Strategy: Playing From Behind

Somewhat recently, BenskyGaming posted a blog about playing from behind, and I wanted to delve into that topic a bit more. (This has also been discussed recently in PMs between me, Draisaitl and boogiebass, which got me thinking more on the topic)

Quick summary of Bensky's main points:

• 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)

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:

• 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.)
  
  
• 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.).
  
  
• 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.

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 overextending yourself is likely to result in your death and further increasing their lead. 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 recognize that the boundaries have changed. 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.






Ever played Assault? Do you get itchy when enemies are just camping their tower? Well, this is what you should be doing if you're behind. SAFE FARM is concentrating on clearing minion waves (and nearby jungle camps only) from the relative safety of nearby towers/phoenixes, unless you know where all of the enemies are. 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 give the enemy a case of irritability and restlessness. 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 force them into making errors, 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.




General fighting: 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 what feels like a safe distance might not be.


Team-Fighting: always remember that if your team is significantly behind, your chance of winning an even-numbered teamfight is probably low. Couple of general rules...

1. Know where enemies are (of course)
2. Spot if you've got a numerical advantage (e.g. 3 v 2)
3. 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: 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 Apollo) 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.

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Hope this has been helpful. If I've missed a topic, let me know and I'll work to add it. If you're Duotem, go ahead and tell me that everything above is wrong and I'm stupid and a noob. =)

Bran, you are too good for us. I'll read it soon.

Not sure what you're talking about, but I'll assume it's not my actual gameplay XD

I 100% love writing this stuff to help others, but it's also a reminder for myself...I make these mistakes a lot.

Bran is indeed talking about his actually gameplay. He realizes he is far superior to us plebs with his 2000+ ELO.

Also Bran, there's always that one game where you're the only team mate buying wards. Since you can only place 2 at a time, you may want to mention (as you mentioned in our PMs) the best places to green ward are near the objectives (assuming FG and GF are already sentry warded).

Edited that...small added paragraph in the spoiler. Thanks boogie.

ah the lvl power spikes always nice. Especially in the duo lane. If the other duo lane isn't careful it means an easy lvl 2 powerspike kill with the right duo combo.

yeah That's how easy it is to be behind in a lane