How to Conquer the Early Game by jttm

How to Conquer the Early Game

By: jttm
Last Updated: Jan 30, 2015
27 Votes
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Intro Top

Alright, we've seen enough general strategy, "tips", "how to win," and more. DON'T WORRY, this guide is NOT going to tell you how to play a MOBA and whatnot.

After frustratingly watch my allies make horrible mistakes in the early game, I made this to highlight how you can improve and win more games - and all through the early game. This guide is aimed at newer but somewhat experienced players in multiple skill tiers, but you might learn something even if you're already a pro.

Why the early game? Top

I've seen plenty of builds going in depth on the late game meta when you're hero is super fed and has great items that synergize well. I'm all for those flashy items that look nice on the endgame scoreboard (unless you lost), but it's not practical to expect that you'll have enough gold if your already losing or those items will suddenly turn around a game. Builds are only half the battle. Let's face it: if you transition into late game and you're already losing, the effects tend to compound themselves. On the other hand, if you're destroying the enemy team, then those items are probably not going to change the end result: you're going to win.

And then there's an entirely different side to late game: stagnation. Late game stagnation is the worst. I've experienced so many games that involve poking bushes, running away, avoiding the enemy for extended periods, and just boredom in general. Then, wins are more about luck or the positioning of one fight which ultimately lowers YOUR chance of winning. Think about it, and you can see why the late game is either out of your control or predetermined by early game.

The 3 Man Jungle Invade Top

Ahh, if properly organized, this attack will destroy solo queue opponents. (see the Tips on Each Hero for proper team comp). Most of the time, you will see this in high ELO matches. Don't expect it if you are not in The Hotness or above.

Essentially, the jungle is vital to your team's early gold supply and the lane rarely pushes hard enough in the first minutes to matter as much(more on that in the Laning section). So the laner neglects his/her post to come into the jungle and team up with the rest of the team. With this amount of firepower, early kills in the jungle are secured, which allows safe stealing of enemy camps. It's also extremely demoralizing to get killed before the 3 min mark.

How


It is preferable that you have queued with your allies as a party for this one. Supports should buy a flare. Don't bother starting with Ironguard Contract or farming items if you plan on engaging the enemy this soon. Instead, grab an item that will increase your damage or chase potential. The whole team should rush to the tribush on your side and then into the shop bush on your side. Wait and move together as a group if no one shows up to grab the twin camp on the enemy side. You can farm the jungle while waiting, but stay with your team and remember to press the early advantage or the enemy creeps will be taken.
Generally speaking, you want to catch the lone enemy farming away at the twin camp and then ambush and kill. Try to draw an enemy into the center of your group and do not overextend. This strat is all about a couple seconds of 3 v1 or 3 v2 to secure an early victory. When chasing, remember to walk with enemy and attack while walking even if you are a ranged/sniper hero because this will allow you to make the most of those puny early game hits.

Counters


-Work in progress-

Laning Top

Laning refers to going to the lane with turrets and farming. Typically laners get the most gold in a game, are ranged, and have the most kills (carry) in a a game (although not necessary). Heroes that are only viable in the lane and nowhere else are Ringo and SAW. Petal, Skaarf, and a decent Adagio can be played as junglers although are a little more difficult in that role. In Vainglory, it is best to have one laner.

New players tend to kill off enemy minions very quickly with auto-attacks and push lane. This gradually moves them out of safe tower range and into the exposed lane where they are open to ganks. There have been way too many times I've seen my ally laner push up to enemy turret and die early game to a ganking jungler and the enemy laner. Early pushes will do nothing to the enemy turret and are highly counter productive for you.
Here's why:
As said, moving away from your turret opens you to ganks. Dying early on is not so much about the bonus gold you give the enemy, but rather the amount of time lost backing to base and walking to lane. This is a lot of farming time lost.
If you push lane, your minions will eventually make it to the enemy turret and you will be unable to farm without giving free trades in health to the enemy.
As you naturally push the lane, you increase the space between you and your turret, increasing the time it takes for you to get to safe ground and increasing the risk involved in farming.


