Tips for not getting tunnel vision

Galewings·1/19/2015, 10:42:02 PM·2 votes·7,028 views

Hey guys,

Recently I've noticed that one of my bigger weaknesses as a player is that I get tunnel vision a lot, specially when I am in a solo lane. What happens is that between trying to last hit and trade/harass I sometimes forget about my surroundings. I always set up pink and green wards but when I focus so much on getting those low health minions or trying to hurt the enemy laner I completely forget the minimap and my surroundings and often get ganked and forced to burn summoners and go back or straight up killed. I set up as many wards as I can but it's kinda pointless at times when I don't bother looking at the minimap.

So I'm wondering if any of you guys have methods to counter the dreaded tunnel vision and micro manage tasks better. summoner 31

6 Comments

Mayor Stubbs1/19/2015, 10:51:34 PM4 votes

Looking at the minimap is something you will eventually start doing the more you play, keep using wards even if they seem pointless right now (since you dont look) because its a good habit to start doing early.

As for tips on not getting tunnel vision, I have two small tips that helped me.

  1. Don't commit to anything unless you know where the enemy jungler is. for example: You see the enemy jungler ganking bot, that means its safe for you to engage for ~ 30 sec window. If you don't have a pretty good idea where the jungler is, don't commit to a fight no matter how tempting it may seem.
  2. I personally climbed a lot by playing very passively. before level 6 I rarely even bother harassing the enemy laner and just focus on last hitting and avoiding HIS harass. I never bother poking at someone unless I am planning (and sure I can) all in/global someone within the next few seconds in which case I will get them down to about 70-75% health and within about 10-15 seconds all in and force them to back or get a kill with a strong combo.
Cale0171/19/2015, 11:07:41 PM4 votes

Learning to jungle is what helped me get better about this. I've always felt more comfortable being able to have oversight over a situation, probably from growing up playing games like Final Fantasy Tactics and Fire Emblem. Until I learned to jungle I would briefly glance at the mini map once in a great while, but not even the whole thing. I was basically using it just to check on my direct surroundings instead of seeing how the entire map was looking. Once I found my niche as a jungler, there was less pressure on me to be so focused with no lane opponent to deal with, so I got better about tracking all three of the lanes' positions and relative levels of mana when I could afford to look that closely, and at the very least I can keep a note of how my teammates are doing on CS compared to their lane opponents and, if they need some help, I can give them the breathing room they need to catch back up on farm.

Countering tunnel vision isn't really something that there are any finite tips which can solve for you. It's purely up to you to ensure that you're using everything you have available. Mechanically speaking, try and peek away from the main body of your screen anytime you're in relative safety during your laning phase. For instance, if you're up against someone who only has skillshots, and there's a minion wave between you and them, you can afford a few miliseconds to glance at your minimap and see where about your team is. Scroll around the map while you're backing in a safe position, and on your way back to lane keep an eye on things until you get to the point where you need to focus on yourself again.

Avoiding tunnel vision is all about stealing the small moments it takes to keep your relative field of vision expanded. After enough practice with it, tracking the game at a glance will become second nature. I'm so used to it at this point that I can, in less than a second, take in the positions of allies and enemies and the differences in CS/kills and assists to run a quick calculation on what lanes are ahead and what lanes need help so I know where to roam, and I can do all of this while still in lane.

When an enemy is going all in on you, don't worry so much about tunnel vision because that's when you NEED to be focused on yourself more than anything else. But if someone isn't pushing on you heavily, you should be able to spare half a second to check on your mini map.

Also, get used to reacting to your peripheral vision. Even if you're entirely focusing on your own immediate area, your eyes are still picking up on changes through your periphery whether it's on the main part of the screen or on your mini map. The human brain is a wonderful thing, and it's easy to underestimate just how much processing power we have. What might at first seem like it's just instinct or a funny feeling about a situation you're in is, more often than not, actually your mind trying to pull your attention to something you've passively noticed but aren't actively focusing on. When you see the blips of champion icons show up on your map, don't resist the urge to glance down. The quarter second it takes to look at the map to see what's going on isn't going to be the death of you in lane.

PimperGnome1/19/2015, 10:57:54 PM2 votes

I get the same way and I'm terrible at it still. Honestly I just started counting off in my head...every 5 CS killed or every new wave...I quick peek to the mini map...1...2...3...4...5.. peek. Only thing I could do to get it in my head to constantly be keeping your eyes moving. Another...might be to try warding deeper into river etc to give you that extra second or two you might need.

Also...learn to read "body language"...sounds dumb...but here's what I mean. It shouldn't take you more than 2-3 minutes against your opponent to learn his positioning tendency. When they break that tendency...it generally means a gank is coming. More often than not people will give it away my subconsciously doing the opposite of what they were before. They think doing so will help with the gank...but it accomplishes the opposite...here's what I mean.

You're mid and your opposing Ahri is going ape for the first five minutes like she's some teenage dweeb who has Yolo tattoo'd on her forehead. Suddenly she's playing passive and trying to pull you back...chances are their jungler is salivating in the brush. Similarly if you're playing top and somone hasn't been trading but now they're practically standing on your minion wave...they have backup trucking to them with multiple gap closers. Learn to read some classic baits and it will help.

AikidoLawnNinja1/20/2015, 5:29:24 PM1 votes

I came to League from Starcraft 2, where most of the game takes place on the minimap, so map awareness was not something I had to learn. In fact, I actually had to train myself to pay more attention to my champ in lane.

Want to get better at watching the map and being aware of your surroundings in League? Play Starcraft 2, where you'll lose every game if you don't set up vision and constantly watch for changes to the minimap.