Any unique strategies to work on map awareness?

LilYonsan·11/6/2013, 10:08:21 PM·1 votes·286 views

Let me start this by saying that when I play League, not only do I try to have fun with it, but I always try to take something out of each game. I try to LEARN.

Recently one of these changes was to work on my weakest role, adc, and to improve my csing as a whole. I've seen a lot of improvement on that, but now I realize that my map awareness is getting me in a lot of trouble (to the point where it throws a game).

Now when I say map awareness, let me make sure that ya'll know. Wards are not a problem. In fact, wards are the least of the problem, it's more like my stupid ass not paying attention to the damn map and who's mia and not mia at all times.

Are there any other gametypes, or champions, or unique strategies that have taught some of you how to do really well in game while still having your eyes on the map at all times?

6 Comments

eKatSS11/6/2013, 10:19:29 PM1 votes

Try and make a point to know where every enemy champion is when you go for cs. But even then, this is a team game, so mention to your mid laner and support that you want pings when there are mias; all the help you can get is good.

Whenever you push your lane past the midpoint between towers, check for enemies (possible enemy jungler, mid laner's position/hp, etc.). Same goes with your side lane bushes.

Like all things, it's practice that makes perfect.

Sona heals ftw11/7/2013, 6:28:33 PM1 votes

Well, I queue with my husband a lot of the time. Many times he will go adc, and I'm his support. He has 14% map awareness..and that's being generous. We sit 4 feet apart and I still have to ping and yell. I am an avid warder. I keep tabs (haha, get that? TABS) on all our team and the enemys items, stacks, cs, locations, etc. I try to convey what I know as well as I can.

There are so many times that my map awareness has substituted for his lack thereof. So maybe you would benefit from finding a duo queue partner to help you in lane. Get on Skype or TeamSpeak or whatever.

Just thoughts. I"m on most evenings after work, and as much as I can on weekends. Look me up and I'll queue with you.

Good luck! :)

TerrifiedApe11/7/2013, 9:13:23 PM1 votes

Its a pretty common adc issue, tbh the best you can do is get better at csing so you don't have to pay quite as much attention to it. Aside from that maybe glancing at the map to see if anyone is coming inbetween cs, looking around the actual playing area takes more time than a quick glance at the map.

iHeartMocha11/8/2013, 5:23:38 AM1 votes

Well, you say you need map awareness? I myself, am not a great League player. The only thing I know of is the game itself. For map awareness, I would definitely recommend wards first, but since you say that wards are no problem to you then we have to go deeper into the game.

Here are some ways for map awareness:

Always look at the mini-map time to time, as this is your greatest resource to locating enemies on a map, and both teams positioning.
If you are playing a champion with some kind of ability that can be spammed often, use it to your advantage to scout brushes instead of face-checking. (eg. 's Mystic Shot -Q- or 's Javelin Toss -Q-)
Always remind your team, and yourself to ping a "Missing Enemy" ping whenever you notice that a enemy champion is missing from the map. Especially if you are playing against a champion such as or . Doing this may lead your team to victory, making your whole team self-cautious of the map.
Some champions I would recommend while practicing map awareness would be ones with skill shots and "vision giving spells". (eg. ,,,and even )
Gametypes do not really make any difference in the regard that you are trying to improve your own map awareness, if I were you, I would stick to the Summoner's Rift.
Another thing I would like to mention is to watch/spectate some professional support/ADC players. These two players are usually the most consistent in checking brushes, warding and in general, map awareness. Especially since you are trying to become a better ADC.
Learn from your mistakes. Whenever I play League of Legends and someone gets ganked and dies, I usually would say "It's fine man.". But when things start to repeat over and over again? That's just not acceptable. Whenever someone ganks you, and you die, tell your support or even yourself go ward that area to prevent anymore ganks from places you are weaker at.
Communication. Similar to the point that I made earlier about the pings, you have to communicate with your team regardless of well...anything. This can really save your life.
If nothing is working for you, maybe you should go get a coach or another player who would pretty much force you to look at the mini-map and do other things to make your map awareness become sharper.

If I missed anything or you have any questions, feel free to reply this comment. I am open to anything.

-Dark Revelent

EarthMage11/8/2013, 3:29:50 PM1 votes

Heimerdinger Nerf