To Roam or not to Roam?

[quote=Justos]Hi everybody, my name is DSJustos and I'm a mid lane player for an EuW team. Recently me and two friends have been having this argument about wether the mid laner should follow his opponent when he roams (bot or top) and trying to set up kills or wether he should push the lane and hit the tower punishing the enemy for roaming while your bot or top lane uses your "ss" or "mia" to stay under the turret not engaging and avoiding the 3v2 or 2v1. I personally think that staying in lane is the best option in the long run (since i tend to play champions that can push well like oriana its easy the punish my opponent for roaming by outfarming him and taking down his/her turret) but since my friends continue to say that roaming is the only viable option I decided to ask for your opinion. Thanks in advance, Justos[/quote]

[quote=FalseoGod]Huh, are we supposed to change your friend's opinion? It all depends on what mid laner you're playing (very mobile? good pusher?), what do you know of the enemy jungler's position, your own jungler's position, etc. A countergank botlane can be the perfect setup for a dragon afterwards, but it can also result in nothing. Honestly, I think that if your team mates know where the enemy is they can simply, idk, back off? Staying mid often is a great option since you get farm and gold. If your team mates aren't surprised by a random 3-becomes-5 gank you usually gain a bit of an advantage over your enemy laner if you push the wave to the tower and they get nothing.[/quote]

[quote=Last Plagas]It depends. Sidelanes can loose a lot even if they don't get killed, because opponent will just freeze the lane and your teammates will loose on farm and exp. General rule of thumb is to look at how much gank potential other team's midlaner has. When roaming, having a gap closer and a strong cc is much more important than just having damage. There is not much point in following [[Twisted Fate]], because you can't stop him from appearing on top of your team (unless your laner can put up a fight in 2v1 or 3v2 situation and you can get there fast enough). However, please, do follow that [[Vladimir]] because he doesn't have any cc or initiation tools. But when following your opponent, always keep in mind, that he can just turn on you. Can you survive his burst? Can you kill him yourself? If both answers are "yes", then go for it. If you feel like there is nothing you can do, then push the lane. I myself try to roam every game and enjoy playing champs like [[Twisted Fate]], [[Gragas]], [[Jarvan]]. Generally, roaming is not necessary, but it certainly helps your team a lot.[/quote]

[quote=Pheyniex]honestly depends too much on the situation. Regarding most of the midlane top picks, i'd say it is better to stay since you can shove the lane like mad. I think you should read the situation really well and for this wards are always important. Not only for you but also for your teammates to know if they are being ganked from other lanes. A ward can make a roaming midlaner waste his time/xp/farm/a kill on his own lane. Being [[Karthus]], your choice should be obvious though. Being [[Twisted Fate]] you probably can do both. Last time I played mid (like, 2 months ago, [[Morgana]]) I roamed to save botlane, got a triple kill, support survived, adc almost. Why? Because they were preparing to dive, meaning they would overcommit to their jungler's gank. I was ahead in my lane, I shoved [[Veigar]] under his tower and went bot from tribush (playing from red side). Botlane tower was saved, enemy jungler and botlane were murdered. Could have gone way wrong if I was against another shover and they hadn't made such a messy dive. Would I trade a double shutdown for a tower? Depends how good teamfights would be. =3[/quote]

[quote=Justos][quote=FalseoGod] Huh, are we supposed to change your friend's opinion? It all depends on what mid laner you're playing (very mobile? good pusher?), what do you know of the enemy jungler's position, your own jungler's position, etc. A countergank botlane can be the perfect setup for a dragon afterwards, but it can also result in nothing. Honestly, I think that if your team mates know where the enemy is they can simply, idk, back off? Staying mid often is a great option since you get farm and gold. If your team mates aren't surprised by a random 3-becomes-5 gank you usually gain a bit of an advantage over your enemy laner if you push the wave to the tower and they get nothing. [/quote] No not at all! I just wanted to ear your opinion to decide if I should listen to them or if I was actualy right. I just want to improve my gameplay that's all. Thanks for the answer![/quote]

[quote=Justos][quote=Last Plagas] It depends. Sidelanes can loose a lot even if they don't get killed, because opponent will just freeze the lane and your teammates will loose on farm and exp. General rule of thumb is to look at how much gank potential other team's midlaner has. When roaming, having a gap closer and a strong cc is much more important than just having damage. There is not much point in following [[Twisted Fate]], because you can't stop him from appearing on top of your team (unless your laner can put up a fight in 2v1 or 3v2 situation and you can get there fast enough). However, please, do follow that [[Vladimir]] because he doesn't have any cc or initiation tools. But when following your opponent, always keep in mind, that he can just turn on you. Can you survive his burst? Can you kill him yourself? If both answers are "yes", then go for it. If you feel like there is nothing you can do, then push the lane. I myself try to roam every game and enjoy playing champs like [[Twisted Fate]], [[Gragas]], [[Jarvan]]. Generally, roaming is not necessary, but it certainly helps your team a lot. [/quote] So basicaly if my champion is a better pusher than him (lets say im orianna and he is fizz) I should stay, but if I am a better or equivalent roamer i should follow up on him or is it more about the one who will perform better in this early engagement that is going to happen once we bot get bot lane and fight 3v3? Thanks for the answer.[/quote]

