It is the best feeling to “stomp” your lane. Being able to duel your opponent and win is one of the most cherished things in League of Legends. Being able to gain an advantage is great but learning what to do with your lead is a challenge in itself. For myself, I have had countless games where my KDA is insane. KDA’s such as 19/1/4 where I should be able to carry the game however, it still resulted in a loss. Let’s take a look at the mistakes we make when having a lead and how we can avoid them. Also keep in mind that these examples will be based on whether you are winning lane.

Early Laning Phase

The first and most common mistake is getting first blood and coming back to lane with the same playstyle. Getting first blood is a great thing for laning, it could be the difference in an item which will help your matchup. You should understand that power you have if you have a gold or item advantage. When you come back to lane, your first instinct may be to shove the wave hard so that it denies CS from your opponent. Yes, this is a great way to deny but you are extremely susceptible to the jungler ganking. A better thing to do is freeze the way in the middle of your lane (maybe a little closer to you) and harass your opponent. The advantage you have in your item/gold should help you attain lane dominance and allow you to freely poke. Freeze the lane, CS and then poke. This way you are able to trade more effectively as well as deny gold income.

Image Courtesy: Chazz

The second mistake you may encounter is delaying objectives. If you’re able to take the tower do it and do not delay it. You may think that keeping their tower deny XP and CS. This is not the best way to deny gold because you are vulnerable to ganks. By standing in front of their tower, waiting, you can be ganked! In most cases you will waste flash or ult (or your life) escaping from an enemy gank because you waited in front of the enemy tower. Push it as fast as you can, you shouldn't delay global gold and if minions happen to push it out of range you won't get the local gold either.

The final early game mistake that I see quite often is trying to stomp your lane for another 10 minutes. I know the feeling of being able to one shot or stomp your opponent however, this will not single handedly win you the game. By staying in your lane, this gives your opponent to farm up and allow other lanes to get an advantage. Instead, try to use your lane presence in other lanes. Roam to a lane that needs help and group for the tower or a neutral objective. (Dragon/ Rift Herald/ Baron) Use your lead to your advantage and grow it in another lane.

Mid Game

Similar to the first points, do not extend the laning phase. What you're doing here is giving the enemy a chance to catch up. Your team (if behind) isn't making the plays, so you have to go to them and make the plays yourself. This is especially if you're top because dragon is at bot and it's an important objective to take and start 5v4s. There are a lot of things to consider for each role but the most important take away is that the longer you’re in your laning phase, the better chance the other lanes have to come back. Your lane opponent won’t catch up to you as quickly as the other lanes. Impact the map with your lead and don’t let it go to waste.

The next tip has to do with winning teamfights. After you win a teamfight, they might not be all dead, but as long as you have more people alive than they, you need to pressure turrets. A 20 second death timer in the current meta can allow your team to take outer and inner turrets. Also, it is good to point out that grouping mid and poking the turret isn't the only way to take it. You should pressure all lanes and make the enemy choose which turret they want to keep. Pushing will give gold which will give you a lead and will result in Victory. A side note is that after an ace, do not back to base. Pressure is key!

Take this next tip with a grain of salt. Getting kill is great on the Rift, however as my mother told once, “Sharing is caring.” If you have a huge lead and the other lanes are struggling, don’t be greedy in teamfights. Although you may need a bit more gold for your last item, sharing the kills in a team fight will allow you to evenly distribute the lead. Use your lead and help others!

Late Game

If you are fed and reaching late game, this is bad. Allowing the game to get to late game is one way to throw your lead. If your team scales worse than the enemy team. This is your mistake. You probably played too passively mid game with your "lead" or overly aggressively. Learn to play smart and analyze the situation. You don’t need to 1v5 the whole game and you don’t have to avoid fights. At the point of late game, it will most likely be too late to fix your mistakes. 1 lucky teamfight for the enemy can result in your loss.

Getting a lead in your lane is a challenge, but the really difficulty is learning how to use it effectively. There are several things that you can do with a lead but in order to win, you can't be greedy. Learning how to use your resources is key and your lead is a huge resource. I hope that you reference these points if you are fed/have a lead. Good luck on the Rift!

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