As you've seen in both your own games and professional level play, matches can be cleanly decided by Smiting a big objective - namely the Dragon or Baron Nashor. A Smite secure or a Smite steal can close door on the other team's hopes for victory, or force you to witness that same chance for victory slip away. Thus, it's imperative not only for junglers to practice and master the art of Smiting (which is much more complex than simply pressing a key quickly when your target is low on health, as we'll see), but also for everyone else to understand the art of Smiting and securing an objective to facilitate and help the jungler do his job, or take his place in those situations where the jungler isn't present. Strap in - below are several tips that'll help you claim more Dragons and Barons.

1. Check your Smite damage value before any major objective. This may seem obvious, but I can't stress enough how important this is. Make sure to check and verify it in advance of when you'll actually be Smiting, because Smite's damage changes over the course of the game as you level up - don't rely on your memory of the last time you smited, or even more problematic, what you "feel" its damage value is (how much hp it visually depletes from a health bar, etc.); it's a tough habit to break, but you absolutely must:

2. Watch the Hp NUMBERS of the objective CLOSELY, comparing it with your Smite value. This is where we get into the interesting stuff. Let's walk through a basic Smiting scenario to illustrate a few principles.

Your team is attacking the Dragon down; the enemy team isn't around, but you know that their jungler could hop over and go for a steal when the Dragon gets low (for now, let's omit the specific champions involved). At this point, you're watching the hp numbers of the Dragon closely; when it gets in range of your Smite, you reflexively press 'F' (or 'D', if you're one of THOSE people) to secure it.

The reflexive Smite is one method of securing the dragon, and in general is perfectly fine when you're starting out. The upside of acting on reflex is that you'll never smite early - you'll only pull the trigger when you visually SEE that the objective's health is below that of your Smite damage value. The downside is that, against more skilled (and perhaps braver) opponents, you'll typically get outsmited.

Because the objective is (usually) being DPS'ed down at a relatively stable rate, you can predictively Smite just a little before the objective's hp is actually less than your smite value. This is because there's not only incoming damage which will shift the hp value lower, but also because there's a slight delay between when you decide to the press the Smite button and when you actually do press it. This .2~ second or so gap allows for additional damage to land and lower the objective's hp. This sounds pretty complicated, but as a general rule just remember this: try to Smite a little bit in advance of when you'll be in ACTUAL Smite range.

3. Realize that the first person who acts has a huge advantage in a Smite war. To put it bluntly, they outright win it if they get the timing correct. And in most cases, you'll see pros take that risk. If you try to play the patience game and Smite purely reflexively, you'll end up losing if the opponent's even just a little bit braver than you are (as the predictive Smite will trump the reflexive one). This in turn requires you to be brave, and then your opponent to be a little braver still, etc. It's a thin tightrope that you have to walk. You can also go completely in the other direction and hope your opponent is TOO brave, but that's some next level mindgaming I wouldn't normally do unless I was familiar with style of the jungler on the other team.

One thing that has stuck with me in regards to Smiting is something Jatt said a couple seasons ago when casting an LCS game - winning a Smite war, in many situations, is essentially a 50-50. When it gets to the point that the objective is low, barring other circumstances besides two generic junglers with Smite, it's basically a tossup as to who's going to get it. So, don't get too mad at your jungler for losing a 50-50 Smite - sometimes it really comes down to pure chance!

However, there are almost always ways you can skew the odds in your favor - take note, because the following tips are extremely useful not only for junglers, but also for the rest of the team.

4. Use your champion's abilities to burst and 'extend' the damage of Smite. Some junglers are highly prized for the capability to secure objectives: Lee Sin, Elise, and Nunu, just to name a few. These champions have potent abilities which reliably 'increase' the damage with which they can burst an objective (which is essentially what the summoner spell Smite is doing - providing guaranteed burst). Lee Sin and Elise have execution abilities (both of which basically always hit for their built-in damage cap against the high-health Baron and Dragon) which, when timed instantaneously on impact with Smite, make them extremely difficult to best in a Smite war. Resonating Strike is capped at 400 versus monters - add that with Smite's endgame value of 1000, and that's a much higher health value that the enemy jungler will have to not only expect, but play around when trying to attempt a steal. In short, when calculating your Smite damage, factor in your other abilites that can be applied to form a Smite 'combo' to extend your burst potential.

Kalista is a great example of a non-jungler who can assist in 'smiting' an objective. Rend is extremely strong in this regard, but even skills as simple as Brand's Pillar of Flame are tools with which you can secure an objective in a pinch. Save your burst for when the objective gets low (calculating things in much the same way as you would with Smite - with the exception that you'll have to factor in Armor/MR damage reduction, an additional step in your math), and attempt to secure it as normal.

I've very rarely seen it done, but an entire team can theoretically coordinate their burst to finish an objective from 2k-2.5k hp and absolutely shut down any chance of a opposing Smite steal - it's nigh impossible to accurately Smite away the objective as it dies from that high of a health value (in a fraction of a second), let alone even predict that it was going to happen.

Image from Riot's Preseason 2015: Increasing Strategic Diversity article

5. Avoid a Smite war entirely. Kill, pressure out, block off, crowd control, or displace the enemy jungler. This is the strategy that professional teams hammer home every game. At that high of a level, it really is often a 50-50 as Jatt said - both junglers will time their abilities and Smite at the same time to achieve maximum burst, which is often highly comparable (unless it's something of a disproportionate outlier, such as Nunu or Cho'gath). Teams will attempt to avoid even the possibility of a steal by committing one, or even two members of their team to mess with the enemy jungler just before the objective gets low. Displacements such as Alistar's headbutt and lengthy stuns like Sejuani ultimate are helpful. Remember though that players can still use Smite while stunned, so if you take this route make sure to apply the hard cc while the enemy jungler is out of Smite range. (Supression however, WILL lock out the ability to smite).

Tip #5 is last, but certainly not least. In your future games, really try to prioritize shutting out the enemy jungler; this really is the only sure-shock way to pick up an objective in a Smite war - by avoiding the war entirely (the team with the 1000 true damage burst will always pick it up!). But in the general case: coordinate with your team, coordinate Smite with your own burst abilities, and be open to taking a risk and Smiting a tad earlier than when you see the health value get within range of your burst combo. The same principles apply when battling for the basic neutral objectives as well (red and blue buff). Take every opportunity you can to practice your Smite combo and mechanics, whether it be on red/blue buff or on a Dragon or Baron that you know is free anyway. You don't get too many chances to Smite big objectives, so train when the opportunity presents itself.

That's all for today, I hope you enjoyed the article. If you'd like to discuss anything League, have comments/feedback on this article, or just want to say hi, feel free to tweet me @k0nduit (with a zero instead of an 'o') and I'll get back to you.

Until next time.

konduit