Welcome to the Advanced Tactics article. This article details some of the more advanced maneuvers in League of Legends.
Using Brush – Because your enemies have no idea which way you’re heading after entering a patch of brush, you can use it to escape your enemies in odd ways. Often, they will expect you to run down the length of the brush, enabling you to stand still until they have passed you. Brush may allow you to lead into certain invisibility skills, like Twitch’s Ambush or Akali’s Smoke Bomb, darting from one patch of brush to another, or simply to stop taking damage while your stealth activates. Escape Spells – Some abilities, like Sivir’s Spell Shield, may be used to escape from enemies with disables. When facing a champion like Annie while being ganked, you should wait for Energize to be ready, so that you block the stun with Spell Shield as opposed to a random nuke. You can dodge spells the same way with the summoner spell Flash: Wait for a disabling nuke to be launched, and dodge it. When to Recall – Depending on the location of your enemies, you may decide that using Recall will be a safer choice than running to a safe location. Typically, your best choice is to Recall while in a patch of brush, because your enemies won’t be able to interrupt it without first closing the distance.
Harassment - The choice between last hitting minions and harassing enemy champions can be difficult. Some important considerations are: Enemy health regeneration, mana efficiency, and range. Annie for example has exceptional damage output by level 6. However, she has to whittle her target down to roughly 1/2 or 3/4 health before she can kill him. Starting her harassment at around level 4 will open the door for an early kill as she levels up. What is Zoning? – Zoning is the practice of forcing your opponent far away from the minions, causing him to miss out on gold and/or experience. How do I Zone? – Certain champions, especially those who can heal themselves, like Nidalee or Soraka, simply have to push up to a location where they can damage the enemy without taking backlash from opposing minions. Any damage taken can quickly be healed and the process can be repeated. Of particular interest is using the brush. For example, if Nidalee is against Ashe at the top lane on Summoner’s Rift, Nidalee only has to sit at the edge of the brush and attack Ashe when she gets close. Ashe has no way of consistently poking at, or initiating on, Nidalee while she sits there, giving a position and durability advantage to Nidalee, thus zoning Ashe.
Recall Baiting – While in lane, using Recall at inopportune times can force your opponents to throw spells at you unnecessarily. Because Recall takes 8 seconds and is canceled by damage, it’s often easy for an enemy to cancel Recall, and they will be glad to do so. By casting Recall when you don’t need to, you can bait enemies into wasting mana and cooldowns. Epic Monster Baiting – If your opponents don’t have any wards nearby, you can make it painfully “obvious” that your team is attempting to kill a high-value epic monster like Baron Nashor on Summoner’s Rift. In truth, sitting in a brush patch on the way to Baron will allow you to initiate on enemies who aren’t in position to fight, netting a few quick kills before they wise up.
Scouting Brush – While it’s never a good idea to check unexplored patches of brush with your face, most skill shots can be used to find un-revealed enemies. Ezreal’s Mystic Shot, for example, lowers all of his cooldowns by 1 second if it hits an enemy. Firing Mystic Shot into a brush and watching your HUD will tell you if it crossed paths with an enemy. Dr. Mundo’s Infected Cleaver makes loud splashing sounds when it hits an enemy. Morgana’s Dark Binding has exceptionally long range. As you watch the projectile in the fog of war, seeing it suddenly stop short will tell you it has hit an enemy. Predictions – Because skill shots target the ground as opposed to enemies, you have to predict where your enemies are headed when you cast them. This can be a hindrance if the enemy you wish to hit is hidden behind minions, but in certain cases will allow you to hit enemies completely blind and behind barriers. Hold your shot – Skilled enemies will know the cooldown and range of your skill shots. By holding on to your spells a few extra seconds, you can cause enemies to “juke” the spell even when it isn’t coming. This deception can allow you to close distance with them as they dance back and forth. The need to hold onto your skill shot is compounded by laning with another skill shot wielding teammate. For example at Blitzcrank you should always let a friendly Morgana fire first. Her Dark Binding has a faster casting time and projectile speed. Once the opponent is rooted by the spell, Rocket Grab will be easy to land.