II. Waging War

1. Sun Tzu said: In the operations of war, where there are in the field a thousand swift chariots, as many heavy chariots, and a hundred thousand mail-clad soldiers, with provisions enough to carry them a thousand LI, the expenditure at home and at the front, including entertainment of guests, small items such as glue and paint, and sums spent on chariots and armor, will reach the total of a thousand ounces of silver per day. Such is the cost of raising an army of 100,000 men.
1. It's expensive to maintain an army [not quite sure how this one's relevant =D].

2. When you engage in actual fighting, if victory is long in coming, then men's weapons will grow dull and their ardor will be damped. If you lay siege to a town, you will exhaust your strength.
2. A sustained push will leave you low on health and mana. If you siege a turret you will eventually have to back.

3-4. Again, if the campaign is protracted, the resources of the State will not be equal to the strain. Now, when your weapons are dulled, your ardor damped, your strength exhausted and your treasure spent, other chieftains will spring up to take advantage of your extremity. Then no man, however wise, will be able to avert the consequences that must ensue.
3-4. To reiterate, a long push will leave you weakened. When you are low on health and mana the enemy will capitalize by engaging you. Regardless of your ability you will not be able to stop the counterpush.

5. Thus, though we have heard of stupid haste in war, cleverness has never been seen associated with long delays.
5. A brilliant play should be executed quickly, though rushing into a situation unprepared can be foolish.

6-7. There is no instance of a country having benefited from prolonged warfare. It is only one who is thoroughly acquainted with the evils of war that can thoroughly understand the profitable way of carrying it on.
6. Experience will teach you the pain of letting a game drag on. [Not entirely applicable because you have infinite resources in game].

8. The skillful soldier does not raise a second levy, neither are his supply-wagons loaded more than twice.
8. A good summoner backs sparingly and lanes efficiently.

9. Bring war material with you from home, but forage on the enemy. Thus the army will have food enough for its needs.
9. Farm your lane and jungle well, but also deny your opponent by stealing his jungle and pushing creep into his tower. This is how you will finish your build.

10. Poverty of the State exchequer causes an army to be maintained by contributions from a distance. Contributing to maintain an army at a distance causes the people to be impoverished.
10. When you're underfarmed you'll be forced to back frequently, setting you further behind as you miss creep in the lane.

11-12. On the other hand, the proximity of an army causes prices to go up; and high prices cause the people's substance to be drained away. When their substance is drained away, the peasantry will be afflicted by heavy exactions.
11-12. When you turtle you will compete with your teammates for farm, starving the carries for xp and gold. This will put supports and junglers even further behind as they split xp and defer farm.

13-14. With this loss of substance and exhaustion of strength, the homes of the people will be stripped bare, and three-tenths of their income will be dissipated; while government expenses for broken chariots, worn-out horses, breast-plates and helmets, bows and arrows, spears and shields, protective mantles, draught-oxen and heavy wagons, will amount to four-tenths of its total revenue.
13-14. When this happens your team will fall behind, your jungle will be taken by your enemy. You'll fall further behind as you are forced to spend gold on wards and consumables.

15. Hence a wise general makes a point of foraging on the enemy. One cartload of the enemy's provisions is equivalent to twenty of one's own, and likewise a single PICUL of his provender is equivalent to twenty from one's own store.
15. A resourceful team starves the enemy by taking their buffs. A stolen buff is worth twice one's own, and denying creep through pushing waves into the enemy tower is very effective.

16. Now in order to kill the enemy, our men must be roused to anger; that there may be advantage from defeating the enemy, they must have their rewards.
16. Your team will get pumped when ganks are successful; carries should be rewarded with kills on a successful gank.

17. Therefore in chariot fighting, when ten or more chariots have been taken, those should be rewarded who took the first. Our own flags should be substituted for those of the enemy, and the chariots mingled and used in conjunction with ours. The captured soldiers should be kindly treated and kept.
17. In a teamfight the carries should get kills and map objectives should be taken when the fight is over. Feeding kills to your carry also rewards them with the enemy buffs. Be respectful to your opponents as you may queue up with them in the next match.

18-19. This is called, using the conquered foe to augment one's own strength. In war, then, let your great object be victory, not lengthy campaigns.
18-19. Snowball against your enemies by taking their jungle. Your goal should be to end the game quickly when you have momentum rather than letting the game drag. Focus on destroying the nexus and don't give your opponent a chance to come back.

20. Thus it may be known that the leader of armies is the arbiter of the people's fate, the man on whom it depends whether the nation shall be in peace or in peril.
It depends on the captain to lead his team to victory.


Sunzi (2009-10-04). The Art of War (Kindle Locations 575-635). Adams Media. Kindle Edition.