Strategy: Holding the Line in Duo Lanes

Overview

In my first strategy piece, I’m going to tackle an often overlooked fundamental of bot lane play - positioning. In standard 2v2 bot lanes, the importance of the carry and support having one mind is well understood, but even the pros make small errors in their positioning relative to their lane partner that result in lost trades and even deaths. OGN color commentator MonteCristo has used the phrase ‘holding the line’ to describe the positioning dynamic of bot lane, and I agree that this is a good descriptor of the strategy. I will be using three total case studies out of game 1 of Samsung Galaxy Ozone v. Naijin White Shield and game 2 of SKT T1 K v. KT Bullets to illustrate my points, but will only be addressing the early laning phase, so there will be no spoilers. The first case study will demonstrate the absolute basics of holding the line, the second will discuss how it is used as the basis of all other actions, and the third will be a more detailed breakdown of how the line can shift, and how an inappropriate shift can have disastrous results.

The 'line’ can be understood as the simplified representation of effective threat ranges - the ranges from which champions can autoattack, use their skills, path block their opponents, block skillshots for their teammates, and so on. Which ranges are most important will clearly depend on the situation and role - path blocking can be an important task for melee supports during all-ins, while autoattack range is always critical to the carry. Therefore, while the horizontal line is the firm norm of bot lane positioning, slight deviations in order to suit a given situation are common. For example, melee supports will sometimes stand in front of their carries, especially during engages, to guard their carries as well as to compensate for their shorter ranges. However, even in these cases, the vertical distance remains quite close, as autoattack range is a secondary concern for melee supports.

The sought after balance is for a tankier support to be far enough ahead of the carry to dissuade and absorb aggression while being close enough to avoid taking unnecessary damage from the enemy lane that the carry cannot return. Such a balance necessarily dictates that the duo stay closer to each other than to the enemy team unless fighting. While fights can result in some disarray and a diagonal tilt to the line as the supports lead into melee range while carries attack from afar, the line is eventually reformed as one side falls back and the other attempts to give chase or also disengages.

Although the line on the offensive will often have a more severe tilt to the lane due to the enemy teaming falling back, maintaining the line and moving up together in a chase situation is crucial to avoid being turned upon.

Case Study 1: SKT v KT Game 2

The default position throughout much of laning phase for most duo compositions is for the carry and support to stay on the same horizontal line.

This standard formation allows all four champions to take action with minimal telegraphing as well as to immediately split into situation-specific formations, which are often just slight variations on the line that retain this familiar shape - hence 'holding’ the line.

Trading in the line formation, as seen below, makes it easy for both roles to have an impact in the fight. Should one partner push or retreat without the other following suit, the broken line results in an undesirable 1v2.

Case Study 2: SGO v NJWS Game 1

This situation nicely illustrates how to reestablish the line immediately after breaking it to suit a given situation.

Lee Sin (yes, support Lee Sin is considered a viable pick in Korea) has just roamed mid and takes the opportunity to surprise Ezreal by engaging on him out of the river. Sivir did not move up to avoid telegraphing the gank - another option would have been to move up to establish the line with Lee Sin, but that is a riskier play.

Ozone’s bot lane chooses not to engage here, as Ezreal is no longer in range of Lee Sin, and Lee Sin Safeguards back to Sivir. Note that Ezreal has meanwhile moved back up to be closer to Thresh, who has Flayed in case Lee Sin chose to continue fighting. Both sides have reestablished their lines.

Ozone’s duo hits 6 before Shield’s, so they elect to engage. Lee Sin Safeguards to the ward seen just above the minimap, while Sivir runs around the left of the minion wave and activates her ult. Note that, despite their differing approach angles, both champions will arrive in autoattack/skill range simultaneously.

Case Study 3: SGO v NJWS Game 1

An example of a broken line having a big impact on the result of a fight is seen in a level 1 all-in in this lane, which starts off with Thresh moving in to land a Flay on Sivir.

Lee Sin immediately moves up to hold the line, as Sivir is under attack by both Ezreal and Thresh and is unable to quickly escape. Ezreal is running backwards to move out of Lee Sin’s range, making it harder for Ozone to reestablish their line in an example of an offensive (despite the movement being a retreat!) line modification. The diagonal tilt of the line is often a good indicator of how extreme the offense/defense of a given situation is, as it shows the basic line being broken in order to seize a temporary advantage.

Having comfortably won the trade, Ezreal and Thresh move backwards while Lee Sin continues moving forward to establish space for Sivir, who is now outside Ezreal’s attack range and has freedom to move in on Thresh.

Cognizant of the danger, Thresh and Ezreal begin a coordinated retreat to stay away from Sivir. Ozone’s line breaks as Lee Sin continues to move forward without Sivir, taking more damage from the enemy duo lane than he is able to deal to Thresh. This gives Shield the opportunity to turn on Lee Sin while Sivir runs into attack range.

As a result of the 1-2 lost Sivir autoattacks due to Ozone breaking their line, Thresh gets the first kill on Lee Sin. Thresh goes down shortly afterwards and the carries eventually disengage from each other, but Shield’s superior line management while retreating allows them to pick up the first kill in a situation where Ozone potentially could have killed Thresh for free if they had been able to more effectively coordinate the all-in.

That’s the end of this writeup. I hope the points written here were worth learning (or reviewing, for many), and take a close look at line formations in future games! Viewing competitive 2v2 lanes with this strategy as a focus is a good way to understand how the lane is playing out, and emulating this coordination in solo queue can prove highly beneficial.