I know it sucks to fall behind in a game. It can feel like the game was decided before you even started, sometimes it feels like your team is just not on the same page, and sometimes, unfortunately, you or your teammates may just give up. What's important is to keep your head up, regroup, and pay attention to the state of the game. If you really care about the outcome of the game, you should be willing to do that. With that out of the way, once you decide you do want to win the game, what should you do?

Determine the Enemy Win Condition

How will the enemy team advance their lead? Is there a threshold that they can pass that will feel like you've surely lost? Do they have a strong team fight or split push? These are important questions you should ask yourself before the game has even started, but definitely when you're starting to fall behind. Once you can answer those questions, your best bet is to prevent them from reaching these points of no return. If they have a team that is good at split pushing, don't just match their split push, even if your team has good split push too, because whichever team is ahead will just win. So, if they have good split push, you need to force team fights, or look for picks when the enemy is rotating between lanes. By restructuring your strategy to minimize their strengths, the lead that the enemy has will also be minimal.

Determine Your Win Condition

If your team is winning, how would you play to maximize your strengths? Based on the state of the game, who on your team has the best late-game insurance (e.g., hyper carries like Vayne, Kassadin, Kayle, etc.)? Who on your team is the most fed? When you can develop goals to achieve to claw back into the game, the path forward becomes much clearer and much more manageable. As much as it is important to play to your win condition, remember, you must avoid playing to the enemy win condition at all costs (even if it is the same as yours), because they are already winning so they have the advantage.

Emphasize Vision

You will find that when you're behind in a game, it seems like the enemy just has vision in every single bush and you have one ward on the map if you're lucky. That needs to change. Work as a team to ward key areas that will help you minimize their win conditions, and maximize yours. For example, the enemy team has a great team fight composition, then make sure you're thinking about where they could be and avoid travelling blindly. A tip is to ward in places that are slightly less valuable because they are less likely to be removed by the enemy. In general, most players ward in bushes, and so players also use control wards and sweepers in bushes. Instead, try warding a camp in the jungle, or to the side of a lane. You may not see enemies, but with good coverage, a ward that doesn't see anything is almost as good as a ward that does, because it tells you that nothing is there, and it certainly, is better than a ward that is removed.

Be Gold Efficient

There are constantly waves of minions available to reap for gold. So do that. Avoid the NA mentality of ARAMing after 25 minutes. If no one is in the side lanes, there is no one to get the gold. Next, prioritize teammates who are more important to the win condition to funnel the gold into (e.g., hyper carries and players close to a power spike). Finally, remember to finish your items. Items are always most efficient when completely upgraded, so plan your times to buy to avoid having parts of two different items in your inventory and instead get one full item!

Strategize Around These Tasks

The tips above are great things to consider when attempting a comeback, however, they are only the basics. The second tier to the comeback is adding strategy to these tasks. It is good to have your hyper carry go to the side lane to catch a wave or two to get more gold, but it's even better to set up a pick in a bush in case the enemy tries to rotate onto your carry. Be creative and consider how you can force errors onto your enemy by communicating and playing cohesively.

Trust Your Teammates

Finally, on the note of communication and cohesive play, I understand that when you fall behind in your game, it rarely feels like your team is playing cohesively and just being outplayed. So to get your team on the same page, your job is to trust your teammates. Even if they have previously made bad calls, you either win as a team, or lose as a team, and if you want any chance at a comeback, you have to play together. So if someone signals that they are going in, you go in too. Trust each other and make sure your teammates know that you trust them. When players feel like their teammates don't trust them, they close themselves off and play like a lone wolf just trying to survive at any cost. Remind them that they are part of a collective and that you need to work together to win.

Conclusion

There is a lot to consider when you're behind in a game, but that doesn't make it worth the shot. The best games are often the toughest, so don't give up at a disadvantage, and do your best to fight hard until the nexus explodes.

Do your best and keep asking questions.

Good luck, Summoners!