattacks him the rest of the time. Our Janna also shields our lower-health team-members, to keep them safer (also to increase their DPS). Attempting dragon now would be risky, but let's just illustrate what would happen:

The Dragon is engaged and although Ashe has gone missing, she can't reach in time. Since her Enchanted Frost Arrow is a global spell, a 4v4 fight would be slightly tipped in favor of the enemies. Anivia also starts moving bottom, and as we take down the dragon, the enemies attack us (the term "gank" is not quite correct, as it's more of a skirmish, but skirmishes usually happen in lane). As Ashe is going to fire her arrow, we know we are unlikely to win this fight. The enemy LeBlanc dashes through the wall with her {{ai|Distortion|LeBlanc and attempts to chain an enemy, and is closely followed by Shen, who taunts everyone he hit. Irelia jumps against our Janna and her Equilibrium Strike only slows her, as Irelia's health percentage is higher than Janna's. Ashe's arrow also hits, and combined with Taric's stun the enemies kill Janna and proceed against our Sivir, who activated her Spell Shield and got away.

An ideal dragon would be one which wouldn't lead to any team deaths. Therefore this dragon would be a mistake and shouldn't be taken. However, if we see another enemy (Irelia) is visible and far away (and doesn't have any global transportation, e.g. teleport ready), it would be a 4v3, with the 3 enemies having Ashe's arrow as a bonus. However, the three of them would even with the arrow not be enough to kill us, therefore would be safe to go dragon. If they tried to engage us, they would have much weaker sustained damage, and after an initial burst of damage and disables by LeBlanc, Taric, Ashe's arrow and Shen, these 3 champions would soon fall to our powerful Sivir and Jarvan, even stronger with Janna's shield on them.

Teamfights

Up until now, the various outcomes of different situations were fairly predictable, and it was usually just a complete success or complete failure. However, with more spells, and more players involved, there are many outcomes possible, from complete failure to complete success for one side, but also, for instance, killing 3 enemies while losing 2 allies, the 2 of them escaping. Also, in teamfights, individual play is extremely important, and there are many facts to take into account; not only team presence, but focus, damage, positioning, what summoner spells or ultimates have or have not been used yet etc. That's why this guide will not contain any outcomes, just illustrate what who does when, and then include a series of possible activities to do after a teamfight had a certain outcome.

Teamfight scheme

In a teamfight, each champion has its own role, depending on the type of champion played. The goal of the tank is to soak up damage for the team, disable enemies and protect the squishy members from harm. The support's goal is to control the battlefield with its disables, heal teammates and shield the squishy members if the tanks can't. The Ranged DPS, or AD Carry usually stays in the back of the tank, dealing as much sustained damage as possible without dying, preferably targeting the squishy enemies first. The Mage, or AP Carry has to burst down the enemy squishy targets in a very short amount of time, or force them out of the fight. Finally, the Tanky DPS/Offtank is supposed to take some burden off the main tank, both taking damage and disabling enemies, but also attempting to destroy the enemy carries, surviving the enemy focus with their durability.

Ending tips, tactics, combo suggestions

While this guide may be somewhat relevant early levels because not many people know what they are doing, you won't see it like this once you're level 30 or in ranked play or in competetive play.

1) AD carry will ALWAYS be with the support bottom lane.. in some competetive (pro) matches you may see them go top to lane against the enemies solo top laner and its up to the opposing team to care to switch theirs up or not. You will be considered a troll in any regular game or ranked game if tell them you want to take ashe solo top... same as if you were to play irelia and ask to duo with the support bottom. Irelia is a solo top char, all ad carries are bottom with support.

2) There will ALWAYS be a jungler.. top doesn't want to share experience while the other top thrives.. you don't want the enemy jungler to have free reign in BOTH jungles for all buff's... It is just optimal to have a jungler and you will never see a level 30 match or a ranked match or pro teams play without a jungler at this point. If you happen to witness this, its either the start of a new meta era or they are going to lose horribly.

