Introduction

The first two articles in this series showed you advanced warding concepts, as well as general advice to be applied to most stages of the game. Once you understand the fundamental areas of warding, you can expand your knowledge into how to deal with more specific situations.

This article will provide you with the tools you need in order to deal with and nullify the tactics and picks that your opponents might use. You will be shown a series of scenarios, and these will be used to show you how to use vision in a way that stops your enemies in their tracks.

There are certain times in a match that you will need to perform more specific vision control. You will still need to remember the concept of the line (see Part 2), as well as any other warding tips and tricks, but these rules become more flexible when dealing with some obstacles.

I will use images from the perspective of Blue Team, but these can be flipped and applied to Red Team. Furthermore, you will not need to have all of the suggested places warded at the same time. These are suggested places, some of which you may need depending on circumstances. Always use your initiative.

Against Certain Junglers

A number of jungle champions can cause huge problems for your team if you are unable to deal with them properly. Most of the time, it just so happens that these champions also snowball very hard. These factors make them particularly hard to deal with for inexperienced players or those that do not prioritise vision.

Shaco

Shaco is a champion that can absoulutely dominate one match, and then be utterly useless the next. He has this quality due to the nature of his kit; he transitions from an almost unmatched roamer and ganker into a powerful splitpusher and duellist. However, in order to carry out his role, he needs to avoid falling behind. This section will be longer than the others because of his unique tools and patterns.

Fortunately for his opponents, shutting down Shaco is not as hard as it initially seems. What causes problems for many people is that shutting him down requires you to play differently, and you will have problems if you treat him the same as other junglers. If you adapt your style, particularly your vision placement, you will find your time against Shaco much more manageable.

In the above picture, you will see some suggested ward placement that will give you plenty of information about Shaco's whereabouts. To figure out how to ward most effectively against less orthodox junglers, you need to think about where they are coming from, and how. In Shaco's case, you must consider that his approach pattern is to use his Q: Deceive, which teleports him a short distance and stealths him, in order to ambush you. Trying to obtain vision of at least one enemy buff at the start of the game will tell you Shaco's starting position, which is very valuable information.

Shaco is capable of coming from many directions due to his blink, and can completely bypass traditional warding spots when it is used alongside his stealth. For this reason, you will need to acquire vision that can alert you of Shaco's plans well in advance. Placing a Vision Ward on one of Shaco's approach paths, or even in a lane bush, is also effective because they can catch him in stealth, and a lane bush ward will catch him even if he approaches through the lane.

Finally, a good Shaco will know where common anti-Shaco wards are, so be creative with where you place them so that you catch him out. Remember: Shaco ganks heavily, so even catching a glimpse of him on one side of the mapcan save your life, because you can expect he's looking for a gank soon. You can also observe the movements of your opponents; if they stay in lane longer than you think they should, or if their positioning is unusually aggressive, you can bet that Shaco is coming.

Evelynn

Evelynn is another stealth champion. Fortunately, she has no blinks that she can use to dodge your wards. On the other hand, she has the ability to remain in stealth indefinitely until she enters combat or gets too close to an enemy champion. Ultimately, this makes dealing with Evelynn a little easier than dealing with Shaco.

Evelynn's patterns are much more predictable than other junglers due to her lack of a dask or blink. You can pretty much guarantee that she will take certain paths into the top and bottom lanes. Mid lane is slightly more problematic because of the sheer number of potential approaches, but there are still ways to manage. As mentioned above, you have to get into the head of the enemy jungler to shut them down effectively.

Above are some suggested warding locations for when you are against Evelynn. As you can see, deep wards in the enemy jungle are very powerful in this scenario. This is because clearing jungle camps will reveal Evelynn, so placing wards near her camps will allow you to predict her movement. Like Shaco, Evelynn excels at surprise attacks. If you can

Once again, a defensive Vision Ward is also very powerful if you don't have the opportunity to get some deep wards down. This is particularly effective in side lanes, which force Evelynn to take certain routes into the lane. As for mid lane, warding one side is generally sufficient, however deep wards are more important because there are more ways for Evelynn to approach you, so forewarning is much better.

Counter junglers

Counterjunglers can generally be grouped into one category here because their patterns are very similar. Common junglers that spring to mind here are Udyr and Nunu, who will enter and exit your jungle through the same routes due to their shared lack of a dash or blink. Counterjunglers can be a huge thorn in the side of your whole team. If they can shut down your jungler or take map control within your jungle, it can make your laners extremely vulnerable, and you will quickly lose the ability to contest objectives.

