The Common Misconceptions Surrounding Carrying

I am just going to leave this here to help illustrate my points.

https://matchhistory.na.leagueoflegends.com/en/#match-details/NA1/3067149953/38503985?tab=overview

The match lasted very nearly an hour. I scored an S as Pyke support. I put down enemies as often as I could, warded where and when I could, and I did my best to stay alive and, to an extent, keep my allies alive. I scored the best KDA on the team, managed a decent CC score and vision score and damage score.

That said, I did not carry the match. After the better part of an hour, killing enemies accomplished negligible results for my team. We no longer needed gold. We just needed to end the match. I eventually used my surplus gold (after purchasing several eliixirs) to swap out my support item with a MoM because the opposing magic damage was why I had died the few times that I did. Any kkills after that was just me trying to put enemies into a time out corner and hope my allies would finally close the match.

Again, I did not carry the game. I was carried. I say this because towards the end of a long match, I felt completely useless to my team. I could continue putting down enemies, but as long as my allies remained incapable of making the most of the time I bought them, it did not matter. We very nearly lost despite having an enormous early lead on which my allies failed to capitalize. Had they managed a victory sooner then I could sit at my keyboard and honestly claim to have carried because, in that scenario, my allies would and should have made the most of the lead I granted them. A lead they threw away like garbage that both frustrated me and tested my patience.

I felt all my accomplishments and effort wasted and I begged and pleaded with my team to help me help them win. I explained to them that I could not win the game for them and that I had done nearly all I could do for them and that the rest was up to them and that I would do what little else I could do for them.

But I digress...

Carrying a match involves far more than simply putting the enemy down for a little while. It involves what you and your allies accomplish during the time that enemies are out that determines actual carrying.

Carrying involves creating a gold advantage for you and your allies and then making the most of it duriing the time that said gold advantage remains relevant.

Carrying involves taking advantage of the control you and your allies have established through the destruction of enemy structures as well as ward placement and enemy ward removal.

Carrying involves establishing and maintaining control over key jungle objectives including drake and baron, but it extends beyond that. If, in fact, your team has eliminated more turrets than the enemy team then carrying also involves securing enemy blue and red buff to deny the enemy team what, if any, remaining advantages they have at their disposal.

Carrying a match involves coordinating with your team and understanding the role of each champion on both sides (some champions have multiple roles and eventually settle into one per match).

Carrying does not involve having a KDA equal to or greater than the one I had in the above example. And no, I was not trying to show off to anyone. I never once BM'ed the opposing team in that match. I knew my job, my role, my part, and I played it to the best of my ability at the time. And it was not enough.

So know that if you or any ally manages some crazy high kill count at or towards the end of a match, it does not automatically mean you or that assassin ally of yours carried. It just means someone on your team, perhaps you, got multiple kills that may or may not have accomplished anything of value.