Overview

In a perfect world, you will win every lane and snowball out of control. But in reality, you will lose lane sometimes and give the enemy a major advantage. Knowing how to play from behind and eventually come back into the game is a very important skill to know.

You have been slain!

Whether it was from getting ganked or a simple misplay on your part. Dying in lane especially top is a massive set back. The enemy laner will gain a large XP and gold advantage on you which in early levels can be easily snowballed into a much larger lead. If the enemy has the opportunity to shove the lane into your turret they can also gain a teleport advantage by forcing you to teleport or fall even farther behind. First blood is worth 400 gold and a normal kill equals 300 gold, this is equivalent to 15 minions this doesn't include XP advantage and any denial of minions to you.

Fighting an uphill Battle

What you do next is critical to how far you fall behind. First, read the death recap and assess where all the damage came from. Did you take half your health tanking the minion wave ? Or did you underestimate the damage you would take; This information will allow you to avoid the mistakes you made possibly saving you from further deaths. Second, buy a pink ward if you have enough gold or it will not prevent you from picking up an item. With a lane disadvantage already you are easy prey for the enemy jungler to possibly gank or dive you. If you are playing a tank champion falling behind is not as punishing. Tank items are generally cheaper than offensive items and you can simply build whatever defense (armor or magic resist) you need against the enemy laner. Falling behind as an offense oriented champion like Gangplank is a lot more punishing due to your build path not allowing to build defensive items to stay relevant. In these cases you simply have to just play passive and try to farm as much as you can. Look for roams or teleport opportunities to get yourself back into the game.

 
First items generally for a Fiora and Malphite respectively. Sunfire Costs 600 less gold which is very helpful if you are already behind.

Easier said than done

Farming from behind if against a skilled opponent can be very difficult . If the enemy laner can freeze the lane you will miss out on a lot of gold and possibly XP. For those who do not know what a freeze is it is when the minion waves are matched and it will not push in either direction. The easiest way to end a freeze is to try and push back as hard as you can. If you miss some creeps from shoving it is better in the long run then a long sustained freeze. Be careful when doing this,however, do not shove it in if you do not have proper vision and an easy escape or knowledge of the enemy junglers position. The enemy will most likely contest your push, simply back off and try and hit the minions whenever possible. If you can kill jungle minions easily try and take the camp nearest to you in your own jungle or a far riskier move could be going into the enemy jungle and taking their topside camp if you cannot contest the freeze. Hopefully your jungler can assist you by either applying pressure to help you farm or getting a successful gank.

Understanding Power spikes and scaling

If at this point you have not fed significantly and have decent farm you have two options. If you out scale the enemy laner (example Fiora vs Renekton) simply continue to farm and eventually outscale them . However, if you are playing a lane where you get outscaled or matched in power (example Irelia vs Jax) then understanding power spikes is key. At level 9 if you max your W Hiten Style when activated you will deal 75 bonus true damage on hit which is also applied by your Q-blade surge. An enemy can be easily caught off guard by this and can allow you to make the enemy lose their lead and potentially gain one of your own. Be careful when trying something like this failing to win the duel and dying or getting ganked while attempting to all in the enemy is essentially digging your own grave. Alternatively attempt the baiting the enemy laner who will no doubt be confident after gaining a lead, unless significantly ahead or through a large outplay the enemy will not survive a well-coordinated gank.

You are not the Hero of this Story
One thing that is especially common in lower elo is the idea that you must carry every game. Understand that if you fall behind it is almost always better to play conservatively and let your team carry you. Playing too aggressive or trying to gain an advantage while behind done incorrectly can make the game very hard to win. It is possible for your team to defeat a 2/0 Renekton but a 5/0 Renekton will make the game that much harder. Each game of league of legends is unique and it is better to get carried and end up winning then attempting to be Faker and losing.

Conclusion
Playing from behind can be incredibly challenging but understanding how to play from behind will make the game much easier. Remember that there is always next game and the game where you are 0/3 as Riven might not be the game where you 1v5 but where you peel for your fed Sivir and win.

My name is Alex and if you have any feedback or questions you can add me on NA- Alexmanpersonguy. Thanks for reading this article.

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