Since your main objective is to get as much gold as possible early on, you actually want the lane/minion wave to be pushed right up to your turret. For some reason, most people think that when the laner is back at turret, they are doing poorly. In fact, the very opposite is true. Now, the enemy laner has to be out and exposed in lane where you can harass them under the protection of your turret.

To achieve this, you should only last hit minions and wait for each wave to make hit to your turret. Minimize the damage you put into the enemy minion wave to have it push up to your turret, so minimal auto-attacking and mostly last-hitting is the whole point. Early laning is not about clearing the waves extremely fast, it's about last hitting and controlling the lane to meet your farming needs.

Think about each enemy minion wave as your gold. Every single minion you don't last hit is a net loss for you since all minions should be guaranteed gold under turret.

Once you clear the wave, do not move away from your turret trying to push lane. This makes it more difficult get gold without harass from long range carries like Petal or Ringo or pretty much everybody. And like I mentioned, you can get ganked when you're not close to your turret. This will either give the enemies a free kill or force a back to base/ conservative playstyle, and both mean more gold for the enemy. Rule of thumb: don't ever cross the midway point in lane, which is nicely marked for you.

Don't leave the lane if your minion wave has not made it well across the halfway point. You shouldn't leave the lane at all in the early game (you need the gold), unless: you go back to shop and there are no minions to farm in safe range, you are really low on health, your allies are fighting just below the lane or need help at an objective (gold mine). Prioritize getting gold and farming up over buying items.

Avoid shopping at the jungle shop if you can, because you will probably die there.

Work in progress: safer laning/things and heroes look out for, harass, duo lane, for each hero, and more.

Jungling and Roaming Top

I main characters like Catherine, Glaive, and the occasional Koshka (in case you wanted to know). These guys are junglers meaning that they start in the jungle, get less gold than the laner, typically support the laner, and roam or move around the map. In Vainglory, the basic team comp has 2 junglers and a laner.

I see a lot of junglers start at the front of the jungle and wait for the first creep to spawn. I want to be clear that this is not acceptable in any situation and is an absolute waste of your time.

Always walk to the lower twin camp on your side of the jungle. If you're brave, you might decide to get the enemy side camp first. This is a bad choice because you risk meeting the enemy jungler and wasting your time. After the first camp, check to see if nearby enemy camps have been taken yet and then head back to your own jungle to farm up.

Notice I said risk when talking about your jungling start. Taking risks in the jungle during early game is almost always a net loss because you waste time doing something other than farming and obviously may take a loss from being ambushed for the risk. In general, time is of the essence in the jungle because walking between camps is painfully slow and is required to farm gold.

To minimize this walking, you're going to want to learn how to leash. Jungle creeps will chase you after being aggro'd within a certain radius. Walk while you attack them so that you have pulled the creep to the edge of that radius and closer to the next camp you want to take. This saves a ton of time and often lets you hide in the bushes while attacking. Sometimes, you can make it seem as if a camp has been taken when the enemy hastily checks Being hidden will prevent enemies from noticing you at the edge of their view and can prevent nasty and unexpected targeted attacks, like Taka's switchblade flip or ult.

Don't chase enemies that you can't kill. It doesn't make any sense and can cause you to be ambushed by their 2 junglers which again means: bonus gold for them, less farm for you. In fact, don't even chase the enemies you might be able to kill.

Never commit to a fight early on. And, unless you're definitely going to get a kill, fights are a waste of time in general and you risk other enemies coming to help. New players think that getting a kill early on is worth more than farming and it this mentality will cause players to fall behind in gold. Kills are always going to be less gold than farming because of the time involved.

I see a lot of new players (junglers) (I'm looking at you Taka) hide in the lane bushes for a really long time early game. Again, don't waste time waiting for the right moment to gank. You can pan by pressing the minimap to see proper gank opportunities in lane while you're farming. Also ganking often requires that you have more thank one ability and are at least level 2. Don't gank unless you see a great opportunity for gold because walking to the lane takes up time you could have used to farm.

Work in progress: duo jungle setup, harass, roaming, map awareness/objectives, traps, minion mine, ganking, invade, the lane

Tips for Each Hero - items and playstyle Top

Work in progress:
playstyle, beginning items/skills, health and other factors, engage/not engage, icons, special early game heroes, strengths/weaknesses

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