How to encourage team mates to ward

denipon·9/1/2014, 11:53:15 PM·9 votes·1,957 views

Hello all! Recently, Ive been wondering how can someone who plays predominantly support roles encourage their team to ward. It seems like people find having the warding trinket to enough for providing vision but, I definitely think that at times picking up one ward can really help your team have vision in parts of the map your support or jungler haven't been able to reach. I just have a hard time when I suggest that people ward and I get a response like, "Warding is the supports job." Any opinions on how to defuse the situation before it turns into a toxic conversation in game?

Buy a save a life!

18 Comments

Stephenizgod9/2/2014, 12:06:06 AM8 votes

I hate when people say warding is the supports job, we all have a trinket first off USE IT!! and second if you look at the pros play, the jungler and support buy a sightstone most of the time and there is always 5 vision wards per team on that map and at least 8-10 stealth wards... Vision is like the most important advantage to gain.

Miskatonic9/2/2014, 12:11:19 AM5 votes

I feel your pain. Even high gold, most of my games there will only ever be 2 pink wards on the map, usually from support (me) and jungle. Warding WAS the support's job, but with s4 it became everyone's job. Seems most summoners still havent caught on. 3 stealth wards aren't enough! I almost wish they'd lift the cap, I could light up the map like a christmas tree back in the day.

NateUK9/2/2014, 1:27:23 AM3 votes

As a previous main support, I know exactly how you feel & I sometimes used to try and duo with a friend who played mid or top, so I could get them to ward (Via teamspeak voice communication) As for random people you meet in a game, I just ask nicely if they wouldn't mind warding around, as it'll help them as much as the rest of the team, when it comes to counter ganks & knowing where their team is. If they chose not to pick up a ward & help the team, then there isn't really much you can do, without annoying said person, so I just leave them to it.

If they do die, then it's their own fault & they may end up warding after that happens..

But just be as nice as you can & explain how it'll help the team towards a victory, or even a come back, as I believe good vision can allow your team to fight back from, lets say, a 5k gold deficit, just by being able to get picks & knowing where the enemy team is at all times.

Keep the fight alive, you'll get it through to people eventually! item 2043

Pikmints9/2/2014, 1:51:31 AM2 votes

When it comes to stuff like the laning phase, I'm usually a little too busy managing my own lane to bother noticing if other lanes are warding. When mid-late game rolls around though, I'll take notice if the only wards placed are mine and say something like "trinket check". I never expect nor get a response, but I feel like it's a non-assertive way of reminding people that they have a free ward, and doing it when we have only my wards up incentivizes people to use their own to light up the mostly dark map.

As for anything else, I'll never remind people to buy stealth wards, but I used to remind people that since vision wards have no time limit, it can do some real good placing them in a friendly jungle bush.

YGW Caspie9/2/2014, 9:42:15 AM2 votes

I think this is turning into a discussion about warding being the support's job as opposed to finding ways to have your teammates help ward without being toxic. Although I do agree even in Plat many people don't ward aside from Support and Junglers.

I think the main thing is attitude especially in solo Q since most people in carry roles default to buying damage to carry and even if they have the money to buy wards on top of their damage they more often than not choose to save it. I see this happen quite often and it's really a mentality and different mindset of how you can carry. Supports should and mostly do know that vision is extremely important in winning a game and in fact most people know this but despite them knowing it decide not to buy wards themselves and instead default to buying damage and relying on their team to ward.

If you know you NEED vision then help PROVIDE vision. That's generally the way I see the game no matter what role I end up in. For example there is plenty of times where I'm mid lane and end up backing with 500 or so gold and I go what should I buy... should I buy an Amp. Tome and pots, or should I buy wards and I almost always place more emphasis on wards. 3 wards vs an Amp. Tome is the trade-off I decide to make because I know that those 3 wards are almost always more beneficial to the team rather than me having 20 more AP. This is just a small example obviously but you can see how many people would actually buy the Amp. Tome because hey it's more damage.

Vision control needs to be thought of in trade-offs. Wards for Damage is one example. Another example would be why swapping to a sweeper is almost always better just look at the trade-off. You can have 2 mins of vision for your team (assuming level 9) or a denial of 3 mins from the enemy team (assuming you sweep a real ward/sightstone ward) even if you sweep a trinket ward you still go even. If you don't sweep any wards you then trade the knowledge that the area you swept is clean and you can therefore make plays in that area.

