Vision is without a doubt one of the most important aspects of League of Legends. Winning a fight is a lot harder when you can't see your opponent. This guide is mostly for the support, but the same advice applies to the marksman as well. We're going to take a look at how to create kill opportunities by denying your enemy vision.

First, I'll explain why controlling the lane brush is so important. If your enemy can't see you in the brush then they will not be able to spot any skillshot animations. This creates a zone of control that extends from anywhere in the brush to the maximum range of your abilities. The enemy can't enter that zone without exposing themselves to danger.

Less skilled players will usually not respect the zone that you have established, and will walk into range of your abilities. This behavior can be easily punished with a skillshot or two. Killing them or forcing them to recall will give your marksman a gold and experience lead. A more skilled player will probably respect your zone and stay out of it, or only approach it when they have minions to block your abilities. The best way to punish this behavior is to heavily pressure the enemy marksman by exiting the brush and walking towards them when they go to last-hit a minion. They will have to back off, or risk a bad trade. If they choose to back off, you will have successfully denied them a small amount of gold. Repeatedly denying the enemy marksman will snowball into a large lead for your marksman.

If the enemy doesn't have vision of the brush then neither will their minions. This means that you can lose any minion aggro you have acquired by walking into a bush. Dropping minion aggro will allow you to take minimal damage when choosing to harass the enemy laners with auto-attacks. However, auto-attacking an enemy when you are in a bush will give them vision of you, so make sure that you leave the bush to attack, and then quickly re-enter the bush to drop aggro. If you harass your enemy enough, a kill opportunity should present itself, or the enemy will be forced to recall.

Now that I've explained why controlling the lane brush is important, I'll cover how to go about controlling it. The easiest and most basic way to control the lane brush is to simply get there first. If your opponent walks blindly into you, punish them with your abilities. Most likely, however, they will choose to ward the bush. Although this won't leave them as open as they would be if they just face checked, this will still put them in range of most champion abilities. If possible, you should attempt to clear the ward before it becomes invisible. Champions with an auto-attack reset, like Leona with her Shield of Daybreak, are capable of doing this alone. Most supports will need a quick reaction from their marksman to help them clear the ward, though.

But what if your marksman doesn't react quickly? That's fine, most of the time they will be out of position and won't be able to help you clear the ward. In this situation, you should ward the bush that you aren't in. This will put you and your opponent on equal ground, in terms of vision. Although, this isn't the best situation to be in since you no longer have a vision advantage over your opponent. If your opponent uses their ward to control the lane brush, however, they will not be able to adequately ward the river. Allow them to push onto your side of the map and then call for a gank from your mid-laner or jungler. Letting them know that the enemy doesn't have wards in important spots will greatly increase the chance of your team attempting to gank your lane.

On your first back, ideally, you would be able to buy a Sightstone, upgrade your support item, and purchase a pink ward. If you don't have enough gold for all of these then I recommend waiting to buy Sightstone until your second back. Not having Sightstone will make it harder to control the lane brush, but your support item is very important for maintaining steady gold income and sustaining through the lane phase. If you weren't able to buy Sightstone then you'll have to keep the yellow trinket in order to safely lane.

In a perfect scenario where you're able to afford all the items mentioned above on your first back, you should switch to the red trinket. This will allow you to clear any wards your opponent might place by yourself. If you are on the blue side then place your pink ward in the tri-brush. If you are on the red side then you can either place it in the river bush or in the tri-brush by your tower. If you think you can beat your opponent in an all-out fight then place the pink ward in the river bush. If you don't think that you can, or you are uncertain, place the pink ward in the tri-brush near your tower.

When the enemy moves to clear your wards you should attempt to fight them. If they choose to focus on fighting you, they will not damage the ward. If they attack the ward instead, the trade should go heavily in your favor. If your jungler is in the area then try to call for a gank while the enemy is overextending to fight you. If you think the enemy jungler is in the area, however, it is best to just give up the ward and not risk dying.

If you are the one trying to clear wards, it is best to push your enemy under their tower before moving to do so. They will either miss farm when trying to defend the ward, or they will not be able to contest the ward. Make sure to ping your marksman to let them know that you will be leaving shortly. They are most likely focused on farming and may not notice that you have left their side.

Until you reach level nine and are able to upgrade your red trinket, I recommend only using it on areas that you are certain the enemy has warded. The cooldown on your trinket is quite long and it's very important not to waste it. If you know that your team is headed down to gank your lane, though, it is okay to make sure an area isn't warded with your trinket. You may not clear any wards this way, but you will make sure the enemy doesn't have vision of the incoming gank.

In conclusion, controlling vision is very important for a successful lane phase. You can zone your enemy by denying them vision, or increase the chances a gank will work out by relaying information about the location of enemy wards to your team. If you follow this guide, then you should almost always have the advantage in lane. Good luck, summoner!

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