Let the Blind See: A Beginner's Guide on Warding Properly
Any time you don't know where somebody is -- DANGER! Here is how you can help find them.
A key component of the support role is warding. An adage that many high elo and professional supports live up to is “Vision Wins Games”, and in many cases, wards can be the reason why a team wins. Allowing your team to have correct information and denying the enemy team vision, especially in the current state of League, can be the straw that breaks the camel’s back. However, just mass amounts of wards don’t necessarily win games. Knowing how, when, and where to place them is just as important.
Supplying Vision
One of the easiest ways to deny ganks in any lane is to ward properly. Know when to ward is easily just as important. Even though there are many variables to how every game starts, every game does start with a leash to each team’s jungler. Knowing what side of the jungle the enemy team’s jungler will start on gives you information on whether or not they might invade you. If your jungler starts Krugs and their jungler has the capability to invade early, let’s say a Graves or a Shaco, then warding one of the bushes by your team’s red buff will help your jungler know if they are in danger. If their jungler is not likely to invade, then warding the jungle bush or one of the lane bushes first will help your laning.
Depending on how long you stay in lane, by your first or second back, you should buy your Sightstone. Pink wards should always be bought if you have the gold as well. Always buy a Sightstone. You are not meant to carry from the support role with damage, that’s not how the game works. That, and they could screw over your team with their vision. If the lane you are laning against is going to have low kill potential early on, a Soraka/Kalista for example, then warding your river and putting a pink ward in your mid-lane’s bottom side bush would grant some safety to your mid-laner that they would appreciate. However, if the lane you are laning against does have high kill pressure, like a Blitzcrank/Tristana lane, then stay in lane and ward the bushes just outside your lane, like the tribush near Krugs or the Jungle bush in the river. Warding your side lane bushes could be beneficial as well.
By mid to late game, warding can be dangerous. Think ahead to what objective your team will want to contest. If it’s the top lane tier one tower, then ward the tribush up top and around the enemy blue buff/red buff (varying depending on what side you are playing on). If it’s the dragon, ward around it, take the Scuttle Crab, and ward either behind it or around the enemy blue buff (Again, varying on what side you are on). Keeping a solid wall of vision around what side your team needs an advantage on is a job of the entire team, but the support has to be the one to maintain it constantly.
Denying Vision
Vision denial is an often overlooked task in the lower elos of League. Admittedly my own ward clearing is nowhere near where it should be, but that should not stop anyone from trying to take away your enemy’s vision. With proper vision denial, you can guarantee that your jungler may be more likely to gank your lane, snowballing your lane and leading to victory.
Vision denial in the early game is very tricky to handle unless you have an early back or buy a Pink Ward as part of your initial starting build. If your ADC and you are coordinated enough you can try to destroy the enemy's ward when they place down their yellow trinket. 3 auto attacks will grant gold if you destroy it before it goes invisible. At every point in the game, buying a Pink Ward is a must if possible. Sell health potions if you have to. When you reach level 9, switch from a yellow trinket to a red trinket. Either of the red trinkets will do.
If you feel safe enough to enter into the jungle to clear wards, do so. However, take care when clearing wards. If you are in an area with low vision and you dying could set back your team extremely far, have some sort of way to escape available or be close enough to where your team can back you up. If you do not know where the carry of the enemy team is, you may just get one shot. If you are 98% sure you know they aren’t there, feel free to ward. If not, proceed with caution. If you spot a ward with a pink ward and there are enemies nearby, proceed with caution. Is the destruction of a ward really worth your life?
This is just a basic guide on warding smartly and denying vision. Take care warding and good luck to you!
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