On Pushing and Freezing - Game Strategy

Essay #1

 So you probably know what pushing and freezing is, and maybe even when to do the former. Maybe you heard, maybe you saw, maybe you just figured that it would be advantageous to shove lane out before backing to deny your opponent that all-important CS and XP.

 One thing consistently not realized is the advantage gained by not pushing. You don't need complex mechanics to freeze at low ELO, since most players are going to shove mindlessly anyway. Let's say your ahead as a Riven, maybe 3/1 with a creep score lead of 30 or so. Your team is solidly ahead. (This is pretty much an ideal scenario, but it's a good example.) You're against a Jax and are worried about him outscaling you.

 Too many unskilled players in this very scenario just push the lane, it's what they have always done. I'll name several problems with this.

• Gives him easy csing. Yes, he will miss some to the tower but overall he's getting a lot more than he would if you had the wave pushing toward you or slowly pushing to him just outside your tower, with you standing in front of the wave to zone.

• Leaves you with little to do between waves, often leading to time-wasting and ineffective roams, while all the while Jax picks up all the farm he needs. As a Bronzie too often I would have nothing to do top so I would just go mid, accomplish nothing, take scuttle on the way back. In hindsight doing that was a huge waste of time.

• You are vulnerable to ganks. This "could" be good, if you ward up (trinket doesn't count) and waste the enemy junglers time. However only do this if you know you can escape the ganks, and your team is behind or taking an objective, you make a good distraction.

As for actually freezing, there are plenty of guides for that. I intend for this to be more of an informative notice about a common mistake. Note that while my example was for top, this is true of all lanes.

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