[Guide] Basic Strategy (Part 2!)
####Last Update: 4/11/14
Hello and welcome to my weekly [Guide] post. This the third installment of my work towards a collection of guides to League. I am just a friendly Gold-level ranked player who has a decent amount of experience (time spent) in this great game and I can safely say I've picked up a few tricks along the way. I hope you as a reader learn something from reading this and/or comment below with feedback and suggestions to make it even better! Enjoy! (Poll below for next guide!)
Pre-30 player? Welcome! Glad to see you're already looking through the forums! This post may confuse you more than help if you're not already experienced with MOBA's. Try starting on my League Basics guide if you want a lighter (and much shorter) list of basic skills to learn, in-game terms, etc.
Don’t like my guides? While I am trying my best I completely understand if you would like something else, so why not try the guides I started from myself at Mobafire.com? But please be sure to tell me what I can improve on before you go! :)
Part 1:
1)What do you mean, Strategy?
2)Roles
3)Team Compositions
4)Counters
5)Laning Phase
###6)Teamfighting
###7)Map Awareness
###8)Objectives
###9)Morale
#6. http://i.imgur.com/DuM4eUu.png Teamfighting
Here is where the chaos truly begins. A teamfight is pretty self-explanatory but just in case, it’s anytime a majority of both teams dedicates themselves into a fight for an all or nothing engagement. Individual skill is very important in a teamfight, but even more so is keeping a cool head. There are several things to consider to make sure you know what you’re doing when everything goes crazy and also so you know whether you did your job or not.
#####Fear 
Do not be afraid to die for your team. If you are a tank, support, or a fighter then you are much more readily disposable. Simple truth. That doesn't mean throw your life away meaninglessly but it means you have to be ready to die for your carries so they can clean up, get you assists and win the game.
#####Initiation 
Initiation is almost always where a teamfight is won or lost. The aggressing team has one or maybe two champs that have what’s called a strong initiation, some form of gap closer or cc that allow them to jump your team and force them to fight.** A good initiate can be the difference between an ace for you or an ace for them**. This job is reserved for tanks, supports with grabs, fighters and cc ults like Varus R or Ashe R. A good initiation will put their team in a bad spot, allow you and your team to lockdown one or more of their carries. But before you even think about initiating have your team within easy engagement range. I cannot tell you how many people use Maokai or Pantheon to initiate a mile away from his team, allowing the enemy team to burst them down before their team can do anything. Think before you leap!
#####Wombo combo/Chain CC 
This is a fanciful phrase meaning a chained together combos of cc and damage that screws over either one specific person or an entire team because they simply cannot retaliate. A good example would be Malphite ult + Orianna ult, or Amumu ult + MF ult. These are things to consider both against and for you. If you can bait one their ults or take half of that combo down before they can do anything then they have lost an amazing weapon.
Catalysts: A personal term of mine, catalysts are abilities that can be easily chained with someone else’s for a well executed wombo combo. Many factors can be looked at, but the main one is how easy it is to “place” the cc where a teammates’ cc went as well. Wombo combos only work if your cc is right behind the first or vice versa. List of Catalysts is currently in progress.
#####Targets 
This is why you’re fighting, to get the other team’s champions, and the best way to do this is to realize your place. If you are a fighter or assassin then you will almost always be going for the squishy targets. If you are a support, tank or mage you will be probably be going for groupings of enemies to more efficiently use your cc and AoE damage. Or you may have to group with your team and make sure your damage dealers stay alive.
####You are ONE of FIVE, what can you do to best help your odds? What options are available to you at that very second?
#7. http://i.imgur.com/981fuY2.png Map Awareness
#####Warding is key here, while also being a basic skill.
“NO MIA”, “MIA WHERE?!?”. Sound familiar? We’ve all been there, where a champion simply came out of nowhere and ruined your carefully laid out plans. Mia’s are very useful tools for an otherwise communication lacking solo que. I also will say this is a perfect example of Map Awareness: the ability to function with your champ while simultaneously watching the map for information as well as giving it out. Map awareness is the single most potent weapon in any level of play. Your skills may not be god tier, your build may not be the absolute best, but if you can be in the right place at the right time consistently then you can crush your way up to Gold and higher. If you can keep your eye on most of the enemy team as well as keeping jungle rotations and what lanes are pushing at what time while still having perfect farm and zoning, then congrats you should be Diamond in no time. Being realistic, I don’t expect you to do all of this. But there are some individual things you can look out for.