As a community the mindset of how to carry solo Q games needs to change and when we all think of this game more strategically and how to win through vision and plays rather than brute force and damage then we will see more entertaining solo Q games and also less "Warding is the support's job."

As a note if you play a mid AP and you back with 500 gold around the mid game when you have a few core items already, next time think before you should buy because instead of Amp. Tome you can buy a blue elixir and 3 wards for 475 gold. Also as a whole to everyone if you have money to buy a ward and you have a slot to hold it then do so and if you're thinking about buying a cheap tier item that takes up that last slot so for example a cloth armor, think about the difference between 3 wards and 15 armor.

Crazycatperson9/2/2014, 2:17:17 AM2 votes

Another problem that bothers me is people that don't upgrade their trinket. Even if you don't want to spend gold, you should at least sell your warding totem for a sweeping lens or a scrying orb. Look at the LCS, do you see people that have a green trinket by 30 minutes?

Wullf9/2/2014, 6:44:40 AM2 votes

That is why I loved era before trinkets and sightstones. I could ward the whole map all by myself.

Mousekins9/4/2014, 1:55:16 AM1 votes

I began the game (a month ago) as support. When I'm the only one warding, having the 3 stealth ward limitation sucks. And the 1 vision ward limitation doesn't help much, as most people end up finding them and destroying them before the time is up anyways. When I moved to top and mid lanes, I found myself grabbing a few wards, and it has saved me from being ganked on more than one occasion. And, because I started as Support, I know how squishy they are (Lulu, Sona, and Nami to name a few squishables), so if I'm able to put a ward down where I know my support can't safely go at the moment, I'll throw one down. If you don't have a full build yet, it's not that big of a deal to spend 75/stealth ward to throw them down throughout the map. It really does help prevent ganks, or the enemy trying to sneak up to take a tower while "no one is paying attention." Everyone takes a warding trinket of sorts in the beginning, but most rarely actually use them. They're free, and only take a few seconds to place. You can even place one in passing, and the other team rarely catches on to what you're doing. Free Trinkets:: item 3340 >> item 3361 or item 3362 // item 3341 >> item 3364 // item 3342 >> item 3363 item 2044 is only 75, and you can hold up to 3 item 2043 is 100, and you can hold up to 2 item 2049 gives you 150 health, holds up to 4 charges at a time, and refills at the shop, and builds into item 2045 which gives you 400 health, holds up to 5 charges at a time, and is also refillable.

Patchy069/2/2014, 4:25:30 AM1 votes

i think like another way to encourage team warding would be a 10g bonus for "tagging" a enemy champion if it assists in a kill a mechanic like that couldnt be hard to make, have it tick off every so many seconds and cant be reapplied to a champion already marked by the ward if they dont leave the bush for 2 or 3 ticks? just a impromptu idea. feed back?

AbiwonKenabi9/2/2014, 5:21:44 PM1 votes

I know a Diamond mid main who is so used to buying wards, he bought a pink ward during a bot match simply out of habit. Seriously, if nothing else, buy a pink ward and put it in a high traffic area because denying vision can be just as important as providing it. Plus, your ward can last a long time.

So yeah, buy wards people. Diamond players do it. You should too. item 2044

AliceInMadness9/3/2014, 2:02:29 AM1 votes

Short answer: you can't.

Until people understand the value of vision, not just for the team, but for themselves too, warding will never catch on. When people think about warding, they always think about defending themselves from being ganked, instead of seeing the playmaking potential of catching someone off guard or objective control. Most of the times people dont even realize wards are up(until they die by a gank) or how they could use the provided vision to seek for advantages. The main reason people wont ward even If you suggest them to is because they first need to be able to use the vision and where to place it.

Most people dont even know good ward spots, and place their trinkets in the nearest brush where, when a gank comes, the information is too late. Or even better, they will push up but wont bother to place it at all.

The best you can do is ward either extremely defensively or offensively and ping for help if you spotv single champ invades or lonely jungle farming champions. Or just settle for keeping your wards up whereever and if they die and blame say " i have 3 up, ward yourself if you want more"

PS: im not a support main, but i enjoy the role and am an avid warding person no matter the role as long as i have slots.