[quote=Justos][quote=Pheyniex] honestly depends too much on the situation. Regarding most of the midlane top picks, i'd say it is better to stay since you can shove the lane like mad. I think you should read the situation really well and for this wards are always important. Not only for you but also for your teammates to know if they are being ganked from other lanes. A ward can make a roaming midlaner waste his time/xp/farm/a kill on his own lane. Being [[Karthus]], your choice should be obvious though. Being [[Twisted Fate]] you probably can do both. Last time I played mid (like, 2 months ago, [[Morgana]]) I roamed to save botlane, got a triple kill, support survived, adc almost. Why? Because they were preparing to dive, meaning they would overcommit to their jungler's gank. I was ahead in my lane, I shoved [[Veigar]] under his tower and went bot from tribush (playing from red side). Botlane tower was saved, enemy jungler and botlane were murdered. Could have gone way wrong if I was against another shover and they hadn't made such a messy dive. Would I trade a double shutdown for a tower? Depends how good teamfights would be. =3 [/quote] I think that's exactly what sometimes makes me doubt that chasing a mid lane roamer is a good idea. I mean yeah if they do a messy dive like that you can easily get a double or even a triple but the situation can also go horribly wrong meaning that you can die along with your adc or support or both, not get a single kill and even loose your tower if that said veigar is able to push the lane and destroy your turret in the time that you are dead. It just seems that keeping the adc and the support under theyr turret even if they loose on a bit of farm and xp is a much more safe option than going on an early 3v3 (that can also go extremly wrong depending on both junglers position as FalseoGod said before). Another very interesting point that you mentioned was the teamfight issue. When do you think it is worth to take the risk of the 3v3 engagement? I mean are there adc's that perform better in teamfights than others making taking high risks early game to shut them down a worthy option? And what if you loose your tower? How will that loss of area control afect teamfight? (apart from the gold that the tower gives to the enemy team) Thanks for the answer.[/quote]

[quote=PsiGuard]You should push if your lanes are prepared to deal with the roaming mid (or if you don't know where the enemy mid is going and won't be able to follow). If your lanes are threatened, meaning the enemy mid picked a good time to roam, it's good for you and your jungler to collapse on the targeted lane as quickly as possible. Following the enemy mid to clean up kills after an enemy dive or skirmish can be game-changing as it can turn a 0/2 situation into a 3/2 + a dragon (for example, anyway). It's also crucial to have enough wards around mid lane (which is your responsibility with the help of your jungler) to be able to keep tabs on the enemy mid laner. This also allows you to follow the enemy mid safely in case they're trying to bait you into facechecking them. If you follow the enemy mid laner and realise you have absolutely no chance of getting any kills and your top/bot lane is already dead, just go back to your lane. There's no reason to fight alone against multiple enemies if they aren't weak enough for you to kill by yourself. Just because you follow the enemy mid doesn't mean you have to commit to an all-in engagement. You're just looking to clean up whatever you can, and most of the time, it'll be worth your time.[/quote]

[quote=IAmByakuya]If the lane enemy mid laner is coming to can stay safe then push mid, if they can be saved with your help follow him and if they were already dead then theres no point just stay and push. If youre vs an obvious roamer then [[Teleport]] might become handy since you can push then be there before enemy can do anything[/quote]

[quote=Pheyniex][quote=Justos] [quote=Pheyniex] honestly depends too much on the situation. Regarding most of the midlane top picks, i'd say it is better to stay since you can shove the lane like mad. I think you should read the situation really well and for this wards are always important. Not only for you but also for your teammates to know if they are being ganked from other lanes. A ward can make a roaming midlaner waste his time/xp/farm/a kill on his own lane. Being [[Karthus]], your choice should be obvious though. Being [[Twisted Fate]] you probably can do both. Last time I played mid (like, 2 months ago, [[Morgana]]) I roamed to save botlane, got a triple kill, support survived, adc almost. Why? Because they were preparing to dive, meaning they would overcommit to their jungler's gank. I was ahead in my lane, I shoved [[Veigar]] under his tower and went bot from tribush (playing from red side). Botlane tower was saved, enemy jungler and botlane were murdered. Could have gone way wrong if I was against another shover and they hadn't made such a messy dive. Would I trade a double shutdown for a tower? Depends how good teamfights would be. =3 [/quote] I think that's exactly what sometimes makes me doubt that chasing a mid lane roamer is a good idea. I mean yeah if they do a messy dive like that you can easily get a double or even a triple but the situation can also go horribly wrong meaning that you can die along with your adc or support or both, not get a single kill and even loose your tower if that said veigar is able to push the lane and destroy your turret in the time that you are dead. It just seems that keeping the adc and the support under theyr turret even if they loose on a bit of farm and xp is a much more safe option than going on an early 3v3 (that can also go extremly wrong depending on both junglers position as FalseoGod said before). Another very interesting point that you mentioned was the teamfight issue. When do you think it is worth to take the risk of the 3v3 engagement? I mean are there adc's that perform better in teamfights than others making taking high risks early game to shut them down a worthy option? And what if you loose your tower? How will that loss of area control afect teamfight? (apart from the gold that the tower gives to the enemy team) Thanks for the answer. [/quote] the messy dive was a bit predictable because [[Corki]] was being as agressive as using [[Valkyrie]] a lot and we had [[taric]]. Also I was 4/1 or 5/1. about teamfighting, you should be aware of this by understanding your picks. also, focus is very important. you can ignore also ignore tf's and a couple of turrets if you play a poke/disengage composition well, like last Giants versus AAA game in LCS. aoe and cc win games, imo. positioning is very iportant, as well as focus and prioritization. usually basic stuff.[/quote]