Imagine: You're waiting to leash for your jungler and suddenly he starts pinging the opponent's red or blue bluff. You caution him to stay back but he keeps pressing forward into enemy territory. You panic, knowing you have to follow and protect him but you don't know where the enemy laners are. Suddenly, the entire enemy team jumps you from the brush and before you know it the enemy ADC has 3 kills and the game is already doomed.

Anyone who has played League of Legends has likely experienced this nightmare before. Whether it happens in a Bronze 4 clown fiesta or a high-stakes professional game, Level 1 invades can tremendously swing the momentum of a match. They can instantly get laners massive gold advantages and allow junglers the freedom to run rampant around the map.

If invades can be such a powerful early-game option, then why don't teams always attempt them? The answer is that they are extraordinarily risky. Sure, you have the potential to tip the scales of the game massively in your favor if everything goes right. But if everything goes wrong, it can be as if you lost a 30-minute game in the first minute. That being said, there are a few easy strategies you can employ to improve your invades and increase the odds that they'll secure you an advantage. So let's get into them!

Planning the Invasion

There are two main considerations that factor into your ability to successfully invade: composition and coordination.

Let's go over the first. During an early invade when champions are all at the same level and have (relatively) mirrored items, champion composition is of utmost importance. Some champions are naturally strong at Level 1 and therefore tend to perform especially well during invade scenarios. Here are a few examples of these champions, along with the features that make them adept at invades:

• Trundle - His Q ability steals AD from the bitten enemy while boosting Trundle's damage. At Level 1, this is as if Trundle has three Long Swords while the affected enemy has none! It is also an auto-attack reset and a mini slow, further increasing Trundle's dueling potential.
• Braum - His Passive combined with his Q make Braum one of the most potent champions for invading. Simply tag an enemy with an auto-attack or a slowing Q projectile and they will be stunned after three more autos on them. Your teammates autos will proc this as well, so make sure everyone focuses the tagged enemy.
• Blitzcrank - Blitzcrank's hook makes him an extremely threatening force for invades. You can pull the enemy's red or blue buff out of its camp from a sizeable distance away, causing it to reset and delay the enemy jungler's clear. You can also look to pull an enemy, which will likely result in a kill or at least a blown Flash when your teammates are with you.
• Olaf - Olaf's spammable throwing axes allow him to be an absolute terror during invades. Hitting an isolated enemy with a Q at Level 1 will almost always grant a kill or a blown Flash as they are slowed and you can easily continue chasing while picking up your axes. Olaf also gains bonus attack speed when he gets low on health, allowing you to fight through an invade to the bitter end.

These are just some examples of champions who excel at invades, but generally any champion with hard CC or an auto-attack reset at Level 1 will perform well in this scenario. When looking to invade, then, carefully consider whether your team composition has the tools to challenge the opponent early on.

Coordination is the second factor that is critical to organizing a successful invade. First off, you'll want to make sure everyone participating in the invade is aware of the timing. "Late invades" are the most common timing these days, where you'll look to invade the enemy's buff around 1:30. No matter the specific time, though, make sure you're in sync with your teammates. If one of you is too early, you might get picked off or spook the enemy. If one of you is too late, you might be unable to contribute to the fight.

When going for an invade, you'll want to be spatially coordinated as well. Sometimes this can mean you and your teammates approach from unique and unexpected angles to pincer the enemy. More typically, however, you'll want to stick together and move as a unit so that none of you gets isolated and taken down.

Get In and Get Out

Successful invades often benefit from clearly defined objectives and expectations. Establishing some of these beforehand can help ensure that you don't get caught with your pants down in enemy territory. For instance, let's say your team invades and manages to push the opposing team off of their buff. You can either take this small victory (and take away the camp) or advance further into the jungle in an attempt to burn some summoner spells or kill some champions.

Obviously, pressing for further advantages can be highly rewarding, but you should remember that each second spent in the enemy jungle becomes more dangerous than the last. The longer you are there, the more time the opposing team has to respond to your invade and move their mid (or even top) laner over to respond. If invade skirmishes last long enough, an enemy killed at the beginning of the fray may even respawn and rejoin the fight.

This means that when you're deep in the enemy jungle and riding the high of pushing them off their buff or forcing them to burn a Flash, temper your hype levels a bit. Even the smallest advantage is still an advantage, and you don't have to win the game right there. If you invade hoping to get a Level 1 pentakill but the circumstances only allow you to delay the opposing jungler a few seconds, consider that a win! It'll benefit your team in the long run while minimizing your early risk.

The Invade Worked... Now what?

A successful invade can certainly set you up for victory, but you need to make sure you follow through. The first step of this should be scattering wards around the enemy jungle as you leave. Pockets of deep vision like this can be hard for your jungler or laners to establish by themselves, but they can easily be created while your team is still together after an invade. This vision will give you crucial insight into the opposing jungler's early pathing, which will help your jungler steal away camps on his own and help your laners avoid ganks so they can maintain their advantage.

Speaking of the advantage acquired during your successful invade, your team should look to capitalize upon and snowball said advantage. If the invade went extremely well and your mid laner walked away with two kills, then the rest of the team should look to play around your strong mid. Your jungler and support should roam mid to help that lane secure kills whenever possible, and your mid laner should return the favor by ganking top and bot. Employing a tactic like this can not only cement an advantage in one area, but it can also spread that advantage around the map.

Repel the Invaders

"So now I know how to invade, but what do I do if I get invaded?" Great question! If you end up on the receiving side of an invade, there are a few simple tips you can utilize to ward it off.

A solid initial step to holding off an invade is to establish defensive vision, not only with wards, but with your bodies too. You and your teammates can spread out to cover most of the river entrances to your jungle, meaning that you'll be alerted immediately no matter where the enemy tries to sneakily invade from. Just make sure that everyone hangs back enough so that they aren't left in a vulnerable position by themselves.

Another helpful technique for repelling invades (or at least not losing too much to them) is waiting to level up your first ability. You'll almost never need to use an ability before you spot an enemy, and leveling up a specific one could be crucial to saving your life when you're being invaded. Take Bard for example. Typically, Bard levels his Q ability first, which is a fancy stun. This can be great when you're the team invading, but you might need his portal at Level 1 if you need to escape an invade on your side.

Takeaways

Invading can be an intimidating strategy for new players who are afraid of losing the entire game within the first minute. However, invading can be hilarious and exciting when done properly, and it can also help you start a game with an impressive advantage. So next time you analyze your team comp and think you might be able to pull off an invade, go for it! Practicing invades is the best way to get better at them, so round up some friends and make the enemy's jungle yours!