Welcome to a guide designed to elevate your ADC gameplay and help you dominate the lane with strategic precision. Whether you’re struggling to hit those crucial level spikes, mastering wave control, or leveraging macro strategies to maximize your gold income, this comprehensive breakdown has everything you need. Let’s dive into the tactics and principles that will turn you into a carry powerhouse in no time!

Early Advantage by Reaching Lane First

When I reach the lane first and land two extra auto attacks, it might seem trivial, but this Misfortune essentially lost the lane before it even started. ADCs often make the mistake of leashing too long for their jungler. If you’re leashing, never auto-attack the buff more than three times. In solo queue, ADCs don’t realize they have the most control over who hits level two first in lane due to their auto attacks.

Level Two Spike Timing

Even when Misfortune reaches the lane, my Yuumi support is essentially AFK, sitting on me. However, by auto-attacking the wave more than Misfortune, I reach level two first, instantly winning the lane. To be clear, bot laners reach level two when the first three melee minions of the second wave die, so it’s essential to memorize that timing.

Gaining a Guaranteed Push Advantage

Ideally, you should ask your jungler to start on the topside or at Raptors for a leashless opening. This allows you to avoid leashing while the enemy might still need to, giving you a guaranteed push advantage for the level two spike. This tactic lets you control the lane without much effort.

Another Example of Level Two Advantage

In another example, the enemy Jinx hesitates to start pushing, allowing us to land more auto attacks on the minions. This gives us the level two spike advantage. Even when our support retreats due to a jungle gank, we’re not concerned, as the power of level two against a level one opponent is significant.

Importance of Securing the Level Two Spike

I can’t overemphasize how much easier it makes the lane by spiking level two first. For example, when both bot lanes leash and arrive at the same time, I immediately start auto-attacking the wave, while Ashe focuses on harassing and trading. That extra damage on our Thresh doesn’t matter when we hit level two and the enemy is still level one. As luck would have it, Thresh lands a great hook on the out-of-position Ashe, and we secure a winning trade simply by pushing the wave faster.

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Managing Lane When Behind on the Push

If you’re thinking that this strategy only worked because Thresh is ranged and Leona is melee, you’re not wrong; it did make it harder for Ashe to compete for the push. But let’s say you’re in a spot where you can’t get the push lead, like when I leashed and the enemy didn’t. In that case, my support used Flash even before I reached the lane. Here, you should stop damaging the wave and let the enemy push instead. This minimizes the time they’re level two while you’re still level one, allowing the wave to move closer to your tower, which keeps you safer.

Using Tower to Equalize Levels

Allowing the wave to crash into your tower not only speeds up your level progression but also positions you to equalize in levels sooner, enabling you to engage back when the opportunity arises. This tactic helps in regaining control over the lane without taking unnecessary risks while level disadvantaged.

The Power of the Level Six Spike

Apart from the level two timing, there’s one other level-up that can consistently help you win the lane, and surprisingly, it’s not level three—it’s level six. This timing catches many players off guard, as bot lane XP can fluctuate unpredictably due to shared kills, roams, and assists. This unpredictability can lead one player to hit level six earlier, giving them a strong edge that can be challenging for opponents to anticipate.

Tracking Your Own Level Six Timing

The key tip here isn’t about tracking the enemy’s level six—it’s about tracking your own. Many ADCs miss out on potential kills by not being aware of this. In this instance, I’m level five, while Miss Fortune is level six. I know I don’t want to engage while down a level, but I anticipate that when the siege minion dies, I’ll reach level six. Knowing that Kai’Sa’s ultimate can counter Miss Fortune’s, I position aggressively to capitalize on the moment. As expected, Miss Fortune is caught off guard, allowing me to secure a double kill.

How Timing Influences the Laning Phase

This game demonstrates how powerful level-up timings are, as the entire laning phase was shaped by these two spikes: level two and level six. These timings alone can determine the outcome of the lane, highlighting the importance of careful level tracking.

Avoid Forcing Trades: React to Support Movements

Another common mistake in lane is forcing trades. As an ADC, it’s better to react to your support’s actions rather than initiating. In bot lane, there’s a concept called the triangle formation, or parallel positioning, where both you and your support are perpendicular to each other, allowing you to focus on a single target. This positioning forms a triangle, which is essential for effective trading.

Capitalizing on Opponent Positioning Mistakes

In practice, the triangle formation means staying patient and waiting for the enemy ADC to make a positioning error. For example, observe how Varus and Karma maintain the triangle formation. I play safely until Karma moves to ward, leaving Varus unguarded. When Varus fails to respect Karma’s absence and moves forward, he makes himself vulnerable, creating an opportunity to punish.

