An important lesson to learn is that League of Legends is a strategy game; not a fighting game. If everybody ran at each other, engaging into fights all the time without making smart, strategic decisions, every game would be a chaotic bloodbath. It is imperative that you match mechanical ability with smart decision making, otherwise your mechanical proficiency will be futile.

It’s okay not to fight

It takes a smart player, rather than a reckless and impulsive player, to stop, think and decide whether the fight you are about to engage in is a good one. Sometimes, avoiding fights is much smarter than starting fights. Aspects to consider are:

- Numbers advantage or disadvantage: starting a fight when you have a lower amount of teammates to fight with is obviously a bad decision. Even if your team lands a fantastic engage, or a lot of poke, the numbers disadvantage can overwhelm you. Similarly, if your team has a numbers advantage in a potential team fight, you should be looking to engage as quickly as possible; particularly in the late game, when winning one team fight can result in a victory.

- Power spikes: Power spikes occur throughout the game, and can be associated with levels, items and objectives. Respect the importance of power spikes - they are often the deciding factor in a team fight. For example, if the enemy Irelia, Kog Maw and Corki have just finished their Trinity Force, you should not be looking to engage. Alternatively, if you lose the race to level 2 in the bottom lane, you should not be looking to engage, as the increased stats and number of abilities to use will overpower you. Similarly, if your team is the team with the power spike, your team should be looking to engage in a team fight, or force objectives (such as Dragon or Towers) knowing if the enemy team try to stop you, your team can win the team fight

- Team comp: You should be playing around your team comp’s strengths. If you have an early-game focused comp (such as Lee Sin and Caitlyn), then you should be looking to fight and engage as much as possible in the early game, hoping to snowball your lead into a victory. If you have an late-game focused comp (such as Vayne and Orianna), you shouldn’t be looking to fight in the early game as you’ll be disadvantaged. Instead, you should be looking to prevent the enemy team from snowballing out of control. trading objectives as much as you can, and avoiding fights until the late game; patience is key! Analyse where your team comp’s strengths are and play accordingly.

Giving up objectives

Sometimes, the best decision is to let an objective go. You have to realise that some objectives are incontestable, and fighting for them will only put your team at a further disadvantage. Although it is possible that a crazy and reckless flash into the baron pit to try it steal it from the enemy jungler may work, most of the time, it isn’t and will leave your team a man down against a baron buffed enemy team. The smart play is to let the objective go, and realise it’s near impossible take it. instead of trying to defend or take an impossible objective, the key decision to make is to take a cross-map objective, trading it with the enemy team. Common trades are tier 1 towers in the bottom and mid lane, an early dragon for a tier 1 tower, and baron for an inhibitor. Deciding to take a cross map objective is much smarter and prevents the enemy team’s advantage from snowballing the game out of control.

Leaving teammates to die

Similarly to objectives, sometimes the best decision is to leave your teammates to die. Doing everything you can to save a teammate (for example, using items on them, using an ultimate to slow down the enemy team or speed up your teammate) can be futile: sometimes you have to accept they are dead, no matter what you do. It is a better decision to leave them to die, saving your ultimates, items and sometimes even your life; staying behind to save your teammate can sometimes lead you to your death, giving the enemy team a further advantage.

The important thing to remember when playing League is to stop and think whenever you're about to make a decision. Read the map, understand which team has the advantage, and considering your other options. Playing intelligently and strategically is the key to success.