Improving Your Vision Control: How to Use Pink Wards

Headnote: I am a former Master Beta player (top 500 in beta) and am currently a Diamond 4 support main (still climbing, 75% recent games win rate). My tips are primarily based off analyzing LPL/LCK matches, and how top tier junglers and supports play the game.

SEE THIS: ?

THIS IS A PINK WARD. It has 5 ward health, is visible, can see invisible things, and lasts forever (or until it's killed or you put down a new one.)

I know bronze players don't know what that icon means, but if you're a Silver, Gold, or Plat player, you may have bought one in a game one time long ago.

Here's the problem, you only bought ONE. "wtf, OP, why should I buy more than one? It lasts forever, unless I put down a new one!"

Vision needs to be rotated just like champions do.

Setting up to dive a top lane outer tower? Your center of vision should be somewhere around their jungle -- with a pink either in river "pixel" brush or deep in the enemy jungle, and 2-3 sight wards in the jungle surrounding it, so you can see if anyone is coming to countergank the dive. But... wait, now it's time for Dragon to come up. I should leave that pink there, right?

WRONG

Now it's time to do the same thing on the opposite side of the map. You want your pinks to be placed somewhere that will either

• Reveal an enemy ward that may be spotting you as you set up
• Allow you to confirm enemy vision is not in a specific spot so you can ambush enemies as they approach the objective.
• Ensure vision starvation in important choke points or pathways so enemies will be less likely to take the best approach routes.

But, OP, I'm not a support, I don't have to ward, right?

WRONG AGAIN

Every player can place pink wards. And each player can only have one active at a time. In a best case scenario, every player on the team buys at least one pink ward per game. Solo laners can place them in a defensive position somewhere in your jungle to help keep you from being invaded, while the jungler/support focus on the aforementioned vision rotations to keep your team's center of vision around whatever major objective you want to contest next, whether it's an epic monster like dragon or baron, or even something smaller like red, blue, a tower, or simply just a pickoff deep in the enemy's jungle as they roam between lanes to answer your building side lane wave pressure.

OP, I can only place one Pink at a time, so I should only have one in my inventory, right?

WRONG AGAIN, SALLY

My rule of thumb as a support main is, "Always carry two pink wards in your inventory once you can afford to." After all, you never know when...

• The pink ward you had placed will die...you can't always base and go buy another one, because that leaves your team vulnerable to giving up objectives or being engaged upon.
• The one you had placed becomes obsolete -- behind the line of pressure your team had or on the opposite side of the map from your team's current objective focus. Your pinks should always try to be focused around wherever you want to play next.
• A teamfight will erupt, and the enemy team's main damage threat has a stealth mechanic (Vayne, Wukong, Shaco, just to name a few). Having a pink ward for team fighting and one for placing around vision control can ensure your team doesn't get outplayed by fkn hax invis noobs.

So, to summarize: BUY SOME MORE PINK WARDS, WIN MORE GAMES.

This message brought to you by Support Mains for a Brighter Tomorrow