This is something that I realized recently. I’m fairly new, around level 25, and I fell into the newbie trap of poor warding.
A lot of top/bot laners ward the bush right next to the lane in river. Problem is, a ward there is pretty darn useless.
Why? Several reasons:
- It helps your jungler and other teammates about 0%
- Even if you’re staring at your minimap, a ward that close to lane physically doesn’t give you enough time to walk back to the safety of turret, especially if you’re pushed up (lots of supports ward that bush then push without a care in the world. The jungler literally has time to stop, clear the ward, then come kill you). If you happen to check your minimap more infrequently, it’s even less helpful.
- It’s very easy for enemies to clear, because it’s obvious
Instead, put your wards deeper in. Further up the river, deeper into the jungle, etc. You need the ward to be far enough away from your lane so:
- You have ample warning to start retreating if you see the enemy jg beelining for your lane. (Many junglers will just path straight for you downriver like a ADC-seeking missile when they see you pushed up)
- The ward is less obvious, so less likely to be cleared
- Even just randomly spotting the enemy jungler pathing around helps your jungler massively
I had a game where I did this in bot lane. Not only did we never get ganked successfully, but the enemy jungler got counterganked by our jungler because the ward told our jungler that we were getting ganked early enough for him to come help and make it a 3v3 vs a 3v2. Our Sivir got fed, we demolished. (We also stole elder dragon (aka auto-win dragon) and yall know how that goes)
Yes it takes more time to walk a bit up the river/into the jungle. However, you get so many benefits in exchange. Plus, doing that can bait the enemy into following you, which can open them up to ganks or just waste their time.
If you’re low elo/new to the game, start warding farther away.