DreXxiN
2015-12-16 05:06:41
By Jordan “Leviathan” Thwaites
The Art of MOBA: Power Levels and Compositional Play is the second installment of this series. If this is your first time reading the series, you should probably read the other one first here.
We can draft the best team composition possible, but if we don’t know how to play it, then we’re wasting our time. Team compositions and individual champions have different power levels at different phases of the game. From levels one to eighteen as well as the amount of gold spent on items, correctly evaluating the strengths and weaknesses of the 10 champions on the game is mandatory. Understanding the exact power level of each champion allows you to make the correct map movement decisions for you and your team.
The topic of power level is complicated because there isn’t a simple statistic that Riot tracks that allows us to easily understand the concept of power levels, spikes and valleys. One of the ways we can understand power level is by comparison. So to determine what exactly is champion power level, I must use examples from solo queue that I hope you can relate to and understand.
The first example I can give to you of a champion being weaker than the average power level and then spiking upon reaching level 6 is Mid Lane Diana. For this example, we will assume Diana is laning against a Twisted Fate. Diana's abilities and power level before she has access to her ultimate ability is very basic and underwhelming. Without her ultimate, the amount of kill potential Diana has against ranged targets is low. We can assume that if Diana were to enter a duel, levels 1 to 5, with almost any of the meta mid laner picks of today, she would lose the fight. Diana must play defensively, being sure to manage the minion wave and vision appropriately so she doesn't die or get forced to base and lose minions pre 6.
Twisted Fate starts the lane phase against Diana with the power spike. From levels 1 to 5, Twisted Fate has more crowd control, damage, wave clear and map control. This puts Twisted Fate in control of the lane and allows him more options than Diana to create advantages and opportunities for the team. Twisted Fate can shove in the wave quicker, easier and safer than Diana, allowing him to move around the map pre 6 with his jungler to pressure side lanes or the enemy jungler.
Upon reaching level 6, Diana’s power will increase (spike) and new opportunities become available to Diana. With her gap closer now available to her, she can switch from a defensive minded gameplan and start looking for opportunities to pressure and attack the opponent. Examples of this include requesting a gank from the jungler into the mid lane or shoving in the lane and roaming with the jungler. Diana’s power spike opens her up to dueling and fighting opportunities. This may seem like a very obvious statement but it’s important to understand what we're talking about when we're discussing the different power levels of champions.
Upon reaching level 6, Twisted Fate loses his power over the laning phase. Diana’s ultimate adds more to her kit in a 1v1 situation than Twisted Fate’s, forcing the Twisted Fate player to respect the power of Diana and can no longer freely move around the middle of the map because he now runs the risk of being killed. However, TF still does have a level 6 power spike, but it’s implied map pressure and not lane pressure. The side lanes and junglers on both teams must adapt their gameplay upon Twisted Fate reaching level 6 as he can show up to side lanes or the jungle before Diana. This type of power spike I consider be a compositional power spike, which is something both teams must be aware of.
Individual champion power level is important for us to understand when participating in laning phase, duels or small skirmishes. Knowing the damage values, mobility, tankiness, crowd control and various other aspects of how the champions will interact in player vs player combat as well as their ability to shove or pull lanes is important. The concept of power spikes transcends the laning phase and into the mid and late game, where power levels of the entire team is worth considering to ensure your map movements and plays will contribute to winning the game, rather than being exposed to the enemies aggressive or defensive intentions.
Compositional power spikes are increases in power that affect more than just laning phase or duels. Team compositions are accompanied by game plans, and these game plans are executed at specific points of the game. When you draft a composition that revolves around a split pusher like Diana, she doesn't start split pushing at level one. For the Diana to successfully split push, she must reach an individual power level that is greater than the individual power level of all 5 of the enemies champions, which is usually upon first or second item completion for the Diana (item spike). Once the Diana can assume that in a 1v1 duel or scenario she will be able to overpower her opponent and create advantages for her team, the team is required to respond correctly to their Dianas map movements. I call these punish scenarios, where regardless of what your opponents do, even the most optimal response from them will still result in a gold or objective lead for your team.
Once Diana decides it's time to split push, Diana should take over a side lane, moving that side laner onto the rest of the map, effectively splitting the map into two sides - The 4 man grouped side and the Diana solo side. If the team can sync their pressure so that both the 4 man and the split pusher can get minion waves to pressure the towers, then the team is correctly exploiting the increased power level of their split pusher.Matching the split pushing team with a 4-1 response of your own is a play that will fail. The Diana’s power level at this point of the game is going to be greater than any one champion of the opponents team, resulting in advantages gained in Diana’s lane in any combination of map pressure, tower damage or kills. The enemy must decide to either 5 man engage on the 4 man group, potentially acquiring kills from the engage but consciously conceding towers to the diana, or they must create a pick off on either the Diana or the 4 man group before the other party is in position to contest a tower. If these things don't happen, then the Diana split push composition will be successful in this game.
