League of Legends is ultimately a game about objectives and knowing when to take those objectives is important. In this guide, we are going to look at a few different scenarios, and I will help you decide which objective to go for depending on the scenario. There are many opportunities for taking early objectives, so it is important to know what the best way is to optimize your situation. This guide mostly applies to Junglers, ADCs, Supports, and Top Laners. Sorry Mid mains, usually you just aren’t the ones leading an objective take.

The three main early objectives we are going to talk about are Dragon, Rift Herald, or Turret plates, and which scenarios leads to what objective.

Scenarios

Can You Pick Objectives Safely?

The first thing to look for is the opportunity to take an objective safely. More often than not these opportunities come from a pick, usually in a sidelane. From this pick, you have the decision of going for Turret gold, or either Rift Herald or Dragon, depending which lane got the kill. So how do we decide which is the “correct” play? The first question you should ask yourself after getting a kill in a sidelane is, “Where is the opposing Jungler?”

If you do not know, you should play it safe and try to find out before doing anything else. If you know they are on your side of the map, then it is usually safer to get Turret gold as long as you know the opposing Mid laner is not coming along with the Jungler to gank you. Never underestimate the worth of a few early Turret plates. After pushing in your wave and calling your jungler, then, with the right coordination, it makes sense to go for the epic monster. You will outnumber the enemy team here, so it should be relatively safe to take the monster without an additional fight.

As you see in this picture, blue side’s Jungler ganked for a kill Top lane. They then shoved in top and asked their Mid laner to shove and help as well to secure the Rift Herald.

Recall Advantage

Another way to pick up either Dragon or Rift Herald without bloodshed is to desync your recalls with your opposing laners. This is a great way to get an early advantage without having to get early kills. If you are a scaling team, this is especially what you want to look for. What you want to do if you see your opposing laner(s) recall, is instantly call your Jungler to either Dragon or Rift Herald to take it quickly before the other team has time to react. It is also important to try to shove your lane as quickly as possible because then the opposing team has to make the choice of contesting and losing out on farm or lose the objective. This can be risky because if you are not fast enough, the enemy team can get there with their freshly bought items and potentially catch you in a fight. However, you should secure a nice early objective, if you burn it quick enough and with the right vision control.

In this scenario, red side’s Bot lane just recalled at a bad time when their Jungler was top side. Blue quickly capitalizes on this by rotating to the dragon. Although this tactic relies more on your opponent messing up, it is important to realize when the opportunity occurs.

Jungler Advantage

Finally, you can attempt to secure early objectives by knowing the whereabouts of the enemy Jungler. For example, your Top Laner just died to a gank. If you are in control of your lane bot, you should call your Jungler and/or Mid laner to secure the Dragon. This works similarly for Top Laners and Rift Herald. If Dragon or Rift Herald is already down and this situation occurs, it makes sense to push harder into your lane for Turret plate gold or look for a dive. Although I did not mention dives earlier, they are an amazing way to get ahead (and demoralize your opponent), but they require a great deal of coordination as well as skill and are extremely risky. Don’t forget to always keep your eyes on the mini map. You never know when their Mid Laner might roam to kill you in the side lane.

Similarly to the last one, this situation relies on capitalizing on your opponents' mistakes. The only difficult part is the Bot and Mid lane has to try to shove in their waves in order to assist the Jungler. Although there is also a chance the Jungler can take it on their own, it is still very helpful to shove in your wave at this point.

Conclusion

As you can see, there are plenty of opportunities most teams miss in taking early objectives. In solo queue, if you are able to find these chances and take advantage of them, it is a great way for you and your team to build up an advantage or begin your comeback.