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How to ward like a pro in League of Legends
This warding guide from G2 Esports legend Mikyx will significantly improve your vision game.
Wards win games.
This is a fact that all League of Legends players eventually come to terms with. Sure, buying a control ward isn’t going to increase your champion’s damage, but it will help you stay safe, find good fights and secure major objectives. That’s pretty good for just 75 gold.
Warding can be a tricky subject, which is why, ahead of Red Bull League of Its Own 2024, we’ve enlisted the help of an elite pro player, former Mid-Season Invitational and 11-time European champion Mihael 'Mikyx' Mehle.
Whether you’re a support main looking to master your role, or any LoL player looking to become a more well-rounded team-mate, these warding and vision tips from one of G2 Esports’ best-ever supports are simple but effective. They will help you win more games.
01
Don’t be afraid to ward outside of brush
Time to immediately rethink everything you thought you knew. Of course, it usually makes sense to place wards into parts of the brush because you can’t see into them. But doing what is standard makes you predictable.
By occasionally warding outside of bushes, you can still gather just as much information, but you have a slightly better chance of enemy sweeps missing them, making your wards more efficient. Most players will autopilot and check from brush to brush while sweeping, meaning there’s a solid chance they start using sweep after already walking past your ward.
There are loads of really great ward spots outside of brush, like deep into lanes to see where teams are rotating to, or near an entrance to river to see if your opponents are setting up for an objective.
02
Information is power
Mikyx has won many European titles
© Michal Konkol
You’re on a warding guide, so you already understand how important wards are, but it’s important to contextualise and regularly remind yourself what you want to accomplish with your wards before placing them.
You need information to make good decisions. Wards will get you that information. But also, information will help you get better wards to get better information. Let’s explain.
As Mikyx says, the deeper you can get your wards the better. By spotting the enemy champions sooner, you can react quicker to their moves and have longer to decide on the correct play. This will also increase your team’s tempo and stress out your opposition who will struggle to keep up.
Deep wards will spot what camps the enemy jungler is doing, when champions are swapping to other lanes, and might even find when opponents are resetting. These are all crucial pieces of information before setting up a play.
But that doesn’t mean you should go on a wild mission into the enemy jungle on your own. You should only try for deep wards when you know you are safe to do so. Usually, this is when you’re winning and you have pushing lanes so nearby team-mates can help if need be.
If the enemy jungler dies and you can see all of the opponent’s laners, then you can also try for deeper jungle wards. As a general rule of thumb though, you don’t want to move much further forward than the opposing turrets you’ve taken in the nearest lane. Taking turrets opens up the map as your team can walk further up the map which allows for more playmaking opportunities.
03
Warding around objectives
Wards can make or break objective attempts
© Riot Games
Of course, wards make a huge difference when contesting major objectives like Baron and Dragon. By clearing out vision, it’s much tougher for the opponents to steal, but also you need vision of them to stop the potential stealers.
While you will be tempted to focus your wards in the river and pit, if you get the opportunity you should also ward over the pit to check for the enemy jungler in case of steal attempts. If you spot them, it gives your team the option to hop the wall and target the jungler so they can’t Smite. Do this and there’s very little your opponents can do to stop you from securing the objective.
And of course, be considerate of your team-mates. You will usually want to team fight around the objectives so try and find a good ward for your team-mates to Teleport to. The ideal play is to have a laner clear out waves then Teleport into the fight to help secure/steal the objective.
04
Mikyx’s pro ward spot
This sneaky ward is very reliable
© Riot Games
Keeping all of these tips in mind, it’s easy to see why Mikyx likes the ward spot in the image above so much.
It can work at either Baron or Dragon. It spots most champions trying to set up or start the objective. And again it's outside of the pit and bushes, so it has a solid chance of not being swept, plus it dodges all control wards even from the bush next to it.
Mikyx says even pro players sometimes forget about this spot and he has found it very reliable so try it out in your games too.
05
Remember to ward your own jungle
Ward like a pro and win more games
© Michal Konkol
It can be easy to tunnel vision into warding only to protect your lane from river or trying for deep wards. But it’s equally important, especially when even or behind, to place some defensive wards in your own jungle too.
Defensive wards can prevent opponents from invading or setting up dives, help you figure out where their support or jungler has placed deep wards, or can be used to set up a pick so your team can use the numbers advantage to then snowball into an objective.
Ultimately, try your best to constantly analyse the state of the game. Figure out what both teams want to do in the next five minutes and place wards with that in mind. It’ll take time but as you keep playing games your game sense will naturally improve.
Then you’ll be the quiet hero of the team as your vision helps your team constantly make better decisions.
