In the current meta we can often see more and more rotations in early through mid game, mainly from the supports, whether to provide some deeper vision for the team or gank a lane. However, not only support players can help their team with roaming. Also, roaming as a midlaner can help your team gain advantages, and in this article, we will say a few words about when to roam and how to counter if the enemy midlaner is roaming.

When to roam

There is no certain rule when to roam, but here are a few tips that may help you in making the decision to roam.

- When the enemy midlaner has recalled: Some consider this to be the best time to roam. Why? Because that means that the enemy midlaner will not be able to reach the lane you decide to roam to (whether top or bot) in time. It is also prefered that you ask whether the enemy laner you decide to gank has his Summoner Spells available or not. Forcing the enemy laner to use one or both Summoners is almost equally worth as a kill, because later on it creates easier ganks for you, and for your jungler as well.

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Also, it is a good call if you ask your jungler to come and assist you, because it will increase your chances of a successful gank. However, it is not necessary to go and roam every time the enemy midlaner recalls, or you force him to. Sometimes, the better option is to push the lane as much as possible. Communicating with your team is key before you decide to roam, because unoriented roam to either lane can become just a waste of time.

If you doubt which lane to gank is best, see the positioning of your jungler. This is important because if the enemy jungler shows at the lane you have decided to gank, it is nice to have your jungler close to the lane for a potential 3v2 fight. Also, if there is an objective available on the map (ex. Dragon), it is not preferred to gank top because it will potentially open a hardly contested objective for your team.

How to counter the enemy midlaner roam

There are two basic things that you can do when the opposing midlaner roams:

- Follow him: This is the thing that your team will love, and may criticize you if you don't do it. However, just because your team told you to follow their midlaner if he roams, does not mean that you must follow him. First off, you must have vision coverage in the river to the lane he is going to roam (whether bot or top). Because if you do not have proper vision, the enemy midlaner can call his jungler for help and punish you for blindly following him.

That is why vision is key before you decide to follow the enemy midlaner. If you do not have proper vision set on the map the wisest thing may be to ping that the enemy midlaner is missing (also write in chat which lane he is going to if you are certain about it), and tell your teammates to stay more defensive, and even give away a turret if needed.

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- Push the mid lane: This is the thing that your team will not like so much especially if they die during the opposing midlaner's roam. If that happens, you will start being criticized about not following the enemy roams and not helping your team. You should not let that talking affect your game. No matter how weird and bad it looks to your team, sometimes the best decision when the enemy midlaner leaves the lane is to push it as hard as possible. After few roams, you should be able to get a turret.

The outer mid lane turret is really important objective on the map. After taking it down, the map is more open and your team can get a really good advantage if playing around that part of the map. Your team can move their vision a little bit deeper in the enemy jungle, which can help you to create picks, and have more overall control over the map.

Advantages from pushing the mid lane when the enemy midlaner roam

After you took down the enemy mid lane outer turret, it is most likely that they will try to reply with taking your team mid lane outer turret. If they want to get your mid lane outer turret to match that part of the map, they will have to bring multiple members to siege it, because if their midlaner tries to solo push your mid lane outer turret, he becomes an easy target to gank. And bringing more members to the mid lane opens a window for your team to put more pressure on the side lanes.

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Usually, when enemy team is pushing your midlane with multiple members, the best option is to respond with 1-3-1 splitpush. That is one way to make them send players to defend the side lanes, and make defending your mid lane outer turret easier task for your team. However, that is not the only option to respond if the enemy team is sieging the mid lane.

It depends on the team composition your team is running. If you have splitpush oriented team composition, then 1-3-1 or 1-4 splitpush is the best way to counter if enemy team is sieging mid. On the other hand, if your team composition is teamfighting oriented, the smarter decision may be to gather mid and try to force teamfight while defending your turret.

Conclusion

Roaming as a midlaner can help a lot, and although there are not many opportunities for you, as a midlaner to roam, using every single one of them can bring huge advantage for the team. As for responding to the enemy midlaner roams, you have to look one step further and realize that sometimes pushing the enemy mid lane can bring much more advantage and map control for your team. Your teammates might not be satisfied when they get ganked by the enemy midlaner without your response, but do not let the critics affect your game.