On the Twisted Treeline, Dragon and Baron are both absent. In their place stands the mighty Vilewmaw. Even more so than on Summoner's Rift, this objective can make or break a game. It is even more volatile than a late game Baron-throw and can completely turn the tide of a game. This guide will tell you all you need to know in order to utilize this vital power while avoiding disaster.

What is Vilemaw?

It's this big guy, right here.

Timing is Everything

Vilemaw is the main creature objective of the map. He sits at the top of the map, right above top lane.

Let's get some timers down before we go any further.

Spawns at - 10:00
Respawns every - 6:00

Unlike Baron and Dragon in Summoner's Rift, Vilemaw's death is not announced to the entire map. Therefore, you've got to keep track of the timer yourself. If you are fortunate enough to have vision, the timer on your scoreboard will keep track.

However, if you had no idea and all of a sudden the enemy minions/champions are showing a Vilemaw buff, go ahead and type in chat when you see it +6 minutes. If you see that the buff has expired, add 3 minutes and type that in chat as well. You now have a window in which Vilemaw can respawn!

Now that we've got the timers out of the way:

What Does It Do?

Well, the first thing to note is that unlike Baron and Dragon, Vilemaw's buff does not provide any kind of damage or tank stats. It simply gives champions the ability to move through units without collision, much like Fizz.

The important part about this buff is what it gives to minions. Like Baron, if you are close to any minions, they get a huge bonus.

For an actual number by number increase, take a look at this list

Melee Minions: +20 armor & magic resistance, +20% attack speed, +15 attack damage, +75 attack range.
Caster Minions: +10 armor & magic resistance, +10% attack speed, +20 attack damage, +100 attack range.
Cannon Minions: +30 armor & magic resistance, +10% attack speed, +50 attack damage, +750 attack range.
Super Minions: +10 armor & magic resistance, +10% attack speed, +10 attack damage.

TL;DR - Your minions become significantly stronger and can outpace your enemy minions. That Cannon minion increase range means it can outrange turrets!

Here's the real kicker and why I put it after the TL;DR -

When enemy minions first come into contact with Vilemaw buffed minions, they are "terrorized (feared away)".

This will demolish the minion equilibrium and completely negate any kind of push or siege. More on this later. Pushing the enemy base with split lanes and giving them trouble on both ends will cause them to slowly crumble. If they dedicate too many resources to stopping one advance, they will inevitably lose something in the other lane. This will allow you to secure their jungle and altars as well.

Positioning

It's like avoiding the green ooze at Baron or not standing behind the tank at Dragon.

Vilemaw has some extremely important mechanics. But after you do it a few times, you'll know what to do as it's simple after you're used to it.

Here's a few pointers:

Vilemaw will shoot his attacks in a straight line directly at the closest target.
- Because you only want one person being hit, your tankiest champion will usually be the target.
- The attack actually can be seen just out of the arena and passing minions will see it! This is the reason you want the spikes shooting towards your base and not the enemy.
Vilemaw will stomp and slam the ground near him occasionally.
- Position your damage dealers (the other two that aren't the main target) on the wall against the lane
- Be careful not to walk too far to the other side or else they can be seen easily by minions/enemy champions
Occasionally, if there are too many champions on the very edge of Vilemaw's attack range, it will shoot out a web that pulls everyone directly into the AOE Zone.
- If your team is caught in this, you will most likely be wiped out. A single Brand/Ori/Illaoi/etc. ult will end your entire team if you've already been taking damage from Vilemaw
- Is very unreliable, so don't expect it to happen if you are the ones contesting Vilemaw
- Can be used as a very balllsy escape mechanism if you are running though this area (not recommended)

When Do I Take Vilemaw?

So now that you know what Vilemaw gives you and how to take him down properly, let's talk about when you should take him down. The answer is: when it is your only option.

Vilemaw, as we discussed before, gives you disgusting waveclear power and can completely break open a game. However, this means that it can be used against you as well. If you have one bad fight and give up Vilemaw, a crippled opponent will quickly overthrow you and take the game back over. Let's talk about those vital situations.

