Importance of Objective Control
In the world of League of Legends (LoL), a player’s ability to effectively control objectives can make all the difference in their games. Objective control refers to securing valuable map objectives such as turrets, inhibitors, and epic monsters. By mastering this aspect of the game, you can apply pressure to your opponents, accumulate a gold advantage, and increase your chances of victory.
Types of Objectives in LoL
Turrets
Turrets are defensive structures that protect the three lanes (top, mid, and bot) and the base. They deal significant damage to enemy champions and minions. Destroying turrets rewards your team with gold and opens up the map for further objectives.
Inhibitors
Inhibitors are located in each lane, behind the innermost turrets. Destroying an inhibitor spawns powerful super minions in that lane, putting pressure on the enemy team and making it easier for you to take other objectives.
Epic Monsters
Epic monsters are powerful neutral creatures that provide significant advantages to the team that secures them. The two primary epic monsters are the Rift Herald, which can help you push lanes and destroy turrets, and the Dragon, which provides various buffs depending on the type of dragon slain. Securing the Baron Nashor can also turn the tide of a match by empowering your minions and increasing your team’s pushing power.
Tips for Controlling Objectives
Vision Control
Maintaining vision control around objectives is crucial. Use wards to keep an eye on enemy movements and deny them vision with control wards. Vision control helps you make informed decisions about when to take objectives and when to contest them.
Objective Prioritization
Understanding which objectives to prioritize and when is essential for success. Generally, you should prioritize objectives that provide the most significant advantage to your team or deny the enemy team valuable resources.
Timing and Coordination
Timing your objective plays around your team’s power spikes, ultimate abilities, and summoner spell cooldowns can greatly increase your chances of success. Communicating and coordinating with your team is vital for securing objectives without unnecessary risks.
Split Pushing and Pressure
Applying pressure in other lanes can force the enemy team to make difficult decisions. Split pushing can draw attention away from objectives, allowing your team to secure them with less resistance.
Objective-Based Champions
Some champions excel at objective control due to their abilities and playstyles.
Additional Objective Control Tips
- Understand Your Team’s Composition: Recognize your team’s strengths and weaknesses and play around them. Some teams excel at team fighting, while others are better at split pushing or catching enemies out of position. Use your team’s composition to determine the best approach to controlling objectives.
- Track Enemy Summoner Spells and Ultimate Abilities: Keeping track of your opponents’ summoner spell cooldowns and ultimate abilities can give you an advantage when contesting objectives. Engage when the enemy team has key abilities on cooldown or exploit their lack of summoner spells, such as Flash or Smite.
- Plan Objective Control in Advance: Communicate with your team about which objectives you want to focus on before they spawn. This allows your team to set up vision control, push lanes, and establish the necessary map control to secure the objective.
- Take Advantage of Power Spikes: Power spikes occur when a champion becomes significantly stronger due to leveling up, acquiring key items, or unlocking specific abilities. Identify your team’s power spikes and use them to force fights around objectives or secure them with ease.
- Control Scuttle Crabs: Scuttle crabs provide vision and a speed boost when killed. Controlling these neutral creatures can help you maintain vision around key objectives, such as Baron Nashor and Dragon, and enable faster rotations.
- Utilize Objective-Focused Items and Runes: Items like Control Wards, Oracle Lens, and Umbral Glaive can help deny enemy vision around objectives, while runes such as Zombie Ward and Ghost Poro can help maintain vision control. Make sure to adapt your build and rune choices to enhance your objective control capabilities.
- Be Ready to Trade Objectives: Sometimes, it’s impossible to contest an objective safely. In these cases, look for opportunities to trade objectives across the map. For example, if the enemy team is taking Dragon, you can try to secure Rift Herald or push a turret in another lane.
- Know When to Disengage: Recognize when a fight around an objective is unfavorable and be prepared to disengage. Forcing an unfavorable fight can lead to losing the objective and giving up multiple kills, putting your team at a significant disadvantage.
- Master Smite Timing: As a jungler, it’s crucial to perfect your smite timing to secure objectives. Practice your smite timing in custom games or use the Practice Tool to ensure you can secure objectives consistently.
- Leverage Teleport and Global Abilities: Champions with Teleport or global abilities, such as Twisted Fate’s Destiny or Shen’s Stand United, can create pressure around objectives by split pushing or joining fights from a distance. Use these abilities to your advantage when contesting objectives.
Junglers
Junglers play a pivotal role in controlling objectives because of their mobility and smite summoner spell. Champions like Nunu, Lee Sin, and Shaco excel at securing objectives and providing vision control.
