First priority is defend lanes (and thus your towers/phoenixes)

Farm safely

Watch/defend key objectives

Be patient

Don't give up (there's almost always a chance you can come back)

Recognize When You're Behind

Player levels: As you increase in level, you unlock more skills, level the skills to higher levels, gain increased inherent protections (at least physical), and gain more base health and mana. Late game, being level 17 when the enemy is level 19 isn't a huge deal, but early in the game, being 1-2 levels behind can be dangerous for you. If you're level 4, but the enemy is level 5, they've got access to their ult (while you don't), which can be a huge determinant in a fight. Also, at low levels, not all abilities are necessarily unlocked, and a single level in a damaging ability can make a significant difference.



(For you numbers people, also see the base numerical difference in the levels themselves from my examples above...level 5 vs 4 = 25% difference. 19 vs 17 = 12% difference. Thus, the longer you can keep things close (without increasing their lead), the less of an effect the lead will have.)





As you increase in level, you unlock more skills, level the skills to higher levels, gain increased inherent protections (at least physical), and gain more base health and mana. Late game, being level 17 when the enemy is level 19 isn't a huge deal, but early in the game, being 1-2 levels behind can be dangerous for you. If you're level 4, but the enemy is level 5, they've got access to their ult (while you don't), which can be a huge determinant in a fight. Also, at low levels, not all abilities are necessarily unlocked, and a single level in a damaging ability can make a significant difference. (For you numbers people, also see the base numerical difference in the levels themselves from my examples above...level 5 vs 4 = 25% difference. 19 vs 17 = 12% difference. Thus, the longer you can keep things close (without increasing their lead), the less of an effect the lead will have.) Gold and Items: These typically go hand-in-hand. More gold buys more items. More items = greater effectiveness. In this case, just take a look on that same stat screen...with a quick glance, look at the team gold total . If they're more than a couple thousand above you, it's pretty apparent they're ahead (from better farming, more kills, objective takedown, etc.).





These typically go hand-in-hand. More buys more items. More items = greater effectiveness. In this case, just take a look on that same stat screen...with a quick glance, look at the . If they're more than a couple thousand above you, it's pretty apparent they're ahead (from better farming, more kills, objective takedown, etc.). Towers (specific game modes): This one doesn't even need the stat screen. Do you have more towers down? If so, this should change where you set your safe boundaries. More on that in a bit.

You Don't Need To Play More Aggressively

To Catch Up

overextending yourself is likely to result in your death and further increasing their lead

Redefine Your Boundaries

Early Game Boundary

If you're pushing your lane, aggressive warding might serve you better to avoid ganks.





might serve you better to avoid ganks. If you're playing it safer and sticking closer to your towers, defensive wards are just fine .

Boundary Shift When Behind

recognize that the boundaries have changed

warding fairly close to your safe zones

Extended wards

Warding the Fire Giant

Gold Fury

Fire Giant

Minions

Fire Giant

Playing It Safe & Being Patient

you

SAFE FARM

unless you know where all of the enemies are

give the enemy a case of irritability and restlessness

force them into making errors

Fights, Teamfights, and Split-Pushing

General fighting:

Team-Fighting:

Know where enemies are (of course) Spot if you've got a numerical advantage (e.g. 3 v 2) Check teammate/enemy health & mana (if you're full health and enemy team is partially hurt, that's an advantage...if enemy mana is very low, that's another advantage)

Split-Pushing:

This is a concept that can be fairly difficult for players. When you start losing your lane, most people's instinct is to try what they were doing even harder to make up for lost ground. But that gameplay style in the first place is usually what put them behind.The key concepts to having eventual success when you DO get behind are:I'd like to discuss the topic in more specific detail and provide examples where appropriate.This seems like a relatively simple notion...but if you're caught up in the match, you may or may not mentally recognize and note the need to adjust how you're playing. Here are some things you can quickly look at to confirm that you're truly behind, mostly by pulling up the in-game stat screen:Brief mention on this...when you realize you're behind, natural instinct is to be MORE aggressive, take MORE chances, in an attempt to narrow the enemy's lead. You need to FIGHT this feeling . When they're ahead, they've got an advantage (per above, base health, higher level skills, more items), which means. Continue reading for ways in which you can strategically and intelligently work on closing the gap.At the start of a match, everyone's basically even (obviously, some comps might be stronger in the early game). Before towers are taken down, you've got a very obvious boundary of "your side" vs. "their side."Once your towers start to go down, you need to. You can't just go back to the middle of the map without teammate support, or push your lane like you might have attempted in the earlier parts of a game. With towers down, your "safe" zone is pushed back, and this means that you need to adjust.If their towers are up and yours are down, your safe zone is significantly pushed back, and you should adjust ward locations based on this. If you're playing it REALLY safe,will give you less warning but cover more paths (the map narrows at T2 tower locations).(those slightly pushed out) will give you more warning about incoming enemies, but you'll need more to cover the wider area.is probably the key objective location.is also good to ward unless it's late game. Keep in mind, if you're behind, challenging the enemy's attempt at themight result in a teamfight that you'll lose. If you've got eyes on (vias) and a god that can steal with a timely ult (e.g.'s Searing Light has long range and can go through walls!), that's probably the safest way to challenge, unless the enemy team is at least partially lower health and their attention is fully on the FG...at which point going in with your full team might give you the advantage.act as mobile wards, and will spot enemies pushing the respective lanes. Keep an eye on the mini-map, as they won't provide an audible *PING* like wards do.IF you need to prioritize warding locations (you're the only one doing so, despite your constant begging to teammates), then, other than an objective like the, would be nearer any objectives still standing. If we use the example above, the only T2 tower still standing is the Duo-Lane. Ward nearer there for possible advance notice of an enemy push to try to protect it.Ever played Assault? Do you get itchy when enemies are just camping their tower? Well, this is whatshould be doing if you're behind.is concentrating on clearing minion waves (and nearby jungle camps only) from the relative safety of nearby towers/phoenixes,. Remember, if you can prevent the enemy from increasing their lead, their overall advantage will narrow as the game progresses.In addition, playing defensively will often. This can lead to making them take more chances (the thing I mentioned you usually SHOULDN'T do!). Taking more chances by diving the tower brings the high damage of the tower into play, and you should take all the help you can get. If you can, it can turn the tide of a battle...taking at least 1 or 2 enemies down (or hurting them all so you force them to back) will give you a temporary advantage on the map, giving you freer reign to push lanes, take buffs/objectives, etc., which are strong steps in working to catch up to the enemy team.in a 1 v 1 situation, unless you KNOW you've got an advantage against the enemy, it's probably best that you do no more than poke damage from safe distance. Recognize if your relics are up, if they've got an initiating ability, if you LACK an escape ability, etc., as whatlike a safe distance might not be.always remember that if your team is significantly behind, your chance of winning an even-numbered teamfight is probably low. Couple of general rules...If you can force the enemy to concentrate on a specific area (or with wards know that they're far away), a god that can split push well (such as) can attempt to take down objectives quickly. Extending that far away can be very risky, so it's suggested NOT to send more than 1 or (at most) 2 people to attempt it. If you can go solo and take down a tower, it can be worth a death...again, as long as it's not more than 1 player...you'll need the rest of your team to concentrate on tower/phoenix protection while the dead god revives.