The solo lane can be very difficult to figure out. You may find yourself unsure of what to build or how to play to your strengths during different parts of the game. These tips are meant to help you succeed in the laning phase, and help you transition nicely into the mid and late game.

Counterbuild Your Lane Opponent

Naturally, in the solo lane you are going to be fighting the enemy solo laner throughout the early game and into the mid game. With the new Season 5 changes and the new Conquest map, solo laners are going to be spending more time alone in lane, so counterbuilding against your lane opponent will be crucial to a good laning phase.

There are a few very obvious ways to counter your opponent. For example, if your lane opponent has healing in their kit, consider building early anti-heal. Another example is if your opponent has a knockup or push, consider buying an early Stone of Gaia. Efficient building like this will minimize your opponent’s effectiveness against you and allow you to have an easier time in lane.

At 2100 gold, Stone of Gaia provides a large amount of health, HP5, and a great passive against knockups and knockbacks

Outside of items that directly counter your opponent, you can also simply prioritize items that help you in lane for your first few items. For example, when playing Vamana against any other Warrior, it is a great idea to get Silver Breastplate (Tier 2 Breastplate of Valor) after Warrior Tabi. For only 950 gold, the Tier 2 Breastplate provides you early physical protection to help you sustain in lane against a physical opponent. Additionally, Vamana suffers from early mana issues since he needs at least two abilities to clear the wave in the very early game. The extra 200 mana and 10 MP5 help Vamana manage his mana issues and allow him to clear the wave and still have enough mana to deal damage to your opponent or clear a jungle buff.

When You Need To, Lose Lane Effectively

One of the biggest skills you can learn in the solo lane, and perhaps the hardest to learn, is how to lose lane effectively. Often times in the solo lane you want to clear waves and fight your opponent as much as possible, but you aren’t always going to be able to do that safely in a losing matchup. For example, many Guardians have the ability to be played in the solo lane, but the majority of the time those Guardians will be in a losing matchup against almost any Warrior, because of their lack of early clear in comparison to the Warrior.

As hard as it may be to convince yourself to lose your lane on purpose, it is essential to succeeding in lane matchups that do not favor you. The best thing to do in a losing matchup is simply play safe, let your opponent win lane for the first ten minutes or so, and clear waves from the safety of your tower. You will probably fall behind, but you can gain experience from helping your jungler, and ultimately you won’t fall as far behind as you would if you die trying to fight into a losing matchup.

Most of the time, when you are going to lose lane significantly, all you want to do is get to the late game anyway. For example, Amaterasu struggles in lane, but excels in late game teamfights. If you wait until you are at your strongest, you will still be able to have a large impact on the game.

Manage Your Power Spikes

Just like any other role, it is important to manage the power spikes throughout your build effectively. Finishing an early item before your lane opponent will always give you a slight advantage in a fight. Likewise, if you finish off an important item such as Genji’s Guard right before a teamfight, you will be at your strongest and you will be able to absorb more damage for your team.

It is also important to recognize when the other team finishes power spikes of their own. If you have Silver Breastplate and your enemy finishes Breastplate of Valor, chances are they will have a slight advantage in a fight. The same goes for the rest of the enemy team entering teamfights, so keep an eye on what your opponents are building.

Breastplate of Valor costs 2300 gold, and provides physical protections, mana, MP5 and cooldown reduction

Build What Your Team Needs

In the majority of games as a solo laner, your primary job will be to disrupt the enemy carries and be a frontline tank for your team. Going into the mid game when teamfights start to break out, it is important that you begin building in a way that can benefit your team and help you do your job as a frontliner effectively.

Perhaps if you didn’t need to buy anti-heal earlier in the game, but the enemy mid laner has healing, then a Pestilence would be a good item to get since you will most likely be near the enemy mid laner in team fights. Hide of the Nemean Lion is also a great item to fight against Hunters, making it easier for you to disrupt the enemy Hunter and prevent them from doing any damage to your team.

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