Supports
Support champions, such as Thresh, Morgana, and Bard, can create opportunities for their team to secure objectives through crowd control, vision control, and utility abilities. Good support players can make a significant impact on objective control by setting up vision, peeling for their carries, and engaging or disengaging fights.
Carries and Solo Laners
Carries and solo laners can also contribute to objective control by applying pressure on the map, zoning enemy champions, and dealing damage. Champions like Azir, Caitlyn, and Fiora are strong picks for objective-focused gameplay.
Improving Your Objective Control Skills
To improve your mastery of objective control in League of Legends, consider the following tips:
Watching Replays
Reviewing your replays can help you identify mistakes and areas for improvement in your objective control. Analyze your decision-making, positioning, and vision control, and compare it to high-level players to learn from their successes.
High-Level Players and Teams to Follow for Excellent Objective Control
Studying the strategies and gameplay of high-level players and professional teams can provide invaluable insights into objective control. Here are some specific examples of players and teams worth following to improve your understanding of objective control in League of Legends:
Top-Level Junglers
Junglers have a significant impact on objective control due to their role in securing neutral objectives and providing vision.
- Tarzan (Lee “Tarzan” Seung-yong): A Korean professional jungler known for his excellent decision-making and objective-focused gameplay, Tarzan has played for teams like Griffin and LNG Esports. Watch his pathing, objective prioritization, and gank timings to learn how to control the jungle and objectives effectively.
- Canyon (Kim “Canyon” Geon-bu): Canyon, a jungler for DAMWON Gaming, is renowned for his aggressive playstyle and objective control. By studying his gameplay, you can learn how to pressure the enemy jungler and create opportunities for your team to secure objectives.
Top-Level Supports
Supports play a crucial role in vision control and setting up plays around objectives.
- CoreJJ (Jo “CoreJJ” Yong-in): A world-class support player, CoreJJ is known for his vision control and playmaking abilities. He has played for teams like Samsung Galaxy, Team Liquid, and Gen.G. Watching CoreJJ’s warding patterns and objective control strategies can help you learn the finer details of support play around objectives.
- Mikyx (Mihael “Mikyx” Mehle): Mikyx, the support player for G2 Esports, is recognized for his exceptional roaming and vision control. Observe how he moves around the map to secure vision and create opportunities for his team to contest objectives.
Top-Level Teams
- G2 Esports: G2 Esports, a European team, is known for its creativity and objective-focused gameplay. Their ability to make decisive calls and execute split-push strategies has helped them secure numerous championships. Study their team coordination, objective prioritization, and unique strategies to learn effective objective control.
- DAMWON Gaming: A Korean powerhouse, DAMWON Gaming is famous for its disciplined gameplay and exceptional macro strategy. By watching DAMWON’s matches, you can learn how they utilize vision control, wave management, and objective prioritization to secure victories consistently.
Educational Content Creators
- LS (Nick “LS” De Cesare): LS is a coach, caster, and content creator who provides in-depth analysis of professional games and educational content focused on improving gameplay. By watching his content, you can learn the intricacies of objective control and how to apply them to your games.
- ProGuides: ProGuides is an online platform that provides comprehensive guides and coaching for League of Legends. They frequently release videos analyzing high-level players and teams, offering insights into objective control, champion-specific strategies, and macro gameplay.
By following these top-level players, teams, and content creators, you can develop a deeper understanding of objective control in League of Legends and improve your gameplay. Remember to actively apply the strategies and techniques you learn from these sources to your own games for the best results.
Conclusion
Mastery of objective control in League of Legends is a critical skill that can elevate your gameplay and increase your chances of victory. By understanding the different objectives, prioritizing vision control, coordinating with your team, and selecting objective-focused champions, you can improve your game and climb the ranked ladder. Remember to continually learn from your own games, as well as high-level players, to refine your skills and become a formidable force on the Rift.
FAQs
Q: What are the key objectives in League of Legends?
A: The key objectives in League of Legends include turrets, inhibitors, and epic monsters (Rift Herald, Dragon, and Baron Nashor).
Q: How do I maintain vision control around objectives?
A: Use wards to maintain vision around objectives, and place control wards to deny enemy vision. Communicate with your team to ensure proper warding coverage.
Q: How do I prioritize objectives in a game?
A: Prioritize objectives based on the advantage they provide to your team or the resources they deny your opponents. Consider factors such as the current state of the game, your team’s composition, and the enemy’s positioning.
Q: Which champions are best for objective control?
A: Champions with strong zoning, pushing power, or utility are generally better for objective control. Examples include Nunu (jungler), Thresh (support), and Azir (mid-lane).
Q: How can I improve my objective control skills?
A: Review your replays, watch high-level players, and practice decision-making, positioning, and vision control in your games.