There are many methods you can use to give yourself the best chances of winning a game. I differentiate between methods (interpreted as questions) which are dealt with pre-game and strategies employed during the game.

Pre-game:

So you've queued for a game of Smite and find yourself at the countdown to starting the match (assumption: lanes have been decided during god selection). The first question you need to answer is whether or not you know your starting item build. Why is this important? This allows you to get into your jungle faster to gain a vision advantage and avoid potential traps or help your team set up their own positions for a trap (more on this later).

The second question is how your god fits into your team's composition. Knowing how you need to play when teamfights break out (initiator, aggressive or cautious damage dealer, peeler, etc.) will help your team ultimately win the fight. Although you get an indication of how your team composition will allow you to play, you must also take into account the third question.

How, based on the enemy team's composition, will you be able to play in team fights? You must learn how to pick your targets (like an assassin going for enemies with low resistances, or a tank forcing high priority enemy cooldowns onto themselves) to effectively deal your damage or get off your crowd control. If you've been able to get an idea of how to play after answering questions 1 and 2 you'll be in a good position to teamfight confidently and successfully.

The last question for pre-game would be knowing your core item build. This will help you minimize buying times for when you go back to base. Having considered all these questions will give you a good idea of how you will approach the mid to late game. Now we move on to when the game starts.

Beginning of the match:

You've bought your items and headed out into your jungle. Your first order of business is to gain vision for/with your team. Your team may have decided to employ strategies involving invades or getting particular jungle camps/buffs. If nothing else happens or is requested of you from your team, gain vision to make sure the other team isn't able to catch your team off guard. Who knows, you may be able to spot a lone enemy wandering into your side of the jungle and alert your team to pick them off.

After the dust settles, you find yourself in lane. Your first order of business is to consider the matchup (what gods you're facing in lane) you're currently faced with. If you're solo against another solo, think about what advantages or disadvantages you have in relation to your lane opponent (waveclear, sustain, burst, range, etc). Once you have figured them out you should have an indication of whether you're in a favorable or unfavorable matchup. If you're in a favorable matchup, it is generally acceptable to play more aggressively (going for kills), as opposed to being in an unfavorable matchup where you'd need to play safer (focused on not dying). Note that matchups can change between favorable and unfavorable depending on levels or item builds.

Having a game plan of how you'll play your matchup will help you play confidently and intelligently. This schema carries over to:

-2v2 lanes: You must take into account the synergy between your god and your lane partner's god, such as certain combos.

-1v2 lanes: these are almost always unfavorable matchups, where you'll need to focus on waveclearing and not dying

-2v1 lanes: these are almost always favorable matchups, where you'll be able to put out kill pressure, poke under tower, or straight up destroy a tower.

During laning phase:

You want to be in lane as often and as long as possible (this also includes ganking other lanes) without risking your own death. The most surefire way to gain an advantage over your opponent is to simply force your lane opponent out of lane, either through killing them or forcing them to go to base through harass.

You're in lane more -> you gain more experience and gold -> you gain more levels and complete items faster -> you gain an advantage over your opponent.

When weighing your options of recalling or trying to kill your opponent or force them out of lane, consider the following thought process:

How exactly do you force your lane opponent out of lane?

1. You know your matchup and pick an opportune time to fight your lane opponent and kill them.

2. You have a god with superior waveclear and were able to kill your opponent under their tower or harass them enough when they were trying to waveclear to force them to back.

3. You have a god with good burst and got your combo off, either resulting in their death or forcing them to back.

4. You have a god with sustain and win an extended fight, resulting in a kill or forcing your lane opponent to back.

The impossible happened... you died! Is it the end of the world? No. Every death is a lesson. Things you can learn from your deaths:

- What skills hit you

- How your opponent's damage is split up (are they relying heavily on their spells and not using their basic attacks, or the opposite)

- Whether you need to focus on juking or positioning

- What you need to buy

- How your matchup is affected by your death

-> USE YOUR DOWNTIME TO STAY FOCUSED AND ON TOP OF YOUR GAME

Do you need to itemize against your enemy? Do you need an active like Purification Beads or Aegis Amulet to survive? Did you get ganked (do you need more wards/better ward placement)? Do you need to work on juking?

Important consumables:

Teleport: Extremely strong. If you have the spare money buy a teleport and get back to lane faster (value is diminished if your first tower is down) or get extras for increased map pressure.

Wards: Vision is power. Knowing you're not getting ganked let's you play the way you want to play, not how they force you to play. A ward is always cheaper than a death.

Mid- to Lategame Teamfights:

Find out who the biggest threats are and figure out how your playstyle will be affected by them. Is your team far ahead? Is your team far behind? Is their physical or magical carry fed? How is your item build affected by the previous factors?

You need to constantly be thinking of how to adapt to the state of the game. After your core item build, do you need to consider focusing on one stat more than another? For example, magical protection items if their team is magic damage heavy or their magical carry is fed.

Reassess what your duty is in relation to your team composition and how successfully you'll be able to fulfill it. Mechanics and positioning become invaluable skills in the lategame and will define how well you and your team will do, so spam game queues and practice your basic attacks, skillshots, and movement prediction.

Very watered down TL;DR:

Minimize buying time, know your matchup, be in lane often, change your item build based on what's needed, and use downtime to your advantage!

Bonus:

Evaluate if 1, 2, 3, 4, are the best keybinds for your skills. My key rebinds:

1 -> Mouse Thumb button 2 (leveling is Shift + Mouse Thumb button 2)

2 -> q (leveling up is Shift + q)

3 -> e (leveling is Shift + e)

4 -> Mouse Thumb button 1 (leveling is Shift + Mouse Thumb button 1)

I use this setup for decreased input time for skills. My 2nd and 3rd skill are closer to w (move forward). Leveling skills is comfortable and quick (Shift + q is better for me than Shift + 1). Pressing the function keys for leveling is awkward and limits potential (personal opinion). My fingers are never far away from my actives or consumables in this setup.

Thanks for taking the time to read this post! I do hope some of the points here are able to help you play efficiently or give you a good understanding of how to excel at Smite if you're just getting into it. Please feel free to post suggestions, critiques, or comments down below!