The typical match has:

solo top - any character you or your team would want that can survive and farm all by themselves.. it is that simple, it is the EASIEST lane to counter as there is such a vast selection of what can play up there... it is best to choose something that has plenty of sustain/tankyness if you HAVE to pick your champion before their top reveals its pick. Therefore you shouldn't first pick anivia to go top because you will feed and lose your lane during the laning phase. An example of a safe top pick is Yorick his natural tankyness and sustain and ability to harass through ghouls is ideal for most any foe. Another would be Jayce, although he has no sustain abilities he has the ability to be ranged or melee, thus being able to farm without risking being harassed by the enemy.. and he isn't too squishy. Alot of trial & error when it comes to this lane.

jungler - the description of jungler in this guide was pretty spot on.. you run the jungle early game, help ward, babysit lanes and gank when possible. Any character can do this.. but only a few can do it correctly.. like an ashe jungle would be complete failure and you would be a troll.. learn the champs that can do this role successfully, read guides and watch videos before you attempt this role.

mid - Usually the AP caster... guide had it pretty spot on .. in fact, you might even want to put your AD sirvir in the middle if they pick a LeBlanc simply because the shield sivir has and how powerful LeBlanc is and would become if it was able to feed on an anivia or other squishy caster.. that being mentioned ONLY sivir since she has the shield... for instance, if you had an ashe bottom with your support and you were mid and scared of LeBlanc ... do NOT ask the ashe to take your lane for you lol... you would melt way faster than an anivia would. Also in some cases, usually if you have an Ability Power based top and/or jungler it is not uncommon to see an AD assassin run the middle such as Talon simply because he is an assassin and will destroy most enemy ap casters with his gap closer/burst damage. Although that is not wise if your team is all AD, you will want to pick an AP to level it out so as the enemy team has to worry about getting magic resist as well as armor rather than just one or the other.

AD carry - usually a squishy ranged AD character such as the ones listed in the guide.. they will farm bottom with the security of the support by their side.. farming and farming and hopefully, with the help of the jungler or a kill-lane support, get a few early kills and an advantage over the enemy AD carry. If all goes well you will be feared late game.. if not you will be completely useless .. no damage and die instantly.. it happens, thats the importance of a good support and farming up early and not getting careless with positioning and getting ganked. Some games you see useless carries and sometimes they get ridicuously fed, I been in games when a Vayne would be able to kill the enemy tank in 3 hits due to snowballing hard early on and getting fed through ganks/farm.

support - Some are, by design, a support but to play this role it can be any charcter.. now adays you see AP mid casters playing support roles due to their utility such as Zyra and Fiddlesticks (although fiddle is more commonly seen as an AP jungler) you will see other junglers such as Nunu, have become very popular as a support. It just depends if the character synergizes well with your team and/or carry... you will ultimately be the deciding factor in what kind of lane bottom will be running early on and usually at the cost of utility late game. When playing support you will get the GP per 10 runes and items and buy the same basic aura items but when it comes to each characters skillsets it is different.. such as Blitzcrank is a popular support even though he has no sustain for him or the carry, he would make the duo bot a "kill lane" thus it will be a very aggressive lane aimed at getting kills or forcing the enemies to constantly return to base to heal.. giving you the edge. Regular supports like a Janna or Soraka will usually be more passive lanes, aimed at keeping the carry alive and unharmed so they can stay in lane longer and farm more.. ultimately looking towards late game rather than deciding everything early.

Kill lane>farm lane>poke lane>   The general triangle of bot duo's. This isn't set in stone and due to certain skills on supports/carries or their jungler helping anything goes.. it comes down to team play and individual skill but generally a kill lane will beat a farm lane (blitz>janna) because one hook would probably end janna's life if it was well cordinated.. if you play janna against a blitz you g2 be very careful and hope the blitzcrank is bad for you to not feed their carry :) Then a farm lane would beat out a poke lane, as a poke lane is aiming to constantly harass the enemy and slowly widdle down their health until they have to back or an opportunity for a kill presents itself, thus gaining advantage. An example of a poke would be the AP caster mentioned above, Zyra but lets stick to regular supports... so Lulu .. she can constantly Q the enemy team and then auto attack them, adding up in damage over time and becoming very annoying.. now this comp cannot work against a farm lane because they would be able to block the damage as it came or heal it back.. ultimately getting you nowhere.. although as the poke you will not LOSE the lane... you will just be bored and end up letting ur AD farm. A poke lane can however, beat a kill lane if played right.. because someone like blitzcrank has absolutely no sustain.. you can poke here and poke there, widdling them down little by little and they will be in a position to RISK deaths to try one of their "kill" plays or just have to back constantly.. either way you have an advantage.