First scenario: We are legit about to lose the game, but if we have Vilemaw, we can stall long enough/break this siege/claw our way back into the game.

This is your best friend.

This is the hardest scenario. If you've started the game off on the wrong foot and are getting absolutely pushed in, Vilemaw might be your saving grace. It takes a lot to set this up, but with proper usage of your relic and Hextech Sweepers, this is quite possible. Wait for the opponent to start, wait for them to get a little bruised up, and swoop in for the steal/ace. You need to be on your toes for this one, but it should be a standard objective contest. Your opponent is small in numbers and they will have taken a ton of damage.

The most important point about this is that you must be on your very last breath. If you can survive a few cannon sieges (about 3 waves) and have magnificent waveclear, turtling for exp and gold is not a bad idea. Don't throw your defense away for Vilemaw. It can and will cost you the game.

Second scenario: The enemy is unable to contest us (dead or just backed) and we can take the objective before they even make it back.

This is the aggressive one. It already assumes you've won a fight or are ridiculously ahead. If you are sure you can burn Vilemaw down and grab the buff extremely quickly, this will roll you forward towards success.

Remember that the buff gives flat stat bonuses. If you can take this early, your enemy will simply be unable to deal with your sieging power and will be completely flattened by pressure. You will also quickly gain and retain a huge amount of gold. Let's say it takes 4-6 waves to take out a tower when you are pushing. Every wave that makes it there gets in 1/5 of the tower's health before it is wiped out. With the buff, since it pushes hard with the "terrorize" as well, you are getting in twice as quickly for more damage. The tower will possibly fall within 3-4 waves, and you can even farm their jungle since they are so pushed in. Be careful, because if you lose the early Vilemaw when you go for it, you could be on the receiving end of this strategy.

False scenarios: Our opponent is seemingly clueless and we can sneak it. / We need to do something or else this stalemate will let them get back in the game.

This is possibly the most risky and inefficient maneuver. If you think the enemy will not notice, you are banking the rest of the midgame/endgame on your read of the opponent. If you've got the damage and items to back it up, why not just force a gank or an altar instead of this huge objective?

If the game is panning out to be a very stale and tense equilibrium full of farming and altar defense, think about if you would lose the endgame anyways. If their champions scale better or have too strong of an early game, it might not seem like a bad idea. But just remember that those problems will be compounded if you lose Vilemaw.

It is better to be forced to steal Vilemaw than to start it up and have it taken from you. If it really is a safe situation to take Vilemaw, by all means do so. But be patient and don't move first out of frustration or boredom.

Countering

Oops. Maybe you followed all these steps and somehow their Zac stole your carefully timed Vilemaw with a fly-by smite. Maybe your jungle got taken out by a ridiculous Poppy invade and you couldn't stop their team. Whatever the situation, they've got the Vilemaw buff. Now what?

Your one option: Waveclear and Wait

Don't force anything. You are now turtling. Sit down and clear as many waves as you can. Chances are, you will be pushed inside of your base. Heal up between waves and wait for the buff to time out. Let them have the other objectives. Often times, this will lead to the enemy panicking/getting frustrated that their Vilemaw is not doing them any good. They will become more aggressive and even dive irrationally, which is your opportunity to step in and clean them up. If they lose their Vilemaw buff, they are no longer useful in the siege and are tied to one of their other teammates during a rotation.

When the buff runs out, add three minutes to your in-game clock and type it into chat. This is going to be when Vilemaw respawns. If you are still in the same situation near that time, weigh the odds out of fighting over this Vilemaw. If you think you're about to be broken if you lose this one, start pushing a little harder and be ready to fight for Vilemaw.

Conclusion

Hopefully, now you've gotten this entire Vilemaw objective on lockdown. It seems like a dangerous and daunting situation at first, but after you know when and how to take it, Vilemaw will become an extremely effective tool. This singular objective can win, lose, and turn games.

Good luck on the Twisted Treeline!

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