We have all been there when you feel like you know exactly what is going on in the game and get a little too comfortable and then BAM! You’re getting ganked!

Sometimes it’s because they pathed around your vision, sometimes it’s just perfectly timed with when you’re looking to last hit a minion, but sometimes it just feels like there was nothing you could do. Unfortunately, as hard as it is to say, there is ALWAYS something that you can do. You just need to be equipped with the right knowledge and information to play appropriately and never die to those pesky junglers.

Simple Wards

First, let’s start with the simple wards that you must know and use in most of your games for each laning phase. We will start with the positions first, then move onto the times that it’s best to ward them. Starting with top lane, when you are playing blue side, it’s always important to ward the river bush as that is the most likely position that you will be ganked from, especially in the early game. On red side, however, you are more vulnerable to ganks because you can be ganked through tri-brush, or through the same river bush depending on how shoved you are in the lane.

In mid lane, it’s very risky because you can be ganked from both sides. Regardless of whether you are blue side or red side though, it’s best to ward the ramps from both your red-side jungle, and the enemy’s red-side jungle. This allows you to see both the river where junglers would walk into the bush, and the main pathways to get towards the mid lane for other types of common ganks. When you have to pick one side to ward over the other in the early game, it’s best to do it based on whatever buff (red or blue) the enemy jungler will be clearing second because the most common ganks occur after clearing two buffs and a camp to get level 3.

For the bot lane, the warding is like top lane, but for the opposite side of the map that you are playing on. In bot lane, the most common way for red side to be ganked is through the river bush, whereas the blue side bot lane can be ganked either through tri-brush or if they are shoved up far enough, the river brush.

Knowing What Type of Jungler They Have

Finding the right place to ward is extremely dependent on the type of jungler that the enemy has and how their primary method of ganking works. For example, warding the river bush when playing top lane on blue side is not good enough if the enemy jungler is a Hecarim. He is just too fast for that river bush ward to provide you with enough time to react to the gank that is coming. Other champions that gank in this quick linear fashion include Rammus, Skarner, Nunu, and Udyr (also any champion with Predator). For junglers like these, you need to ward deeper into the paths that the enemy jungler will be taking to gank your lane. For top and bot, a good idea is to ward further into the river near the dragon or baron pit. For mid lane, something similar to the side lanes will work, but because you are vulnerable to both sides, it’s important to have your bases covered, or at least position yourself on the side that you have vision.

Another type of jungler is the invisible jungler (the worst…). Shaco, Evelyn, Kha’zix, and Rengar are all junglers that are potent in solo queue for their ability to stealth into your lane and assassinate you in an instant. Against junglers like these, it’s unfortunately not enough to ward in the standard positions. These junglers do share one thing in common that can be used to keep tabs on them though. None of these champions can clear their jungle while being invisible. Since that is the case, the best way to know where they are and what they are planning, is to ward between their jungle camps to see how they path between them. With that information, it is relatively easy to predict their next moves as they will always be pathing towards what they want to do next. Even more importantly, you’ll be able to see their health and mana pool to see if they even have the resources they will need to pull off a successful gank. If they are low on health, then you know that they aren’t really a threat.

Finally, the last main type of jungler is the global ultimate jungler. Champions like Nocturne, Pantheon, or Taliyah. These champions don’t have to be anywhere near your lane to gank you. Just like the stealth junglers, they do need to clear their jungle camps and move in the general direction of the lane they intend to gank. Therefore, similar warding strategies work well against these champions and can provide your team with a lot of information to play to accordingly. If you happen to know the ranges of these abilities, then you can even do one better and ward the key jungle areas where these champions will likely be when waiting to engage. Otherwise, these wards will provide your team with the knowledge of the jungler’s whereabouts so your team can play aggressive, or passive with respect to that near-global ultimate. For example, if a ward spots Nocturne doing Krugs on blue side, it signals the red side top laner that he has no chance of being ganked by the Nocturne anytime soon and can be as aggressive as he wishes.

How to Play the First Four Minutes

In almost every game, the first (and often most impactful) ganks happen within the first four minutes. This is because the junglers are usually in a position after clearing both buffs and getting level three before laners have so they are very strong in relation to the laners. Since there are generally only two types of junglers: farming junglers, and ganking junglers, it’s important to know which one the enemy jungler is and be ready for that pre-four-minute gank. Ganking junglers tend to be looking for that gank before the Scuttle spawns after they have cleared both buffs, so the latest you should be warding to be ready for that gank is at 2:30 into the game. The best places to ward are the standard positions first mentioned with respect to each lane and side of the map you are playing on. Against the farming junglers, the gank will likely happen later, if at all. Against farming junglers, a good time to ward those standard positions is around 3:10 into the game. The better you can be at preparing for the first gank, the easier it is to set their jungler behind and alleviate the pressure that they can apply to your lane.

