We’ve all been in that situation where all hope is lost and for whatever reason the enemy Akali is 17/0 at your Inhibitor. But let me tell you that hope is not lost and your game is still winnable! Here, I will break down precisely what it means to "be behind" and how to make a comback possible. Keep in mind that there will be those games that will be lost regardless of how well you play, but the goal of this guide is to improve the quality of those tough games and to increase your win rate.

What Defines “Behind”

Most of the time, falling behind occurs in the early game but will always be because of an enemy's proactivity or your team's inactivity. By that I mean using quick decision-making on a play that results in a player being dead or something of value being lost. That “something of value” can be boiled down into two things, Gold and Experience.

Gold is the currency used in game that allows you to purchase Items from the Shop at your base. You get Gold by it slowly generating over time, killing Minions, Monsters, Champions, and destroying enemy structures (Turrets and Inhibitors) or if you are Support than the Item you get at the start will provide quests as well. Having more Gold allows you to buy stronger items that will help you kill enemies more easily. Items are a core part of League of Legends as they give you stat buffs and unique abilities that can give you and edge over opponents. Less Gold means having a lack of stat buffs which then puts you in danger of death and, in turn, falling behind.

Experience allows your Champion to level up which gives you base stat gain or upgrades to abilities. The only way you can gain Experience is through being near or killing Minions, Monsters, and assisting in and slaying Champions. Why Experience is important because having these upgrades will also deal more damage and create playmaking opportunities. This then translates into taking objectives such as Turrets, Inhibitors, Epic Monsters (Dragon or Baron), and eventually winning the game.

A good indicator on how to track how far ahead in Gold and Experience an enemy is by keeping tabs on the Scoreboard. This shows everyone's builds, levels, how many Minions and Monsters they have killed, and each Dragon buff a team has. Paying attention to this can give you a good idea on where everyone stands and if they are ahead or behind.

If the enemy team has more Gold and Experience than yours, it can translate into so many more advantages such as vision control, objective control, lane priority (meaning that the minion wave is constantly at your Turret), and a large number of kills. It may sound impossible when all of that is against you but what is important to remember is that there will always be, at some point in the game, a possibility to comeback. Just as the enemy team did to snowball their advantage, the same can be done for your team later on in the game but victories like that are earned with hard work and patience.

Where to Start

Everything begins with having the right mindset. Comebacks don’t happen while you’re kicking and screaming in hopes of the team playing better because of it. It takes a calm and optimistic mind in order to really see what needs to be done. Once a positive outlook on the situation is accomplished, more options will open up in your mind that you wouldn’t see otherwise.

What to Focus On

Now that you have the right mindset, it is time to focus on what needs to be done. This is where a little something called macro gameplay comes in. You may have heard this word tossed around before by pros or shoutcasters, and it is because it is so crucially important to how you play League of Legends. Macro gameplay at its most basic form are the large decisions made for the end game goals. These large decisions take a bit of analysis of the enemy team and your own in order to understand who wins against who and when can you find a favorable matchup. Large decisions consist much of what was pointed out earlier but mainly on when to push, when to fight, and when to take objectives.

When it comes to playing from behind, the main focus should be keeping an eye on the Minimap and begin tracking the enemy team. It sounds basic at first, but it takes work to actually get down the enemy's pattern whether they be a Jungler, Support, or whoever. Make sure to use the smart pings to callout any potential threat regardless of how big or small it could be. Your teammates benefit regardless, because it keeps them more aware of what is going on and best case scenario can end up saving a life. Study that Minimap and make sure you know or have general idea where the enemy is before you make a big move.

Vision is also very crucial on how it is used in a comeback. The biggest mistake that can be made isn’t just not warding but inflating the map with wards in random spots when they serve no purpose. This goes back to the idea of tracking your opponents. Where ever they have the most activity is where you want to be warding. Also keep wards over objectives as well, since that is where the enemy will always play around. Keep an eye on the timers of each objective so you know when it’s safe to ward. Usually you want to be warding around the one minute mark. You could ward it earlier, but that gives the enemy team more time to clear the area. Warding too late will put you in danger of getting caught. Information like this is more directed towards support, but everyone can still buy Control Wards so there is no excuse overall.

Once you’ve gotten all of that taking care of, your main goals will be to push out lanes and look for the enemy team to make a mistake. You or your team always want to be clearing out lanes whenever possible. Before pushing too far outside of your half of the map, keep an eye out for the rest of the enemy team. For example, if your pushing top and see enemy Champions near Dragon or Bot side, that is your chance to push out top and clear minion waves to get Gold, Experience, and potentially a tower. The enemy team will also make plenty of mistakes even while ahead so, once they make them, that will be your opportunity to capitalize. These mistakes could be being greedy for a kill, overextending a fight, or pushing too far into your side of the map. Remember that numbers matter in this game and you can always find a way to overpower a fed Champion with teamwork. Capitalizing on an enemy’s mistake can lead to getting an objective you had no chance of getting beforehand or at least getting shutdown Gold from their bounty.

Finalizing the Comeback

Once your team has found its way back into the game, do not get careless and make the same mistakes the enemy did. Too often do teams even out the game just to blow it and a crucial point and lose anyways. The key thing to remember here is nothing really changes on how you should play other than you simply put out more pressure and move up your vision. Now it’s up to making the right call on whether to take a fight or go for Baron or Dragon. Maintain vision control and stay grouped to ensure a safe victory and a solid comeback.

Note that not all games are the same and there will be some extreme cases where you will need to think outside the box. These tips will help you through the majority of your games. Best of luck and see you on the Rift!

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