Utilizing Triangle Formation in Trades

I notice my support is moving forward—great! As long as I initiate the trade alongside my support, we form a triangle formation, while the enemy doesn’t. You can see I start backing out of the trade when my support leaves, while their support moves forward. Pausing here, this simple concept already yields a winning trade. Fortunately, Zyra lands a max-range snare, which allows us to turn this trade into a kill.

Applying Triangle Formation with Yuumi Support

Here’s a straightforward example: when laning with Yuumi, the triangle formation is easy, as she’s literally on top of me. I can wait for the enemy support to separate from their ADC. When their ADC mispositions, it’s a free kill. Knowing this positioning concept, many laning phases will play out smoothly, allowing you to exploit opportunities for easy kills.

Prioritizing Targets and Positioning with Weaker Supports

I introduced this positioning mistake concept because it lets you capitalize on another frequent mistake—dealing with ineffective supports who get caught out. Typically, you want to focus on the enemy ADC rather than the support. For instance, I see my support moving forward to engage, which isn’t ideal with a wave pushing toward us. I position close to form a triangle and prepare for the enemy bot lane to engage.

Prioritizing the Enemy ADC in Fights

I make it a priority to focus the enemy ADC during engagements. This approach allows you to trade your support’s death for the enemy ADC’s, which is a huge advantage. Supports don’t need to farm to stay relevant, but ADCs rely heavily on minions to build strength. For example, when my support Senna gets caught, I avoid the mistake of focusing their support and instead target the ADC. As a result, we trade kills, but I gain a massive lead because the enemy ADC loses a valuable wave while they’re dead.

Key Trading Principles in Lane

These are the primary trading mistakes in the laning phase that, if corrected, will give you a significant advantage over your opponent. Focus on achieving level two and level six spikes, pay attention to triangle formation positioning, and punish the enemy ADC when they’re out of formation. During all-ins, prioritizing the enemy ADC, especially if they target your support, can secure a major lead.

Wave Control Mistakes ADCs Make

For wave control, there are two main errors ADCs need to avoid. First, with a ranged support, pushing is generally the best strategy. This tactic makes it easier for your support to harass the enemy while they’re focused on last-hitting near their tower. On the other hand, freezing should only be used when you’re confident you can either secure a kill or win a trade. Freezing forces the enemy to step up, positioning them for an engage.

When to Freeze the Wave for an Advantage

For instance, Misfortune makes a common error by trading health with a support, which leaves her vulnerable. With my advantage, I freeze the wave, forcing her to move forward to last-hit, setting up an easy all-in opportunity. This tactic is crucial for maintaining pressure and setting up advantageous trades.

Maximizing Advantage with Melee Support

If you’re stronger than your opponent and have a melee support, freezing the wave becomes crucial. This allows your support to engage the enemy while they’re away from the safety of their tower. By applying this strategy, along with the other techniques discussed, you’ll significantly increase your chances of exiting the laning phase with a lead.

Implementing a Pro-Style Mid Game Macro with Jinx

I’m playing Jinx, and it’s 13 minutes into the game. Following pro strategies, I recall and head mid. Yes, that’s a Draven jungle—welcome to solo queue! My support joins me, while Malphite heads bot. This setup starts to look like a pro game, minus the Draven jungle. Let’s see how this optimal macro strategy unfolds. Unfortunately, our support gets caught and dies. We score a random kill on the enemy support, but overall, we’re just farming waves without much impact. You’ve likely seen similar scenarios in your games, where nothing significant happens and objectives like Rift Herald aren’t taken.

The Value of Sidelaning as an ADC in Solo Queue

As soon as Malphite recalls from mid, I move to the side lane to implement a more effective solo queue strategy. Sidelaning as an ADC is highly impactful in solo queue. In this example, I’m playing Kai’Sa and start pushing top. I clear two waves, pressure the tower, and back off when the enemy ADC arrives to defend. However, after pushing the next wave, Caitlyn rotates mid, giving me another wave and the chance to take the tower.

Why Sidelaning Works So Well for ADCs

This strategy is highly effective because ADCs excel at taking towers quickly. After Caitlyn leaves, I secure three waves, which translates to 450 gold, plus 700 gold for the tower. I also pick up a Gromp for an additional 80 gold, totaling 1,230 gold. That’s equivalent to four kills’ worth of gold from this play alone.

Concerns About Teammates Dying During Sidelaning

I understand the concern: “But when I try this, my teammates end up dying.” This frustration is common in solo queue, where teammates may struggle to survive while you sideline. However, by mastering this strategy, you’ll be able to create significant gold leads, making you stronger and more capable of influencing the game’s outcome, even if teammates occasionally falter.

Why Sidelaning Keeps You Ahead, Even if Teammates Die

When I’m not with the team, and they end up dying, it’s still fine because this strategy keeps me ahead. Here’s why: while the enemy team may kill my teammates, that gold is split among them. For instance, Caitlyn, Ekko, and Garen each got a kill, earning around 450 gold each, including assists. When grouped, you split minion gold and XP with teammates, reducing individual gains. With this strategy, even if the worst happens and your team dies, you still come out ahead since you’re funneling all that gold and XP directly into yourself.

