I'm an avid LoL player and have been for 2 years. The #1 aspect of the game I still struggle with is choosing when to fight and when not to fight. What factors do you consider when deciding whether it's safe to go in or not?
League-of-legends – When should I pick a fight
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So your basic question seems to be: Surge or Promote?
This is a rather strange question as those two summoner spells fit very differently into the current Meta-game. In fact, I don't believe there is ever a hero I could imagine having to choose between those particular spells as they serve very different roles. So instead, let's assume that you want to know when these two spells are appropriate (and not make a choice between them).
Surge
Surge is a rather recent introduction into LoL and is still having its place in the meta-game examined. While it does act as a much needed steroid for a number of champions missing one (eg. Twisted Fate or Teemo), it suffers on champions who require a lot of farm (i.e. most carries). In comparison to spells like Ignite and Exhaust, Surge (while scaling better) just doesn't guarantee kills the same way through early/mid-game. Now, it's true that Dominion has a shortened early/mid-game, but it's just as true that it has a shortened late game (where this spell really shines). As a result Surge is frequently not the best choice for champions (even carries).
When to get it? When you're the main DPS and you don't have a built-in steroid
When to avoid? When you're a carry who needs kills to make it to late game
Promote
Promote is another spell which hasn't yet found a good place in the overall meta. However, having been around longer, there are more obvious cases where people use it (i.e. in Dominion going bottom against a Champ who has trouble clearing lanes early on, like Tryndamere or Yorick). Given Promote's role in taking down towers, it's no real surprise you see it more often in Dominion than Summoner's Rift. Usually, you want Promote to push your creep wave into a tower allowing for a better engagement at a node. This frequently means you find Promote on Champions who have trouble clearing lanes or who are good initiators. A Champion that requires more farm or is main DPS (i.e. a carry) is a less likely place to find promote as it doesn't fit their role well.
When to get it? When your team lacks a lot of lane clearing ability (or against a team which lacks it)
When to avoid? When you're filling a more important role (i.e. Carry)
Garrison
I'm surprised you're reading a lot of information that Garrison is a poor choice; it is quite a good spell. The problem with Garrison is that it really only shines is defending nodes in Dominion. Very frequently people don't do this (usually because it's less exciting). However, there are a large number of places where your team can really benefit from Garrison (solo bot, or even defending top). Garrison can break a channel (from further range), stop a wave push, or even heal a node, all very useful things in Dominion. Even if it only forces the other team to break off an engagement then it is directly translating into victory points (something few other spells do).
When to get it? When you're running a 3 Node defensive strategy or against a team with a lot of floaters (e.g. Rammus)
When to avoid? When you're filling a more important role (i.e. Carry) or you're going for a more aggressive strategy (i.e. running floaters)
Flash vs Ghost
Both of these are excellent spells (and there are even times when you might get both), but in Summoner's Rift, at least, the current meta-game has stabilized on Flash being invaluable. This is largely due to two factors:
- Flash lets you get out of (or into) range of abilities and champions
- Flash lets you "jump" over the twisting terrain in SR
However, in Dominion both of these reasons are less effective. The terrain in the Crystal Scar has fewer features you can "jump" with Flash, the faster game play means champion deaths are less impactful (thus saving, less important). While still a great spell, Flash is nowhere as dominant in the Crystal Scar as it is in Summoner's Rift. Instead, two other features dominate The Crystal Scar which make Ghost a frequently more picked spell:
- Non-linear attack routes
- Contested towers
Having multiple paths to engage (and less vision) often means you are forced to move to positions very quickly. This is the reason champions like Rammus are so frequently banned. What's more, it's frequently a strategy to rush to the top tower at the opening of the game to assert the defender's advantage. In a rush strategy (fairly common) it is necessary that most of the top defenders have Ghost to out pace the other team. As a result Ghost may not enjoy the same dominance that Flash has in SR, but is still a powerful spell (and a frequent choice).
When to get it? Both Flash and Ghost can be great spells on any Champion
When to avoid? Only when you have something which is much higher priority or more synergistic with your strategy (like Zombie Karthas was).
Playing other champions really gives you a feel for how to handle situations. It is important to know what your champion is capapable of and what they are capable of. I can offer some tips though.
Watch your map: This one is the most important, always watch your map. When more than one person is missing on the enemy team you should be moving to a safe position. Make sure you know where your enemies are or where they were heading last seen. Keep the map scouted and when 3+ people are missing you should be trying to bunch up aswell. If theres 3 or more people missing and you're pushing a lane deep then most likely they are coming to kill you.
Know your role: If you're the tank, be the tank. Protect your squishies, stay close to them and protect them. They are usually your carries and thats how you will win the teamfights. Rally your team, don't be afraid to boss them around. "All push mid" "Group up". Late game power is all yours as the tank, you engage, you chose where and when to engage and where to push. Without you your team is pretty useless. If you're the carry, stick to the tank farm within moderation and keep an eye on the map. You're who they're disappearing to come kill. Stick to the brush when teamfights engage so they can't come in and just ice you and run away. Don't reveal yourself till some spells have been cast and they have already begun focusing another less squishy player. If you're support, keep the tank alive and watch your squishys.
