I.10c - METHOD AND DISCIPLINE - road maintenance

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

I.7,8 - Heaven and Earth

7. HEAVEN signifies night and day, cold and heat, times and seasons.

On Summoner's Rift this means awareness of buff timers, respawn times, death timers, and summoner cooldowns. Organized pro teams arrive a few seconds before the dragon respawns. They don't respond to the dragon symbol on the minimap, they prepare for it in advance. The jungler or support should type the respawn time in teamchat. Prepare for an upcoming dragon by pushing your lane, clearing enemy wards, ganking bottom or mid, and backing early enough to get back before it spawns.

When did your lane opponent last use his ultimate? Is his flash up? How long is the cooldown on your opponent's big spike damage. If morgana's snare is on cooldown can you get the jump on her before it's back? When is the jungler due for a gank? When will your opponents ward expire at bot? When will yours?

8. EARTH comprises distances, great and small; danger and security; open ground and narrow passes; the chances of life and death.

I've seen Xpecial, support for SoloMid skip buying a blasting wand to keep a slot open for wards. Map control represents the foundation of a winning team. Clairvoyance is required for the support (CV isn't as essential in solo queue since the cooldown got nerfed, but in competitive play it's still carried by almost every top team.)

• Pink wards are excellent.
• You collect 25 gold for killing an enemy ward, offsetting your cost
• Some portion of your opponents 75 gold is wasted because his ward is killed before it expired.
• The advantage of having your own ward up and destroying your opponents is considerable.
• Oracles are worthwhile when you are experienced enough to stay alive.
• You recover the cost by killing enemy wards
• Losing 400 gold when you die is like giving up another first blood (your team is now behind by 400 gold).
• Using cv to ensure you can safely check an area for wards is a good idea.
• Waiting 30 seconds for mias to return to lane before checking a dangerous spot for wards is a good idea.
• Sitting idly in the woods while waiting for a safe chance to ward sweep is great as long as your lane can handle itself while you are gone.
• The solo experience your carry receives is also excellent.
• If your ad carry cannot farm well while you are gone, place your wards and get back to the lane.

A team is dominated when it has no wards. It is fearful, forced to turtle, and cannot move decisively.
A team is dominating when wards cover the enemy jungle and map objectives. The enemies outer towers are down and they are turtling in their base. A dominating team manages buff timers and controls the pace of the game by maintaining pressure and not letting up. Games are won with map control; map control is established through wards, cv, taking down towers, and communication.