The Power of Concentrated Gold on an ADC

Gold scales well, especially for ADCs, due to item synergies. Imagine one player with five fully completed items and boots against five players with boots and just one completed item each. That single player becomes a raid boss capable of wiping the enemy team. This strategy maximizes your gold income, creating a significant advantage even in the worst-case scenario.

Realistic Outcome of Sidelaning Strategy

It’s essential to remember that your entire team won’t die every time. Even when things don’t go perfectly, you’ll still be ahead. Let’s look at a more realistic situation: after leaving the base, I head toward the bot lane to implement this strategy. This approach consistently provides solo gold and XP, enhancing your power and setting up an advantage for later fights.

Maximizing Gold Gains through Sidelaning

On my way to the bot lane, I take the Krug camp. Meanwhile, my team is fighting mid, and they win the skirmish. I grab one bot wave, clear the enemy Gromp, then take a second wave bot. My team unexpectedly wins a fight top and secures an inhibitor while I take a third wave bot. Two teammates die, but we end up massively ahead. This strategy leverages two solo queue tendencies: first, players often lack map awareness, leaving lanes undefended. Second, they undervalue side lane gold compared to team fights, mistakenly thinking a single fight is more beneficial than defending.

Understanding the True Value of Empty Lanes

An empty lane is usually worth more than a single team fight victory, as it provides continuous gold and XP. Many players think that winning a fight is the best outcome, but as demonstrated, side lanes offer more value when left open. When no one defends, it’s an easy way to accumulate gold and pressure the map.

Push and Roam: What to Do When Defenders Arrive

You might wonder, “What if someone comes to defend my push?” In that case, if you can’t kill the defender, execute a “push into roam.” By pushing a wave and baiting a defender, they’re now pinned to the tower momentarily, allowing you to roam and potentially create a numbers advantage for a fight elsewhere. In this scenario, I take advantage of the moment to secure a kill on Brand, a tactic assassins and mages commonly use.

Exploiting Enemy Tunnel Vision

Here’s a funny example: I push mid while my teammates get caught in the enemy jungle. Instead of fighting, I continue pushing, knowing that free lane pressure will yield more value. The entire enemy team is focused on my teammates, unaware that I’m pushing mid right beside them. At one point, the enemy Renekton, fleeing the fight, literally runs into me without realizing I’m there, illustrating just how powerful this strategy can be when opponents tunnel vision on one part of the map.

Capitalizing on Free Kills Through Pushing

As I continue pushing, I score a free kill, and with two enemies down from the team fight, by the time the rest of the team recalls, it’s too late—the game is essentially over. Now, I’m not suggesting that every push will yield such massive rewards, but it does happen often enough that this becomes a powerful macro strategy for ADCs.

Alternative to Roaming: Jungle Camp Control

What if you push but can’t find a roam opportunity? Look to take jungle camps. For instance, after pushing a wave and anticipating a defender, I capitalize on the moment by taking the entire enemy bot-side jungle. As an ADC, your high DPS allows you to clear camps faster as you get items, making this a viable strategy for boosting your income.

When to Recall and Reset After Pushing

If there’s no roam or camp available and your resources are low, it’s time to recall. For example, after pushing bot with low health and no ult, and seeing enemy defenders approaching, I choose to recall. When you return from a side-lane push, always default to grouping mid. By pushing the side lane before recalling, you often bait an enemy to collect the wave, potentially giving you a numbers advantage in mid.

Handling Situations Without a Numbers Advantage

Of course, you won’t always find a numbers advantage. For example, after leaving the base and heading mid, I notice the enemy Malzahar has already cleared the bot wave and grouped mid. Meanwhile, my jungler is off the map, and our Aatrox initiates a 3v4. In these situations, recognize that forcing fights without numbers advantage can backfire, so it’s often better to wait for optimal conditions.

Evaluating Number Advantage in Mid Lane Fights

I notice Renekton rotating down, turning this into a number-advantaged fight for the enemy team. In such situations, it’s best to avoid forcing a fight. Instead, I head back to the bot lane to resume pushing. Grouping mid is beneficial because it sometimes offers a free winning fight, and if not, you can always return to the side lane.

Engaging in Fights on the Side Lane

When defending a push in the side lane, you’ll encounter three possible outcomes when deciding to engage. The first scenario is when your opponent is weaker than you but unaware of it, resulting in them initiating the fight. For instance, Cho’Gath teleports in, assuming I’m an under-leveled ADC and attempts a 1v1. However, due to this strategy, I often have the highest level and gold in the game. Checking items and levels is an easy way to assess if you should take the fight. If you’re equal or ahead in items and levels, it’s generally advantageous to engage, as you’ll likely win, as seen in this encounter with Cho’Gath.