Don't wander: If its late game and you're all level 18 its time to be a team, move together, stay close. Don't over extend and wandering also involves watching the maps. If the enemy team is pushed into their base and fending off super mionons go steal their camps, but just always farm in moderation and never over extend.
Know your enemy: Once again coming back to knowing the champions. If you're the tank and the majority of the enemy team damage dealers are ability power then stack magic resist, if you're a carry and a majority of the enemies are tanky high health grab a madreds and tear them down. Don't trust mobafire 100%. No build is gaurenteed every time. I say this all the time, LoL is dynamic and should be played as such. Build your build around the enemy team and what your team needs from you.
Also a side-note worth mentioning, once you can buy tier 3 runes build some pages for your favorite champions. Try to make ambiguous pages that can apply to for example all AD carries or all tanks. Some good purchase starting points are armor seals, armor pen marks, and magic pen marks. You can use them for basically any character.
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Best Answer
While this list doesn't cover every situation, it should give you a good idea of waht to keep in mind when looking to fight. I’ll cover the two most common times teams are looking to pick fights:
Laning Phase
During laning phase you have to be aware of a few variables before determining if you can go all in:
Which damage dealer (for bot lane the AD carry, for the other lanes your (usually) solo opponent) went to buy last? Don’t try to pick a fight if the Graves just shopped and now has two more Doran’s blades over what your AD carry has. This also applies to the enemy team having more money from global gold (dragon, towers) or earlier kills. Be aware of who has the better items.
Where are the junglers? If your jungler is waiting in the river bush and you just saw their jungle on the opposite side of the map then it is much safer to try to engage your opponent. Though, this often comes down to where are your opponents in lane.
Is there a huge enemy minion wave? Minions add a lot of damage during the early laning phases and by attacking an enemy champion you pull all of that agro. This extra damage can easily sway a fight one way or the other.
Who has their summoner spells? If the enemy looks low but is staying in lane still make sure that he isn’t baiting with summoner heal. Keep in mind that you can use this to your advantage. Ignite reduces heal effects so if you can ignite before they use heal then they are suddenly in a much weaker position. Also note when the enemy uses their offensive summoners exhaust/ignite so you can time your own attacks.
Did one of the laners just go buy? If the AD carry has just left to buy and the support is throwing bananas in lane, then it is much safer to attack (assuming you are the AD carry or you have two people in lane vs. one)
Where are they in lane? It is much safer to attack enemies that are pushed under your tower. If they attack you they take the massive tower damage and are much more likely to be ganked by your jungler. This is a good time to ping to notify you want to fight so your jungler can show up.
Team Fights
Who has more people? Be aware of where your team is, if the AD carry is off farming top and the whole enemy team is arrayed across mid, then you don’t want to engage. If their AP just went back to finish that Rabadon’s deathcap then you have a window to engage (just remember the teleport summoner spell and that the shop isn’t THAT far away).
Who is winning? Who came out of the lanes stronger, did your solo top go 6/0/1 and destroy their tower within 15 minutes? Then you have a big advantage assuming the other lanes went equal. However, if the enemy has knocked down 4 of your towers and gotten every dragon, then only try to fight when you have other odds in your favor due to the gold difference.
Does anyone have baron? Baron can easily sway fights, if you have it then be a lot more aggressive. If they have it then try to only engage under tower. Did someone just get out of position? Sometimes you can win a fight before it even gets started by punishing someone for bad positioning. In these cases it is best to target the AD or AP carries, that removes a huge amount of damage from the enemy team.
Is there an objective up? Sometimes it is more beneficial to group up around baron or dragon and force the enemy team to come to you or lose it. This allows you to control the field of battle (this is a great time to have all the wards cleared with an oracle).
Are they doing a risky baron? Attacking an enemy team during Baron (assuming near equal strength) adds Baron’s DPS to your teams. This can often sway fights, not to mention the fact that sometimes the enemy team will split their damage between baron and the attacking team.
Who has their ultimates/summoners? If you know the enemy Kennen has his ultimate, then it probably isn’t a good idea to group up in a nice tight ball (unless you have Janna who has her ultimate). Use the green dots besides your ally’s portraits to know when their ultimates are up. It is much easier to win a fight when you have 5 ultimates leading the way.
Will fighting make you lose an inhibitor or nexus tower? If you have multiple inhibitors down then it can cause you to lose the game to engage an enemy team outside of your base. Make sure there aren't super minions pounding away on anything important.
Of course, it mostly comes down to experience. Sometimes you will want to engage a 3 v. 5 because you know you have some super advantage. Maybe the enemy is low from completing baron or maybe you know the Mordekaiser is just insanely fed.
Last note, be aware of the good initiator and counter initiators. Janna can easily reset a fight that goes badly. Blitzcrank and Nautilus can end a fight before it even gets started. Kennen, Ammumu, and Morgana can all punish a team for bad positioning and win it for their team early.