What does the ideal gank look like?

[quote=Cheesemuff]If I'm looking at the minimap, what should I be looking for if I want to go down and help out mid? And then the same question for top and bot lanes since I'm sure they'll look different than mid will. Do I want the lane to be completely pushed in favor of my team or do I want them to be pushed? What if my lane is losing and the other team (in that lane) has a higher level than my team in that lane? What if they have more levels than I do? Just looking for some basic pointers on what the map should look like before a gank goes down. Thanks![/quote]

[quote=TheJohn]#1: If the lane is pushed (your teammate is winning), only gank if you can kill towerdiving. Letting the enemy push so you can gank ruins everything. It's clear that someone is waiting for the opportunity. #2: If the enemy has a higher lvl, check your mate's. If the mate and the enemy are in the same lvl and you are 1-3 lvls below, just go, its 2v1. #3: Know if there are wards[/quote]

[quote=NinjaGinge]Looking at how far they are pushed is the thing I would take note of just from the minimap is how far they are pushed. If they are pushed back towards their turret odds are there isn't an opportunity to gank, while if they are up towards your turret you have the ability to come up behind them and they have to get all the way back to their turret for safety. Next is looking at health and what champions you're dealing with. If your in lane targets are at full health or just notably higher than you, you need to think carefully about if going to gank is with the time or risk. Next is the other champions. Do you and/or your teamates have any CC you can land if you go to gank? What about them? And what kind of escape mechanisms do they have? Put all that together and from there you have to weigh your options and think "can i land a kill or make my opponent blow a summoner spell at least without dying?" If the answer is yes, gank. If the answer is no/maybe then you really need to hold off and keep farming. The jungle re-spawns quick now-a-days so you can stick around for a while.[/quote]

[quote=zomgpwnedanoob]If the lane has been pushed all the way to your tower then you can most likely gank. Take into account that if you surprise them from behind they will most likely turn and focus you down before your allies even realise what is happening. As others before me said, if your allies have pushed to their tower you most likely wont be able to successfully gank them unless you tower dive. Which can be very risk as a well placed/timed stun could turn the tide in there favour.[/quote]

[quote=Zoki]Ideal gank you say? Ace + drake at 10 min. True story.[/quote]

[quote=zomgpwnedanoob]Nice:)[/quote]