#####Jungler sightings
Did the enemy jungler just appear bot lane while your top? Pressure your laning opponent! Anytime a jungler appears somewhere in laning phase make sure to react in some way, either by pressuring somewhere else or by reinforcing the lane he/she is ganking if you’re nearby.
#####Jungle rotation
Buffs are important. If you managed to get LoS of a buff when it's dead you can see when it respawns whether you continue to have LoS or not. When a jungle tries to give his mid blue, for example, they might be vulnerable either to a buff steal or simply being killed in their jungle, and it’s relatively easy to know when this will happen if you keep your eyes open.
#####Objective taking
Late game? Enemy jungle is bot lane farming? TAKE BARON. By the time he’s there to try to steal Baron will be dead, and more than likely his team won’t contest because it will be a 4v5. Assuming it’s an even game of course. Same can go for turrets, watch out for any and all opportunities.
#####Counter-counter jungling
Keep an eye on your own jungle! If your jungler gets jumped both adjacent lanes need to collapse to (best case scenario) save your jungler’s life or (worst case) at least pick up a kill and double buff. That won’t happen unless you have one eye on the mini-map at all times!
####Map Awareness may be a self-explanatory and potent weapon, but it’s useless unless you act on it, and act on it quick. Your decision making will get better and faster with practice, however, don’t worry.
#8. http://i.imgur.com/Lb9nPsW.png Objectives
Objectives are the point of the game. YES YOU HEARD ME RIGHT, OBJECTIVES, NOT KILLS. These can range from Turrets and Inhibitors to Baron and Dragon. Anything that will benefit your entire team will progress you closer to a victory. Baron and Dragon are pretty self explanatory, but as turrets go there are 3 basic strategies to taking these down.
#####Split-pushing 
Probably the easiest strategy of the three. You have 4 people push one lane and your best duelist (1v1 champ) on your team to push another lane. When this happens the defending team has only a few options. They could rush your one of the pushing forces or split their team, which (if done right) will be in your favor. If your 4 can hold their own against their 5, then split-pushing will usually work if you keep doing it. The goal is to push until an inhibitor is down, then the lane can push itself.
#####Sieging 
This only works with a very very poke heavy team, or just having a good Nidalee. This is where you push to a turret and keep poking until someone has to recall or is so low you can kill them instantly. The counter to this is starting the fight early, before they have time to poke you down. Poke heavy teams comps are disastrously bad at teamfights once the distance is closed.
#####Diving 
This is the most difficult in my opinion. Diving focuses on one major thing, having a very tanky teammate. This tank has to rush under a turret and make sure to attack someone to grab turret aggro. Once that happens your team can rush in like there isn’t a turret there, as long as your friend is tanky enough. Alistar is infamously good at this with his ult.
#9. http://i.imgur.com/YyS6R9N.png Morale
This is the most important thing for your team. You. Must. Be. Having. Fun. Frustrated players will always have a bad time, even if they win. If your team is focused and smiling they will do infinitely better than raging paranoids, simply because when (not if) a mistake is made, happier teammates will fixate on it less and keep their heads in the game. The same cannot be said for someone who will flip a shit if you had a bad initiate. Anytime your team is having a bad time if they continue to do so then they will very likely make more mistakes, creating more stress, starting a vicious cycle. There are two easy ways to stop this before it’s a problem.
#####Be Positive, Be a Leader 
You are never down and out, There is always a chance. Don’t be annoying about it but be supportive of your team! Equal parts good skill and good leadership can go so very far in a competitive game like League. Lead by example and make sure your team believes both in you and themselves. Sappy I know, but trust me, it works. Sometimes you do have to surrender, sometimes early game was just too harsh, but always be sure that your team feels better than when they started win or lose.
#####Admit your own mistakes so they can too
Make sure if you know you messed up, admit it. Everyone makes mistakes, and everyone will continue to do so, even professionals. You’re not perfect, have some self-respect and admit it. Not only does this stop most flaming in advance, but also makes it much easier for other people on your team to also admit they screwed up. Admitting a mistake is a legitimate strategic advantage, because if you admit it everyone, including yourself, will be a lot more cautious not making the same mistake.
####Attitude is just as important as skill, as it will define how you approach mistakes made by your team and yourself. It’s easier to learn and improve when your team is having fun.
Well that’s it for part 2, and the entire Basic Strategy guide! Same as any of my other posts, if I wasn’t clear and/or just plain wrong on anything don’t hesitate to say so! I appreciate constructive feedback of any kind and I will fully admit to not being perfect. Have a question? Post those too! I will happily answer any question to the best of my ability :).
