Detailed guide on how to play with a solo lane split pusher (from a top laners experience)
Hello folks, I am here to go over one of the most poloraizing strategies solo queue has: split pushing. As a top lane main for 5 seasons, I have found that split pushing is one of the most effective ways to win a game regardless of your teams standing - whether you're ahead, even or behind; when done correctly, split pushing is a very difficult style of play to defend in solo queue. However, that's not to say that it's the only strategy a top laner has but for melee non tanks, it often is one of the best ways to play.
In short, split pushing is hard. Sure, you can look at it as if the split pusher really does nothing but stays in lane perpetually, even to a fault. And while the split pusher faces some challenges, the truth is, split pushing is often difficult for the team, not the split pusher themselves. For one, having a comp that can successfully split push often requires some form of reliable wave clear from safe range, disengage or engage and the split pusher actually being in position where it requires more than 1 champion to defend them. So, there's a lot that can go wrong before split pushing even starts and often times, if these conditions aren't meant, it's probably best to focus on grouping a bit more than split pushing from the split pushers perspective. What I'll address from here on out is how to play with a split pusher when one or more of these conditions are met.
What's the goal of a split pusher? It's to get strong enough that I can't actually be dealt with in a 1-on-1 situation. This often can be a natural scaler like Jax, Tryndamere, Nasus, Yasuo or Fiora. This can be a snowball heavy champ like Pantheon, Renekton, Riven, etc. Regardless of who you play, the same idea holds true: it will take more than 1 guy to defend me, even under tower.
I take this pressure, and I apply it by pushing my lane. My goals are to establish vision on my side of the map so we can have vision of enemies who collapse on me. What I need from my team is that when I do this, you're pressuring an objective, another lane or gaining vision control on the opposite side of the map to gain objective control. I don't want to brainlessly push and just die, don't let it confuse you: that's not split pushing. I want to pressure, back off safely, pressure and either rotate to my team through teleport or roaming once I've shoved the enemy in hard enough to force unbalanced skirmishes that favor us in the form of potentially taking a tower or objective. This puts the enemy in position to pick between losing large amounts of cs/experience by rotating with me and if the wave I push is slow pushed, it can often take a tower by itself. So if the enemy rotates with me, they stand to lose a lot. This is the methodical goal of split pushing, to slowly drain the enemy of any realistic opportunity of answering a rotation. And if nobody helps the enemy, I will simply dive them and take towers by myself.
This sounds easy but it's not. I cannot tell you how many times my teams engage or get engaged upon when I'm splitting. And when I say getting engaged upon, I mean hovering too close to the enemies while I'm establishing pressure and that's often the biggest downfall of split pushing - timing. Stay out of range of engagement while I split. Once I've established clear pressure where they either have to answer me by collapsing or diving you guys/engaging on you guys, we have the advantage to control where this fight goes. If they engage, I will teleport but I need to see an engage or dive on their part that will be easily telegraphed - not one of you just walking up, getting picked and dying; I can't teleport or respond to that. You've put our entire win condition in jeporady.
This is why communicating, understanding what split pushers do and playing safely back are so crucial for a split pusher to be successful. We aren't perfect either, I often find myself overstaying in lane, pushing when I shouldn't and not grouping when I should - that's why communication is key. Talk to me so I can get a grasp of what you guys want. Ideally, as a split pusher I don't want to group to make you feel better because grouping often takes away my strengths as a champion. But if it's what must be done to avoid throws, then so be it. But understand that comes at a cost of sacrificing my strengths and carry potential. I prefer these unbalanced splits because it puts me in a position to flank, get picks and create chaos on the enemy's side of the map and this is where melee fighters thrive. So please, understand my plight and be willing to work with me. Next time, if you consider what I've said, you'll have an easier time working with a split pusher. It's not easy and I know it's asking a lot from you guys, but I promise it works beautifully when executed properly.
Tl;dr - work and communicate with the split pusher. Don't get engaged on, stay back and wave clear and pressure safely accordingly. Don't suicide for pressure, it doesn't help me as a split pusher when you die. Sometimes it can work but that's not a preferred style of play because you give up a lot when you suicide. Thanks!
