The Benefit of Late Invasions

Most people invade as soon as possible, since in solo queue there's generally one or two people who are a little slow buying.

However, late invades (post 1:55 invades) are also VERY "successful" in terms of getting first blood and stealing their buff.

Why you might ask?

Suppose the enemy team has an Ahri and an Alistar, two very strong level 1 champions with powerful fight-changing spells, (even at level 1).

However, after 1:55 the following three things will happen:

• At 1:55, Ahri will most likely use her Q on blue buff to leash for Alistar, meaning she's cut off from the team and also puts her nuke on cooldown.
• Meanwhile, at about 1:58, Alistar will most likely throw down his pulverize as the blue golem leashes back to him.
• Depending on if the enemy is blue or purple side, either the top lane or the bot lane will be heading off to their respective lanes (if they're not there already)

This means that an invading team can easily throw down a 5v3, a 5v2, or even a 5v1 if the enemy team isn't friendly to their jungler. With odds like this, it's very simple to pick up their golem, along with a possible few bonus kills.

So why don't you do it EVERY time?

1. Don't do it when you're not sure where the enemy jungler will be starting. This means their jungler may easily clear their buff and counterjungle your buff as you're waiting for them to "do" their buff.
2. If the enemy top/bot has a very strong pushing lane, they can push the lane to the tower and gain a huge advantage in their respective lanes.
3. If your team wastes too many flashes, it puts them in strong danger of getting zoned/jungle ganked, which leads to quickly losing the lead from invading.

When is it most beneficial to do a late invade?

1. Against heroes like Alistar or a jungle Blitzcrank (someone with powerful level 2 potential and is mana reliant) is a definite.
2. When the enemy team is composed of weak level 1 pushers like Ezreal, Irelia, etc.
3. Against heroes that are blue reliant (fiddlesticks)

Of course, if your team simply overpowers them at level 1, warding your own blue and invading ASAP isn't a bad idea. However, a late invade almost always guarantees success on the invade. Just don't fall too far behind in your respective lanes.