How to Play As/With a Split-Pusher
A lot of people think split pushing is an unviable solo venture: you leave your team and either take towers and inhibitors or you die. That way of thinking lacks so much game knowledge it's remarkable, so I'm here to tell you what actually happens and how you can make this work.
Why Split Push? I suppose we should go over when to employ this strategy first. Ask yourself this: if we group up, will we win a teamfight, and will it result in an objective being taken? If everyone employs the patented Group Mid Till Someone Wins® technique that bronze players have been perfecting since the game's beta, which team will win? If you're behind, or up against a strong teamfighting comp, or even if there's only a 50/50 chance of success, then why are you trying to fight? It might be time to use one of the many other strategies available to a team in League of Legends, such as split pushing. Or perhaps their team just has a seige comp, making it difficult to push objectives. But the chances that they can split their siege power between two lanes is pretty minimal, so splitting becomes an effective way to break the seige. However it is important to realize that splitting becomes less effective the better your team is. If your team can win teamfights and their team is willing to try it anyway, then the fastest way to end the game is to group up. Splitting can stall out the game and potentially throw the game.
Who Should be Splitting? It's also important for the right person to be splitting. If Jax goes his team has both carries, the support, and hopefully a tank with them to dissuade an engage from the enemy, and anyone who tries to kill him will be in for a tough fight. If Ashe goes her team is missing the ADC which is a free win for the enemy, and almost anyone can kill her easily. The splitter needs to have decent wave clear and either have good dueling capabilities or good escapes. It's also great for the person splitting to have teleport, so that they can join a fight if it happens. That's why top laners should stay top all game, because they can come to your aid anyway (unless you're too greedy and took ignite, in which case unless you're Rammus or Hecarim just stay with the team). It is not to group up then constantly tp away save your top turret from minions! At some point you have to let that go!
What Should the Splitter Do? Finally we get to the player input. A good split pusher needs to have good map awareness. If their entire team collapses on you without you having any idea you were in danger, then ya done goofed. If you're splitting and the entire team disappeared, you have about 5-15 seconds to back away, depending on the whos and wheres. This isn't Season 3 either; when you get to a turret, there's probably going to be someone standing there. People have gotten wise to split pushing. So when that happens, back off... until they leave. Wait about 5-10 seconds, maybe go take a nearby jungle champ, then go right back at it. I don't know why, but most people don't check for that. Keep an eye on dragon and Baron timers, though, especially with 6.9 coming in. Turrets are going to be tougher to kill, and dragons are going to be essential elements of the game. Your team will need you.
What Should The Team Do? The split pusher's team's job is simple: force the enemy to make a decision, and waste their time. If you go off into the jungle while your teammate is the only one on the map applying any pressure, you are the reason they got collapsed on by the entire enemy team. They see one person on the map, they go for that one person and lose nothing in return. But if your team is pushing bot and they're pushing top, it creates a problem. Who should their team go for? Should they go for the team? Then Udyr will take top turret(s). Should they go for Udyr? Then his team will take bot turret(s). Should they send the fed af Fiora to stop Udyr? If so they've created a giant weakness in their teamfight potential, and Udyr can simply run away from Fiora. Should they send Thresh to stop Udyr? It may slow him down, but in the end he will just ignore Thresh and without Thresh's CC and tank to help peel for the carries his team might just win that fight. Once again, it's a difficult decision, but if your team backs off then there is no decision, just a sitting duck. Now I like playing as/watching Udyr leading the entire enemy team on a tour of the Rift as much as the next guy, but it's not exactly helpful. Also, what if their team simply decides to engage on the 4v5? There's actually a couple strategies not many people know about called "disengaging" and "turtling". All you do is stop any attempt to fight. You can do anything you want as long as you don't die. A good split pusher left alone will make more progress than the entire enemy team facing off against a four man group. As long as no one dies, you'll win.
In Conclusion Now is it really that simple? Can you win any game simply by sending the right champ into a lane alone? No, there are a million different factors in every game, and no strategy is foolproof. But that includes the Group Mid Till Someone Wins® technique, so you should be open to it and do as much as possible to help it succeed.