Using Pushes to Trade Against Even or Slightly Stronger Opponents

If you’re even or slightly behind, you can employ a “push into trade” approach. For example, while pushing, I hit the Tab key to check items and levels, spotting an approaching Annie. I’m one level behind her but one item ahead. Annie’s burst damage poses a challenge, as she counters squishy ADCs like me, especially before I’ve fully scaled with more items. In these situations, a cautious approach can allow you to push while staying aware of the defender’s positioning and potential burst damage.

The Value of Limit Testing in Side Lane Fights

I still recommend fighting in these scenarios, as it’s crucial to limit test. Testing your champion’s matchups helps you understand when you can win and get a better feel for your champion’s power spikes. Additionally, even if you trade one-for-one, it’s a valuable play. By pushing a wave to the enemy tower and then dying, you cause them to lose all those minions as the wave rebounds back. This puts you ahead, and if the enemy sends another player to pick up the farm, that’s two enemies off the map for the cost of your death.

Intentional “Inting” with Strategic Purpose

This leads to our next income strategy, often called “intentional inting” but done with a purpose. In one game, for example, the enemy Sion is fed—a difficult matchup for most ADCs. However, I still head into a side lane against him, thinking he may have roamed or recalled, and end up in a losing fight. Despite my “gray screen,” this play yields value. As I die, my team secures a winning fight on the top side.

Why Pulling a Fed Enemy to the Side Lane Works

Pulling a strong enemy to the side lane often benefits your team, as it keeps them away from objectives and team fights. If this enemy had joined the team fight, their impact would likely be greater. By drawing a fed opponent into the side lane, you give your team a chance to engage favorably in other areas of the map, offering a way back into the game.

Leveraging Side Lane Farm to Pressure the Enemy

After respawning, I head to the side lane to push again, while Kassadin groups mid to team fight. This allows me to gather free farm in the side lane, which then forces Kassadin to return bot, preventing him from capitalizing on his team’s win. After a recall, I return to the side lane, drawing Kassadin once more. You can see I’m beginning to gain strength and possibly even outplay him. This time, I also attract Lee Sin and Lux, which is highly beneficial as it delays the enemy’s ability to use their lead effectively.

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Constantly Delaying the Enemy’s Map Control

By repeatedly pulling Kassadin and other fed opponents to the side lane, I slow down the enemy’s progress, keeping them occupied and preventing them from pressuring other objectives. After another respawn, I apply pressure bot once more, drawing Kassadin again. This time, I nearly kill him, further boosting my strength while keeping him low, forcing him to recall. As a result, our team secures two kills top side and a pick on Kassadin himself.

The “Invisible Buff” of Delaying the Game

This tactic essentially acts like an “invisible passive buff” for my team, increasing their chances in fights by continually stalling the enemy’s advances. By prolonging the game and building up farm, I become a serious threat in the side lane, capable of challenging nearly any defender. Often, the enemy grows frustrated, struggling to close out the game and ultimately making mistakes. In the late game, one misstep like this from Kassadin, coupled with extended death timers, can mean the end of the game for them.

The Impact of Gold Inflation on Late Game Strategy

Delaying the game is effective because of the concept of gold inflation in League of Legends. Early gold leads have a more significant impact, as they represent a larger percentage of the total gold in the game. For instance, if an opponent has 6K gold while you have 3K at 10 minutes, they’re effectively 100% more powerful in terms of items. However, if they maintain a 3K lead at 25 minutes, where you have 13K and they have 16K, their advantage shrinks to about 16%. Once everyone is full build, additional gold no longer translates into a power advantage, as it can’t be converted into items.

Why Delaying the Game Benefits a Team Behind on Gold

If you’re behind early, simply delaying the game—whether the gold gap narrows or even slightly widens—is beneficial due to gold inflation. As the game progresses, gold advantages become less impactful. This is why it’s increasingly acceptable to team fight in the late game, especially once you’re full build, as additional gold from lane pushes no longer holds significant value.

When to Transition to Team Fighting in the Late Game

Typically, around the 30-minute mark, team fights become more viable. For example, while playing Kai’Sa with a full build, I prepare for Elder Dragon to spawn. With top inhibitor down, I push mid waves to set up for the objective. As the enemy team collapses, I play it safe, aware of two possible plays: either rushing mid if no one defends to try ending the game, or joining the team fight around Dragon. I alternate between these options based on the enemy’s positioning until the optimal opportunity arises.

Knowing When to Engage in Team Fights

Spotting an easy pick on Graves guarantees a win in the team fight, allowing us to end the game decisively. Remember, you don’t need to push a lane the entire game. If you see a favorable team fight, it’s often worth taking, especially later in the game when you’ve acquired three or four items and gold inflation becomes less impactful.

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