Luckily, stopping a counterjungler is relatively simple, but it requires some co-ordination, which is why the strategy can be effective in solo queue. To elaborate, the role of a counterjungler is to exploit weaknesses in your map control so that they can deny your jungler's map pressure. They achieve this goal by avoiding or destroying your vision, and the stealing from your jungle. Afterwards, they escape, either with mobility or sheer tankiness. Some may even stay around for a fight, but it is all with the intention of denying your map pressure.

With this in mind, the task of stopping a counter jungler requires adequate vision control so that you can catch them out. Early game counterjungling necessitates overextending on the part of the enemy, as they run into your territory and hope to exploit a lack of preparation. As a result, knowing where the enemy jungler is going allows your team to catch them out and collapse. Consider where the junglers are and where they are going - are there are jungle objectives spawning soon? Are there lanes to gank? This requires map awareness and vision, which are somewhat two sides of the same coin anyway.

A way to make dealing with counterjunglers easier is lane control and prediction. These aren't necessarily warding practices, but they go hand-in-hand. For instance, if you expect your opponent to counterjungle, you should prioritise obtaining vision in the necessary places. Once you have done that, you need to ensure that you are ready to respond. Watch the map, and prevent yourself from getting pushed in so that you can respond. If you're the jungler, either be in the vicinity to catch the enemy, or make something happen elsewhere.

Strategies

Sometimes, it isn't the enemy's kit that you have to ward against, but their plans. There are some strategies found in solo queue that can decide a game almost on their own - if you aren't prepared for them, that is.

Backdooring

Just in case you ever face off against xPeke, you should know how to deal with a potential backdoor. First and foremost, if you are vulnerable to a backdoor, you should always either be in a position to defend against it, or finish the game before it happens. Obviously, vision is extremely important in situations like this. You must try to maintain vision of enemy team members, and the paths that they may take in order to reach your base unnoticed.

Above, you can see some examples of potential warding spots to use when countering a possible backdoor. You must consider the routes that the enemy can use to access your base. Ideally, you should use Vision Wards for these spots, unless you are sure that you are able to maintain Sight Wards. This is because you can't guarantee that your Sight Ward will last long enough to catch your opponent, and, should you fall into the same position again, your Vision Ward will remain.

Using Vision Wards also allows you to stop stealth champions such as Shaco and Rengar from avoiding your vision. Furthermore, a crucial factor that is very easily overlooked is that the enemy can see your Vision Wards. Why is this an advantage? Because the knowledge that you have seen them discourages the enemy from committing to the backdoor.

Early Invading

This section will address level 1 and level 2 jungle invades. When tactics like these are successful, they can be huge snowballing factors. The large amount of experience granted by buff camps at early levels, as well as their colossal combat bonuses, are essential for junglers to maintain pressure and farm. If one team gains a 3-buff start, then the match is already in their favour. Not only that, but this sort of invade strategy will often lead to kills for either team, serving to swing the game even further.

In the uncoordinated environment of solo queue, invades are powerful because the victims cannot communicate fast enough to react instantly. Instead of relying on communication for knowledge of the map, you must ensure that the information is available well in advance through the use of wards. Unfortunately, you are likely to only have your Warding Totem at the beginning if the game, unless you are playing support or certain junglers. Even so, one ward can make a massive difference, and you can hopefully convince your team mates to place theirs too.

Placing some more aggressive wards at level 1, for example at enemy buff camps, will allow you to predict the path the enemy jungler will take. You can ensure that they are or are not invading at level 1, and you can mirror their path to avoid a level 2 invade. Similar to many other tactics in this article, you need to be able to predict the routes that your enemy is going to take into your jungle so that you can catch them.

Baron and Dragon

These monsters are two of the most important objectives on the map, and should be warded as such. They are being included in the strategies section because they are often, and should be, used as tactical devices. Thus, when these objectives are likely to be taken , it is not sufficient to merely place wards inside their spawn areas, or you risk giving the enemy a chance to bait you and outsmart you.

Maintaining control, or at least vision, of the approach routes around these objectives are very impotant for a nmumber of reasons. Firstly, forewarning. It has been spoken about previously in this article, but the difference between knowing what your enemy is doing and what they are about to do is extremely important. Secondly, you need to know if any enemies are nearby, waiting in ambush, or on their way.

You should remember that Baron and Dragon can also be used as ways to distract you or force you into a fight. With vision, of your enemy, you can see through any bait or rotations that they are trying to perform. You can enable your team to exploit your enemy's position by catching them as they approach the pit one by one, or even call out a bluff or bait.

Closing Remarks

Throughout this series, the importance and power of warding has been emphasised and explained. With this knowledge, you can take control of the battlefield with strategy and force your opponents into disadvantageous situations. Use all of the tools at your disposal, expecially vision, and you will be amazed at the progress you make. Information is the most powerful weapon in League of Legends, and that 75 gold ward could be what wins your promotion series.