Summary
Highlights
A common mistake is not tracking enemy jungler movements, especially during the crucial 2:30 to 3:30 minute mark when scuttle crabs spawn and junglers look for ganks. Utilizing a ward on enemy raptors can provide critical information about their pathing and clear timing, allowing lanes to play safer or aggressively accordingly. Even without a dedicated raptor ward, observing your own jungler's scuttle take can indicate the enemy jungler's location.
Junglers in low ELO often neglect optimizing their clear speed. High ELO players utilize 'jungle patience' to drag camps towards the next one, saving crucial seconds. Saving even two seconds per camp can lead to a 12-second faster first clear, enabling earlier scuttle presence or ganks. Mastering jungle patience, combining camps for AoE damage, and learning champion-specific clear tricks are vital for jungle improvement.
Many players, like Victor in the example, don't understand the power of a wave rebound. After pushing a large wave under the enemy tower, the opponent's next wave will build up and then push back towards you. By not hitting the incoming wave, you can create a safe farming spot, deny the enemy CS, and establish a freeze, creating a larger lead without taking unnecessary risks, especially when the enemy jungler's position is unknown.
Turret plates, especially those with overgrowth, can be a significant bait in Season 16. The visual of overgrowth is deceptive, and taking a plate often leads to losing more gold and experience from missed minions than gained. With the Season 16 homeguard changes, it's crucial to match opponent recalls. Delaying your recall after forcing an enemy out of lane can be a massive mistake, as they can return to lane quickly with homeguards and prevent you from basing, leading to a disadvantage.
Low ELO players have an unhealthy obsession with objectives, often grouping unnecessarily for dragons even when they are not crucial. Dragons on their own are often negligible, with soul being the primary goal. Void grubs and herald have also been nerfed. It's vital to only contest objectives when it makes strategic sense (e.g., after a won fight, when uncontested). Instead of overgrouping, pressure side lanes, farm, push turrets, and trade objectives on the opposite side of the map.
Season 16 minion spawn changes, with increasing spawn rates and movement speed, heavily punish overgrouping and neglected side lanes. Pushing out mid-wave before an objective opens up multiple options, creating pressure and potentially drawing enemy champions away. Strong players, like Aurelia in the example, often hesitate to commit to split-pushing, leading to missed opportunities. Committing to pushing side lanes, especially when stronger, is a powerful strategy in low ELO as teams struggle to respond effectively, often creating more value than grouping for uncertain team fights.