Warding Based on What You Know

The best times to ward are when you gather enough information to place the most efficient ward possible based on a few factors. First, as previously mentioned, the playstyle of the enemy jungler (farming or ganking, and fast, stealth, or global) is the most important to know. Once you have that established, you know exactly how they plan on ganking you, and where the best ward is to place, you just don’t know when to place it. The easiest way to tell when you should ward, is depending on what your wave state is. If your lane matchup has the lane frozen, you’re going to be vulnerable to ganks if you walk up. Or if you are pushed to their tower, you are vulnerable to ganks. In other lane states, you may still be ganked, but it is much more difficult to execute, and much more punishing for them if they fail to execute it. Either way, when you wave state is in either of those positions or about to be in either of those positions, move to ward in preparation for their jungler’s arrival. Another important piece to knowing when to ward, is based on when and where you last saw the jungler. For example, if playing bot lane, and the enemy jungler is currently ganking top, there is absolutely no reason to ward bush for a jungle gank. All that is doing is wasting the time that the ward is potentially going to be useful. If the jungler was just seen clearing red buff on the blue side and you are playing bot lane on red side, it’s probably a good time to ward if you haven’t waited too long.

Finally, understanding when the best times for the enemy to gank you are vital to your ability to survive, or ideally prevent the gank from happening. If you are low on health or mana, have no Flash, or recently used all your abilities, you are practically a sitting duck waiting to be pounced on. Always keep in mind that a healthy laning phase is about balancing aggression with calculated risk. The more vulnerable you are to a gank, the more you should expect a gank. The stronger, and more informed you are, the more aggressive you can play.

Seeing Ganks Coming

Although the best way to avoid getting ganked is to have good ward coverage, it’s not always possible because we can’t have everything warded, and wards don’t last forever. In the downtime between wards, its best to have the wave set accordingly to minimize your likelihood of being ganked. Sometimes, however, that’s just not feasible and the best thing to do is be very focused on the enemy laner’s movements and positioning. More often than not, when a gank is coming the first couple of seconds before you see the jungler you will see a shift in the laner’s behaviour that should indicate your incoming threat. Whether it’s aggressively walking toward you, suddenly retreating or passively CSing, there is usually a tell-tale sign of a gank that you should keep an eye out for.

Escaping Ganks

When all is said and done, even with all this preparation and forethought, sometimes you just get ganked. If you find yourself in a pickle, there are a few things to remember that can make the difference in you surviving the onslaught. First, perhaps most often forgotten, drink those potions! I have seen so many players (including myself) that get ganked and almost survive after five or ten seconds of fighting their way out but die to red buff burn or something without drinking their potion. Just one Health Potion could heal you up a total of 150 health over 15 seconds which can make the biggest difference, especially in the early game. If you have one and are getting ganked, it’s probably the first thing you should do.

The best way to escape from a gank is to figure out what your best method of escape is. For some champions, it’s simply an escape ability, for others, it’s a crowd controlling ability. Either way, figure out what that is, and use it wisely!

Sometimes the best way to escape from a gank is much more counter-intuitive, however. Sometimes, the best defense is a good offense. That’s right, although it may seem crazy, sometimes it’s best to just take the gank head-on and fight to the death, either because you know you can win, or because you know you’ll be getting back up. If you know your matchup well, or the jungler is ganking at a really bad time (for them), then you may just be getting a gift on a silver platter that is yours for the taking. Other times, if you communicate well with teammates, or see your jungler is nearby when the gank is starting, stalling is the best option to buy some time for your teammate(s) to arrive and turn the tides of the fight! Although these options can be risky, they will surely be game-deciding plays that can really make or break the game (or just the lane). That’s why, although it can be very rewarding, you need to know how the fight should end up and if the reward is worth the risk!

Conclusion

Overall, it is crucial to use vision and the minimap to be aware of the jungler’s positioning and opportunities to gank you, so you can avoid them. Gather as much information as possible to make the right decisions around your vision, and lane state to minimize their chances of ganking you. Remember how they will attempt to gank you, and what you should do in the event they are successfully ganking you to survive or turn the fight around.

Do your best, and keep asking questions.

Good luck, Summoners!