Hello everyone!

I was thinking about warding quite a lot lately, so today I would like to present my findings. Hopefully you can find this useful, or suggest better options.

I will describe lane by lane, from the position of a blue team. Ofc this works for purple team as well, just revert it in your mind's eye :)

This post is about warding during the laning phase.

TOP LANE

• 1. I like to put the ward over there. Like this you can see, if enemy jungler goes for river bush or purple tribush. I see plenty of people putting the ward into the river bush, but I think that is a waste of LOS (line-of-sight), and if you are shoving the lane or go for the tower, usually when you see enemy standing in that bush, it's too late cause he is in your back. Also everybody is sweeping that bush permanently so make them think you don't ward at all.
• 2. Since the recent ward changes, if I'm pushed under the tower (or jsut farming there), I always put purple ward in that bush, as it stays there until destroyed. Like this you can be safe, knowing that noone is going to dive you or whatever. And if they come, usually you just start retreating, so they don't even bother and rather destroy the ward. (ofc you can replace it asap, or put there a green ward for a change)
• 3. These 3 bushes annoys me, as I never know where to put the ward. I try to see how the game is going to be and where usually the creeps are. Or you can place the ward just before the gank (in whichever bush you think it will be needed), not to lose the target.

MID LANE

• 1. Usually enemy junglers starts at their blue, then goes red and ganks top or mid. So I put this ward here as my first. Again - if you put it somewhere in this place, you can see them going for the mid bush, or if they try to gank you from one of the possible entrances next to the bush.
• 2. The same as for the ward No.1 placement, I may put this ward as first, if I know the enemy jungler started at his red.
  UPDATE: Usually you should put this ward as a first one, at around 2:50 - 3:20, as most of the junglers starts at blue, then go minicamp, red and gank mid or top.
  Thanks to Vynertje for the info.

JUNGLE

• 1. This place is just great, as you can see if the enemy jungler is going for his red, and you can intercept, or go for his blue. Another option is to ward his blue buff bush, but I prefer this one as it gives you quite a lot of vision.
• 2. Since the recent ward changes, I (as a both - support and jungle player) don't think support have to ward the dragon anymore. He has already 4 bushes to ward, so be a team palyer and ward your dragon. Thanks to that ward you can see, if the enemy jungler is going for drag or his blue/wight/wolves, therefore you know where he is and you can do something about that (counter jungle, steal his other camps or gank top).
• 3. The same as No.2, in here you can see if the enemy jungler is going for your blue, so you can go there and explain to him, that your blue buff IS YOUR blue buff.

BOT LANE

• 1. Actually I saw to put ward at this place in some video on YouTube and I love the idea. Like this, you can see the enemy jungler coming from both - river and your tribush, or him going for your tribush. You don't need to ward the bush, since you can see from miles away, he is going there. Let them waste their lens on that bush in vain.
• 2. The same as No.2 for top - on my second recall, I buy a pinkie and put it in there, to be safe and not have to worry about that bush anymore. Surprisingly, that ward usually stays in there for quite some time.
• 3. You put the ward into one of those bushes, depending if you are pushing or being pushed. Your ADC can always ward the other one, in case of need, or you can ask him/her to save the trinket ward and replace one of your wards when they runs out.

So, this is what I think is a good warding at the beginning of the game. Like this, you have river warded to the max, know exactly where the enemy jungler is, and can make safe plays.

If you have any suggestions about better ward positions, feel free to comment. Later on I will make another post about late game warding, since then... SEE YA!