'Sup y'all, Konduit here. I've been playing League of Legends for about 5 years now; during my second year of playing the game (back in 2013) I decided to really try and get better at the game to climb the solo queue ladder. Progress was slow, but I found a great deal of satisfaction in the journey of getting better. Some games I made simple mistakes and got absolutely stomped, but those were the games I arguably learned the most from. After each match, I wrote down some of the errors I made to better retain the information (a fantastic technique, by the way - transcribing things is proven to help memory retention) and now I've got several Evernote notes' worth of League tips to show you today.

I've edited these notes for clarity, readability, and to make them generally applicable instead of champion-specific (for an audience that isn't just myself), but basically all the principles noted are what I wrote down 3 years ago! Many of these points are pretty basic (and I've only selected the notes that can be applied generally), but I hope they'll be valuable to you and help polish your game. Without further ado, here are some of the common mistakes I made when learning the game, and which you should learn and avoid!

- When you've got a ward in your inventory (or I suppose a trinket in season 6), remember to place it and get the vision out. You're not safer just because the ward's in your inventory, remember to deploy it!

- Warding should be near first priority when coming back to lane - don't think that just because you just arrived means the jungler isn't already there waiting.

Map image from gaming.stackexchange.com

- Look at the minimap, look at the minimap, look at the minimap. Internalize it. Always be checking for jungler sightings and be predicting where he's going to be, or where he could be. Based on the matchup, this should give you more information about whether he is going to visit your lane.

- After the first death, consider prioritizing defensive items. Don't get tunneled into your offensive build just because you invested in it.

- If you continually get ganked, just play safer. This goes even for if you have a winning matchup. In the case where you have a natural laning advantage, you have to expect that the opposing jungler will predict this, camp your lane, and try to help his weaker laning teammate.

- When backing, be mindful of the other team's comp. If they have someone like Jayce or Nidalee who can pick you off from long range, make sure to back well inside your half of the map, or walk back to base.

- After coming back from a roam top/bot as a mid laner, be aware of the enemy mid/jungle intercepting you as you return to lane.

- Late game, be careful when trying to pick people off. Don't hard engage on someone even if you seen them alone without ward coverage, their whole team could be just behind them.

- Against an extremely dangerous lane opponent, don't give up kills. Even if you are 50~ CS down, the situation is manageable if you haven't died and kept up in levels. Sometimes, it's not even really worth trading. You've got to realize that giving up some CS can be OK in the big picture.

- Also, decide quickly whether you want to go back or stay. You should constantly be thinking about this. If you recall immediately after clearing the last wave, you can minimize the amount of CS that you miss.

- As a mage in the lategame, you need to play safe. You can't be in the frontlines very often - you have to be very careful about how you poke. Also, consider their team comp. If they have Ashe Arrow, Rumble Ult, and a shen that can taunt you from a distance, you better not be overextending to poke.

- When defending a tower/waveclearing, make sure to consider the possibility that they can walk up behind the tower and kill you. Late game, it is very rare that over-cautiousness is a detriment.

- When coming in late to a teamfight, even if the enemy team members are all low, remember they they still have a ton of abilities that can kill you. Don't go too hard for them, you may end up with absolutely nothing.

- As a support, try to stay alive as long as you can in teamfights. The longer you live, the more utility you have (auras, etc.). If you are going down, spam all of your stuff (active items, etc.) before you go down - this is very important, maximize what you can do given your lifespan.

- Don't go through sketchy areas of the jungle when the other team is strong and can roam without punishment. It is an unneccessary risk, and you'll more than likely die for it.

- When you're winning lane (keeping them pushed up, putting a lot of pressure down), they will call for their jungler's help. Expect this. Sometimes it's fine to just apply pressure, make them lose CS, and then back off and be safe.

- Even if you think the other support can't do anything while they're sitting in the bush, be safe and ward it, espcially vs supports with point and click cc abilities.

- If you're behind, make sure to stop dying. Don't get too far behind. If your team on the other side of the map is doing well, let them carry you to victory.

- Pay attention to the enemy jungler's gank patterns. If you notice the jungler is making his presence known across the map, be ready for ganks. You can't just be complacent in an even/winning lane.

- CS properly. This cannot in anyway be understated. Losing focus and motivation during the laning phase can result in you losing 20+ CS that you had for free. This is so critically important - even if you've died or been forced to flash because of a gank, focus on CS'ing properly and you may even be able to 1v1 the lane opponent. Don't lose focus during CS'ing.

- Rule of thumb - If it is free CS, take the safer method and wait for the minion to get to low health if you are unsure you can aggressively CS, as you may hit the minion too early.

- Make sure to check your teammate's ultimates to see if they're up before you want to make a play.

- Endgame, if you are pushed up to your base, don't go crazy to go and find farm. Play safe, sacrifice farm if it means staying alive in the lategame.

- Be wary if you've got a large creep wave coming to your tower and you're low. They other guy could dive you, intending to trade, and you'll lose all of that CS and xp!

That's all for today, I hope you enjoyed the article. If you'd like to discuss anything League, have comments/questions/feedback on this article, or just want to say hi, feel free to tweet me @k0nduit (with a zero instead of an 'o') and I'll get back to you. Until next time.

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