Top 10 Things Players Do Incorrectly

Apologies for the lack of posts these last two days, I've been a bit sick and not feeling up to it. I did however manage to squeak in a few games on a few smurf accounts, and there are definitely a few reoccurring themes that cropped up. Below is a Top 10 list of things players can definitely improve on; while higher division players tend to do them less, it definitely still happens more often than we'd like to admit.

Introduction

Apologies for the lack of posts these last two days, I've been a bit sick and not feeling up to it. I did however manage to squeak in a few games on a few smurf accounts, and there are definitely a few reoccurring themes that cropped up. Below is a Top 10 list of things players can definitely improve on; while higher division players tend to do them less, it definitely still happens more often than we'd like to admit.

1. Not Flashing For Easy Kills

Most people willingly flash for someone who is visibly almost dead. However, it's much rarer for one or more people to flash for someone who's at full health, even when they're visibly out of position. If you have a numbers advantage and the ability to do so, even three flash + ultimates from your team onto an enemy carry is worth it, especially late game.

The excuse "he'd just flash away too" isn't viable. At least force him to take that option or die wishing he did.

2. Wasting Flash

The opposite of not flashing of course, is the ol' waste of flash. This is the moment when you see a Lee Sin flash + Q, hit Q, hit E, and hit his ultimate, but yet still dies to the super fed Kalista. 

There's also the preemptive flash from a full tank Lee Sin Q: for some reason many players seem dreadfully scared of a Lee Sin pulling off an "insec" play. Truth be told, at most divisions they'll probably fail. Instead, you can pull them deeper into your team and bait the jump.

Of course "wasted flashes" are much easier to identify after they're wasted, and may have seemed like a good idea at the time. This means it's important to master the exact range of flash as well as understanding the damage output of the champions you play. There's a reason why 99% of players pick up the spell, good/bad usage of it affects your success rate drastically.

3. Saving Ultimates Late Game

The classic "Amumu: I would only have been able to catch two" syndrome. Late game, there's only a priority list of people to pick off. As long as you get at least that top priority person, using your ultimate to make sure that champion dies is always worth it. Again, even if you have to flash ult that one fed Jinx, JUST DO IT.

4. Prioritizing Dragon Over Turrets

With the sole exception of the fifth dragon, turrets are almost always more valuable than dragon. In fact, taking down turrets can lead your team to picking up dragons easier than otherwise available.

Turrets provide both map control and global gold. Meanwhile, the only major advantage that dragon provides is removing the objective from the map and a minor boost.

While you should definitely make sure to not give up free dragons, if your team gets an ace and has a choice between turrets and dragons, pick turrets.

5. Trying to Do Objectives Without Pink Wards

This is part of the reason why supports are so easy to climb with in solo queue. Despite the fact that anybody on the team can buy a pink ward and should do so providing they're not at full build, it's rare at lower divisions that you'll even have a sweeper on every team, much less pink wards.

For some reason, people assume that nowhere on the map is warded unless they see it warded. The proper assumption on the other hand, is that Dragon and Baron are ALWAYS warded, and that if you don't see the enemy team approaching, they're coming for you.

6. Not Building Aegis

Both Locket and Banner of Command are amazing additions to any team, and at least one should almost always be a part of every team's arsenal. For the same reason that Aegis wins so many ARAM games, it's also why it wins so many team fights as well.

Too often, supports end up building something silly like Zhonyas on Sona instead of an Aegis when the team has none. Although it's not as obvious as an 0-5 top laner, this impacts the game just as hard depending on the enemy team composition.

If supports decide not to build it, junglers, and even top laners can build it as well (depending on how fed enemy AP champions are). However, I highly suggest not building it on your ADC or mid laner...

7. Trying to Force Nexus After Taking Down Early Inhibitor

Surprisingly, this is somehow still an issue everywhere from Bronze to Diamond. Once you down an inhibitor, it WILL eventually come back up. Don't waste time if the entire enemy team is coming back up soon!

1. There are TWO turrets at once to siege if you want to continue onwards to the nexus, and ONE turret at a time on all the lanes 
2. If you fight close enough to the nexus, your team may need to fight off THREE lanes worth of minions instead of ONE.
3. The nexus is CLOSER to the spawn point than the other lanes, resurrected champions will be that much faster at the start of homeguard's speed boost.

Unless the entire enemy team is dead, sieging further in a lane without an inhibitor is extremely difficult and generally unprofitable.

8. Surrendering Too Early

Never surrender because of early failures. At 50 minutes, all that gold they got from kills won't mean a thing.

9. Not Closing Out Games

If your team derps around for 50 minutes, that 15-0 Lee Sin isn't going to be looking particularly effective, especially considering he was probably already full build at 25 minutes in. 

10. Not Pushing Multiple Lanes At Once

A somewhat more advanced tactic, many teams end up in an extended siege in one lane, only to later discover two massive groups of minions pushing towards your base instead!

The easiest way to prevent this is by using banner of command. If the waves look fairly even and you're heading mid lane, by dropping banner on a side lane minion, it guarantees that eventually, one of the enemy team members must go to the other lane to clear minions. 

That's when you strike.

Got more tips? Did you find one or more particularly good? Comment below!