On Summoners Rift, road maintenance is about map awareness, which is predominately about warding. I attempted some tutorial posts in the new player forum and was surprised when my 'profound' advice was ignored and my post quickly died. It woke me up to the fact that every player already knows that warding is important, it's just that few players do it.
In the excellent series Ult in 10 by ButButButILY, the host interviews Wickd, solo top player for Clg.eu, formerly of SK. The format involves watching a replay of a pro player while BBILY interviews the pro. Wickd played Irelia top and was purchasing tons of wards, placing them throughout the enemy jungle and at key choke points in river. When asked about it, he explained that it's worthwhile to buy wards as a solo because even though a support defers farming and kills, it still helps the team when a support can finish his build. It's also worth noting that if the support needs to stay in lane, he has very limited capacity to ward the top half of the map.
Watch a competitive game and it's immediately clear which team is winning; the team with wards all over the enemy jungle has established dominance and will dictate the pace of the game. Starving the enemy team by taking their buffs and controlling the big objectives will ensure victory. Moscow5, the new powerhouse out of EU, have consistently demonstrated their map control and these guys ward like crazy. For example, at the Kiev finals against SoloMid, they regularly placed as many as five wards on the dragon side of river in preparation for a dragon fight. They had nearly every brush and entrance covered. This kind of awareness allows for big plays, Alex on Galio was able to get his ult off on three enemy champs hiding in the floating bush in mid river. If most teams place two wards to cover themselves for dragon, then m5 is investing an additional 225 gold for the chance at getting 2-3 kills plus the dragon. When it succeeds they come out 1350 gold ahead (600 for kills, 950 for drag). When it fails they at least have a very clear picture of the river for the next few minutes which should allow them to lick their wounds and farm safely.
In conclusion, wards aren't just great in theory, they are absolutely essential for success at the highest level. One interesting trend I've noticed is that supports are buying more pink wards early in the game. This allows them to control the side bushes in lane, clear enemy wards to allow for ganks, and vie for dragon control.
Wickd on Ult In Ten
m5 vs TSM Kiev Grandfinals
It is amazing how many times the game becomes one of psychological warfare. Being on the receiving end of an oracles and fast movement speed makes it feel like no matter where you go outside of your base you will be jumped by 7 (there are more when you can not see them) of the enemy team. Watching the pro's like the last couple rumbles in Kieve, it seems like the turning point in most games is when one team or another starts to dominate the others vision. From my newb perspective I feel like even an enemy baron buff is more easily overcome.
ReplyDeleteOn another note, the few times I have played support for our little team I feel like the top half of the map is literally inaccessible for warding after protecting blue. I know warding is a team effort and the guys I play with are getting much better about it, but should I even worry about warding other areas before team fights have me roaming with other players?