The Twisted Fate compositional game plan is designed around quickly attacking the enemy when they've stepped outside of their implied safety zones around their towers. Using Twisted Fates level 6 ability of map teleportation (Level spike), the enemy side lanes are on constant high alert due to the fact that the next gank that comes to the side lanes will be both jungler and mid laner rather than just the jungler. The enemy jungler must also move around the jungle with caution as Twisted Fate can join a skirmish instantly, turning a fight that may have seen in the favor for the enemy jungler. The Twisted Fate team is also looking to create 4-man dive opportunities, catching the enemy with low HP or overstaying under tower. Players with the Twisted Fate on their team are encouraged to actively trade with their lane opponents, as Twisted Fate has the capacity to clean up low HP enemies under tower. To defend against this power spike, the enemy team must provide extra vision around the mid lane to be aware of the TF's intentions of teleporting around the map, as well as understanding that the towers that were protecting them during pre 6 laning phase are no longer sufficient to protect against a Twisted Fate dive. They must avoid trading with the enemy, keeping their health totals high in the event of a dive scenario, as well as providing pressure towards the TF - The TF can not abuse his teleport to join a skirmish if he is already involved in said skirmish.
Objectives can cause swings in power for both teams as well. Dragon buffs 1 through 4 are not as impacting as the others, but being able to deny an elder lizard or ancient golem from the enemy can cause a power spike for the respective team. In a Orianna vs Kassadin matchup, making sure Orianna gets their teams blue and forcing the enemy buff to go to someone other than Kassadin (think stealing the buff, or pressuring the buff forcing Lee Sin to smite it) creates a power spike for the Orianna’s team, which can be enough to swing the power in their favor at that part of the game. 5th Dragon and Baron also create huge power spikes for the team that’s able to secure the objective, completely nullifying any sort of item or compositional spike that may be in effect.
Understanding the concept of power levels and spikes is simply not enough, we must understand what to do with this information and how to apply it to our game. Starting with Defensive play in a power valley, we are attempting to play damage control. We must be aware that we are at the mercy of our opponent, and there will be times that we are forced to make tough decisions, both resulting in a deficit of our game progression. If we can correctly identify that we're on the defensive, and forecast our opponents attack, we can minimize our losses. Examples include being aware that a dive is potentially about to happen in your lane, so you back up to your second tier tower and surrender a creep wave until the enemy jungler (or whoever was missing) returns to your vision. If your enemies twisted fate and jungler are dark on the map, mid lane can shove the wave into tower and side lanes can retreat to their tower until the information of the enemy's position is available to you again. If you see the enemy grouping 4 top early in game with a power spike, give up top tower and send 4 people to the bottom lane, trading the tower and going even during an implied power valley. It's important that you don't allow the enemy to snowball out of control, and you can prevent that by identifying when you're weak and keeping yourself alive while the enemy is attacking your objectives.
When you or your team are in a power spike, you need to hunt your enemy and be as efficient with your time as possible. You must be efficient with your base timings, safely move around the map to prevent a pick off which can take time off of your power play, as well as playing a strategy that is fitting to your teams win conditions. Just because you're ahead on gold, towers or levels is not an excuse to execute a split push strategy when your team is clearly designed to dive or siege. Play around your power spiked champions. With the exception of the 6 item power spike, most power spikes are temporary, and you must get kills, towers or objectives when your team is on a power play. Playing aggressive and gaining advantages will extend the duration of your power play.
Baron is the most important objective to contest and acquire when your team is in control of the game. Baron Nashor provides so much power to your team - Not only does the buff and gold bonus provide your team with a great bonus, but it also denies the enemy from getting the buff for 7 minutes. Threatening the Baron forces your opponent to choose between two options, neither of them beneficial - Allow your team to take the Baron uncontested, or initiate an engage while behind which usually results in a losing team fight. Transitioning a lead into a baron can lead to an inhibitor, and having an inhibitor down creates tons of problems for the enemy team. That lane will now push automatically, allowing your team to 5 man or 4-1 split in the remaining two lanes. Allow the inhibitor lane to slow push into the enemy’s base alone, and once someone from their team moves to clear the minions, force the team fight or objective since it is now 5v4 on the other side of the map, nearly guaranteeing you the objective you're trying to take.
When making decisions in League of Legends, there is a lot of information you must consider in order to make the most of your actions. You must be able to control your enemy and limit the advantages they're able to create during their advantages as well as getting the most you can out of your own power spikes. Simply reading this article is not enough for you to be able to change your game and implement these tactics. To become a master of advantages and disadvantages, trial and error and constant re evaluation of your in game actions and decisions, combined with critical thinking of the map movements you make is necessary. Make educated guesses based on the information available to you and review your play if your actions led you to a result you are not satisfied with.
Jordan "Leviathan" Thwaites is a former LCS coach and freelance writer covering high level strategies of League of Legends. you can contact him at LoLCasts@gmail.com and connect to him on twitter at @LeviathanLoL.